Super Mr. Bitcoin in 3D November 14th 2017 03:00 AM

Say hello to "Super Mr. Bitcoin", in 3D style. Here he pauses for a photo-op before dashing off on a mission inspired by "The Pair of Dice Papers" to uncover clues about Nakamoto's whereabouts...

This is a first "MVP" attempt to get Mr. Bitcoin into the 3rd dimension. I've worked on many animated 3D characters before and some components have been adapted for this prototype. This is just a temporary shortcut. A good example are the shoes that are not a particularly perfect match for him but I had created decades ago. Note that Mr. Bitcoin's lavish locks are currently absent but will be added in a subsequent render.

At this stage, the character skeleton is fully poseable and and capable of character animation. The coin body itself is able to bend and twist through deformations in an expressive manner (for sit-ups for example), however the coin ridges on the edges may need to be further emphasized. The model is a near approximation of what I originally envisioned and it will be fun to do some experimenting with "cell shaders" to see if we can get a unique hybrid 2D/3D look.

I'm pretty happy with the look of the surface material. It's supposed to simulate an anodized metal like titanium or "Cryptonium". The "techy circuit" texture map, however, is temporary shortcut and will need to be redone.

While I also like the general shape, especially the way the Bitcoin glasses/mask area turned out, much of Mr. Bitcoin may be remodeled. I expect the final characters to be a single mesh, rather than separate objects for the legs, for example. More testing will need to be done to determine the best setup for animation and motion capture and the initial script will play a part on what actions will be required.

Mr. Bitcoin's cape is a test of cloth physics. It animates under the "digital breeze" with realistic, cloth-like motion. His mouth construction will be highly dependant on the solution implemented for facial motion capture, which is in R&D.

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