Scene 1
Starting with a “technical” animation: the scorpion will be shown in a lateral view, and rotated to show all sides. The background will be a grid, to emphasize the technical concept. Data will be presented on the screen relating to the name, genus, species, location, poisonous, etc. It will be “typed” on the screen at a rate fast enough to not dwell on it, but slow enough to be read. The rotating scorpion will be done in Maya, while the rest of this scene will be done in After Effects.
Transition
Showing a globe of the Earth revolving and slowing on North America. Then, there will be a zoom in to southwest United States and Mexico, with a label at the top stating this is the region where these scorpions are found. A boundary will be overlaid to note the exact region. Then a “warp zoom” will be performed in to the next scene.
Scene 2
This scene will show the scorpion in its walking cycle. This particular scorpion is unique in that it is the only one that can climb on semi smooth to rough surfaces. The scorpion is found in riparian areas - moist, wet areas along rivers amid arid regions. It will be crawling out from underneath a piece of wood/bark, along the ground, then on top of the piece of wood/bark.
Transition
The camera will pan with the scorpion’s movement to bring the prey in to the view. Scenes 2 and 3 will basically be a continuous shot.
Scene 3
The scorpion will attack another insect, most likely a cricket, as they are a staple of this species’ diet. The scorpion will dance around the unsuspecting cricket, and then grab it with its pincers. The tail will then come forward and sting the prey multiple times.
Transition
Again, a warp zoom will be used to cut between the scenes. The zoom will begin zooming in on the tip of the tail, and then it will accelerate. The final destination will be a cross section of the stinger.
Scene 4
Showing the telson (stinger) will be shown injecting the venom from a cross section. If adequate information allows for me to create an accurate representation, I would like to show how the specific muscles involved with venom injection work. This species of scorpion can regulate how much venom is injected with each sting via muscle control, as opposed to other animals such as snakes, which cannot.
Materials and Lighting
The goal of this animation will be to create a realistic environment and subject matter. The exoskeleton of a scorpion is consistent with a blinn material, but I will have to do some more research and see if I need to take in to consideration some subsurface scattering. That will increase render times, but it will add to the realism. The environment will utilize image mapping, bump mapping and so on. To simulate an outdoor scene, a directional light will be used to simulate the sun. However, a riparian area is known to have a lot of tree coverage, so a silhouette of leaves and branches will be mapped in to simulate a tree-covered environment. Supplemental lights will be added in as necessary to illuminate dark areas, or enhance reflected lights.
Resources
Various images of Arizona Bark Spider have been collected. These will be used to aide modeling and texturing. Videos of scorpions in motion are being collected to ensure the walk motion is accurate. Along those lines, the attack sequence needs to be accurate, so videos of that action are also being collected. The scorpion will be rigged with a skeleton. This will be a challenge, as there are very few tutorials or guides on rigging octopeds. This will be accomplished by research and trail & error. To start, I will rig mock ups to test before putting a lot of effort in to the modeling and texturing. Environmental images are in the process of being collected to help model and texture the environment to enhance realism.
Some of the resources I have collected so far are as follows below:
No comments:
Post a Comment