Let me begin by just stating that originally the intention for choosing this project was too have a go at modelling. Considering I haven't really modelled in Maya I am really pleased with my learning outcome and the result of the character. Even though it has been quite a difficult journey not knowing what was the best way to do things especially when they went wrong.
The biggest challenge was continuously finding hurdles with dealing with a nurbs model. The reason why I chose a nurbs model originally is because most of the tutorials that I had been looking at and following Cheryl Cabrera book tells you to start in nurbs and because I had already achieved most of the model in Nurbs. After constructing Willie so many times in polys (due to actions not working with the nurbs model) I felt that the character was more suited to the original design in nurbs. However, after all the problems and resolving them, right at the end I had to finally give up and convert again to polys!
I have had endless problems with my model and for my first modelling project I am pleased with the outcome. I have learnt a lot from tutors students and from books and you tube videos etc. and most importantly even though I have run out of time to animate my model I feel I have achieved what I wanted from this project mostly through my mistakes and problems.
Originally I was going to model Cornelius and decided to model Willie instead as I felt He would be easier! I was somewhat mistaken.........Even the most simplest shaped character can be a complete nightmare! Especially being my first.... not knowing how to do things and having to learn quickly such as rigging, painting weights etc and what to expect. Not knowing how to do something or what I do when something goes wrong was the biggest hurdle with this project.
I am pleased with the final model of Willie and feel that it is very close to my original concepts. I am not entirely pleased with the textures and will finesse them during the Christmas holiday. Partly because I bump mapped the texture on the body giving it a very rigged texture resembling shredded wheat! I changed the texture and excluded the bump map to give a better result.
I know many students have thought that my character looks a bit like 9. This, wasn't intentional as I had designed the character before I saw 9 and through my research added this in as I really liked the texture. Willie was always going to be made from old natural fabrics and I wanted him to look quite dark and sinister this was achieved by adding the button eyes as you can't sense any emotion.
I feel I have met my original brief by achieving the following tasks
- Designing
- Modeling
- Texturing
- Rigging
- Skinning
- Painting weights
I was never anticipating to go beyond rigging my character but as I moved on to each stage I had this obsessive need to see the character completed. I would have loved to show my finished character moving to give a sense of personality but unfortunately I have still to finish painting weights before I animate.
Key framing Willie to establish the deformation so I can paint weights. After key framing the head I realized that the cord around the hood was not attached. This could have been because history was not deleted. This was another problem in the end I had to convert the nurbs model into a poly to combine the surfaces. The result was fine. and smoothed so that the character looked more like the original nurbs model. This rectified the problem of the cord seperating from the hood when animating. Once this was achieved I could finally start painting weights. 
