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Me: Eric Keller

Hi and welcome to my Blog. This is a hastily compiled record of my digital art and computer graphics experiments. I am a freelance CG artist living and working in Hollywood CA. I have written several books on Maya and ZBrush. Below my blog you'll find links to the books and tutorials I have authored and co-authored. I also occasionally teach at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood.I named my blog "Bloopatone" in honor of my first dog "Blue". She passed away a few years ago and I still miss her even though she was very grouchy and liked to bite me!

I'm proud to be an instructor at The Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood. Take a look at the work of our students and instructors on the Gnomon School Blog and the Gnomon Workshop Blog

Here is a link to my Artstation Page

Here is a link to my Demo Reel:

Eric Keller's 2016 CG Demo Reel from Eric Keller on Vimeo.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Peacock Jumping Spider Test

Been working on this for a while now, finally starting to come together (although not perfect by a long shot). This is YET ANOTHER animation and render study. This time using my Peacock Jumping Spider model. Modeled in ZBrush. Textured in ZBrush, Mari, Photoshop. Rigged and Animated in Maya. Rendered in mental ray for Maya (using Maya fur and Paint Effects for the hair). Comped in Nuke.

 After finishing this I realize the dance moves are still too conservative. In reality jumping spider are CRAZY! Next version will have sound and more outrageous moves plus a female for the audience. And I'll add the little silk safety line these spiders usually deploy before jumping. Overall I am pleased considering the many issues I had. Originally I det up an entire animation in Modo, fur and all, but it was a disaster. Modo animation tools are just not ready for prime time in my opinion.

Anywho...




Peacock Jumping Spider Animation Study from Eric Keller on Vimeo.

So the critter in this animation is not at all made up, and the real thing is even weirder than what I've shown. The photographer Jurgen Otto has been making movies of these guys and posting them to You Tube. This has been a big part of the reference I used. Here's a link to one of the movies but there are loads of them up there!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_yYC5r8xMI

3 comments:

  1. That's cool. I always enjoy checking your page to see your latest Mr Keller... :)

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  2. Thanks so much! I have a bunch more stuff in the works just takes a while to render!

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  3. I've enjoyed your Gnomon DVD's as well. Doing some Australian spiders at the moment and have been quite inspired by your work :) Keep it up and I look forward to more Maya biodiversity.

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