Yafa2011 Contest, Mo's entry

[_Mo_]

Stupid insects. They are already trying to bite me, stalk me, they eat my food, sweat, blood, clothes... and troll me in RL, now I'll have to deal with them also in the virtual world. ...

Over the weekend I was thinking about the topics and grabbing some references. I'll most probably do a wasp or bee, probably a wasp, because the coolest reference I found so far is this:

But there are some good looking bees out there, this one is particularly cute, all covered in pollen like a bee-pig she is...

I'm still undecided, so I'll first do some testing with Yafa and base my decision on technical possibilities. But it will be either a wasp or bee, that's for sure.

There is one positive thing about the topic, though; I'll have to force myself to do stuff I don't want, which will probably bring some new experiences (or I'll fail miserably ).

Anyway, good luck to all the participants!

[Samo]

insects is probably the best subject to get started in organic modelling

[_Mo_]

Yes, I agree. Don't get me wrong, It's not a bad subject, but I really wanted to do childhood toys

If time permitting, I'll do an additional "out of contest" thread.

[povmaniaco]

OOps.. Sorry

[_Mo_]

@povmaniaco, everyone should create their own thread and post the progress there.

Maybe Samo could move your post in a separate thread.

[_Mo_]

So, I've decided for the wasp.

This organic modeling is really not my forte. I've already spent several hours on it (without counting failed attempts) and still haven't even finished the head ... Can someone model it for me and I 'll do the textures & materials for him? (joke )

Anyway, here's the vespula head with a basic hair PS. I've used only Blender and traditional polygon modeling, no sculpting. Mainly it's done (still some editing needed, a few ridges here and there) but the mouth is missing and since the mouth of the wasp looks like an indescribable space monster thing, I doubt I'll go into it. Unless the wasp is drinking or chewing, the mouth is mostly hidden behind the mandibles anyway.

[STart]

advanced details, nice work

[mookie]

Looking really good so far! Keep on blending!

[_Mo_]

Thank you, guys.

Today's modeling update, part of the thorax. Still to do the legs, under-wings & abdomen:

[Samo]

very nice modelling

[wizofboz]

That looks really good, I'm not going to listen anymore when you complain about your organic modeling skills.

[_Mo_]

@Samo, @wizofboz - thanks for the positive feedback.

When I'm talking about my modeling skills, I'm mostly thinking about the time component in the equation: proficiency = quality / time. The model is not bad, but I have the feeling I'm (too) slow. Especially when you see some people on tutorials / videos, modeling very fast & accurate... Dunno, I probably spent at least 9 - 10 hours of pure modeling time, on the model so far...

[mookie]

Don't worry about the time you spend on modelling, the experience you gain is worth it. Second time you'll probably model such insect much faster. Besides - it's not as easy as it looks.

...and it looks great so far! Good luck!

[_Mo_]

Thanks

[_Mo_]

Hey guys, I would need some help here. I'm trying to rig the legs but I'm a total noob at it. I've simply created a few bones (with extrude) and assigned names to them corresponding to vertex groups. I haven't touched any other settings. All the joints behave correctly, except the last one which it doesn't turn the claw for the same amount the bone is rotated and the more you rotate the bone, the more the mesh is shrunk (upper two pictures, first one is in rest mode, the second rotated). The bottom two pictures show the correct behavior of the joint before that.



Does anyone have a clue what is happening here? I've deleted the bone, recreated it an it's always the same.

Also does anyone have any links to a good basic rigging tutorial (video or text) for Blender 2.5? I've watched a few on blender cookie, but they just jump into stuff without explaining much the basics.