Video diary of me creating Shub-Niggurath in 3ds max

Whilst creating Shub-Niggurath for use as a monster in the Invasion gametype featured in Unreal Tournament 2004 I decided to press record and leave it running. Everything from me setting up the image planes to construction, unwrapping, rigging, skinning and animating this monster can be seen in the videos. Remember that if you are creating a model for Unreal, in 3ds Max make sure it is facing the positive X axis.

You need 7-Zip to extract the videos.

This is what the final model looks like. I created 2 different textures for the model. It was textured in ZBrush. If I had more time or if UT2004 supported normal maps I would of liked to have added more detail on the front of the model.

Please note that this model is not supposed to be a direct copy of the monster in Quake, but more of a variation. I modelled, rigged, animated and textured the model in less than a day.

Image Planes & Construction of Shub-Niggurath

	Part 01 Setting up the image planes and units for Unreal Tournament 2004.	Duration 00:01:17	7-Zip Size 3.35 mb
	Part 02 Box modelling Shub-Niggurath. Boxing out the main bulk of the monster.	Duration 00:14:25	7-Zip Size 88.4 mb
	Part 03 Mirroring and welding the model to complete the monsters basic shape.	Duration 00:10:15	7-Zip Size 80 mb
	Part 04 Pushing vertices around to add more form and shape to the model.	Duration 00:10:08	7-Zip Size 78.8 mb
	Part 05 Adding even more form, exploring various smoothing modifiers and experimenting with the Unwrap modifier.	Duration 00:16:17	7-Zip Size 146 mb

Unwrapping & Rigging Shub-Niggurath

	Part 06 Unwrapping Shub-Niggurath using the Unwrap modifier and Pelt tool.	Duration 00:20:39	7-Zip Size 205 mb
	Part 07 Creating the bone setup for Shub-Niggurath.	Duration 00:31:35	7-Zip Size 83.4 mb

Skinning/Weighting Shub-Niggurath

	Part 08 The skinning process usually takes the longest time. I explore several techniques and methods that can be used with the Skin modifier.	Duration 00:18:12	7-Zip Size 94.5 mb
	Part09 Skinning continued. Focusing on the lower torso and feet.	Duration 00:18:12	7-Zip Size 136 mb
	Part10 Skinning continued. The tentacles are given some attention in this video.	Duration 00:20:19	7-Zip Size 131 mb
	Part11 Skinning continued. The upper torso and base of the tentacles are looked at.	Duration 00:19:34	7-Zip Size 208 mb
	Part12 Skinning continued. Final skinning tweaks of the entire model.	Duration 00:17:18	7-Zip Size 132 mb
	Part13 I decide to add extra bones to serve as place holders for things such as spawning effects.	Duration 00:04:50	7-Zip Size 20.5 mb

Animating Shub-Niggurath

For UT2004, the model should be facing in the positive X axis. Unreal requires the model should always move on the spot. The engine handles in game position changes. However it is possible to remove the Position/Rotation changes from the Origin bone before you export the animation.

	Animation Part 01 The “Idle” animation.	Duration 00:19:23	7-Zip Size 60 mb
	Animation Part 02 The “Walk” animation.	Duration 00:08:17	7-Zip Size 33.3 mb
	Animation Part 03 The “Melee01” animation.	Duration 00:08:38	7-Zip Size 28.6 mb
	Animation Part 04 The “Melee02” animation.	Duration 00:09:18	7-Zip Size 27.8 mb
	Animation Part 05 The “Melee03” animation.	Duration 00:05:48	7-Zip Size 19.8 mb
	Animation Part 06 The “Charge” animation.	Duration 00:13:29	7-Zip Size 29.7 mb
	Animation Part 07 The “Spin” animation.	Duration 00:06:28	7-Zip Size 13 mb
	Animation Part 08 The “Pain” animation.	Duration 00:02:47	7-Zip Size 5.11 mb
	Animation Part 09 The “Death” animation.	Duration 00:12:08	7-Zip Size 40.5 mb
	Animation Part 10 Importing the mesh and animations into the Unreal Editor.	Duration 00:04:25	7-Zip Size 6.99 mb