SOFT WARE: NOMAD SCULPT
Before we delve into this topic, it would be good to explain what a Pose Morph actually is. Sometimes known as a BlendShape, a Layer Morph or just Layers, every 3D program has its own name for them, but they all pretty much do the same thing.
They’re a concept used primarily within animation and 3D modelling, but let’s simplify that. Imagine you have a digital puppet, like a character from a film, video game or cartoon. This 3D puppet can take on different poses or expressions. Higher-end models often need rigging full with bones, joints, weighting, skinning and bindings in order to animate them. Pose Morphs enable this puppet to smoothly transition from one pose or expression to another, known as morphing.
If you have a picture of your puppet smiling and another of it surprised, Pose Morphing is what happens between those pictures to make the transition fluid and natural. Instead of jumping directly from a smile to a surprise, the software calculates all the minute adjustments needed to gradually change the expression, which in animation we call ‘tweens’ or ‘inbetweens’. This involves moving parts of the face (or body) step by step, in a way that mimics how things would move in the real world.
Ultimately, Pose Morphs can bring digital characters to life, allowing them to change expressions or actions in a smooth and realistic way, making them feel more lifelike. There are dangers and restrictions along the way. The underlying technology and algorithm is moving the points that make up the model and recording their position, and you then use a slider to change from one state to another. They can’t bend around corners, only travelling in a straight line, and that can sometimes lead to issues if you haven’t planned it.
You can use Pose Morphs in Nomad Sculpt on the iPad, in which they’re called Layers, to experiment with a model without making permanent changes, such as different expressions or different-sized body parts, building muscles, or even breathing. Remember, Nomad Sculpt isn’t an animation program, but you can export the different stages and import them into animation packages as needed.
EXPERT TIP
So far we’ve only talked about moving and posing parts of the body, but you can also change colours. Y
