Mr. Collinsworth

Here is my early version of Mr. Collinsworth, fully modeled.

This model is based on a character I wrote for an old friend of mine called Mark Rolli. I’ll post more about what these characters and story are much later, but for now, I just want to focus on getting these puppets created. Suffice to say, for days, I had to stare at pictures and video of Rolli in order to capture his likeness enough in a cartoony way whereby I could look at the finished mesh and easily identify who it reminded me of.

I still am thinking of adding some additional textures, UV maps and improving the color scheme, but the model is mostly complete.

So last night, I did have a clear vision of this character in a doorway wearing a cape and although it didn’t feel right to me, in terms of the total design of this model, if I continue to meddle with the model, my ultimate pursuit of a completed animated story will stall, then crash, then burn and rot.

If I accept Mr. Collinsworth the way he is, more or less, the next phase is rigging the model with an armature (including facial rig) and trying to get appropriate mouth movement for lip syncing.

My tests thus far to lip sync a 3D puppet have been pretty awful, and have birthed a new respect for the artists who can achieve a flawless lip sync.

Once upon a time, I used to be pretty good at it..