Native Dancer: Fancy Shawl Dancer Update

Author: Ariann Rousu – Native Dancer Digital Artist

The Native Dancer Metaverse project is making progress in various areas of development. Since showing the demo video of the Grass dancer, we have been able to move forward with getting the female Fancy Shawl dancer closer to moving as well. This has involved completing her regalia, sharing it with the Native Dancer Advisory Committee, and going back to retouch the design in areas. Below you can see an updated version of the Fancy Shawl Regalia in Marvelous Designer, and an early preview of it on the Fancy Shawl Character.

One of the areas we focused in on was redesigning moccasins. The choice to focus more on the footwear came after discussing the Fancy Shawl regalia further with the Native Dancer Advisory Committee. It was mentioned that the first pair were not visually realistic and were too shiny to represent a real moccasin.

The new moccasins have a different texture, color, and have gotten new design elements. A main change that was made with the designs that were added, was the design pieces were uploaded with no background color and as single objects. Then they were placed in various areas to complete the design. Previously, when adding designs to moccasins, there had been one solid image to cover an area of the pattern. The new way looks more like real beadwork that could have been done directly on the moccasins.

Changes were also made in how the moccasins were simulated on the character, which directly affected the look of them. Previously, the sole of the moccasin was left as a cloth material. This resulted in the bottom wrapping up around the foot of the character a little too much. To fix this, I froze the sole of the moccasin to remain flat while the other pieces wrapped around the foot of the character. This created a flatter bottom for the moccasin and resulted in a more realistic look. Below you can see a photo of the old design next to the new design.

We are now one step closer to having the Fancy Shawl character in motion. Next, she will be equipped with a new two braid hair style. Below you can see a preview of the workspace and rendered view of the braids before they are complete and on the character in the Unreal Game Engine.