Thanks for taking the time to look at this thread. I'm in the process of creating a feathered Tyrannosaurus Rex game mesh for Unreal Engine 3, and will be in much need of critique as this is my first attempt at a pre-historic creature.
Below you'll see the concept pieces and the progress made thus far. I'll be regularly updating this thread with any progress made and hopefully any changes you guys suggest!
(Oh, and I'm not sure how .GIF images work in the forum so open the images in a new tab to see them animate).
Looking really good, i would say the only thing is the arm needs thinning down at the top looks a little too large for a t rex arm. Looking forward to the texture!
I like your progress, however I think the feet could do with some work. They look a little clumpy. The Trex should look as if it is running on it's tippy toes, but yours seem to look like feet in themselves, with the heel being totally separate.
Take this image for example.
As you can see the foot starts at the heel and the trex is walking on its toes.
Looking really good, i would say the only thing is the arm needs thinning down at the top looks a little too large for a t rex arm. Looking forward to the texture!
I think you're right, the arms do need some work. Thanks for the feedback!
I like your progress, however I think the feet could do with some work. They look a little clumpy. The Trex should look as if it is running on it's tippy toes, but yours seem to look like feet in themselves, with the heel being totally separate.
Take this image for example.
As you can see the foot starts at the heel and the trex is walking on its toes.
I do see what you mean... I'll work on correcting the feet next. Thanks for your help!
Looks good, all I would say is that the head looks a little too cartoony, you could do with giving it a more menacing look. I would suggest doing this by making the head (and especially the mouth) longer and thinner vertically like the images that buzzcore has posted above. I would also suggest adding a thin defined ridge above the eye (kind of like an eyebrow) which really helps to convey anger and make it look more like a man-eating beast.
Good progress overall though and the gif images make it a lot easier to understand what changes you have made in each update.
Looks good, all I would say is that the head looks a little too cartoony, you could do with giving it a more menacing look. I would suggest doing this by making the head (and especially the mouth) longer and thinner vertically like the images that buzzcore has posted above. I would also suggest adding a thin defined ridge above the eye (kind of like an eyebrow) which really helps to convey anger and make it look more like a man-eating beast.
Good progress overall though and the gif images make it a lot easier to understand what changes you have made in each update.
Thanks for the crit Parralax. Yeah, the head is a little exaggerated... But I think that's just down to my (Below) average drawing skills for the concept :P I'll work on what you said though!
Haven't been able to work on this project for a while, but having to pick it up again now as there is a milestone deadline approaching.
Thought it was about time I added some scales! My method so far has been to mask in the scales, then when I'm done with the larger areas of scaling, I'll switch to using a few alphas for the less prominent detail.
The arms - especially the upper arms - seem a bit puffy. The arms of a t-rex, iirc, were roughly the size of a man's arms; they were almost vestigial (and paleontologists still can't agree how they were used).
The arms - especially the upper arms - seem a bit puffy. The arms of a t-rex, iirc, were roughly the size of a man's arms; they were almost vestigial (and paleontologists still can't agree how they were used).
Thanks for the crit! Yeah the arms definitely are a little puffy, you're right. I've since moved on from the sculpt but I'll make sure to correct any puffiness in the arm of the low resolution mesh.
Updates! Above shows the final sculpt version and the game mesh, which is almost complete. Any crits on how I could go about optimising the game mesh any better?/Are there any problem areas that I'm missing?
Thanks for all the replies so far! Much appreciated!
More updates. Having to flit between projects now as final deadlines are approaching fast! Working towards getting the polypaint and unwrap completed this week before moving onto building the rig and skinning. Crits of the paint appreciated!
OK, so I need some help with the issue I'm having with the normal map.
It appears as though the mirrored half of the normal map is inverted, but I'm not sure as to why this is happening... Here is my workflow;
1. Unwrap one half of the mesh
2. Mirror and weld the mesh
3. Grab the mirrored UVs in the UV editor and move them 1 unit to the right outside of the texture space
4. Bake the normals
5. Reposition the UVs of the mirrored side -1 unit
6. Apply the maps
7. ???
I just don't know what else to do here. I've gone through ever thread, article, tutorial about dealing with mirrored UVs and I'm just not getting it. What am I doing wrong?
Eternal gratitude for whoever can help me out here. Thanks!
Are you sure the normals are Y- and not Y+? because UDK will show weird errors if the green channel is flipped properly.
I swizzled the coordinates in xNormal to be 'X+ Y- Z+', so no it's not that...
The normal map is displaying correctly on the side of the model that does not have inverted faces, but not the mirrored side. Just can't get my head around it. Thanks for your reply!
did you every try to first put the symmetry on there, then collapse and put a "reset x forms" on it?
Yeah, that's what I'm doing. Just to clarify my general workflow for this;
1. Unwrapped half of mesh
2. Applied a symmetry modifier
3. Collapsed the stack
4. Moved the mirrored UVs out of the 0-1 space by exactly 1 unit in the X
5. Triangulated the mesh
6. Reset x forms
7. Exported as an FBX
8. Calculated the ray distance in xNormal (Didn't use a projection cage)
9. Repositioned the mirrored UVs by -1 unit in the X so they overlap again
10. Reset x forms again
11. Import everything into UDK...
Try using ActorX to export this guy over if hes gonna be deforming. Our experience has been that actorx will be the brute force method when FBX fails to give you the intended results.
Finally got everything together and in engine, although there's still a lot of editing to do. I'm happy with the results so far! Need to get started on the rig as soon as possible so expect more soon!
Try using ActorX to export this guy over if hes gonna be deforming. Our experience has been that actorx will be the brute force method when FBX fails to give you the intended results.
