Clone Trooper Walk

FINAL SEQUENCE

BREAKDOWN

MODELING

To my mind, modeling is one of the most interesting part...I love crafting things. I started by searching and analyzing the concepts and references, trying to observe and find details even during the modeling process. As for the main character, I first created a male base mesh and then started modeling the various components of the clone trooper armor. My goal was to build a mesh as clean as possible, avoiding pinches and respecting anatomical shapes. As for the weapon, the process was similar, perhaps easier as I was able to find numerous references and videos where it was well analyzed. As for the set, I was strongly inspired by Star Wars concepts and decided to build a modular environment respecting the minimal sci-fi style.

UVS

I carried out the  unwrapping process in Maya and followed a pipeline with udims, taking into account the use of 4k textures. The material assignment was done to make my work easier on Substance Painter. As for texel density , I opted for a higher one for the clone trooper helmet.”

TEXTURING & SHADING

The texturing process on Substance 3D Painter was quite fun and satisfying. I exported the assets from Maya as .fbx, generated the maps in Substance to facilitate the software’s procedural functions, and started managing the various levels, using both procedural and manual painting functions. In the end, the textures were exported in 4k to Maya and Arnold for the shading process, where I used some Arnold nodes to customize the assets for the final shot.

RIGGING & ANIMATION

I faced this process for the first time. I managed everything on Maya by creating the joints and controllers, and then moved on to skinning, one of the most difficult moments of the project. As for the animation, I decided to refer to Mixamo animations by retargeting them onto my character. Finally, I adjusted some inconsistencies using Maya’s anim layers and organized everything for the final shot.

LIGHTING & RENDERING

Once all the assets were ready, I referenced them in a new file ready for lighting and then the final rendering on Arnold. For lighting, I used a 4k hdri and Arnold arealights positioned at the light points of the environment. For the final rendering, I had to manage the various shots with the camera using mostly a 50mm but also 35mm and 16mm. I rendered the images on render layers to facilitate post-production work on DaVinci Resolve, where I completed the sequence.

Thank you The Rookies for the opportunities!