Modelling Pt.1-2

i then rotated the eye lids to a "neutral" possition











and aligned them back with the body,
i then used the fdd box on the body to shape the body around the eye a bit better.













i selected the edges where the mouth is to go and chamfered them to enable me to create lips by a simple extrude












i possitively extruded the polys in the place of the lips and negatively extruded the polys for the mouth box. i extruded in a few steps so that if i could select the edges in a loop and scale them to create a more effective mouth box.











i think the character so far looks quite effective now for the wheels.











initially i created some very basic wheel to mock up the size and possition. once i was happy i moved them inward to then create the wheel arches












i wanted the wheels to be quite large like on real fork lifts.














where the front wheel intersected the mesh i selected the polys and extruded into the body mesh

























i made the rear wheels see through (alt+x) so i could use the same process as there are more polys at the back it was more difficult.













i then negatively extruded and tweeked the verticies to create a more smooth shape.












i then chamfered the outer edge to create a flaired wheel arch. to fully encase the wheels and allow them to be wider.












this is the basic model finished.
now to make the model individual and more detailed.












i uvw unwrapped the eyeball and put the eyes in, this took alot of trial and error to get the correct possition, width, size, but i think the result is worth it. i also added a slight specular level and glossyness to create a more realistic eyeball.










i added more detail to the wheel by seleting all the horizonal and vertical lines on the "tire" and chamfering with 2 segments, i then moved the new middle line inward to create the tire tread.
i also added some detail to the wheel hub by connecting the spoke like lines and scaleing/moveing to create the shown shape.








i added some advanced materials (i created for a private project over xmas, and stored in an external material "library" to use in the future) to the differnt objects in accordance to the colour sceme i outlined in a previous post. (these arnt set in stone just to help visualise) the eye lids and body have a carpaint like texture, the wheel hubs are chrome, the tires actually have a fabric texture but looks very effective as rubber.






i swapped the colours of the body and eye lids as it made the character a bit dark, here is an initial render.

i then created the forks and piston cylinder.
i wasnt sure how to connect the cylinder to the body to i looked back at the RXX concept, there seems to just be 4 mounting arms that directly attach the cylinder to the body.

i created a block that extrudes from the cylinder to then create the mouting arms.

i got a bit bored of the character creation and decided to retexture some crates
i created for my game, they are basic boxes that inset the polys and extruded inwards.

with a metal texture and 2 wooden textures for the panels i added the same image as a bump map to add a little more detail.

the forks in possition and linked to the trucks body.


now to rig the piston and bone the forks.

i aligned the 3 sections of the piston and raised each to the maximum height that is possible.

i then created some dummies to link the sections to and aligned then with the piston sections "Maximum". i then created lines to path contrain these dummies to. each line was the exact length of the travel of the piston.

when the top piston is moved the rest need to move an equal distance along their own path

to do this i have wired the parameters of the percentage along path to the top piston for the bottom 2.

for ease of use i added a handle above the truck to coinside with the driving rig i will be building next.

i rewired the parameters to the handle percentange for each piston section and it works as intended. i then linked the lines to the piston cylinder to follow the truck if it moves.

i then created bones in the forks to allow me to animate them.

Modelling Pt.1-1

i started with a sphere. and moved the verticies around a bit. i then pulled on of the top points in towards the middle. this took a while to get the desired shape by using soft selection and scaleing rings of edges.

i pulled it down at the front to create the area for the mouth and the front wheel.
i also created a nose bridge to help seperate the 2 eyes, in 1 eye ball.

I then applied a FFD modifier to easily manipulate the shape symetrically. (there are slight differences but i feel this adds to the individuality of the character.

i pulled the rear controller points at the back backward to elongate the body.

i thought the body was a bit whide so i scaled the outer control points to squash the fork lift body.

i then created the eye ball and eye lids. in the same way we did in the tutorial exercise.

i then created a seperate FFD box and spacewarped the eye lids and eye ball to the FFD box. this enables the eye lids to morph to the fixed shape of the eyeball.

Storyboard

Box 1: quick pan of messy store room large crates everywhere,

Box 2: truck zips into camera on finish of pan

Box 3: Truck quickly stacks boxes camera switch's from left to right to left, quickly.

Box 4: Turns box correct way up with forks, aligns to pick up and reverses,

Box 5: As he starts to lift the box it rolls off.

Box 6: turns and looks in anger at the box, tuts and shakes head, keeps chin up.

Box 7: aligns with box gets forks underneath, and aggressively flips the box to the pile of stacked boxes.

Box 8: box comes to a stand still wrong way up.

Box 9: picks up the box and keeps it at a low height, and slams it in to the stacked boxes.

Box 10: picks the box up and at a height drops it onto the row already aligned.

