Sheep next level
I focused on the lecture 01_intro/Houdini. During the project development process, I dealt with the topics of modeling and rigging in Houdini to create a basic digital asset. The result could build a base for animators to animate a scene with the modeled object. To deliver the animation department a polished result the used subnetwork includes a parameter list with the controls that are allowed to use. All others are locked.
Please find the parameter list like this:
right-click on the subnetwork > Parameters and Channels > Parameters...
To model the sheep I drew small sketches, followed by mostly try and error modeling in Houdini. To rig the model I mainly used the SideFX human rigging series and updated it later based on some parts of the SideFX cat rigging series.
If you are interested to see the project progress, you can find it in the blog.md. For following future development check this repo.
During modeling the different body part I became more confident because I experienced the use of different tools. I understood Houdini's structure better and with the time I knew where to search for the tools I was looking for. Looking back, modeling with basic knowledge of rigging would happen a little bit different, because I now know that I need some more separated primitives here or there. All in all, I learned a lot about parameters in Houdini and feel more confident to use expressions in parameter fields. Also, I learned how o use own shelves and to extend them.
The projects result could be improved by adding controls and a rig for the tail, the ears, eyes and jaw or twists for the leg IKs. Capturing the geometry would have given the model a smoother look after translating a rig, but unfortunately, it doesn't work with my model for now. This is why I stay with the option of different groups of the model connect to the bones, which gives the model a nice old fashioned look after it is transformed:
Unfortunately, the eye-white is not cosistent and will always be rendered a little bit different:
I did a lot of steps again and again and again, alone the legs (times four) were rigged for a minimum seven times. This was pretty time-consuming. But during the project development, I build a valid modeling and rigging base for the next project.
Much fun with the sheep asset.