Week Two: First thing first

For this project the goal is to create a character, model it rig it, animate it, and apply fur and render it. The character should interact
with the fur in an interesting way.
One caviat, to maximize my time in houdini, i will be creating some of these assets outside houdini.

step 1 : create a character
for this project i have chosen to reference one of my favorite characters as all time, "walter sobchak" from the the film " the big lebowski"
if you are not familiar i highly recomend the movie.
below is an image i will be using as reference:

setp 2: model
to streamline the process i have limited the character to just a head. i built this in maya, sculpted in zbrush.
below is an image of the mesh screen captured from houdini:

step 3 rig:
the next step was to rig the character, i did this in maya as well utilizing custom tools i created.
The rig is largely based on slide on surface controls.
below is an expression test i animated as a template to test on:

step 3: fur
the next step was to do some look dev, to get a general idea for look i started using the defualt fur tools found on the shelf in houdini.
below is the first render:

this render, was... well rough. This render was used to diagram what needs to happen next, first off the fuir is tooo dense,
the width of the hairs are worng, the fur needs to be combed and groomed to look more like mr sobchak.
also there is is no fall off or stuble in the length.
after a few short iterations i got something i was more pleased with.
below is an image reflecting these changes:

more next week....