Brawl Style Challenge - Kuma (Tekken) - Staffs Uni

Nemecys

Hey Guys,

For our Advanced Modelling we have to take an existing character from a standard fighting game like Tekken or Super Smash Bros. and re-imagine them with a realistic art style.

I have chosen to try and re-imagine Kuma as if he were a human.

The above image shows Kumas development and progression through the Tekken games,
1: Tekken 3
2: Tekken 4
3: Tekken 5
4: Tekken 6
5: Tekken Tag Tournament 1/2

Research

This is ome but not all of my research

- Kuma Loves Panda:
He has a caring side as well as an animalistic side, he is very loyal and devoted to Panda even though she isn’t to him. ( Loving, Affectionate, Determined )

- Kuma and Heihachi
A pet and his Master, there is a shared bond between them, even though Heihachi exploits almost everyone he meets. It seems almost as if Kuma treats Heihachi as his father more than his master, especially with the way he responded to his apparent death. They are very playful with each other, and Kuma seems to consider he is equal to Humans with his ability to run the Mishima Zaibatsu. (Loyalty, Devotion, Intelligence)

- Middle Aged
He would be a man in his 40’s If his age was 11 at the time, meaning he is still more than capabale of fighting and his mental age should also scale properly. This is based on his understanding and ability to speak Japanese, and run a Zaibatsu single handedly.
( Wise, Strong, Capable )

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List of Characteristics

- Affectionate
- Emotional
- Determined
- Loyal
- Devoted
- Intelligent
- Wise
- Strong
- Capable

With all these above characteristics it should be easier to find other Video Game characters of a similar Disposition to Kuma and reveal what sorts of features and aspects are pushed forward to highlight this.

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Moodboards

This was some reseach into other Human-Animal hybrid characters with different renditions in varying contexts.
This was just to get a feel of what is a common feature among them all and what I should be looking to highlight in my idea.

Nemecys

Just a quick example of my process from taking an extremely poorly created base mesh, into ZBrush to get a quick very versatile new mesh to work on



Mainly progress focused in the Torso and Arma, If anyone has any AWESOME reference for forearms or any secrets could you share,
My forearms are the weakest part of the model I think

Nemecys

Just spent about an hour or two on the head, bulking in some more recognizable form


The head was sculpted without reference so I will need to find appropriate reference for my model and try and incorporate some of the details,

Now that its already blocked out, It should be a lot easier to mould it into a more unique character

mr_ace

hi there, before you get in and start sculpting details, you need to go over your proportions a bit. Currently, your character's head is too large in relation to his body. For a tekken esque character, you should probably be trying to aim for about 8 heads in height, so scale his head down to those kind of sizes, and use the tekken characters as reference while doing so.

His legs are also too short, if you take a measurement from the top of the head to the crotch, that distance should be roughly the same as from the crotch to the bottom of the feet, yours are currently too short

reference is key, gather a much as you can, your university might have a 3d.sk account you can use and if not, it's definately worth getting one for a few months and downloading as many images as you can. Beyond that, just use google, you can find reference for anything if you look hard enough. Just type in forearms and you'll get some good stuff, also try to look at body builder pictures and muscle diagrams to get a sense for what the muscles actually look like under the skin

Nemecys

Hey Mr_Ace,

Thanks a lot for the input, I have been working in quite a strange way for this project, my full body reference is quite flat, thank you for the notes, I never thought to look at Tekken as reference purely because I was worried id end up copying mistakes in character forms, I shall definately take a look into that now

Unfortunately my Uni doesn't have a 3D.SK account and now that you mention it, they really should or at least a plethora of reference,

Ive been using Body-building.com and body space to get a few shots of people, but action poses really don't help when your trying to sculpt relaxed/generalised muscle form, I find it often interferes, perhaps im looking at it wrong.

Okay ill spend a few more hours on this and post an update soon, ill be sure to find some more reference

Thanks

Nemecys

I built up a HUGE folder of reference like recommended, Im still collecting some as a I go along, I think i have fixed the issues with the Form, I'm struggling to get him any taller than about 7 and 1/2 heads,

Would it help if i made his head smaller?

He is also 3 Heads across, and Im SURE thats too wide for someone of 7.5 heads height...

Would that indicate his head is too long?

As for my anatomy, i have had a play and experimented with some tools, I've figured out Standard brush is very good for taking away mass near the insertion point, and easily smooths back out, giving a nice layered look to the muscle skin and fat

Thanks for the help guys

Nemecys

Why is it every man I model comes out looking like the silver surfer with tiny feet

Either way, I think i've made some progress, again bulk of the focus and detail is in the upper body, I'm still waiting on some more reference from 3D.sk I dont want to go in with the detail too much until im 100% that the form in this pose is correct.

I often find other poses distract me from my own, and I lose all sense of proportion,

Need to get rid of my "Oven Mitts" as well, hopefully Dynamesh can help with that one

Torch

I think its a good start - I think you subdivided way too early though, you should go down a level or 2 and work more on proportions and silhouette. Keep going with it!

Nemecys

Hey Torch,

Thanks, yea the "New" workflow I tried using seems to be a bit destructive,
I decided to use Dynamesh to insert the fingers......

Now my lowest SubDiv is at 500k tris, Oh well its a bit more work but I'll get there...

But Its weird to see how BAD my model was before when I was using a mish mash of references,
And how easy it is once you have a nice solid source and you really concentrate on the muscle, Its hardly any time at all for such an improved result



Minus the Deathly Hollow face of Satan, I think i've really got a good understand on how to mimic the muscle Inserts, Hopefully now the form is finally sorted or at least I hope so,

Not sure about his hands though, do they look too big?

Nemecys

Quick update, Can you guess what book I just got? :P

Nemecys

The REALLY bad parts mean I haven't touch them just blocked out some form so its shapely, need to go and move down the body in detail


But anyone who hasn't really should get the Zbrush Digital Sculpting book,

I can't not vouch for it, I wish i'd got it sooner, Its so helpful in guiding you through the tools and the techniques and muscle anatomy, its so much easier to understand than a full anatomical human muscle chart.

If anyone else is having issues with body modelling, just take this book and look at the pictures that is all i've done so far, If you get stuck read after,

But I recommend you do get it either way, and definitely read it at some point... don't just look at the pictures :P

Nemecys

Another quick update, someone else mentioned the hands looked too big?

What do you reckon?

Nemecys

Areas for Improvement

- Butt needs work,
- So does Clavicle/Scapula
- Hands? Small, Big or Okay?
- Lower Back / Lats
- Legs and Biceps strange form

I think im developing carpal tunnel, so any C&C while I rest is appreciated

Nemecys

First attempt at Cloth

Nemecys

Adding more kuma related items

Bracelet and Bandanna to be added, not sure where to add bandanna though, without it lookng too gangster

Eterasai

Did you completed this character? May i see the results, please?