Humanoid Robot

Finding Inspiration . . .

Inspiration Board Annotated

You need to get inspired!  This is one of my favorite stages.   Basically you explore what is out there and possible directions you can go.  Collect /research reference images, current designs, inspirational, blueprints etc. Basically find as many as you need, which is at least 20+ sources.  I call this phase, the “Inspiration Board”.  I have found that the best way to do this is to create a Padlet with all your resources.  This is not only a dynamic collection of resources, but it also retains the source information for later documentation.   

Sketching Ideas  . . .

Explore Proportions Annotated

Proportion Sketches Annotated

Here is a basic character template.   Look at the joints and body sections.  We are using the default humoniod character rig, when you design a character, consider the location basic joints & sections:

Be aware of the main bend areas.  These are marked in "blue".

Developing Initial Concept - Proportions.

Choose a proportion sketch you want to explore and sketch a few variations of your potential design.

Development Sketches

Initial Proportions - Good

Finalizing your Concept Design.

I like the initial direction.

Quick Sketch for Proportions and initial design

Refined detailed concept sketch

Final Draft Concept Design

Refined and Annotated

Final Concept Presentation *Optional

Importing Image Plane.

Import your artwork as an image plane.

In the Front View under the View menu, choose Image Plane, Import Image, and go find your artwork.

View > Image Plane > Import Image  . . .

Create a Low Resolution 3d Sketch Based on Your Design.

 Create the left side of the 'simple' robot model . . .

Select the left arm & Leg.

With the left side selected, mirror it over the X-axis. 
Mesh > Mirror ⬜

If you are mirroring over the X-Axis, use the following settings.

It should look like this . . .

Testing your design . . .

Select all of the Robot parts . . .

Export your robot design to a FBX file.  With the robot parts selected, File > Export Selection

Mixamo Auto Rigging . . .

Go to Adobe Mixamo.  www.mixamo.com

Create an account. 

Select Upload Character

Choose Select Character File

Find your robot FBX file.

Place the appropriate markers, then hit next.

Review your robot preview to see if it is working smoothly.  If not, hit "Back" otherwise "Next".

Now explore different animation samples and find one that you like.

Recording a simple animation with Screencastify . . .

Go to https://www.screencastify.com/ and add the extension to Chrome.

A new tab will open and choose Add to Chrome

Choose Add Extension

A window will appear stating that Screencastify has been added to Chrome. 

Click the Extension icon in chrome and under the drop down menu choose Screencastify

Click Show More Options

Select the screen you want to record.

A small tab will pop up at the bottom with a beeping sound. When the beeping stops, recording starts. 

To stop recording, press Stop Sharing.

Select the clip and crop the video.  Click Done.