[mixamo contest] Harpy (soft nudity!!!)

Colt Seavers

Hi guys, just came back from vacation and spontaniously decided to join that competition. As I just began with the base model an hour ago, I can't promise I'll make it in time, but I'll try...

I took a look around to check what you other guys were already doing and as I saw there are only a few beast chars yet, I decided to do a beast. So I'm trying to create a "Last Unicorn Style" harpy now. Hopefully the jury won't bitch becouse of those saggy boobies, cause they are what make the creature unique and obscure.

Here a couple of references for design and pose...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_C6ZTrAk5e7o/TS0Xl5DOtII/AAAAAAAAA_4/kahy2nojPl0/s1600/harpy-by_JAXJocson.jpg
http://www.deadselly.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/harpy.jpg
http://www.3dtotal.com/tutorial/zbrush/creature_creation_vampire/vampire_01.php

Not sure if I'll make full wings or just some crippled version. Feathers are a very time consuming job.

Here's the base mesh, bad topology, but it should just function as a primer for the sculpt. What I'm not sure about yet is, wether I will have the head more human alike with just some birdish facial features or wether i'll stay with the terror bird look. Feel free to give crits and advice!

Di$array

Well you have some really interesting references there so this should be an interesting piece. Good luck!

JoshWilkinson

This is purely personal preference, but I'd get rid of the boobs. I think it's distracting and doesn't enhance the model. If your goal is to make it look part human in some way, maybe a human eye, a little more human of a skeletal structure and posture, or just certain minimal features that hint at some sort of unholy fusion between man and beast?

Texelion

In the rules thread, Mixamo said No nudity. You can put a bra or something ^^.

Also, here is the best harpy concept I've ever seen, could help :



What kind of weapon do you plan ?

Di$array

Hmm maybe you can cover them up with alpha planes doubling as fur. Just an idea if you still want to keep the breasts.

Colt Seavers

Oh man, I hope someday we will get rid of this stupid censorship on nudity. Todays games (Skyrim, Fallout 3...) for example have beheadings, executions, kill moves, headshots, cannibalism... you name it. All that is ok for teenage gamers, but a revealed nipple makes peoples pants get in a knot. I got hold of my first porn magazine at age 6 and I became a pretty normal person. Well, except from modeling harpies with saggy utters, lol!

Back on topic...for god's sake I'll cover those thingies, but I wanna keep them, cause I plan to make a standalone artwork from the high poly sculpt, once I finished the work for the contest.


@Texelion: So this is Iggy Pop uncloaked?! ...sick!!!

Texelion

Some games like The Witcher doesn't care about nudity censorship ^^. But I think it's all about the target : with nudity and sex you won't attract the same people. BUT there are some cases, like this harpy, where nudity is not here to attract ( or maybe some zoophilians who love mythical creatures ) ^^.

I think that if you put some feathers around the breasts you can leave them natural, but not sure.

Mixamo said to avoid nudity in case you win, they want to showcase the work without restriction, but if you put nudity, you can add some clothes later if you win to avoid problems ^^.

Colt Seavers

Yeah, in case I should win, I can still cover it up or just pose it in a way where that area is covered, should be no big deal.


Update...

I began sculpting on the harpy. I know the professional way is to have an even amount of detail all over and then up sub d, but I've always been a chaotic worker. I just go from here to there and back, keeps my motivation level up.

I thought it would be a good idea to have the body as one piece, cause there'll be a lot of wrinkles that almost travel full body length. Well, now I am at 17 mio polies and have pc is a bit bitchy. But by hiding parts of the model, I should be able to get it finished.

lotet

dude that is disgusting, but awezome! hope u get it interesting enough!

Texelion

If I were you, I wouldn't sculpt it in that pose, some parts looks impossible to sculpt, as the belly. I mean, it's a game character, it should be skinned and rigged, here it's impossible.

Did you try to use Dynamesh ? You are not forced to subdiv like a fool ^^. But yeah it will be hard to separate this in parts. You should try to define if you will put feathers in alpha, you don't need to sculpt everything and you can s

arinavar

Those are a lot of polys!!! the sculpt looks good tho, Texelion gave u some good advice and yes remember is a game model you can play a lot with the lowpoly geometry and textures, and about the rigging I dont think it would be impossible it would just be really hard but feasible

Steve Schulze

I'd do some more work on the anatomy before you get to into the ultra fine stuff. Take some time to work out how this creature actually fits together - the bones and musculature. Stuff like how the shoulder attaches to the front/underside of the chest. You'll wind up with a far better end result.

Colt Seavers

Thx for the helpful advice guys. I don't think rigging will be a major issue. This character is supposed to move as a quadroped most of the time. Similar to the werewolves in underworld. They can stand on 2 legs, but rather in a crouched position. As a weapon i thought of a bola with some primitive stones as weights. Can't imagine this creature swinging a massive club or hammer.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Bola_%28PSF%29.jpg/220px-Bola_%28PSF%29.jpg

The sculpting of the creatures underside is low priority. Won't be shown ingame anyway, maybe in death animation only. So no need for fancy details.

Texelion

You should really read the rules of the contest. It must be a biped, and you have to choose a classe and a specific weapon, bola are not on the list.

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101149

http://www.mixamo.com/c/user-contests/mixamo-fantasy-character-contest-2012

Colt Seavers

Hmm, ok, I'll take a look at that, thx!


Btw, is there an option to enlarge the timespan before you get logged out here. It really sucks that you cannot even finish a single post, without having to sign in again.