Follow Mohammad’s step-by-step workflow to create a leaping robot cheetah - the fastest mech on Earth
While some of these ways of working may seem like rather obvious techniques, the way you make use of them may be quite complicated.
For years now, the number one piece of software in my pipeline has been ZBrush. I start a project in ZBrush right after an idea appears in my mind. I usually don't make sketches or use blueprints for reference, instead I merge the concept and modelling stages together in ZBrush. So as I progress through the modelling stage, I also progress designing it. However, you must always progress from rough blocking to detailed surfaces.
Since you're designing a mechanical creature, you should also consider some functional issues as well. So we'll also cover how to make your character seem moveable and dynamic.
Since I don't have a lot of experience in designing animals, specifically cats, I start this project by researching the anatomy of cats and cheetahs in particular.
Designing mechanical parts and details can be tricky. Always remember that the parts you design must maintain the principal attributes of your character. Your cheetah naturally has qualities that sets it apart from other animals - and even other big cats. Explore these specifications (try to get a sense of high speed, long limbs and so on in your build). Have a search online for some appropriate mechanical sources too.
Over the next few pages I'll show you how I design and model a mech creature - in this instance it's a mechanical Cheetah - in ZBrush.
What follows is my usual pipeline for modelling a mechanical creature step by step, and I'll also be demonstrating how to design the animal too. You will learn some of the main rules that you should bear in mind when designing a mech.While some of these ways of working may seem like rather obvious techniques, the way you make use of them may be quite complicated.
For years now, the number one piece of software in my pipeline has been ZBrush. I start a project in ZBrush right after an idea appears in my mind. I usually don't make sketches or use blueprints for reference, instead I merge the concept and modelling stages together in ZBrush. So as I progress through the modelling stage, I also progress designing it. However, you must always progress from rough blocking to detailed surfaces.
Since you're designing a mechanical creature, you should also consider some functional issues as well. So we'll also cover how to make your character seem moveable and dynamic.
Since I don't have a lot of experience in designing animals, specifically cats, I start this project by researching the anatomy of cats and cheetahs in particular.
1. TURN IT TO MECH
2. THE GOLDEN RULE
When designing the cheetah I keep the form close to the organic one. There's a golden rule in mech designing: whenever you get stuck in designing a mech part, just refer to its organic identical part. Referring to skeleton structure and muscle forms will always give you an answer. My preference for starting a project like this is to begin with ZSpheres This way you can get to the overall forms and manipulate them until you reach the desired style.
3. SEPARATING PARTS
Next, extract the main sections from the body. Dividing the body parts will make it easier to work on them separately and to have some neat edges. I usually use the common surface extraction method for this purpose. Then I change it into DynaMesh and manipulate it using Clay buildup, hPolish, Move and Clipping brush to get the form right. Don't do any detailing in this stage! I know it's tempting, but you'll end up with disharmonious detail levels and styles.
4. CREATING THE HEAD
The head is the most important part as a creature's most recognisable feature is its face. The most striking attribute of a cheetah's face is the black 'tear mark', so keep it in the mech version. A real cheetah's face is round, which isn't appropriate here; so to make it more scary, I referred to a panther's skull. The jaw is the most powerful moving part, so make sure it looks convincing. I used some mechanisms and a pin to suggest the jaw can open.
5. DETAILING THE HEAD
I exaggerated the teeth in my mech to suggest the cheetah's power and brute strength. Usually I try to avoid putting ears and nose in mech creatures, they seem useless. However, here I couldn't miss out the ears since they are an important part of a cat. For detailing processes I used mostly hPolish, DamStandard, Layer and Clipping brushes. I also used some insert mesh brushes that I'd previously made and some that I downloaded too.
6. THE REST OF THE BODY
Other parts of the body won't be seen as much as the head and some of them might be in a blind side which won't be seen in the camera view. For detailing them, I use the same methods as I use for the head. Watch the video to see my method for surface detailing the chest and body. You will notice that I inserted some gross bolts and pipes to the body to help to make the cheetah's design more machine-like.
7. DESIGNING THE LIMBS
Finally we reach to the crucial part - designing arms and legs. Arms and legs contain some complex joints and have various degrees of freedom. Also they have more functional and less decorative aspects compared to other body parts. If your mechanical character is meant to be animated or is going to be built in real life, you'd have to create a really complicated model. Fortunately, the cheetah model here is going to be used for an illustration!
8. THE TORSO AND JOINTS
You should consider functional aspects of parts and should try to design them just like a mechanical engineer would. You must predict the movements and relations between links and joints in order for the design to work. As our cheetah will end up as a still image, we don't have to make the model all that complicated! The only thing I need to concern myself with is remembering that a general viewer must be convinced that this part can move correctly.
9. POSING THE BIG CAT
If you know the final pose and camera angle from the beginning, you can save lots of time and effort. From the start, I knew that no one would ever see the back of my cheetah, so I left it as it was at the beginning.
I look at numerous pictures and watch many videos of cheetahs running and finally find the ideal pose. I use the Transpose Master plug-in to pose my mech cheetah in a running, pouncing stance.10. ADD THE SPINE AND TAIL
Some parts - like the tail, the spine and the neck - are easier to add after posing. I make some insert mesh brushes and apply them in Curve mode. I also used the Curve Falloff to adjust the size along the curve. You can access these settings in the Stroke menu, after you've made sure that your camera position is correct, and you can upgrade the detail levels of some specific parts that are more visible to the eye, such as the head and arms.
11. BE ECONOMIC
I skip from detailing areas that won't be shown in the final presentation, like the back of the head and arms. This is the final result after rendering and compositing. I tend to take the final render into Photoshop to work on the lighting and colours, and give the creature an environment. In this piece, I add a background and some effects such as the dust kicking up at the cheetah's feet - it helps to give the character and image movement.