The anatomy of a snake

The snake is a hard thing to model because of its very slinky shape and very complicated movement structure. Although the start of making a snake would be easy (like putting some cylinders together) the actual shape of a snake is extremely hard to visualize. The cylindrical shape of the snake is what makes a snake move properly with its unique muscle form.

Here is an imahe showing a nice detailed x-ray of the snake. Its a lot more thicker in the middle of its torso. This is where the stomach and intestinal tract is to digest its prey. This sort of research may seem pointless but its required because it makes a an animal seem a lot more lifelike when all of these small details are taken into account. They all add up towards movement and its posture. Which the human eye is very keen on picking up on. So to make a believable snake i need to understand the way it works.

The head of the snake obviously houses its fangs which are deeply connected to it jaw line. When the mouth opens to attack the prey the teeth protrude outwards for a maximum bite zone. This means with its spread out fangs it would have more chance of hitting a major blood vessel or artery rather than in a small concentrated area. Thus having a greater chance of venom spreading through its prey’s circulatory system. I find the snake to be extremely graceful in its way of capturing prey, and i want this to be captivated by the audience as the snakes mouth opens forth and ingulfes the projection.

Heres a closeup shot of the waterbelly snake. This is to give me a good reference when modelling a snakes head. The eyes are very similar to a chameleons eyes or many reptiles. The scales would be quite heard to texture but not as hard as feathers like on the white eagle. You can see on the underside there are much larger scales rather than on the topside.

For the animation i would have to create one very large spinal cord with many many different coils to make the snake move in its very complicated manner. The body would also need to have horizontal flexibility because of the way its scales twist around its spine. Would i want to have the snake coil up and pounce at the audience? Well looking at the way it coils suddenly and then pounces could be a very cool way to make the snake leap at the audience. In all of these pictures it shows the snake coiled ready for a pounce. Most of the energy comes from the lower part of its neck and stomach. Its like it store its energy within its centre and then suddenly releases. So this can be a good idea for a snake movement towards the audience.

~ by mcosgrave on May 4, 2009.