Week 4

Alright! This week I focused mainly on sculpting out some texture for the centipede. I had a presentation last week and I got a lot of great advice as to how I should progress. First of all, it was brought to my attention that not every segment is the same in size. In fact the size seems to increase near the middle of the body. So I went in with a latice deformer and stretched it out. I considered where the middle segments may be taller along the y axis as well, but looking at photos of large centipedes, it really isn't that much of a change, if any at all.

 

Next I looked at how a centipede looks in texture rather than color, and there were a wide variety of how I could sculpt it out. I noticed that the sides below the top shell are very wrinkly. I tried to copy that appearance and I feel like I'm really close. If anything as I write this blog I know exactly how to perfect it so looks like sculpting will push into next week. I also cut some dips around each segments end to give it more of that shell appearance.

I took a look at the carapace of several centipedes and noticed something interesting. Insect shells look smooth, but when you shine a light on them, the glare is somewhat distorted. It's not a perfect circle or oval, hence the shell is not perfectly smooth. There are shallow divets that divert the light in different directions, so I sculpted that out with a very noisy stencil and smoothed it out with an 80% strength.

The next thing that was suggested is that I sculpt each carapace differently to prevent noticeable repetition. So I made 3 types of tops for the centipede, one with dents, one that is untouched, and a third that is noticeably noisier in texture. I got the noise idea from one picture I found which gave it a more rough appearance rather than just being smooth. None of this is final so I will be working on them some more next week.

Last I have this week is the tail portion, which got the same treatment as the segments; wrinkly sides and a rough top with uneven divets in the leg segments and grooves between each leg portion. The only noticeable difference are those awesome spikes I made by pulling at the mesh. The hind legs of the centipede are the second strongest pair of legs on its body. They actually use them when wrapping around large pray and gripping them. Though these spikes do not add to this function, they are a gnarly addition and give it a more fearsome appearance.

 

As I said before, it seems sculpting will be pushed into next week as well, because the head isn't done yet and the other parts need some more details in my opinion. It was tedious to try and get the right look, but I know I am very close. I have talked to my professors about changing my planned schedule, letting them know that texturing will have to wait another week and that sculpting will go on for another. But I think that's alright. Every business hit's a snag occasionally when it comes to personal goals. What matters is if you meet the main due date when you're supposed to have the product shipped to the customer. So as long as I do that, this little change in plans is nothing to worry about.