Optimus Prime is the first character I've modeled for this series. His look borrows heavily from the game Fall of Cybertron, but I've stuck on my take on the live action movie head, and the legs and feet transformation is entirely my own. But he didn't always look like this, as you'll soon find out, as we take a look at Optimus and his evolution into the model he is today.
When I first finished him, Optimus looked like this:
Because I was making his Character Featurette, I started to render out his robotic turntable, having already finished rendering his truck mode turntable.
But then I ran into a problem. I didn't like his arms. Unfortunately, because I'd already rendered his vehicle mode turntable, I had to render out the vehicle turntable again, and then a new version of Optimus's robotic mode turntable.
But then disaster struck again! I realized a little later that I'd messed up his legs, and his knees were backwards!
So it was time for yet another turntable render. Now, I'm happy to say, the turntable is finished and so is Optimus!
So, why go to all that trouble? What are the turntables for? Well, Optimus's Character Featurette is part of a series of short online featurettes about each of the characters that I'll be releasing towards the end of the production of this short. In the featurettes, I show turntables-- basically, the 3D model rotating on a plain background, so you can see all the detail. Then I peel away the textures and show the wireframe, revealing the mesh for those interested. I show both the robot form and the vehicle form, and then I have a section on the development of the transformation-- showing all the bits and pieces that go into making these guys transform. Someday I'll do an in-depth blog post series about the transformations of these guys, but I think I'll put that off until I have all four main Autobots complete.
Anyway, back to Optimus. For the short, as you may know, (you don't), the musical score is being composed entirely by me as well. Before, I used tracks from the movies or other pieces of music, but this time I'm doing it the right way-- by myself. Optimus has his own musical theme, like all the other characters in the short. Whenever he has a special moment I try to bring in his theme, and it adds a sense of continuity to the music. It's a nice piece, and I can't wait for you to hear it when the short is released.
Optimus's textures are mostly modified textures from CGTextures.com, (a great resource, and membership is free, so sign up today!), with the exception of one. Optimus's cab. It's my first time UV unwrapping a model and then using blended textures to paint on it, and it's very exciting! Okay what did I just say? I'll explain. In order to create a hand painted texture, you have to put your model through a process known as UV unwrapping. This flattens the model into an image, (see picture below), that you can import into a painting program and work on.
I used many different textures to create the final texture, by using filters and tools to draw on dirt and grime. However, the torso is the only part of Optimus that was textured in this way, but every other one was specifically fine tuned using UV Mapping, which is different from UV unwrapping. I won't get into it much, but basically the idea is to tile the texture in a way that makes sense.
Stay tuned for more, and speaking of more, check back in a few days for a post about the transformations!
