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ABSTRACT:

A senior class project that made the class use their practice of animation skills. We were challenged to make a 3D model, rig it, and create animations for the project. The alien zoo idea was inspired to be an exhibit for aliens found in the galaxy.

Concept Story and Drawings

The Alien Zoo consists of a zoo based on things found in our galaxy. So, our ideas could be anything that we put our imagination to. Keeping that in mind, I did a few thumbnail sketches which soon resulted in the Pluto Gremlin.

The Pluto Gremlin is as long as a football field, and around 40 feet tall. Despite their appearance, they are actually a very calm creature. The only time they become aggressive is if they get hurt while someone is around, because they then presume that the person, or other creature, hurt them.

There is at least one gremlin on each planet due to the fact that the gremlins help regulate the planet in its temperature. They can hibernate for as long as a decade and at most move around for a few years after before hibernating again. Due to them being connected to the planet, they do not need to eat as the nutrients from the planet courses through them.

Modeling

I practiced topology when creating the creature. The idea is that the creature needs to have the squash and stretch principle. To do this I had to work from both sides separately and come to a meeting point (being the cylinder). For each side, I made the body parts separately that would then be attached together as the model progressed.

After the body, the teeth and gums were made. As the teeth were attached to the gums, the gums were attached to the lip of the creature. The eye was separate from the body but grouped with the joint that moved that part of the body.

Rigging

For rigging, each joint was made manually. Due to the fact that the creature is nowhere near the human form, the joints had to be placed a certain way for the creature. The first part was starting in the middle (spine area) and constantly updating the outliner.

The outliner was the most important part as I had to start making nurb circles and parenting the joints with the circles. This helped with the animation process of being able to easily grasp as area rather than constantly going through the joints to make one movement.