Dan Platt | Character Modeler

Shock Trooper from BOLT

ZAP!!! This is the SHOCK TROOPER that I modeled for Disney’s animated film BOLT. This character model embodies both hard surface (as in the case of his helmet) and organic modeling. Like all of my models, everything is 100% quads, modeled in poly’s and converted to subD’s at render time.

Truth be told, the most challenging aspect of this piece was the helmet. It consisted of a butterfly-shaped compound curve cut out from a spherical “ball”, changing yet controlled radiuses, consistent “shiplaps” and renders without a single kink.

Note: No booleans were ever used – everything was carefully hand shaped for precise control over design.

Modeled in Maya
Rendered in Mental Ray
100% quads

Edna Mode

Note: This model is NOT the actual Pixar model

As much as I love old school, in your hands, tactile maquettes – their digital counterparts are becoming more commonplace , especially in project based visual development. The “Edna Mode” practice model below was created from reshaping another totally different mesh as a test piece for universal mesh modeling. As noted above, it’s a copy of the brilliant design from Pixar’s “The Incredibles”.

Modeled in Maya
Rendered in Mental Ray
100% Quads 

I, Robot – Sonny

Back in 2003, I was fortunate to work on the visual development of Sonny for the film – I, Robot at Patrick Tatopoulos Studios. Working under Patrick’s direction, my main task was to develop the look of Sonny so we could build a life-sized lighting model to aide in accurate CG model lighting. Below are various shots of my CG development work for the film.

And yes, Sonny is my likeness. 🙂
 

Modeled in Lightwave and Maya
 

Full size physical prop

Medicus

Medicus is an icon that I created for Merck as a modern day Caduceus – the snakes were replaced with the double helix of DNA and Mercury, the medicinal seeker. This model also represents my first voyage into digital modeling.

Modeled in Lightwave 3D – 2000

Rendered in Lightwave and Electric Image