Modeling and rigging a cartoon-looking spider

[3dpoder]

modeling and rigging a cartoon-looking Spider. By Igor krianovskij.



Introduction.

Blender modeling tools are excellent for Many tasks, especially for making organic forms. To make a funny, simple cartoon looking character with Blender is as simple as a walk in the parque (well, once you know how, obviously). Ill try todo probé that in this short tutorial. So, first youll ned an idea. If you dont have a fresh idea, use an old one, it probably already mature enough todo be recycled with some fresh dimensions. Such was the case for me. Actually, you could Even Skip this part, with Blender you dont Even ned an idea. To play with the tools and their options is usually more than enough todo start one. Level: begginer todo intermediate.

My old Spider illustration was a perfecto starting point for a short and silly 3d movie, and todo chek out some new Blender tools in áreas such as: lights, scenes, painting, materiales, rigs, particles, shape keys, NLA, nodes, video compositing, sound, códecs, etc. So i neded a god looking model, but one that is a los simple enough todo achieve decent/short rendering times. You know, short rendering times = longer movie in a shorter time. There are Many god modeling tutorialesaround, including ones in previous blenderart volumes (http://www.blenderart.org/), so chek them out. Most of the modeling tools are already mature, so they havent changed much. Here ill show you my key stages of the modeling and rigging process:


Body.

It god todo start your model in the center of the 3d space, especially if youll use mirror modifiers, armatures, etc. So first hit [shift+c] todo move the 3d cursor todo the center, and numpad1 for the front view (so that the x axis goes from left todo right). Add a Cube (object mode: [spac, add > Mesh > Cube) and add a Subsurf modifier todo it ([f for the editing buttons, then add modifier > Subsurf), set the level todo 2 and hit the apply button (image 1.h) (or [Alt+c] in object mode) in the modifiers panel. Tweak the vértices todo get a shape like this.









Select thre Faces and extrude them inward with [ todo make a place for the upper legs connections with the body. You can deleete one side of the body Mesh and add a mirror modifier, so youll ned todo tweak only one half of the body since it usually god todo build things symmetrically at first. Ok, this is the Spider body shape. Easy, huh? Well add Hair or Fur later.









Head.

Chek the sketch todo se how big the head must be todo fit the style of the illustration. You can be flexible here, making it bigger or smaller. Sometimes you get better results when you dont follow the sketch exactly. There are Many ways todo build the head for a body. I used the topology of the body as the starting point for the head. So, y duplicated body Faces (4x3) in Edit Mode with [shift+d]. These 12 new Faces are still part of the body Mesh, so i separated them using [p].









You can make the head in the same bien as the body above, from a Cube. But by duplicating part of the already existing body Mesh you get precise alignment of vértices which are useful for quicker assembly of body parts (less tweak, faster result). So, After a few extrusións [ and some tweak of some vértices, y came up with this:








Legs.

Again, with the same principle as a head, y selected one (which was enough for this part) face where the middle leg Joint Will be located and duplicated it with [shift+d] and separated it with [p]. After a few extrusións [ and vertex tweaks, y came up with this:.









At the tip of the leg i added four Spheres (se fotnote 1) and joined all leg meshes together with [Control + j]. I could a los postura the leg into a diferent rest position, but for a later stage it important that the knes are at least a bit bent for the proper armature IK calculations neded later. Finally i duplicated the remaining five legs in the planned positions (again, with [shift+d]).

Eyes & teth.

The Spider teth are super simple. Well like the rest, huh? Ok, y admit, y went about this the same bien one more time. [shift+d], [p], [, tweak. But this time i added an extra loop Cut with [k] (image 4c.) todo make the topology of the Spider teth more fascinating.









I could make the eyes Even simpler, but there a Little trik for an eye iris Lens. Namely, you get better light reflections if you make the Lens more Spherical or Convex. Here how i made it: add a sphere using [spac, then add > Mesh > UV sphere (with 8 segments and 8 rings). Select the top 16 Faces (2 rings) and sepárate them with [p]. Make the Lens more Convex using the move [g], and scale [ tools. The eyelid is made with an additional uv-sphere (12 segments and 8 rings), rotated 90 Degrees relative todo the eyeball. Then scale, deleete one segment row and extrude an Edge loop toward the center of the eyelid (images 5 b-c.) for the opening/closing of the eyelid i used shapekeys, but i wont go into Shape Key details at this time. You can chek the related file for details.









Hair, Fur & other horrendous growth.

The Spider model at this stage is básically done. The rest are colors and of course horrendous Hair. That quite easy again. Colors were tweaked in the Shading menú [f and the particle emitters used duplicated parts of the already made Spider meshes. The particle system in the current Blender development versións (jan. 200 is so advanced that this file made in Blender versión 2.45 is outdated already. So, particles in this file Will not be compatible in future Blender versións. Chek the related file for these particle settings (use [f for the object(physics)buttons and particles panel).









Rig, oil & sweat.

The next phase toward animation was rigging. This armature contains basic (versión 1 - Se fotnote 2) use of IK constraints, but for an animation i didnt ned a more complex rig. So, y added the first bone at the center (object mode: [spac, then add > armature). I usually name this first bone rot_something, in this case rot_spider.









Afterward, y duplicated this bone in Edit Mode, extruded [ the tips of the Bones two times and positioned them again with snapping tools [shift+. Here is an example of setting a leg bone in the exact position, which is very hard todo achieve by hand, especially when working with organic forms and exotic angles:
Add bone.



Set pivot todo median point, select Edges; [shift+, then choose cursor -> selection.



Select the tip of the bone in Edit Mode.



[shift+, then choose selection -> cursor.



Ok, bak todo the Spider rig. After i extruded and positioned all neded Bones for a leg, y started with an IK chain logic setup. Bones with IK constraint Solvers are yellow colored. Every Spider leg has one IK Solver (set todo chainlen:2) which i added in a pose mode (image 9b). After i duplicated the left/right side legs [shift+d], y then added a bone for the head and one bone for a mouth/jaw. There is a los an optional handle for moving all legs simultaneously.









Finally all that was left todo do was todo attach the Mesh todo the armature. That a los quite easy. I added an armature modifier todo the Mesh and assigned vertex groups todo each bone. Download the Spider, blend [URL=https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=191681&stc=1&d=1396001 42here:[/url].

Spider in the park. - Notes.
1. Adding the Spheres this bien isnt optimal if youre building the model for a game. There must not be hidden Faces in that case. This model was planned for an animation, so these dense Spheres can be used as particle emitters if neded.
2. The armature system in Blender was build in stages. Versión 1 can do FK, IK and some other basic constraints. Versión 2 can do more advanced things (chek Mancandy Rig made by Bassam Kurdali as an example). Versión 3 is the latest and greatest armature system used for characters in the Blender institute next open movie.

By Igor krianovskij. www.blenderart.org.

.