Texturing

While waiting for Maks’ approval for my most recent rigging modifications and the go ahead to start animating, I began to texture my squirrel model. I did some tests (http://www.vimeo.com/17937660) over break to get familiar with the hair plugin, so I didn’t find the texturing process to be completely difficult and foreign. Originally, I made separate maps for several of the plugin’s fur attributes (ie frizz, length, density, etc) but I later realized I was over-complicating the process. I eventually figured out the best way to go by things, and ended up with, what i believe to be, great results. I still have to refine much of the texturing, specially fitting and cutting down the hair to the squirrel. Here is an example of what the current texture looks like.

Rig Improvements

Over the break, I taught myself how to incorporate ik and control handles into my model. Though I finished with a fully functional model, I recently met with Maks, who has suggested that I tweak a few things before animating. I did a few animation tests to see how my rig will work. Here’s a quick example:

http://www.lacomercia.com/misc/run_cycle.mov