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Soldier

polycounter lvl 11
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dannedadon polycounter lvl 11
Latest update:
soldier13.jpg
soldier14.jpg
soldier15.jpg
Hey!

I have too much sci-fi and fantasy characters in my portfolio (www.rashart.com), so i thought id balance it out with a more realistic and contemporary character.
(Also, if someone has an extra job out there, id love to haul it away)

Im doing an american soldier in iraq. Almost all my references are from the movie Green Zone. Mixing and matching from different characters in the movie.
I will be finishing my contract position in about a week so im going to do small updates until then and then focus on completing it.


Im not really happy with the lower parts of the sleeves, going to redo them tomorrow. Also, the cloth seems to be of different thickness on different parts of him. Going to address that too.

But anything and everything you guys think of is appreciated.
soldier1.jpg

Replies

  • dannedadon
  • dannedadon
  • KazeoHin
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    KazeoHin polycounter lvl 8
    awesome work on the helmet and jacket. Looks crazy detailed.
  • dannedadon
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    dannedadon polycounter lvl 11
    thanks =) glad you like it. here's todays update.
    soldier4.jpg
  • n88tr
    coming along solid
  • dannedadon
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    dannedadon polycounter lvl 11
    ty =), Yeah, its coming along but its going sloooow. Working for another week then im going to go into hyperdrive with this piece. Here is a small update, not very exciting. had to redo those molle straps. Wasnt really happy with the ones I made before. They are going to be mostly covered up by gear, but still. Also added some detail under them and some minor tweaks. Hopefully ill do some more tomorrow =)

    Again, if anything has any comments on how to improve or if you feel I messed something up, please speak up =)

    And I know the previous molle straps looked crisper and better than the ones on now. But im going to improve them and add seams, so it will be a higher levle of detail. Just didnt like the other ones.

    soldier5.jpg
  • MainManiac
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    MainManiac polycounter lvl 11
    This is amazing, is that vest a separate basemesh and are those elbow straps just modeled around the arm? I have issues visualizing a workflow with layered clothing.
  • Ahrkey
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    Ahrkey polycounter lvl 18
    Looking great! Allthough I think the shape/size of the helmet looks a bit off. Also the middle-layer vest? The wrinkles around it's edge are a bit too much and too uniform.
    I don't even know if the vest is layered like that. I think the strap/hook-things are integrated straight on the kevlar-vest.

    I'd also drop the elbow pads. Sure looks fancy and nice but... havn't seen a single soldier wearing them. Most don't even wear kneepads.

    http://www.defense.gov/dodcmsshare/homepagephoto/2008-01//hires_72048.jpg
    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qSFhPCy0KEk/TZ9MhS3D-BI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/BqCIWNDbHZo/s1600/iraq-soldier-785888.jpg
    http://www.defense.gov/dodcmsshare/homepagephoto/2008-01/hires_080108-A-9351H-156a.jpg

    There's lots of references. Google, Flickr even Government sites.
  • dannedadon
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    dannedadon polycounter lvl 11
    Ty guys. Tomorrow is my last day working at Overkill Software so after that Im going to really work my ass off on this thing. Youll see updates coming left and right!

    Frell: Yeah, almost all the clothing parts are separate pieces. Im learning to use the power of subtools. And dividing things up in different sections. That way I can subdivide where I need without getting a crazy amount of wasted polygons on places where it doesnt matter. And it also makes it a lot easier when working on the clothing. I can just sculpt the shirt and then fit the vest over it and sculpt that.
    Dont know if that is the best approach, but I really like it. Also started merging smaller sections and autogrouping them based on topology and then using the Topological masking on the brush so I can treat them like separate subtools or move them as one. Pretty sweet. The downside of this is of course that you get a lot of subtools and it might be tricky to keep track of it all. But if you start naming them early on you can quickly switch between them by pressing "n" and start typing the name of the subtool. Or just alt-click of course. I have 36 now and thats just the torso parts and all the base meshes. Problably going to land around 70-80 if I keep going like this.

