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Case Study Gallery - Lightwave with Vertisketch
An Army of Ants: Digitizing Bugs with MicroScribe and Vertisketch
Courtesy of Magnetic Dreams, Inc.
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| Animating the character in Lightwave |
Magnetic Dreams is a Nashville based animation house that produces commercial and industrial animations that include everything from logos and environments to fully articulated characters. A recent project for client Filmhouse required the creation of a crowd of ants for a spot entitled "Tax Ants".
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Initial sketches of one of
the ant characters |
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A maquette of an ant
character with the MicroScribe
in the background |
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| Happy digitizing! |
The accompanying photos illustrate the process, beginning with an original
model or "maquette" that was produced using Super Sculpey modeling compound.
After the model was baked to harden and marked up we digitized it in Lightwave
5.6 using the MicroScribe® digitizer. We chose to use Vertisketch's
point to point method to create a cloud of points in Lightwave layout.
The points were selected to create four point polys where possible. Some
triangular polys were unavoidable but we attempted to place them in strategic,
less obvious areas. Half of the model was modeled in this fashion then
the half was exported to Lightwave 6.5 for cleanup.
Once in Lightwave 6.5 the models were refined using the software's powerful
editing tools. The metanurb feature in combination with the smooth shade
perspective window were invaluable in providing a real time preview of
modifications. The new subpatch weight controls allowed us to control
the curves and overlaps in the ant's exoskeleton.
The finished half of the objects were mirrored and joined together to
complete the character. Additional female and baby ant heads were digitized
as well as a baby blanket shape. The female head was secured to the generic
body then alterations were made to her form. The baby ant's head was nestled
into the blanket shape.
All models were image mapped using Lightwave's new surface baking procedure
utilizing UV maps. Some maps were illustrated in Photoshop. Skeletal structures
were set up in modeler and layout for each ant. Duplicate ants were created
to populate the scene.
The MicroScribe/Vertisketch combo worked seamlessly with Lightwave 5.6.
This combined with Lightwave 6.5's newest modeling tools enabled us bring
our cast of 3D characters to life.
[ click on any image to see a larger version ]
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A mark-up sketch
of the character |
The character model
in Lightwave |
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