Dog Anatomy 2

So, I'm back again with some more canine anatomy studies.  Today was also a study in the adage 'save often' - Photoshop crashed and took my entire skeleton and muscle system with it.  Go figure.  But, I recreated it in a much rougher form and I'm still going to share it.  These studies will eventually be turned into an actual dog.  I'm torn between an action pose and the sleeping pose for the final piece.

Sketching from a photo of Oshie.  Rough sketch.

 

Refined the rough sketch just a bit.

 

Grabbed some more skull references in addition to Ellengerger's Animal Anatomy book and drew in the skull.  Nothing was in the exact right pose, but I'm feeling a little better about canine skulls in general now.

 

I started to rough in the rest of the skeleton.  This is the last stage I had saved before the crash.  I ended losing all of the finished skeleton and most of the muscles.

 

 A much rougher overall skeleton to replace what I had lost.

 

A 15 minute color study of the skull.

 

A very fast muscle study again.

 

I'm just about ready to move on to a final pose.

Breakdown of 'Connection'

So, I recently participated in a challenge called "Manga Mania." I decided to rework an old dryad/forest spirit idea I had sketched out over 10 years ago.  I wanted to work in a background and flesh out the 'connected to nature' angle I hadn't captured before.

I had a great time with this contest - I haven't drawn "anime/manga" in a lion's age.  So, I have a few stages actually saved out, and you get to see the evolution of the image.  Enjoy!

The original concept - from the year 2000
(boots? Why did I draw her with boots?)

 

Initial sketch based upon the original concept and some other references. I wanted to stay true to the original idea for the most part.

(sketches from other poses snuck in here and there)

 

Some basic color blocked in, and the form more finalized

(I decided the vines should be living... and I reaaaaly didn't want to bring them all the way down the leg so... vine shorts)

 

Colors more defined and some initial shading happening 

(She's growing from the forest floor.  Not just because feet are dumb.)

 

A background worked out and a few extras starting to appear 

(my recent trip to a very foggy forest inspired my background)

 

 Starting to tie the composition together

(light rays are always good)

 

 Working with shadows and highlights

(trying to bring the colors into harmony- right now she's very green and the background is very teal)

 

 Trying out a different look - no outlines

(not working)

 

 Brought the outlines back, but refined for a better "manga" look

(also working with the colors and hating on the face)

 

Trying out a different idea for the arms 

(swoopy arm vines?)

 

 Ditched the conceptual lines, but I liked the idea.... so, they are making appearances elsewhere. Also trying to refine the face, especially the eyes.

(the swoopy arm vines didn't work for me - but the glowy blue cracks I like)

 

 Working on the entire composition, trying to tie it together better by bringing the glowy bits into the background

(more cracks! I'm trying to bring interest to the foreground rock too, without it becoming overwhelming to the figure)

 

 Added some more 'glow' to the glowy bits and elsewhere

(trees need glowy line love too)

 

 Final tweaks to nose and other areas

(and the time limit for the contest is up)

 

I'm thinking that I might like to take this from a 'manga' look to a more realistic look.  I only did the manga for the contest, but I still like the overall concept.  So, there you go!  

Retopology Revisited

Well, it's been a while since I was last posting in this blog, and the landscape of 3D reoto'ing has changed a bit.  At least, the section that I use has changed.  I found a little program called 3D Coat, and I never looked back.

So I wanted to just mention some of the overarching things that I now do...  No details (yet).  I regularly use 3D Coat in my daily activities.  Truthfully, I prefer the tools within this program to be much more intuitive and easy to use compared to the other software that also does retopo'ing.  And I've done quite a bit of retopo'ing, let me tell you.  So far, I've looked at the bones of the arm, including the shoulder girdle, and every. single. muscle.  Seriously.

 

The muscles were segmented from grind data from a cadaver, edited in Maya to ensure accuracy, exported into 3D Coat, given a new topology, initially painted also in 3D Coat, refined in Photoshop, assembled in Maya, and then brought into Unity 3D for the (eventual) final app delivery.  

Both normal maps and the initial diffuse maps were created in 3D Coat.  The diffuse maps were modified in Photoshop for a better blend of tendon and muscle belly, but the placement of those elements was first conceived in 3D Coat.  Every model is definitely under 10,000 polys, and most are under 5,000 polys.  So, normal maps were essential in getting the look and feel that we wanted for each muscle and its fibers.