    Here is an exploded pic of the mesh so far:
    soldier7.jpg

    Ahrkey: Thanks for pointing some stuff out! And I like the images you found too. The shoulder armor from the first on is going straight on my guy, Going to go on a google cruise and find some more.
    Now, on to the stuff you mentioned:
    1. Helmet. You know what, you're right. After looking at the rest of him so far, the helmet isnt as nice. Ill redo it later on when i've made a face or two and try it on.
    2. I found some pictures with the extra padding, its like a pocket under the outer layer where the molle straps are attached. And I like the feeling of many layers to emphasize that they have a lot of gear. Might have gone crazy with the wrinkles, maybe ill tone them down later on, have to see what it looks like with all the gear and the backpack on too.
    3. The elbow pad. After looking through the movie again, youre right. only saw a couple of them wearing elbow pads. But the thing looks so darn cool. And since Im building this in modular pieces, im just going to leave it in for now. That way i can swap it out for another arm for more variations. I plan to model 3 sets of arms (1 elbowpad and 2 without so I can mix and match a little and just puzzle it all together) same thing with the legs and all the packaging. But we'll see if that works out in the future :P

    Thank you for your comments and ill definitely think about it when im sculpting. Will soon upload more cool shit, started with the pants but thats just sketching a little and its not really worth posting yet. This weekend though! Youll see some cool stuff hopefully!

    Also, hate those molle-straps! Going to redo them again from scratch, but the good thing is I figured out how to do them and I dont know why I didnt think of that at once, show you next update.
    Sorry for the boring post :P
  • MainManiac
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    MainManiac polycounter lvl 11
    Oh man I love you so much for that breakdown, that really helped, thanks! What about the straps on the arms? How did you fit them around the mesh? Is it just extracted topology or did you model around the arm? I usually run into problems trying to shape a strap on an object
  • GarageBay9
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    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    If you're trying to depict MOLLE or PALS webbing on his vest, it should be a grid, not offset.

    MOLLE-434.jpg
  • dannedadon
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    dannedadon polycounter lvl 11
    The strap was modeled in Maya. Sometimes i get a wonky topology when I extract so for things like straps I just safe it an do it in Maya. Decimated the shirt, got it in Maya and modeled the strap around the arm. In zbrush i use the move tool and make sure it fits.

    Thanks garage. You're right, I'll redo them like that. Thanks for pointing that out
  • dannedadon
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    dannedadon polycounter lvl 11
    Hey!
    I finally have time to do this now! And I saw theres a character competition on mixamo so I'm aiming to finish this by then.

    Heres the update for now, Im going to redo the bottom of the pants. not happy with that at all. looks like a mess right now.
    soldier8.jpg

    Here's my planning for the coming 10 days Aiming to do an update every day with the task of the day and fix whatever crits you guys have the day after:
    -- July --
    21 Kneepad + Shoulder Armor + Molle Straps
    22 Out of town
    23 Shoes
    24 Pants + Front and Back DickArmor
    25 Helmet + Goggles + Heavy Throat Armor
    26 Backpack + Vest straps
    27 Gloves + Small Packs
    28 Gun Holster (same on side as front) + Heavy Packs High Poly
    29 Gun
    30 Radio + Hankerchief
    31 Face + Nametag on helmet and chest
  • Boyso
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    Boyso polycounter lvl 7
    Looking really good, your MOLLE are much better than before.

    Did you remove the pockets on the sleeves (RAID shirt?)
  • dannedadon
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    dannedadon polycounter lvl 11
    thanks =)
    no, im keeping them. I just did the shoulder armor over it so when I do the low poly I basically have three different arms. That way I can have more variations. Plan to do about 3-4 different guys from the same parts. So i can have 1 (elbow pad + pocket) 1 (elbow pad + shoulder armor) 1 (shoulder armor + pocket) etc.
    Basically i want to do this, but with a lot more variation when the packs come in to play:
    animation.gif
    excuse the crappy animation :P
  • Boyso
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    Boyso polycounter lvl 7
    Good idea!

    I'd say now, the only thing that really pops up to my eyes is the collar and the missing straps of the vest.

    http://store.colemans.com/cart/images/0180.gif
  • Oiban
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    Oiban polycounter lvl 6
    Looking great, I agree with Boyso, the collar also pops up my eyes!

    great work with the variations I'm looking forward to see all the diferent soldiers you come up with!
  • dannedadon
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    dannedadon polycounter lvl 11
    Sup fellas! Ty for the crits! Im going to do 2 main collars, 1 heavy tank collar and 1 handkerchief to cover the mouth when its windy. Fixed it a little but the other ones are going over so its going to look better soon =))))))

    The pants are really bothering me and I think im going to redo them tomorrow instead of waiting. Just looks weird. So thats whats up for tomorrow.