Box 11: Quickly puts a heavy box on top

Box 12: Drives off with confident accomplished "swagger"

Research Reflection

After doing my research for the character, i have narrowed down my idea.

on wikipedia it is said that "Operators can drive forklifts backwards because the objects are carried on the front of the forklift, blocking the operator's view. This is also why the steering wheels are the rear wheels." this has influenced my idea to have the forks at the back of the truck, and the eyes on the front, this can provide some comical aspects as the character will have to peer around its self to see what its doing with the forks.
another reason for the rear wheels to steer allows for the front wheels to be as far forward as possible for the pivot point to allow the counter weight to be less. so i will have to position the wheels there too, to keep the aesthetics of the forklift

The eye will have to convey most of the emotion, and i can supplement this with the wheels acting like hands and arms.

I feel i have to stick to the statement that John Lasseter made in the character design extra on the Cars DVD/Blu-Ray, that the Cars are first and foremost Cars, they are made of metal and weigh a considerable amount. they are rigid, and non deformable.
the cars wheels will have to stick to the linear path that the suspension can travel on and the movement of this has to affect the body of the forklift.

character personality ideas

-makes sound himself, reverse beeper. (boop boop boop), hydraulic lifter(straining sound??)

-moving sounds not ness a character made noise but will need a engine sound (electric or otherwise.)

- happy cheery, job is second nature and can do with his eyes shut, very confident, proud, cool headed (until the problem box occurs)

the colour of most forklifts is silver and orange/yellow with black accents, so i will also keep this colour trend.

Character Design

these are some character designs i come up with while sketching, they are all based on the forklifts i found pictures of.

the upper right is the conventional forks for a truck with a body similar to the STILL RXX concept.

the upper right has a more conventional body but with the forks of the RXX concept.

the lower left is based on the Cars designs of forklifts.

Lastly the lower right is a design i have based on a combination of the RXX truck and Mike Wazowski. I think that this is the strongest design and the one i will develop to use and animate.

through my research on characters with a head-body and research into different types of forklifts i have decided to base the design on Mike Wazowski and the STILL RXX concept.

The are both of a similar shape and i think integrate together well. the oval shape of the truck, will help to make the character tall and proud but keep the round eyeball shape.

The clouded glass effect will hide the drivers cab to keep the wholeness and independence of the character, not make it seem they require a 3rd party to do the job for him.

the position of the forks at the back of the truck will enable me to use the mouth and eyes to greater effect, and not obstruct the view.

Character Development Cont.

due to the body of the character also having to be the head the body language is restricted
there are a few character i could find that are animated with the body also being the head.

Mike Wazowski















Mike is a great character whos emotion portrayed through body language is amazing.
the main body features that are used are his eyebrow/eyelid, arms and legs.
he is a very casual self confident character that due to his size is over shadowed by his partner Sully.



BOB














BOB is a blob of goo that can self mutate his shape to what ever he pleases, the majority of the time is a semi spherical shape thats body and head is one.
the body movements compliment the voiceovers very enthusiastic nature. the jelly like consistancy makes the monster move almost constantly but the movements almost seem deliberate and help emphasize the emotions.



Sponge Bob Square Pants




















Although there is a waist to the character the majority of the head is also the upper body/torso.
a sponge can bend and squash, be slightly stretched and sponge bob uses this to great effect to convey his emotion to the audience

each of these characters used their limbs and facial features to convey their body language to the viewer. Each is essentially a head with arms and legs.

the characters in Cars are also of similar design where they have a joint head and body, but i didnt include them on this post as i have already mentioned them in others

Forklift - Character Design

this truck is an offroad hence the large front tires, and the fork arm is more robust to cope with extra stress.









the wheels are situated right at the back of this fork lift and are very small. this is a very compact truck.















this is more of a industrial heavy load, heavy duty truck, to lift loads higher.

























this is a very unconventional cool design, again the wheels are right at the back, the driver sits in the pod. the mechanism is very basic.














i like the cartoony take on the fork lift, although it is still a truck it does have a little personallity with the eye like headlights and it looks a bit childy.
it only has the main details of the fork lift.















this truck has a tall mast to lift stuff higher






















a modern concept for pallet transport forklift











another cars forklift toy. showing anger, these trucks are almost powered pallet trucks rather than forklift trucks that just transport heavy loads.

this truck also has a high mast allowing it to lift objects high. its is very compact and narrow.the driver is fully encased in the cab.

this forklift is very different to the others. it has a high mast wide wheel base and small offroad tires. the cab is to one side like the larger industrial forklifts but has a mast like the smaller ones. the cab is also open.









Operators can drive forklifts backwards because the objects are carried on the front of the forklift, blocking the operator's view. This is also why the steering wheels are the rear wheels.

another reason for the rear wheels to steer allows for the front wheels to be as far forward as possible for the pivot point to allow the counter weight to be less.