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MicroScribe® Connections for Maya - Batman Action Figure

Courtesy of Bryce Gunkel

Figure 1: The Batman action figure that was digitized

Figure 2: The geometry was digitized in pieces

I was wandering through Toys R Us, looking for a figure of some kind to use for my next project, when I came across a Batman figure from the “Justice League” animated series. With it’s overall simplified forms, smooth curves, and basic geometry I instantly knew that the figure would be perfect for demonstrating the MicroScribe technology. So I grabbed the caped crusader and quickly went to work on translating him into the digital world.

After removing the cape from Batman I quickly laid a grid pattern across half of his body, it was then that I encountered the first of a few roadblocks. As I was drawing lines across his body I would often times need to continue a line under a very tight area, such as his underarms, which were very hard to work around. Taking this into consideration I realized that getting the MicroScribe needle into such regions would prove just as difficult, so I came up with a process of dissecting Batman into multiple segments. By then translating batman into the digital realm via separate components (head, arms, legs, torso, and cape) I was able to speed up the process of digitizing, with only the small cost of reassembling him like a puzzle within Maya.

I made effective use of polygonal strips to build the overall shape, and then the split polygon tool to clean up the 3D mesh. I also made some use of edge loops (wire frame contours which follow defining curves of muscle along the body’s surface), yet I was primarily concerned with keeping an overall clean mesh, resulting in a model that was not well suited for animation, albeit a rather true representation of the original figure.

After completing Batman figure, I quickly digitized his cape to complete the ensemble and was left with was ultimately satisfying model. Future plans for this project include a restructuring of
curves along his shoulders in order to produce a model capable of basic animation.

Figure 3: The wire frame of the final model

Figure 4: The flat shaded version of the final model