    heres todays update, fixed some molle straps on the shoulder armor, boots, collar, sketched the dick armor (not really sure about that one though) and some small details all over. Thanks again for the comments, really helps to get some fresh eyes on something.
    soldier9.jpg
  • n88tr
    if anything i'd say clothes are TOO wrinkly now
    and the line down the sides of his trousers looks strange. is that supposed to be an extra strip of reinforcement or something?
  • MainManiac
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    MainManiac polycounter lvl 11
    Could you give me a briefing on how you made the boots?
  • dannedadon
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    dannedadon polycounter lvl 11
    I hear ya n88tr. Pulling back the wrinkles. The thing on the side is supposed to be a seam. Going to add more details to it to make it more obvious. Thanks

    heres a summary of my shoe process. Its basically the way i do all my stuff:
    shoe.jpg

    And here is the update for today. started with the backpack. Still have lots to do on it and im going to add 1 or 2 packs that attach to the main backpack also.
    soldier10.jpg
  • dannedadon
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    dannedadon polycounter lvl 11
    here are some of my refs, showing them for all you people from google+ =)
    1.jpg
    2.jpg
    3.jpg4.jpg
  • Ace-Angel
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    Ace-Angel polycounter lvl 12
    The one thing that is giving it away and should be an easy fix is the glove. The glove on your character is a para-trooper/commando glove, and the outfit screams otherwise. The best example of what glove your should give your guy is in the last and third image you posted.

    Make it thicker and make the padding less pronounced, but more 'puffy'. The one your currently have is usually located under the main glove as padding.
  • Boyso
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    Boyso polycounter lvl 7
    Could you show your reference of the groin protector? Normally, it's attached to the vest and should be over the jacket.
  • MainManiac
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    MainManiac polycounter lvl 11
    Above the knee pad he looks like hes melting.

    Once you get all the bags on the vest it should look right around your target. Oh and lift up the toe of the boot a bit, they arent straight like that

    Thanks for the boot pic ;)
  • Mik2121
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    Mik2121 polycounter lvl 9
    Have a look on this website:

    http://www.militarymorons.com/

    I found it some time ago doing some research for military stuff. They got photos of TONS of things. Even got people wearing many clothes, backpacks, etc so you can get a better idea.
  • dannedadon
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    dannedadon polycounter lvl 11
    @ Ace-Angel - Thanks man, will redo the gloves and make them fit in. Thanks for pointing that out

    @ Boyso - You're right, its outside of the jacket attached to the vest on basically all my concepts. I just diverted cause I wanted to be able to do a simple variation and add that under the jacket. When I added it over the jacket it intersected too much and I would have to move the jacket geometry for it too work, but without the groin protector the altered jacket looked a little weird. So either im going to scrap the groin protection if it looks too weird or keep it if it goes unnoticed cause I want all the pieces to be able to fit on and off instantly without any hastle so I can get a lot of varation later on with the low poly. Thanks for catching that though, and ill think about what to do with it next.

    @ frell - Yeah, not satisfied with the pants. Think ill do another pass at them, at least fix the major things.

    @ Mik2121 - Thanks for the resource! A lot of those are going into the ref folder. Ty

    And heres the update for now: I added a lot of shit since last time i update. Got a few things to re-visit and then im done with the high poly, the major things are the holster, the face and the pants. And if you guys spot something else. Also have to add a detail to a lot of the newer things, such as the packs on the front and back and the radio. But im nearing completion, another day or so.

    And the pics:
    soldiersculpt_front.jpg
    soldiersculpt_back.jpg
  • Boyso
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    Boyso polycounter lvl 7
    Nah don't worry keep the groin protector.

    Looking great! The only thing I'm noticing right now is the folds of the soft armor are looking a bit weird. Got a reference you can show?

    Other than that, it's really looking awesome! :D
  • MainManiac
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    MainManiac polycounter lvl 11
    What he can greatly benefit from is tucking the bottom of the pants into the boot
  • dannedadon
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    dannedadon polycounter lvl 11
    hey, sorry Ive been away for a few days, was working on an art test but that didnt work out :P Heres what I did: heroeSculpt.jpg

    Now im back on track and will try to update more. Im redoing the pants from scratch. Wasnt really happy with the weight and the thickness of the cloth so hopefully this will turn out better.

    Boyso - What do you mean? Which soft armor?
  • Boyso
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    Boyso polycounter lvl 7
    The soft armor is the layer between the jacket and the vest. It's heavy cordura. Search "PACA Body armor"
  • dannedadon
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    dannedadon polycounter lvl 11
    hi, been away for a while for gamescon! woho! promoting our game PAYDAY: The Heist.
    Anyway, been working a little on the soldier. Did the low poly and the bakes, around 10,000 tris depending on the gear. Going to do the faces tomorrow and then im going to star texturing.
    soldier13.jpg
    soldier14.jpg
    soldier15.jpg
  • Envart
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    Envart polycounter lvl 6
    Really nice work. Bakes came out awesome.
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