Project: 3D modelling from reference
Created with: Sculptris, Modo, Photoshop
I have worked on two major installations over the last few years, both involved the creation of a large number of 3D prehistoric creatures that were used to tell a story. The first was from a very specific period in time, the Jurassic coast of southern England, the second was to create creatures from every one of the main periods throughout the earth’s history – from the Ediacaran through to the present.
This is one of the models from the second project, Inostrancevia, a large carnivorous therapsid from the latter part of the Permian period of Russia. I was a little upset when the decision was made to remove it from the production (mostly because the entire sequence was starting to get very long and something needed to go). I haven’t got around to completing the textures for it yet. I keep picking it up again, planning to finish, but I have never got around to it because paid work always comes first. Perhaps one day I will find the excuse. For now, it must remain a digital clay model.
By the way, the creature is posed in this way because I build them ready to be rigged (this is a digital skeleton that is used to animate the creature afterwards). It has to be symmetrical and the jaws are open for a reason – not just to make it look terrifying.
For more information about the final project, please visit my colleague, Raygun Media‘s website.