Yes, the mop is finally the topic of a post here at Soule Designs. Not just any mop, a cgi mop! Below are a few different mop test videos to try out some features in Maya's nHair physics engine. Why model and animate a mop? This stately cleaning implement will be a prop in an upcoming animated short I'm working on, Licorice Merlin. But don't worry about that now, just sit back and enjoy the mop, mop, mop, all day long...
Mop Concept
Concept sketch "Slick" holding his mop, it's a pretty basic string style mop.
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| Bow before mop sketch! |
Mop Test: First Attempt
Very tentacle-ish, this first attempt is a pretty good proof of concept?
Mop Test: Second Attempt
Getting better, much less tentacle-ish, though mop strands still behaving a bit too organic and not colliding with the mop properly.
Mop Test: Third Attempt
Collisons refined and a bit of color, mop strands much more dense now, getting closer!
Mop Test: Third Attempt + Mental Ray
Low resolution (640x480) mental ray render of mop test 3, no final gathering or motion blur, looking pretty cool! There is a random POP of mop strand at the end that still requires investigation - likely some kind of bizarre collision artifact....
That's it for now, just some mildly interesting mop action. Be on the lookout for more on Licorice Merlin - I'm hoping to post about the Merlin model as I rough a mesh in ZBrush and then do some wicked Maya renders ;-)