Mandrill Ziva Simulation

It was one of my biggest projects of the year. Here are the steps involved:

Modeling:

The first part involved modeling the skeleton, muscles, and finally the skin in ZBrush. This was the longest process because it required zero interpenetration for the bones and muscles and a visually accurate anatomy.

Rigging:

I tried to create a rig that worked for both the bones and the skin. The most complex part was ensuring that the movements were anatomically correct (radius and ulna twist, scapula, etc.) to avoid any issues with the muscle simulation. I then placed the bones and muscles in two different layers. This way, Thibaut Masson, who was responsible for the animation, could check the movements with and without the skin to ensure they were consistent for both the skin and bones.

Muscle Sim:

Once the animation was done, I imported the bone animation in Alembic to avoid any issues with the rig. I then used the LOA (Line of Action) system in Ziva Dynamics to improve muscle contraction. After the muscle simulation, I exported everything in Alembic to finally perform the skin simulation.

Merge Sim and Anim:

After that, I just needed to create a blendshape between the skin animation with only the skinning and the skin with the simulation. I then painted the blendshape influence to remove the skin simulation in areas where it didn't work well, such as the head, hands, etc.