Hey Mandinga, yeah I'll make sure to use ActorX when he's all rigged and skinned, thanks for the advice!
OK guys I've hit another problem. This time it's the skin modifier, for some reason I can't see the influence of the bone envelopes on the mesh vertices... They should show colour information in the same way that soft selection does, but, I click on an envelope and... nothing.
Just a quick video showing the animations on the (almost) complete mesh.
I've done the AnimTree/Blending but I'll showcase that later when I've set him up to be a NPC.
The problem with the foot falling through the floor... I've got no idea as of how to solve this without completely screwing up the half-decent walk cycle I already have.
Replies
Thank you! The finished low poly mesh will be somewhere between 8000 and 12000 tris - Definitely no more than 12k.
Spent a few hours improving the shape of the base mesh at subdiv level 2. Anything glaringly obvious that could be improved?
Thanks Andrew!
Sculpt is coming along nicely! Few things, for example the arm, definitely need work but it's looking half decent!
Made quite a bit of progress today. What you guys think? Anything looking out of place?
Take this image for example.
As you can see the foot starts at the heel and the trex is walking on its toes.
I think you're right, the arms do need some work. Thanks for the feedback!
I do see what you mean... I'll work on correcting the feet next. Thanks for your help!
Spent a few hours adding in muscle forms and defining areas and fixed the issue with the back of the foot. Still a lot of work to go!
Good progress overall though and the gif images make it a lot easier to understand what changes you have made in each update.
Thanks for the crit Parralax. Yeah, the head is a little exaggerated... But I think that's just down to my (Below) average drawing skills for the concept :P I'll work on what you said though!
I'm not sure what you mean, Sparr? Do you mean so they're aligned with the arms from the front perspective view?
Cheers Buzzcore! :thumbup:
I see! I'll get working on correcting the legs and feet. Thanks naruSol (And Sparr!)
Haven't been able to work on this project for a while, but having to pick it up again now as there is a milestone deadline approaching.
Thought it was about time I added some scales! My method so far has been to mask in the scales, then when I'm done with the larger areas of scaling, I'll switch to using a few alphas for the less prominent detail.
Crits welcome!
Thanks for the crit! Yeah the arms definitely are a little puffy, you're right. I've since moved on from the sculpt but I'll make sure to correct any puffiness in the arm of the low resolution mesh.
Updates! Above shows the final sculpt version and the game mesh, which is almost complete. Any crits on how I could go about optimising the game mesh any better?/Are there any problem areas that I'm missing?
Thanks for all the replies so far! Much appreciated!
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQIcZ8VtwLE"]UDK - Feathered T-Rex Game Mesh (WIP)[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_iqSwgbrp8"]ZBrush - Feathered T-Rex Sculpt [/ame]
P3D
http://p3d.in/gZKds/wireonsmooth+spin
More updates. Having to flit between projects now as final deadlines are approaching fast! Working towards getting the polypaint and unwrap completed this week before moving onto building the rig and skinning. Crits of the paint appreciated!
OK, so I need some help with the issue I'm having with the normal map.
It appears as though the mirrored half of the normal map is inverted, but I'm not sure as to why this is happening... Here is my workflow;
1. Unwrap one half of the mesh
2. Mirror and weld the mesh
3. Grab the mirrored UVs in the UV editor and move them 1 unit to the right outside of the texture space
4. Bake the normals
5. Reposition the UVs of the mirrored side -1 unit
6. Apply the maps
7. ???
What am I doing wrong guys and girls?
Cheers
Guys, I'm in need of assistance.
I just don't know what else to do here. I've gone through ever thread, article, tutorial about dealing with mirrored UVs and I'm just not getting it. What am I doing wrong?
Eternal gratitude for whoever can help me out here. Thanks!
I swizzled the coordinates in xNormal to be 'X+ Y- Z+', so no it's not that...
The normal map is displaying correctly on the side of the model that does not have inverted faces, but not the mirrored side. Just can't get my head around it. Thanks for your reply!
Yeah, that's what I'm doing. Just to clarify my general workflow for this;
1. Unwrapped half of mesh
2. Applied a symmetry modifier
3. Collapsed the stack
4. Moved the mirrored UVs out of the 0-1 space by exactly 1 unit in the X
5. Triangulated the mesh
6. Reset x forms
7. Exported as an FBX
8. Calculated the ray distance in xNormal (Didn't use a projection cage)
9. Repositioned the mirrored UVs by -1 unit in the X so they overlap again
10. Reset x forms again
11. Import everything into UDK...
Is there something I'm doing wrong/missing?
Thanks for your input dude.
Try using ActorX to export this guy over if hes gonna be deforming. Our experience has been that actorx will be the brute force method when FBX fails to give you the intended results.
Finally got everything together and in engine, although there's still a lot of editing to do. I'm happy with the results so far! Need to get started on the rig as soon as possible so expect more soon!
Hey Mandinga, yeah I'll make sure to use ActorX when he's all rigged and skinned, thanks for the advice!
Thanks for all the help so far guys.
OK guys I've hit another problem. This time it's the skin modifier, for some reason I can't see the influence of the bone envelopes on the mesh vertices... They should show colour information in the same way that soft selection does, but, I click on an envelope and... nothing.
Could someone explain what's going on here?
Thanks!
(Switch to HD for awesomeness)
Just a quick video showing the animations on the (almost) complete mesh.
I've done the AnimTree/Blending but I'll showcase that later when I've set him up to be a NPC.
The problem with the foot falling through the floor... I've got no idea as of how to solve this without completely screwing up the half-decent walk cycle I already have.
How can I prevent his foot from ghosting?
Cheers everyone.