Tim Sweeney - Redux - WIP

GaryStorkamp

Hey, everybody.

A quick preface to this model:
In 2010, I finished a fun Unreal Tournament 3 skin of a 'roided out Epic Games founder and CEO, Tim Sweeney, as if he existed in that universe. It functioned as a test to get myself used to the workflow of putting Zbrush-level detail into a game model.
As a first pass, it wasn't terrible, but I'm bringing it up again with some fresh eyes and more skill.

OLD
This is the old Zbrush model that I used to finish the game model further down. I did the shoes in Max, so ignore that.


Here is the old model in UDK. A whole lot of "meh". The lighting killed a lot of the normal mapping detail, but you get the general idea.




NEW - WIP
And this is where I am currently at in the process of rebuilding him. I'm trying to give him a stronger silhouette and break up the symmetry while still fitting the theme of an average guy having to survive the UT3 universe as is.



The guy is pretty tough to get a consistent reference image on, so his face is definitely weak in my older model, among other things.

I'm working on remedying that.

I'm digging it up again and getting some community feedback to make it something much stronger.
So, what do you think?
How is the anatomy?
Does anybody have any ideas on what kind of detail I can use to break up the leg symmetry a bit?
Would it be best to throw on the sweater fabric details in Zbrush or do that in texture with a NM filter?
I don't think I want this to conform to UT3 standards anymore because it's fairly antiquated, and the strict UV space is tough to cram more detail into. Plus it limits what I can do with the hair.

Rob Macko

I've seen your earlier version of this model on a monitor at work that shows Gears community art I'd like to see you just go all out and have some fun with it, make a more current gen / next gen version so you don't have to work with older constraints.

GaryStorkamp

That's awesome.
You're right; I need to loosen up a bit, have fun with the model and not worry about conforming to old restrictions. I was hoping to preserve some of the base textures of the old version to save me some time, but that would probably take me longer to keep things clean than to just start from scratch.
I should have some more progress to post in the next few days.

throttlekitty

If you're redoing it, approach it like something new. It's a fun idea, but I wouldn't worry about keeping those textures holding you back.

Ankles, man.

s33th

A lot of the details currently are surface details. Getting in there and really adding some depth - peaks and valleys to all the forms could really help as well as working at lower subdivision levels and pushing the silhouette. Beefing up his forearms, pecs, and traps will very quickly change the silhouette and make him read more like the steroid freak you seem to be going for. Small details like adding some veins popping from his neck, forehead, and hands could also help build character. The kneecaps and calves could use some more definition/depth.

Another thing would be the folds in the cloth - in the sculpt his torn sweater reads more like a thin wet cotton shirt instead of the thick ribbed sweater from the reference image. Changing the size and frequency of the wrinkles will fix that - see how large and gradual the wrinkles from that reference image are. The wrinkles on his shorts could use some love as well - same basic idea as the rest of the sculpt, push the larger forms and then worry about the tiny detail later.

With the face the corners of his lips are sort of pinched and sitting on the surface of his face - most peoples lips, as they reach the corners of the mouth, curve to the inside of the mouth. It's a quick fix to drop to a lower subdivision level and just push the corners in, it'll make the mouth read better and look more natural.

The sweater fabric fine detail you could do either in your sculpt or using a normal map filter later on. Depending on your final texture resolution doing it with the normal map filter might be better only because then you'll know what you can fit into the texture rather than doing a bunch of tiny sculpted detail and not having it bake down well.

Cool concept for a character and it'll definitely stick out as a unique portfolio piece.

GaryStorkamp

I really appreciate the feedback! I can definitely see the issues you're talking about more clearly now.
I'm going to be taking a little step back from this model to practice some related techniques before addressing these changes.