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  • Digital Tarantula Project



    (I posted this thread at Arachnophiles and it was suggested that I should post it here as well. I modeled a T for a commercial project then after completing the external modeling I decided to carry on and model the whole inner workings. Any help, support, corrections, additions, improvements will be greatly received. I'll be making the model freely available when its completed.)


    I'm a long time `T` owner having always had at least a couple in my collection at least. I made a descision to try and breed Brachypelma smithis for a year or two and have been building up my stocks in recent months. I've also just aquired a few spiderlings to ramp up the numbers.

    The reason for my post other than to introduce myself is to share with you some of the images from a project I did for a UK based company recently. I am a freelance digital modeler and specialise in creature design of all manner of beasties. As nearly everything I've ever built needs to be based on some `real` anatomy in some way I often get asked to model invertebrates. This however, was my first go at a spider. I only needed to do the modeling (or geometry/the wireframe) as other people take on the job of texturing, rigging (giving it a dynamic bone structure that allows a 3D animator to move it) and animating.

    When ever I model a real creature I study its anatomy in great detail and having kept spiders for years this was fairly easy task for me. Each of the body parts is initially given its own color (for easy selection and identification) and the software I use to build these models with allows me to name each part according to its name. So, for example, after modeling a leg I can color the tibia in green, the patella in red, the femur in blue etc. making life much easier later on it the process.

    Incidentally, models like this are fantastic for education purposes as you can manipulate them on-screen and even break parts off to show inner workings or more detailed areas. An example would be the eyes of a spider: this area is chock full of detail for a modeler to reproduce but it only takes up a small area on the spiders carapace.



    So, some basics. The type of modeling I use is called Sub-division modeling and involves making a basic geometric shape and then allowing the software to smooth it out to get smooth curves that describe the required shape. It's a great way to make organic looking models and was used for Toy Story and for most other things since then. You only need to build half of a creature as most living things are symetrical and the software mirrors what you are doing across a central axis (called X)

    This image shows the beginning of the modeling where I start to build the sternam and the coxa. After roughing out these two area I started to construct a basic leg. This leg with all the correct parts colored and labelled becomes a template for the others and in some way is only a place-holder for me. At a later stage I would construct a mintutly detailed leg and replace this version.



    Here you can see how I've copied and pasted the leg around the model to give me a feel for the overall shape. Remember, this is very `boxy` as it has yet to be smoothed in any way.



    You can see here in the close up that the legs are not even attached to the body at this stage. The thing with this type of modeling is that the overall shape matters more than the details at this early stage. The grey area will become the carapace. At this stage it is just an extruded ring that reaches right around the top.



    The carapace is extendedto the edges and down towards and over the area where the trochanter are to be. The carapace is now green and has been smoothed just to get a `feel` for its shape.



    A temporary abdomen is added to assist in getting the shape balanced.



    part 2 soon...[/img]

  • #2
    This is where you can start to see the smoothed version a little better. This image shows coxa, trochanter and femur in a little detail. At this stage I am ensuring that there is sufficient geometry in the right areas even if they aren't exactly like the finished article.



    The image below shows a shot of the model from below. All the major body parts are in place but there is very little detail any where on the Spider. Although I can't show it in these images at this stage I am tweaking the model to get it to `look` like the shape of the Spider I am trying to model. Incidentally I used B. smithi images for my reference.



    A quad view showing a few different angles of the low resolution model at this stage.



    I did a quick test by making the whole model monochrome for a minute




    Rudimentary pedipalps added





    This is an image showing the book lung and epigastric furrow details. The left image is the basic modeling, then a smoothed version and finally on the right a self coloured shot. The line down the middle goes when the model in finalised.



    This next image gives you an indication of the final overall shap of the model. Whilst it is still very rough in terms of details, it contains all the major parts of the finished creature. You can see how basic the legs are but it helps me to see them attached to the body to get the form correct.



    Then the start of the Tarantulas eyes.



    This is the material panel where I keep a list of the area I have built and the temporary colour I have assigned to each.

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    • #3
      It gets interesting after this stage as I start to build all the internal workings as you can see in the images at the end of this post. Any questions please feel free to ask. When I was working on the internal Book Lungs I noticed how acurate this model could be done. At some stages the hollowed out abdomen looked like an exuvium.















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      • #4
        And so it continues. I decided to split the prosoma and opisthosoma in half along a center line and just use one half from now on. This would allow me to start filling the Tarantula with the relevant internal organs. (You need to remember to model an interior wall at this point as even though a single skin model may look solid in the modeler it will only render one side in the final output, this is called back face culling in some packages)



        Next I decided to tackle the eyes. I made a set of temporary eyes from Spheres and set them on a raised piece or geometry. I then extruded a set of optic nerves that would reach down through the carapace and into the prosoma. THis would then be joined to the central nervous system. I used all sorts of reference material for this including Google, Google images several books and even a kids poster I found in a discount book store.



        Next I continued adding to the heart/blood system extending through the pedicel and spreading out into the prosoma. I intend to go back over all these organs and replace them as my knowledge of spider anatomy improves.





        Next I added a rudimentary gut and some intestine. I think the heart is encased in the dark red thing that reaches down to the anterior book lungs. I'm VERY open to learn/see more about this area as I would like to model it as realistically as possible.





        I moved onto the Chelicera and the fangs next. I split the Chelicera and gave it an internal surface then added some venon/poison pipes and a gland. Does a Spider have 2 Glands
        feeding 2 Fangs or is each Fang fed by its own Gland?





        Well, I handed the commercial model over ages ago but since starting this thread I have decided to make keep going internally. I now intend to build myself a fully functional Tarantual and make it as accurate as possible. I think I'll make it available to BTS members so they can play with it and explore it as I am doing as I build it. All it requires is a 3D package that can open the file.
        I recomend SILO as it is currently a native SILO file and there is a free trial at http://www.nevercenter.com/downloads/ When it's done to a standard I'll make it available as an .OBJ file that can be read by most 3D packages (including some free ones)

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        • #5
          Get the SILO 30 day DEMO here:


          And the SPIDER model here:
          Looking for Visual Effects, 3D Animation or Compositing Resources?<br />Find here the affordable Resources you need.


          If you aren't familiar with manipulating 3D models I'll be writing a really small tutorial to help you move the model around in 3D and how you can hide/reveal parts of the Tarantula.

          QUICK SILO TIP?
          Hold down ALT and left mouse button to spin it
          Hold down ALT and left mouse button to Zoom in and out
          Hold down ALT and Middle mouse button to Pan around it.

          That will get you going.

          Glen

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          • #6
            Heres a 9meg DIVX test I cracked off in Camtasia. It was 90meg uncompressed so it lost alot of resolution and detail. See how this works:

            Looking for Visual Effects, 3D Animation or Compositing Resources?<br />Find here the affordable Resources you need.


            Any one want to help getting the organs set up right feel free to chip in. I need more images to help me out if anyone has any (internals only). I'm not sure about the silk gland setup yet and the book lungs just aren 't right yet.

            I have lots of SIDE views images for reference but not many showing how the organs are distributed around. For example, the Gut was done all wrong until I saw it from above (not posted yet)

            Glen

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            • #7
              that is some incredible work thay you got there looks really difficult thanks for the post
              B.Smithi
              G.Rosea (RCF)
              B.Vagans
              P.Irminia
              A.Avicularia
              L.Parahybana

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              • #8
                Looks like you put some time into doing that and relly intresting to read Thanks

                Dan

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