Steampunk Minotaur

I’ve entered the CG talk “Steampunk Legends” competition in the animation section. Just for a good time, a lot of much-needed practice and an addition to my portfolio.
My goal is to make a simple, but clean 2-3 minute animation.
I’ve been having a heck of a time invisioning what a steampunk Minotaur would look or function like. I think I finally have a decent concept after a few sketches.
I’ve started modeling the head. C&C more than welcome.

Attachments



Looks pretty good so far. Id say you should flatten the nose and add some bulk over the eye and around the nose to give the face a more bullish look.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/95/Charging_Bull_at_Bowling_Green_060621.jpg/350px-Charging_Bull_at_Bowling_Green_060621.jpg

Finally got a chance to do some more modeling.
I took your advice and narrowed the snout, I like it much better this way.
Here’s what I’ve got so far. C&C more than welcome.

Attachments


no offense, but it doesnt really look like a minotaur to me. it could be just me, but I think that you shoul seperate more the nostrils, and enlarge them.

Yea I agree with mercurystudio on this. You aren’t making him bulky enough and he looks way too human for my likes. His arms are too skinny and long, they look human almost. And the body looks too regular, too rounded. Maybe add some muscle in there you show that it is a huge animal. It is looking good but not totally accurate. Good luck!!

Mercurystudio - I agree, It isn’t looking very Minotaurish, I’ll enlarge the nostrils and see if it helps, thanks for the input.

Dudebot12 - I agree with you as well. The concept art I sketched out is much bulkier and has some brass plating shaped like muscles, but when I started modeling I went in this direction to try to make it look more Steampunk-ish. I think I’ll remodel the torso & arms to match my sketch and see if I like it better. Thanks!

i’d do more than just increase the nostril size, though, notice how on the picture above the entire end of the snout sorta inflates out? also, those eyes as dudebot said, do not look minotaurien. right now, i kinda get the feeling if i were to bump into him along the sidewalk, he’d apologize and buy me a coke, not try and beat me to a pulp with his steam powered brass club of the future.

take a hint from the below photo to see what i mean about the eyes. right now the entire head’s to simplified, it needs more bulge.
http://www.bradygames.com/content/downloads/wow/_tauren.jpg

Got a chance to do some more modeling today. I added in the plating for the arms, I think it looks a lot better. I roughed out the legs as well. I think I’m just going to scale up the arms a bit to make him look beefier, redo the hands, figure out what I want the neck to look like then move on to details.

I’ve got a couple sketches of the main character. I’ll post those before I start modeling, when I’m happy with him. For now, I’m off to tweak the script.

C&C more than welcome!

Attachments


He reminds me of Jar-Jar Binks.:wink:

Alright, the model for the minotaur is almost done.
I’ve got to decide how to thicken up the neck, but other than that it’s just detailing.
C&C more than welcome!

I’ve got a sketch for the main character’s head. I drew it without hair to make it easier to model. I’m going to go for an Indiana Jones-style archeologist/treasure hunter.

The plot for the short is pretty straight forward. Main character searching for treasure in the Labrynth. Runs into Minotaur robot when he finds the jewel. A chase scene ensues, the Minotaur trying to kill the main character, but the maze itself keeps getting in the way.

I got a quick start on modeling the main character. His name is Henry for the time being.

Attachments




Finished modeling the Minotaur and got the textures mostly finished. I’ll probably tweak the textures a little bit more. Then it’s on to rigging.

I’ve made a little progress on the main character, but nothing notable.

Attachments



Finished modeling the head of Henry. Going for a cartoony style. C&C more than welcome!

Attachments



Almost done modeling Henry. Going to mess with his shirt a little more and probably add some belt loops/belt attachments.

C&C more than welcome.

I’ve got a finished script and a couple of storyboards. Though I think I’m going to have to skip storyboarding for the most part, if I have any hope of getting this done by February 3rd

Attachments



looking good! i really like the style on that character - although the width of the nose between the eyes could be a bit smaller
maybe you could give him some of the classic steampunk goggles; not necessarily over his eyes but perhaps resting on his forehead like he doesnt need them for the moment
for the mech, maybe try seeing what the tangent button in the spec panel can do. i think it would make him look really metalic
anyway, good luck with the competition!

I agree about the eye spacing. You may notice that I narrowed it a bit since the head render. I think I’ll narrow it a bit more though.

The goggles arent a bad idea, but I wouldn’t want him wearing them and the light on his helmet is used in the video. I think I’ll keep him without, thanks for the suggestion though!

I would like to use the tangent button, but, in my experience, I find it creates a lot of rendering artifacts in animation.

Thanks for the reply Jeepster.

Alright, I’ve finished modeling Henry and put some place holder textures on him.
I’ll paint diffuse and bump maps tomorrow, then it’s on to rigging both of them.

Attachments



I’m just about done making the rig for Henry. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Attachments

Henry_Rig.blend (362 KB)

Well now, I haven’t updated this thread in over 3 months. I’ve been quite busy but I’ve still been plugging away at this project. I’ve got the first minute and a half of the animation just about done. So I’m about halfway through that process. I paused to render out this image, just for kicks.

Attachments