The same process can be used (and will be used) for the rest of the body.

Dog anatomy

I'm doing a series of images right now with canine anatomy.  Here are some of the sketches I've done today.  The first two are done by observing An Atlas of Animal Anatomy for Artists - a book that I haven't done enough studies out of yet.  Then, I started to sketch my dog, Oshie.  I topped it off with different rapid positions of her both in repose and in action.  Finally, I tried to lay in the proper skeleton in one of her action poses.  The angle was a little strange, so I may need to revist that one as I continue.

Ellenberger pose study - bones

 

Ellenberger pose study - muscles

 

Oshie face head on

 

Oshie face - looking up

 

Oshie studies - laying down

 

Oshie studies - action

 

Action pose - bone placement

  

Action pose - bone with color

 

Action pose - muscles 

(EDIT - I forgot to add the skeleton and muscles sketches to Oshie's 'action' pose)

Unity 2.6 Free to a Good Home

Well if you were ever on the fence about buying Unity3D... you no longer have to be! Happily announced at the UNITE09 conference this past week, the version formerly known as UnityIndie... is now FREE! Yes, that's right, free. Now known just as Unity, (the "indie") was dropped, it has all the features that UnityIndie had. For no money. The game engine that has "made people millionaires" is opening its doors to the students, hobbiests, and other less fortunate folk who couldn't afford this awesome program before.

Used by EA to develop their new Tiger Woods online golfing game, now able to build to the Wii system, and one of the most popular iPhone development kits... Unity is just a whole barrel-full of awesome. Check it out.


And while we are all very excited about the "freeness" of Unity, don't discount UnityPro either. This newest release, Unity 2.6, has some fantastic upgrades. Including a new Profiler to see exactly where your bottlenecks are, and an Animation editor that lets you graphically see and edit your characters. Or anything you feel like animating, really. But don't take my word for it. They have all of their new features laid out on their website, of course. But really, have I mentioned Free yet?

Jason Freeny

When people think of "anatomy" a few key species come to mind - humans, of course, and then our favorite pets (cats, dogs, horses, snakes, etc.). Some people may start branching out into the less domesticated animals, like deer or sharks or birds. However, Jason Freeny has decided to chart out the anatomy of previously overlooked subsets.

Like gummy bears.



Created in 3D and very well thought out, these prints of the anatomical charts for various objects we see in our lives (lego-men, balloon animals, Domo-kun, and the previously mentioned gummy bears to point to a few) are fantastic. High quality, amusing, and with the added advantage of being very convincing. Jason also has a facebook page where he sometimes posts updates of projects as they are being made, which is always a treat.

not always just posters - his work is available in various formats

Domo-kun

a close up of Domo-kun as he was being made

UNITE Conference

So, I've been fairly remiss in not talking about this wonderful program known as Unity3D. A 'step up' from Papervision3D in that in actually handles 3D meshes rather than a Flash mock-up of 3D, Unity3D is a comparatively inexpensive game engine used by both indie designers and larger companies. The editor runs on both the Mac (OSX) and Windows platforms, thankfully. It also outputs games for multiple platforms - a Windows exe, a Mac program or widget, Wii game, iPhone application (actually a separate Unity3D engine designed specifically for iPhone development), and web-based browser games that run off of a plugin (supported by both Mac and Windows).

I've personally done a small amount of work in Unity3D (and hopefully will get more done... but work has me extremely busy so we'll see). If you know JavaScript, beginning to program within Unity seems to be fairly simple. It also accepts Boo, and C#. The JavaScript is slightly different than the JavaScript used on the web - I liken it to the difference between American English and British English. There are also tutorials by Ethical Games for the change over between Flash and Unity3D. In any case... it's a great program to work, at least in my personal experience.



There is also a conference coming up, in San Fransisco, called the UNITE 09 Conference. Being in San Fran this year, and since I recently moved out to the West Coast, I am super excited about it. I plan on catching at least a couple of days, if not the whole conference. As I said... busy with work, unfortunately. The Agenda looks great - everything from an intro to Unity3D, to Unity for Flash Developers, to a Post Mortem look at some games, shader analysis... I'm very excited, to say the least. More once the conference actually starts!

