While my use of Mixamo and Fuse models was nowhere near as creative as what I've seen some of my classmates do, this was the assignment I started to feel the ambition.

One of my biggest limitations was the fact that I spent the minimal amount of time learning how to import Mixamo characters and design avatars on Fuse (to be fair, it was probably the simplest process of any I've been introduced to in this class) and spent a lot more time stuck on the interactivity problems of Assignment 3. Long story short, I want to do a lot more with these characters than I technically know how to do, so it's off to learn Animator for future Unity projects.

Anyway, even though designing an avatar on Fuse wasn't a requirement for the project I'm so glad I took the time to do it as it's easily the most fun part of this assignment. Customizing avatars goes all the way back to early MMO games for me (well before Mii came to be), and this was by far the most thorough. I tried to make an avatar as close to me as possible (warts and all).

The one bizarre thing about the Fuse models feature is that for some reason the models change a little bit when you upload them to Mixamo. My character's glossy dark brown hair became silver and chrome in Mixamo, and the features just in general became softer and more gray. Basically he looks older than I designed him to be. I'm not sure why that happens or what to do about it.

But it wasn't until I saw other people's work that I realized what Fuse is capable of. Seeing Michael Jackson and characters from the Matrix in my classmates' projects was a strong reminder to think outside the box and go a step further than just learning the technical side. And as I get more confident with Unity and programming, I can try to shift toward something a bit more out there. We'll see what happens.