Arenanet Art Test - Female
interpolator
I too, am going to try to complete the arenanet arttest. I like the idea of working lower-poly then I'm used too, I like the idea of a deadline (giving myself 3 weeks to finish), and I think the concept art provides a nice challenge.
I'm doing the girl concept.
So, I spent this morning doing a rough blockout. I spent more time on the girls face and proportions than anything. I used a basemesh from a recent character and just started pushing and pulling it around to get a rough idea of her bodyshape, then I spent some time on the face. I'm trying to get a nice balance between what I've seen of the actual GW2 models I've seen, and the concept, which is a lot more stylized then the game models (or at least it seems to me.)
Here's where I'm at:
BODY:
Upper body costume:
Please forgive the horrible fur. It's just a stand-in for me to look at while I'm blocking in.
FACE:
I know it's a bit like others I've done. It's the medium res mesh from my last model. I will push everything to fit this character, but for now I'm just proportioning and trying to get the mood down.
I'm doing the girl concept.
So, I spent this morning doing a rough blockout. I spent more time on the girls face and proportions than anything. I used a basemesh from a recent character and just started pushing and pulling it around to get a rough idea of her bodyshape, then I spent some time on the face. I'm trying to get a nice balance between what I've seen of the actual GW2 models I've seen, and the concept, which is a lot more stylized then the game models (or at least it seems to me.)
Here's where I'm at:
BODY:
Upper body costume:
Please forgive the horrible fur. It's just a stand-in for me to look at while I'm blocking in.
FACE:
I know it's a bit like others I've done. It's the medium res mesh from my last model. I will push everything to fit this character, but for now I'm just proportioning and trying to get the mood down.
Replies
I'm by no means expert on character, but I think it will good course to duplicate game style as close as possible.
For what it's worth, I sometimes try to start off with a likeness of a real person, or combine multiple ones, to force me out of my style.
1 - there's an (unspecified) time-limit.
&
2 - the blog post states that this is more about the armor, than about the body.
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Not arguing, just explaining myself. I have an anatomy thread where I'm trying to learn to sculpt anatomy quicker and more accurately, although I still have aways to go.
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98003
Do people do new basemeshes everytime they do a new project, or is my problem more that I am using a.) too high a level of basemesh (too specific) or b.) I'm not doing enough to differentiate the meshes from eachother?
don't think it's as big of a prob as others are saying but thats just me, will need to see more before judging. I think it looks really nice and fresh so far
@iniside - those are awesome, thanks. I looked up some other images and found some character sheets for different races, but nothing as close as you got. Thanks again.
@Zwebbie and Naox - I appreciate the advice guys. I ... well, you're both great artists, and I'm listening. I knew it was probably going to come up, since I got the same comment with my last character, but I figured that because the focus here is supposed to be on the armor, and because I knew I could get where I wanted with my a basemesh I already had, that I would go for it. That said, I'm still doing my anatomy studies, because I know it's really important for me to be able to do it right, and be able to do it quickly, and I hope that by the end of this project the similarities wont be visible.
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As for the update:
Still just iterating. Trying to figure out how to attack certain parts of the costume. Having a hard time with the skirt, but I think it's just a good number of layers. Has anyone found a character sheet for her yet?
@Gir - yeah, I'll do the fur correctly when I get closer to finished.
@Torch - I have no idea yet. I think I'm going to do alphas, but it depends on how the mass looks. Seems like if I do fur 'cards' with alpha, that I'll have to use a lot of polys to get it massed out, but I might use just as many by doing it as a sculpt. We'll see? Are you doing the same challenge, how are you considering it?
@Riot - her torso is long on purpose like in the concept, maybe pulling out her legs a bit would even out the proportions. Thanks for the input.
I think you're off to a great start - if you want to check out Yeman's submission for the previous test he got some pretty good results with fur:
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88629&highlight=arenanet&page=3
The fur isn't fur, it's just massing. It's not supposed to look like fur, just be the general size and shape.
So many of these threads popping up, so interesting seeing how people deal with things and general workflow. Learning a lot just doing this concurrently with people.
Not happy with a couple things. The flow of the back side skirt makes it obvious that it's a mirror. Not sure yet if I'll be mirror that in texture, or if it'll be full ...
Also the leggings I'm just beginning to figure out, the shoes I have no clue. It looks like the metal plates over the shin on each layer extend down into the foot armor. I'm going to try to match it up with the hand armor if I can.
I don't know if you even want to work your way from that though. Don't say you need to, just what I see
Looks ace this far either way! Keep it up!
So I restarted: This is where I got too:
Anyway, this is all time you could be putting in to your art test.
This is my art-test buddy.
I don't think you should completely abandon your earlier model, though. It was progressing very well and I could see it turning into an excellent low poly. I think the only issue was that the face looked slightly too similar to some previous models you've done, but that could easily be changed by simply closing the mouth and accentuating some of the facial features you see in the concept. The nose was already looking pretty spot-on, and the eyes were also looking great.
If you're going to forge ahead with the fat version, I'd suggest changing some of the proportions of aspects of the outfit to emphasize the fat. You could exaggerate the sizes of things like that door knocker thing on her belly and really push the chunky, round shapes everywhere.
Id say it depends on Arenanet really. Obviously nailing that fat model would show them you are good at what you do, but they also might like your sense of humor and would enjoy your spirit in the office, and everyone would talk about your submission and youd make friends fast
Comparison.
Good luck.
@ Frell -- Thank you for the reference images of your sister.
@ everyone else -- I'm not doing this to 'differetiate myself', and to be honest I think it's really shallow of you all to assume that because she's a bit overwieght, that this is a joke. It's not a joke.
Frankly I just think there aren't enough real women in games.
New update: Think I'm pretty much there with the basemesh, although I'll need to put some time in on the hands and face when I reach those areas.
To be fair, this model would be considered obese, not a bit overweight. Unless you're just kidding :P
Right now the line going through he center of her is a bit too strong and could be toned down.
There's a discrepancy there with what you are defining as a 'Head' in your diagram. In the arenanet example, you have included the bulk of the hair in the head unit, whereas with ysalex's, you have only included the face, which obviously skews the measurement a bit, and results in an exaggerated count.
Basically, I disagree with this assessment. I think the elongated torso accentuates bare-bellied-ness of the armor design, which is the focus of the test - the armor. And I'm not sure what is so wrong with the handling of the face which would necessitate a redesign, but maybe that's just me.
With that all said, the current, plumper iteration, is humorous. I can't tell if your serious or not, but that certainly would be an attention-grabber, especially if you treat it with the same level of craftsmanship. haha!
A "real" woman doesn't let her body fall into lazy disrepair on the verge of a heart attack.
No logical person would.
no..... not at all.....:D
LOL.
But I mean, see! It's sick!
And before someone say that "real girls" have meat, that isn't meat, that's blubber, a lot, it's unhealthy and not good looking at all.
Sorry I suck at telling what's a joke lol, I was like, what....
It was still interesting.
Good model though.
She'd have to be a mage though unless she gets at least a little bit of muscle imo