Hello, my fellow Steemians! The Tigrrr is back, and this is my first post after the HardFork 20 update. Some of my friends have been pestering me to post something new, because now is such a good time to become active here again. And so here I am.
I've been busy doing my usual 3D animation work plus its subordinate tasks, as well as creating a lot of new artwork for my animation portfolio update, in my downtime between my brutal work assignments. And now I have some new stuff to share with you.
Some of you who have read my previous post know that my new animation portfolio will feature a lot of creature animations involving some dinosaurs created by a friend of mine who gives them away for free.
Initially, I thought of creating my own characters and creatures, but time constraints prevent me from doing so. So, having a friend who creates and gives them away for free, is such a huge blessing for animators like me who need such assets to animate, but do not have time to model our own.
I now have four dinosaurs, a dragon (wyvern), a lion and a leopard, a giant gorilla, a zergling, dogs, aquatic creatures, robots, and some human characters. But not all will be used in my portfolio.
Does it sound like I have all the right ingredients for epic animated mayhem, like a fight between two or more of these monsters? My friend's latest dinosaur freebie that this blog is all about seems to have answered that question for me.
BEHOLD, ONE OF THE MOST LOVED OR HATED CREATURES IN MOVIE HISTORY
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus is in the house! I couldn't believe what I was looking at when I saw the e-mail notification that informed me that my friend uploaded a new freebie dinosaur.
My mind was immediately filled with thoughts about vengeance, and vicious fight scenes to animate. It certainly necessitated a revision of my plans for my new animation portfolio. Planning the fight would certainly allow me to leverage my dormant martial arts skills, and hopefully make things more interesting.
So, why all the hate for this beautiful creature? It's because he's the bad boy who killed the sub-adult T. rex in the movie, Jurassic Park 3. And, aside from the fact that he killed a dinosaur that's the most favorite of most fans of the franchise, a real Spinosaurus is an easy kill for a T. rex, especially a fully-grown one.
I'd like to say more about this dinosaur, but I think it's a subject that would be better off being in a blog entry of its own, and one worthy of a STEM tag. Now, on to the eyecandy part of this post.
This 3D model is based on the movie version, and represents what was known about this creature at the time. A recent research study and resulting anatomical reconstruction shows that it had shorter legs and probably spent more time in a quadrupedal stance, than being bipedal, as shown here in this model.
The teeth in this model are too long and too thick, but I can't complain.
Spinosaurus was a piscivore, and the huge claws on its forelimbs helped it to grasp its slippery prey.
This view shows the sail, or spine, which this creature is named for.
Spinosaurus: Oh, prehistoric sushi!
THE CONTENDERS
Standing in for T. rex to fight Spinosaurus, you all know Indominus rex from my previous blog. More like unlikely adversaries, though, as such a cinematic event might not even see the light of day. But who knows? Let's wait for what surprises Jurassic World 2021 has in store for us.
THE FIGHT IS ON!
I'm not animating them yet. I'm just blocking out some poses to see how easy or difficult it would be for me and my machine to handle these two carnivorous behemoths.
All those controllers can look like a confusing tangled mess and make it hard to determine which is which. And people think our jobs are fun and easy that even a grade school kid could do it.
MORE RENDERS FOR YOUR EYES TO FEAST ON
Indominus: Why the hell are you looking at me like that? And don't put your mouth too close to me. It smells like rotten fish!
Spinosaurus: Well, look who's talking, carrion breath carnivore, or is it "corny bore"?
Indominus: Uuuhhrrr, pescatarian, huh? Sounds more like "peskytarian" to me. And, oh btw, I can easily turn you into carrion, or dino dung, if you wish.
Spinosaurus: Ouch! Hey, watch it! Told you not to bite too hard!
Indominus: Relax, bud! It didn't even break your skin. I'm an expert at this. Trust me.
Spinosaurus: Hey, this scene looks familiar!
Indominus: Uuuhhrrr, yeahrrr. I copied it from Jurassic Word: Fallen Kingdom.
Spinosaurus: Yeah, the part where the Indoraptor snatched a contractor in the hallway in the Lockwood mansion.
Spinosaurus: Hey, I said put me down gently, not drop me like a hot potato!
Indominus: Uuuhhrrr, aren't we supposed to look like we're killing each other?
Indominus: Dude, your skin is so smooth it's so lame. Looks like your displacement map isn't on.
Spinosaurus: What? Are you serious? No wonder we rendered a bit faster this time.
Indominus: Yeah, you've got your normal map on, giving you scales and wrinkles, and making you look really rough. But I don't see any deformations or jaggedness in your contours.
Spinosaurus: What the heck, we're still gonna earn our big bucks for this fake fight anyway.
Indominus: Let's get this over with, then. I get my payback and championship belt back. You get your money and a nice retirement somewhere.
Indominus: Ok, now pretend like you're really hurt and dying.
Spinosaurus: Ugh! The silly things we do for a couple hundred million bucks! LOL!
Indominus: Well, I hope it's all convincing enough for our readers. If not, let's EAT THEM ALL!
Both: Rrraawwrrr!
Ok, folks, that's it for now. This was just a test for me to see if it's worth the colossal headaches that pursuing it would give me. And yes, I will do it. I have several good, compelling reasons to greenlight its undertaking. I can't say how long it will take me to accomplish it, and I cannot promise that you'll see it soon.
But I can promise that it will be done and posted here, because I need a new animation portfolio that shows my rapidly-evolving next gen animation and art skills. The old one has outlived its usefulness and needs to be retired.
I intend to cross the pond someday, and hopefully get into my dream job of doing big screen 3D animation CGI and VFX work in the US, a few years from now. Or maybe sooner. And for that, I am going to need a kick-ass portfolio. Thank God, I now have everything I need to create it.
This blog was created with Autodesk Maya, Redshift renderer, GIMP, and eSteem Surfer. The dinosaurs were modeled, rigged, and textured by my friend, Chao Vo Ba Truong, a.k.a. Truong CG Artist. Just search for him if you want to take a crack at posing and animating those creatures.
I have a bunch of new stuff on the way, and currently in progress are blogs about the books I have in my library, the 2D/3D graphical elements for my own branding here, as well as Jacinta's portrait.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you found this post entertaining, or even helpful in some way. God Bless you all, and have a nice day.
Au revoir!