It's been a while since I last posted up any of Hemmy's progress due to some rigging and skinning issues with the Pose Deformer plug-in issues I kept coming across. I must have rigged and skinned him about 5 times so far but all the trouble was worth it when I finally saw him moving. I attempted a very rough walk cycle today and I can already see what it is that I have to change on him. I know it's probably very bad but it's my first quadruped animation. I can't wait to look into different animation methods to see what fits best our animated short. So this is what I need to consider after this first test:
-Fix some skinning issues that appear during the walk
- Limit the translates of the leg controls to avoid any weird rotations in the joints
- Replace the basic blendshapes with separate controls for the facial rig.
-Consider any squash and stretch to the face and spine for some comedy.

I spent a bit of time analysing what could work best for Hemmy's expressions when it comes to facial rigging.  For this I drew a few extreme expressions using squash and stretch. It turned out that the best feature for his expression will most likely be his big eyebrows and his ears. It's best to keep his snout/beak more solid with a possible slight, tilt in case his face deforms completely and turns into a completely different character. 

I looked into facial muscles around the eye and forehead: the obicularis oculi (muscle around the eye), the corrugator (eyebrow muscle), the frontalis (the forehead muscle) and the procerus (muscle inbetween the eyes, just above the nose). Each of the muscles will most likely have separate controls or blendshapes. 

Hemmy's skinning was a long process which consisted of binding and rebinding the skin to try out different binding methods. At the moment he can only be posed simply because extreme poses like sitting down cause deformation of the geometry. Next step will be to tweak any stretching the joint values have caused to the texturing. 

UV mapping Hemmy and finding ways to cover the seams was a slow process. I did some quick render tests to see how I can 'weave' in the seams without making them look too obvious. Also I did some changes in the geometry around the joint areas and in between the toes to enable easier rigging in  the future.

Next step will be to work on his main skin marble-like texture. 

After adding in the cheekbones around Hemmy's face he looks much more pleasant. His body had to go through some minor changes to function properly. Also, the front row of his 'hair' is modelled and the rest are just pyramids penetrating his head geometry.  It will be a lot easier this way to sculpt individual pieces and  place them on the main model. Next step is texturing and sculpting in Mudbox.

So far so good. His skull looks a bit funny and his side view looks a bit flat but there is still a lot to work on. His 'hair' will be modelled in big chunks so we can work in detail on them in Mudbox later on.

I am pleased with his design so far, although I am still not sure about his face shape as it's been hard trying to visualise him in a 3 quarter view. Hopefully, everything's going to look much clearer once I work on him in 3D. I will probably have to work on a different version of him for when he stands up. Ready for Maya now !

I developed my last design since it seemed to work best. I posed him in different positions to see if it works for him to be standing up and sitting in all four legs. To give the illusion of a human pose I made his front legs act like arms with active hands when he dances. He is still WIP as I still don't know how this is going to work.

Hello Alan,  I am going back to what we talked about yesterday on Hemaraj's leg function. We have 3 different body types we found most interesting but I am not sure which one could work best for running and standing up in some occasions. I want to make sure I don't end up with a modelled character that will look weird when he runs so it's best to be prepared early.

After the talk I had with Alan today it made me look at our quadruped character from a different point of view. We want him to interact with the Kinnaree, meaning performing some sort of dance or do playful movements.The decision we have to make is: is he going to be standing on four legs when he dances or stand on his two like a human. Making him work with the latter will mean more complicated rigging, or even two completely different rigs. I thought it would be interesting to go with a more in between approach by looking at Remi from Pixar's Ratatouille. He can walk in four legs but can also walk like a human to show his more sophisticated side.I gave Hemaraj short legs this time, like a Munchkin's cat, so it looks like his back legs are more supportive when he stands up. 

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

So Hemaraj is a half lion and half Hem creature, which according to Thai mythology is a sort of a bird mixed with a crocodile. It's been a bit of a struggle but this is what I've got so far.

Based on Justin's advice and by looking into traditional Thai costumes I made a few thumbnails to help us visualise our character . The special ornaments she'll be wearing will be used to emphasize her Thai and bird like qualities like the tall headpiece,  the wing-like ear cuffs, the long fingernails and the chain hanging from her arms creating the illusion of a wing.

I had a chance to ask for some help from Justin Wyatt today on our characters and got some great tips to improve our design.

I used Lai Thi art as reference for the detail in the tail and wings. These are very early sketches but I can already see what changes I need to make. The human torso looks like it's a completely different part of the bird body. The Lai Thi influences need to be added on the top half  to make it look more consistent.

I was having a little play-around in photoshop with some mirrored 'scribbles' and came up with some very interesting shapes/ silhouettes. I worked nearly the same way as Alchemy but for some reason it worked a lot better for me this way. Ideally, they were going to look like feathers but some ended up looking like tentacles. It is a start anyway..

Both Kinnaree and Hemaraj are an anatomical mixture of creatures. Making these hybrids work anatomically and getting them to move and walk will be the trickiest bit of this project. If the base skeleton has flaws the animation can result badly.

Firstly, the Kinnaree, a half bird half human creature. It is said to be a bird from the waist downwards with a beautiful pair of wings and tail. Although, in the descriptions the bird is more of a swan, in murals its feathers look more colourful than that of a swan.They resemble other birds' feather colours and structure like:Peacock, Australian lyrebird, Formosan magpie, Paradisaea Rudolphi, Birds of paradise, Pheasants. It's worth looking into other birds for reference and there is a huge variety to choose from.

Hemaraj is a more interesting creature. It belongs to the lion based  beings of the forest but appears to have the head of a Hong ( a bird creature resembling a swan) on murals. In other illustrations its head looks like a crocodile with a long snout and revealing teeth. There is a huge choice of experimentation with skin textures, skeletal mixtures and animal behaviours for Hemaraj.We chose this creature for its interesting mixture of animals, the fact that it looks humorous and its lion anatomy which is the closest to a dog one. We want Hem to act like a playful dog so a mammal like a lion's one will be a good base to work on.

Character Bios

Kinnaree/ Swan Lady

Known to be a strong woman, but also fragile at certain times. Much in the manner of appearance (hair and clothing), her character is tough but with a sweetness background of a celestial dancer. With a high sense of independence, and faced with the need to continue her “destiny”, she went on without relying on anyone. The woodland dance is an expression of her inner strength; gracefulness is released when she performs the dance. Sometimes she has attacks of spectacular laughter, completely contrasting with her usual personality.

Hemaraj

Hem is a strange creature, believed to be complex and dynamic, though it has a cheerful soul with a strong determination hidden in the back of its chest. It is a denizen of the Himalayan forest and encounters Kinnaree as she sets off on her pilgrimage. With Kinnaree, Hem emulates the grace and elegance of the swan lady. It is an accompanying patron of dance and tries his best to be part of it, energetic and curious.