Predator Character WIP

Luc4998

Hi everyone

Since I made a couple of skulls and I want to make a character where I have to focus on human anatomy I decided that I will do a Predator.

My pipeline will be max/maya/blender for modelling retopo and UV Mapping. Zbrush for sculpting high res models. Substance Painter for texturing and UE4 for the character presentation. I will also have to rig it in max. I will have to learn rigging in max while working on it. 

I would be happy to hear feedback and tips from you. 

I will be posting updates to it in this thread


Skulls in Zbrush

Luc4998

Here is how I did the topology on the rotating part of the gun. the problem was to get the quadratic shape but to not give the overall shape a jagged edge where the edge loops would have gone through. The entire gun is all in quads. Its nearly done. I'll finish it tomorrow

I am having an issue at the moment that the verices still show up even though i didnt select them on that one object. WOuld be cool if someone knew how to fix it

Luc4998

Hi everyone. Quick update... 

I'll be hanging this facehugger on his hip which will be dead. I will finish him up tomorrow hopefully keeping the tail straight for rigging.

If you have any thoughts or tips please comment! I am practicing my human anatomy atm thats why I am not posting the body yet.

Luc4998

finished the hugger. I removed the tail so I could take snapshots

CrazyMoon

This is like watching small clips or pieces of a bigger greater piece I really want to see :P 

musashidan

It's better to leave a slight bend in the limbs/appendages if you're rigging for IK, as it makes it easier on the solver. 
Your vert issue is just one of those funky Max viewport bugs. Hopefully someday we'll see a Nitrous viewport free of those....
It could also be a temporary bug in the scene which can usually be solved by reloading the scene.


No crits on the work so far. Looking good. Lot of work involved overall to fully rigged in game. Best of luck.

Luc4998

Thanks Crazymoon and musashidan, I'll kepp that in mind before rigging  

Here is another quick update. I first started the spear from predator 2 but when I finally was able to find a high res image the detailing seemed sever overkill and I started to ask myself if it would actually fit with the overall design. So I am mainly focusing on getting the anatomy practices done so i can do a correct body. WHen its done I can add up everything I have until now and I can get the armor shapes in so that it all fits and doesnt loo chaotic. I made the avp spear today. It needs some final adjustments but then it would be ready to throw in to ZBrush. 

Luc4998

Avp spear update... I am having some "stepping" issues and I dont know how to get rid of them would be cool if someone could help  

CrazyMoon

Im not an expert, but when I get those stepping issues its either bad topology or you can change the roll distance in Stroke>Modifiers I usually set it to 10. Sometimes Lazy Mouse helps too. Hope one of those helps! Still waiting for the body  

musashidan

Definitely looks like a case of fighting the topo. You're using slash 3 presumably at default so it's not a stroke issue, plus the surrounding carves are smooth leaving the topo the likely culprit. Is the model dynameshed?

Luc4998

Thanks guys! Well I only got the issue when I was drawing a cylindrical shape and was going to far off to the side. The topology is fine and evenly distributed It wasnt dynameshed. I just went up the subdivision levels. I'll be focusing on the body for now... just one more thing: should i make the head and the body seperate? Because I can imagine the polycount skyrocketing with the amount of detail i want in the face and the body. Also would the steping actualy matter that much? its not really visible if you are zoomed out. 

musashidan

Yes, I would defo keep the head/torso as separate subtools for the very reason you fear. And no, the stepping shouldn't really matter at all once it's textured it'll hardly be noticeable unless very close.

Also, for detail like that on the spear haft I find Substance Painter great for 'sculpting' it directly to the normal map.

Luc4998

musashidan said:

Yes, I would defo keep the head/torso as separate subtools for the very reason you fear. And no, the stepping shouldn't really matter at all once it's textured it'll hardly be noticeable unless very close.

Also, for detail like that on the spear haft I find Substance Painter great for 'sculpting' it directly to the normal map.

Damn! Should have thought of that! Totally forgot about it  

Edgar T

Man, you're preparing all this fantastic stuff separately... but we want to see it together now!  

Luc4998

Pshyco said:

Man, you're preparing all this fantastic stuff separately... but we want to see it together now!  

hey dude! thanks! I'll try to get it all together as soon as possible I was sick this week and I have finals approaching so I wont have as much time as I would like to. Really appreciate your words!

Luc4998

soooo here is the body I am working on... Adjusting and fixing alot. I loaded grassettis ecorche in and I am taking snapshots of it too use as reference. I also keep on checking on his tut again I really need to fix those forearms and his ankles. I want to keep kinds slim and dont wanna make him super buff. just started blocking in the fingers thats why it looks the way it looks atm I aslo have a problem... I imported most of my previous sculpts in to the file and when I save I get a notification that the file exceeeds the size of 4gb... idk why... there arent alot of polys in the scene. I also deleted the und histories

musashidan

Are you working from a zproject or a ztool?

