{"id":164,"date":"2022-09-22T16:20:44","date_gmt":"2022-09-22T16:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mycours.es\/gamestudio2022\/?page_id=164"},"modified":"2024-11-06T19:03:10","modified_gmt":"2024-11-06T19:03:10","slug":"avatar","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/mycours.es\/realtime3D\/avatar\/","title":{"rendered":"Project: Avatar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Assignment:<\/strong> Design and create an avatar for a very specific circumstance.<\/p>\n

-It has to be auto-riggable as a humanoid.
\n-Assign it an animation from mixamo
\n-Under 10K tris (that’s more than enough<\/a>)
\n-It must have a non default material that makes sense, textured or not
\n-Make at least 5 thumbnails, and produce one piece of concept art
\n-You can start from a base mesh<\/p>\n

Brainstorming<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Sketch a full body humanoid avatar for:<\/p>\n

1- A particular mood. Pick one<\/a><\/p>\n

2- A particular circumstance. Some starting points here<\/a><\/p>\n

3- A performance starting from a mixamo mocap animation<\/a> (basically pick an animation and design a character for it)<\/p>\n

For each prompt post a dynamically posed concept art sketch + a front and a side view you can use as references in Blender.<\/a><\/p>\n

Avatars<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In this unit we’ll talk about character design, modeling, and rigging through the lens of the avatar as representation of a user\/player.<\/p>\n

Avatar is a concept within\u00a0Hinduism\u00a0that in Sanskrit literally means “descent”. It signifies the material appearance or\u00a0incarnation\u00a0of a powerful\u00a0deity,\u00a0goddess\u00a0or\u00a0spirit on Earth.<\/p>\n

Since the 80s the term has been used in sci-fi (Avatar the movie), online communities (the avatar pic), online worlds (the character representing the player), and games (the playable character), with slightly different connotations.<\/p>\n

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The earlier metaverse, Second Life<\/p>\n

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Second Life and the avatar marketplace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Family role-play in second life from The Digital Ruins of a Forgotten Future<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Becoming Dragon<\/a> by Micha Cardenas is a mixed reality performance questioning the one-year requirement of ‘Real Life Experience’ that transgender people must fulfill in order to receive Gender Confirmation Surgery, and asks if this could be replaced by one year of ‘Second Life Experience’ to lead to Species Reassignment Surgery. For the performance, I lived for 365 hours immersed in the online 3D environment of Second Life with a head mounted display, only seeing the physical world through a video feed, and used a motion capture system to map my movements into Second Life.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Artist Skawennati uses SL to imagine aboriginal futures. See She falls for ages<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Virtual performance artist Gazira Babeli accelerates their avatar to the limits of the graphics card<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Since 2008 Avatar artist Laturbo Avedon has performed within game engines questioning notions of physical identity and authorship. Club Zero –<\/a> live collaboratory creation of NFT avatars<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Manuel Palou documenting the creation of his free to download avatar<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Nikita Diakur using cutting edge machine learning to train his avatar to make backflips<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Lu Yang’s sophisticated motion capture performances<\/a> involving various representations of the artist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cultural Masks<\/h3>\n

Cultural masks can be another entry point for this assignment. Masks and costumes often represent “characters” that people can temporarily inhabit for rituals or performances.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I’ll be just skimming the surface, each of these traditions could be the subject of a whole course.<\/p>\n

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Mesolithic deer antler frontlet<\/p>\n

It has been suggested that the hunters used the frontlets as disguises so they could influence the movements of the red deer and trap them without panicking them. Another explanation is that they were used in ritual dances to bring about a successful hunt or in celebrations after a successful hunt. more<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe transition from an economy based on hunting and gathering to ancient agriculture and domestication of plants and animals was accompanied by a change in social structure and a sharp increase in ritual-religious activities\u201d<\/p>\n

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Eharo dance mask, Papuan gulf<\/a> (1900) – part of a cycle of rituals<\/a> (initiation), not sacred object, comical, burned after use. More pics<\/a><\/p>\n

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Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). Mask (Pwoom Itok), late 19th century. Today’s Congo.<\/p>\n

“This mask may have represented a wise older man at boys\u2019 initiations.”<\/p>\n

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Hemba Mask, 20th century. Democratic Republic of the Congo.
\n“masks plays crucial role in protecting boys during initiation, the vulnerable period between boyhood and manhood”. Lines representing tears for the loss of the elders.<\/p>\n

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Kwakwaka\u2019wakw artist,\u00a0Eagle Mask<\/em>\u00a0closed, late 19th c.,\u00a0from Alert Bay, Vancouver Island,<\/p>\n

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Kwakwaka\u2019wakw artist, Whale Mask, 19th c., from Alert Bay, Vancouver Island<\/p>\n

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Masque \u00e0 transformation Kwakwaka’wakw<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Northwest Coast Native American Transformation masks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These masks usually depict an outer, animal visage, which the performer can open by pulling a string to reveal an inner human face carved in wood to symbolize the wearer moving from the natural world to a supernatural realm. Northwest coast peoples generally use them in potlatches to illustrate myths, while they are used by Alaska natives for shamanic rituals.<\/p>\n

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Careto<\/a> mask from Portugal<\/p>\n

The\u00a0caretos<\/em>\u00a0appear in groups, running chaotically through the village to harass the young women. The\u00a0careto<\/em> during this time is effectively granted immunity from the rules of decorum. \u00a0He can violate social norms with impunity, as he is considered the manifestation of a supernatural spirit.<\/p>\n

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Think about the times you wore a mask (performance, LARP, trick or treating, bank robbery, KKK gathering).<\/strong>
\n How did it make you feel? How did it change your voice, attitude, posture?<\/strong>
\nDesign a mask that allows the wearer to become something or somebody else.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Hudoq is a masked dance performed during Erau harvest thanksgiving festival of many of sub-groups of the Dayak ethnic group of East Kalimantan province, Indonesia<\/p>\n

Hudoqs are thirteen crop-destroying pests, including rats, boars, leopards, and crows.<\/p>\n

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Yoruba Gelede<\/a> mask. West African countries of Nigeria and Benin, mid 20th century<\/p>\n

The Yoruba believe that older women have powers equal to or greater than the gods. These masks are used in celebrations to honor older females and to show their importance. Worn like a headdress.
\nMore pictures in context<\/a> (tourist source)<\/p>\n

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Mask (Mukudj) Ashiru, Punu, or Lumbo. Gabon Central Africa. Late 19th\/early 20th century<\/p>\n

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Known as mukudj, these masks appear in masquerades during funeral celebrations and other events of importance to the community. The masked male dancers, wearing a fiber costume over stilts, perform a variety of movements and acrobatics requiring extensive training.
\nThe white, serene faces on the masks represent peace and the afterlife.<\/p>\n

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Mycenaean Death Mask, 1650 BCE. Mycenae, Greece<\/p>\n

The masks were likely direct representations of the deceased, symbolizing a continuation of the dead’s identity in death, similar to funerary statues and incisions, immortalizing an idealized depiction of the deceased. The masks were not found on all the bodies inside the grave site, indicating that those who had them were of special status, and that the golden masks are a form of conspicuous consumption.<\/p>\n

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Design a mask for a special occasion or a modern ritual.<\/strong><\/p>\n