Gaming and Training

While visualizing CT and MRI scans as 3D colorized volumetric images is not a new thing (see OsiriX, Fovia, VolumeGraphics, Amira, Mimics, 3D Slicer and many others that I personally don't know about), it is becoming quite popular for training and surgical planning. However, BodyViz actually uses an X-Box controller to bring the 3D patient scan to the surgeon. Personally, I find the use of a video game controller to be highly intriguing. As my generation grows and becomes the doctors and surgeons of the future, I know that I would prefer them to look at my body first before preforming surgery. And coming from a gaming background, using a game controller to move through a data set makes a certain amount of sense. Whether it be on this technology or something similar, I find the possibilities growing, and very exciting.

Video Game Technology Helps Train Surgeons

From BodyViz:

BodyViz has extensive visualization features that enable users to quickly and effectively view and interact with their patient's data in a never-before-seen 3D manner that is changing the way medical professionals view their world. The user interface is operated by an Xbox 360 controller which allows anyone from surgeons to medical/anatomy students to simply “travel” under the skin, past the bones, through the arteries, blood vessels and organs and literally fly through patients’ bodies. The game controller lets physicians create "clipping” planes and insert virtual surgical tools that can be maneuvered around internal structures of the anatomy in all directions. Users can also choose what tissue densities to view and from a variety of colors to enhance the data. BodyViz is affordably priced, lightweight and simple to use on laptops or PCs.

3D on the Brain

So, some of us have 3D on the brain. However, some of us construct interactive 3D models of the brain. Well... at least the cranial nerves. Created by a talented 3D artist, Kieran Meek, and vetted by doctors to ensure accuracy, the eHuman Cranial Nerves iPhone app rocks. (And I'm not just saying that because I work there...) In any case, I believe that this app can speak for itself.

"Learning the 12 cranial nerves and the foramen in the base of the skull are an essential component of every anatomy course; all health professionals, anatomists, biology students and anthropologists have had to memorize their names and functions. Our app allows students to enjoy learning the nerves and foramen in a highly visual, interactive environment. The models are reconstructed from a high resolution CT scan, and the user can control the position and transparency of the skull and each nerve. Accompanying textual information is just a tap away."

Solid view

Semi-Transparent view

As stated in the image... Selection Mode


And an example of the information pages

If you have $5 to spare (and an iPhone or iPod Touch) you should pick it up just based on pure 3D awesomeness. Even if you don't have the $5, bring lunch from home one day and buy the app instead :).

(although this post may just be proof I shouldn't update at 1am. I know the bad pun at the top is...)

Museum Update

Well, I am still beyond tickled to see work I've done in OsiriX being used by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Short explanation of how the images were made to follow.

So, because I feel like sharing, here are two of the flyers in which my images are used. (the flyers are the work of the design team at the Museum, I just provided content).

The Press Release flyer.

A promotional flyer, first page.

First of all, I must admit that I have upgraded the computer that these images were made on to 64 bit version of OsiriX. It is an 8 core Mac Pro, with at least 4 gigs of memory, perhaps more. I drool over it, but it's not mine. In any case, it handles large case files well- and this was a very large file. Multiple scan inputs, with the largest being over 4,000 slices. Needless to say, the 32-bit OsiriX, while open-source and awesome, could not handle this dataset.

So, by upgrading to the 64-bit version, we were able to utilize the full power of the machine. And let me tell you, for 3D visualization purposes, I highly recommend the upgrade. It's amazing and well worth the money. And doesn't it just give you a warm fuzzy feeling to know you are supporting a favorite program? Maybe that's just me... If the warm fuzzies don't do it for you, knowing that a 3000+ data set can be opened without hiccups and in less than 2 minutes may peak your interest. I am thoroughly enjoying the upgrade, when I get to use it.

Now that the program handles the dataset (barely), it takes hours of fine tuning to get any sort of recognizable image. I much prefer working with live humans, as the cadavers (especially mummies!) just don't have the same clarity. None of the pre-set CLUTs that come with OsiriX truly worked with this mummy data, but I had a very interesting time coming up with my own 16-bit CLUTs to use and save. The results were quite interesting, and for the most part, the museum didn't ask for any major changes. I did tweak the overall color in Photoshop (from a red to a golden-orange), but no cover-ups or major Photoshop changes.

I do love OsiriX and any opportunity to use it is great fun, not just work.

That is pretty much it. Now, I have to find someone I can vivisect to see the brachioplexus in action. Any volunteers?