Thursday, September 29th, 2011 Posted by Jim Thacker

Eye candy: Gorillavator

Like robots? Big on gorillas? Then you will be doubly thrilled by Wiek Luijken’s winning entry in Side Effects’ Houdini Apprentice Cook-Off, which features a robot that is also a gorilla. (Or is it the other way around?)

According to Luijken, whose day job is as a director at cinematics specialist Axis Animation, the model itself was created in modo, while shading, lighting, rendering, rigging and animation were done in Houdini.

“Nearly everything you see has been textured procedurally, including the scratches and rust on the ape, the rust on the background objects and the bricks. The building was textured traditionally.”

Luijken also adds, charmingly: “Please bear in mind that I’ve not animated any characters in over 10 years.” Doesn’t look like his skills are as rusty as his creaton, then.

Check out the other shortlisted entries in the Apprentice Cook-Off