First thing I did was to look at lots of reference of real suitcases. I was trying to find shapes or parts of a case like zips or pockets that could be used to make up a face. Similar to how cars look like they have faces with their grills and headlights.
It was actually quite difficult to do. Not only did all the cases I found not have much similarity to real faces but I also realised that the pockets and straps had to be positioned just right to allow a lot of the scenes to work.
For example the main case's flap lid on the front is completely made up. I didn't come across one piece of luggage that actually has that kind of design, but I knew I needed something like that, to not only allow all the clothes to spill out as the bag flew through the air, but also the bag needed something that could pass as eyes.
Having big buttons for eyes seemed like the perfect solution but obviously buttons have to have a function, thus the reason for the flap like lid.
The buttons went through a small iteration. Originally I made them based on real sizes of buttons. It wasn't long before I realised they just weren't cute enough.
It's a well known fact that big eyes make cuter characters. Apparently babies respond better and seem happier around people with big eyes. I guess sub-consciously this stays with us through to adulthood?
With this in mind I decided to make the buttons over sized.
Here is a few basic sketches of some of the facial expressions that I wanted the bag be able to do.
I really liked the design of the sorting hat in Harry Potter. The way the crinkles in the material made up the face. I decided that I'd use similar techniques for the bag and the way it would frown or look surprised.
Below you can see a video of the process of modelling the bag.
It started as a simple box, using a package called Zbrush I sculpted it into the final shape that I wanted.
You'll notice around half way through the video that it appears with lots of lines on it. I used this technique to help with a process called retopology.
Basically all 3D objects are made up of lots of planes called Polygons. Because these are generally square in shape they don't always bend too well. When scuplting these polygons can end up in all shapes and sizes and aren't always best laid out for when it comes to animating.
By laying them out in such a way that they form nice loops you can get them to bend without causing unwanted distortion. Drawing out how I wanted these polygons to lay, before actually laying them down allowed me a quick way to see what would work and what wouldn't.
Once I was satisfied with the way the lines flowed I then created a new set of polygons that followed the lined pattern, thus creating a new version of the model with the polygons flowing nicely.
Zbrush is a great package for sculpting. Although it is getting better at creating more hard surface models like vehicles and buildings I still find it easier to use a more traditional 3D package to complete areas like the wheels and handle. I used a package called Maya, I also used Maya for all the animation that you see within the film
No comments:
Post a Comment