3. Choosing a subject
A Tough Decision
I have been spending some time reading about Palaeontological reconstruction over the last few weeks. I want to choose a species which will fit the following criteria;
1. How much is known?
I want to infer as little as possible, so choosing a species which is well understood and documented is preferable.
2. How long will it take to make?
Some extinct creatures might move in ways that are difficult to animate, or have physical features such as feathers that would take time to create properly.
3. How impactful will it be in VR?
I think a creature of significant size, or with features that are far removed to what we are used to seeing in animals living today would be most impactful. VR lends itself very well to conveying scale, and it is hard to grasp the size of some of these animals by looking at a drawing with a scale.
The Winner!
I eventually settled on an Azhdarchid - a flying reptile that was the size of a giraffe. These creatures have been represented in documentaries such as Walking With Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Planet. I searched for a species of Azdharchid that is less represented in media and settled on Cryodrakon Boreas - the frozen dragon in the north. You can’t really get a cooler name than that. Cryodrakon was discovered in the Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta, Caneda. They were carnivorous, inland predators, with a 5 metre wing span and a head resembling that of a giant stork. Below I have included an image of a 3D sculpture of Quetzalcoatlus Northropi, a close relative of Cryodrakon.
Azhdarchid Beside a Person.
Here is a 3D sculpture of an Azhdarchid made by Blue Rhino Studio beside a person. Imagine a VR experience where this beautiful sculpture could move around, take flight and hunt in front of you.
Challenges
Animation
The main challenge this model will pose will be in the animation. The bending of the wings will need to be considered, as there could be unwanted stretching or contracting in the texture. The overall gait of the creature is quite different to any animal we are used to seeing, so animation could be challenging. Luckily, footprints of Azhdarchids have been preserved, so we can use these when animating to recreate their walking cycle.
Texture
The creature will be seen quite close up and it will be enormous. I will need to use UDIMs to spread the texture over multiple UVs.
Hair
The Azhdarchids had hair, I will need to figure out what this hair looked like and create a groom in Unreal Engine that doesn’t behave badly when it is animating.
Accuracy
I will need to find information to make Cryodrakon as accurately as possible. I have been reading Mark Witton’s book on Pterosaurs, which has descriptions of the morphology of these creatures as well as of their behaviour.
In my next post I will outline an initial pipeline for the process of creating Cryodrakon accurately for real time rendering.