Luc4998

musashidan said:

Are you working from a zproject or a ztool?

I created the body as a project and then imported the ztools. 

Luc4998

Slightly more progress... Would be really happy to get some feedback on him The hips are bothering me a bit when I look at it now

Luc4998

Hello everyone! here is another update  
The face is giving me some issues, especially around the eyes...
Feedback is extremely welcome... I need to rework the back of his body. The head is still a dynamesh and the body too. I'll reproject it soon I guess

Luc4998

Here is another quick update. Dont have too much time now but I would love to get some C&C on his body. I made the legs using raffaels ecorche. I thought they started turning out a bit too bulgy on the side. So I readjusted it and made it a bit thinner. I had to turn the symmetry off to work on the side of the leg properly that is why they arent symmetrical. I will be removing the leg with the cross through mirroring. 

musashidan

I'm not sure but the proportions just don't seem to suit in my view. I know you said you were going for a leaner bloke, but he seems like a 'teenage Predator' to me(what a nightmare that would be!)   maybe it's  because he's not armoured up. Or maybe his head is too big?

Luc4998

musashidan said:

I'm not sure but the proportions just don't seem to suit in my view. I know you said you were going for a leaner bloke, but he seems like a 'teenage Predator' to me(what a nightmare that would be!)   maybe it's  because he's not armoured up. Or maybe his head is too big?

Not sure if I understand what you mean with "teenage predator" I bulked up his arms because they seemed too weak to me overall. head size is ok. If you look it up their head is always a bit bigger then the human one

Luc4998

Hi everyone! I changed the face and started detailing it yesterday. I will also attach an image of the current body. The screenshot of it was taken before I started detailing the face.

CrazyMoon

I think his head seems quite big for the body, like a little broad. If you make his head more slim I think he would look a bit more ferocious. Maybe its's just me. Keep going! I like it! 

Luc4998

Hi everybody. I am having alot of problems with Zbrush now. It started freezing today over and over again. I get a quick notifaction but ofc I am sculpting and press the screen again and it dissapears and then it just closes. So I loose al my work and its REALLY starting to piss me off. I am not sure if I have to post it in this thread or in another forum but I just thoght I'll put it here for the moment? I'll attach some updated images. 

armians

Hey man, sorry to hear about Zbrush problems.
I really like where this is going, but I'd still play with the proportions a bit more. I understand that predator's head should look a bit bigger compared to a standard human proportions (though I think that's due to the huge mask actors have to wear), but it just doesn't look "badass" enough at the moment. I think You should try going for a bit more superhero-ish proportions to make it look strong and dangerous. Not perfect here, but maybe smth more like this? 

Smaller head (still bigger than a human), longer limbs. Anyway.. whatever direction You decide to go, Good luck! It's a cool project x]

Luc4998

hey man thanks for the feedback! yeah I had a couple of people tell me the head is slightly too large. So I just quickly lengthened the legs. I already had the arms longer (i accidently had an older screenshot up since zbrush was frozen and I couldnt take an up to date one)

Would be cool hearing your opinion on it now thanks dude. Oh and btw your works on your artstation are really cool! 

armians

Yeah man, I think it already gives a lot stronger feel to the character. Good luck!

Luc4998

Hi everyone! I started detailing the crap out of the face. also retopod some armor and started detailing it I have to tweak the chest plate a bit since i went too overboard with damaging the edges. I am having the issue that my comp only has 8 gig of ram so I cant get to the next subdiv to throw in all the pores and stuff in zbrush without my comp suiciding (froze for like 7 minutes and my desktop backgroundpic dissapeared.
So I guess I will do the pores in substance painter? Has any of you ever done it before? does it give nice results?

Here is the face in its current state. spent alot of time on the eyes since I want them to be a focal point and I'll be doing a close up to them. 

Luc4998

Finishing him up. Any feedback is more then welcome

Spencer_Holmes

Excellent work. One crit, however, is that his head seams a little too big. I'd scale it down a little.

Luc4998

Hi everyone!

Its been a while. Here are some new screens.
I have to change the articulation axis on one segment of the shouldercannon since if I keep it this way it will intersect with the head. 
I also did the backpack and the throwing disc holster
I am done with he body, now I just have to add the fine detail with alphas. 
Also i will readjust the gauntlet since the wristblade is slightly too far up

Please let me hear your thoughts and your feedback. It is more than welcome

Cheers!