Sealosaur

#1

Hello together, I present the current state of a creature for a short film, I’m working on. This is a personal project and I’m not working in the CG industry. But I did my first steps in computer graphics in 2011 and I love to do it in my spare time.

  I call this creature a "sealosaurus". It's a kind of crossbread between a seal and a shark and it incorporates elements of a sea dinosaur also, especially the limbs. I want it to appear threatening at the first glance. But I also want the viewer to accept that this turns out to be playful and friendly later.  
  
  So far I have sculpted and retopologized it. I also baked a normal map for the low poly version.
  
  [img]http://i.imgur.com/R9cSUZk.jpg[/img]
  
  Then I went on to texture painting. It uses 4K maps which I will have to reduce in size later on for the animation. And did some grooming. My biggest challenge at this point was to create a believable transition from the frontal seal parts to the shark elements. 
  [img]http://i.imgur.com/UpPWiHz.png[/img]
  Here is a beauty shot of the current state.

  [img]http://i.imgur.com/aBp7obc.jpg[/img]
  
  Then I rigged it with a simple rig and started to make a swim cycle. Again it is a big challenge to make it move in a believable way. The question is how such a creature will use and coordinate his limbs and tail to move forward under water. I started with a more shark like approach where it used mainly the tail for propulsion, but then I felt that it should use the arms also. In the video you see my current idea of how it acts in a fast forward motion, using his full body to make speed under water.

//youtu.be/jbso3pSskLs

  So, that's where I am at the moment with this character. Any feedback will be much appreciated. Especially on the three major questions. 
  
  Does it look like it could perhaps exist, if such a crossbread or gene mutation had happened under conditions of environmental pollution for example? 
  
  Is the transition between the different body parts alright or does it look off?
  
  Would you accept that it moves in a way the video shows for gaining speed?
  
  Thanks for having a look :)