Character roadmap?
Hey Polycount users,
I've been using 3DS Max for about 1.5 - 2 years now. The people who taught me the program never set higher level challenges sadly to us. It was always stuff like boxes, trees and cans. Since every touching the software I always wanted to design characters, and this year I made a resolution to myself that it is time to complete a character. I am though a little lost, like in a desert without a compass about direction. I know drawing, modeling, sculpting all have their place, but I don't know how good you have to be to create the awe inspiring works that are seen on a forum such as this. guess I'm asking all the great designers here, What is a good road-map for character work?
Any advice, help, tutorials (Just acquired Zbrush, so I'm still looking for a great deal of tutorials on it.) and such is greatly appreciated.
I've been using 3DS Max for about 1.5 - 2 years now. The people who taught me the program never set higher level challenges sadly to us. It was always stuff like boxes, trees and cans. Since every touching the software I always wanted to design characters, and this year I made a resolution to myself that it is time to complete a character. I am though a little lost, like in a desert without a compass about direction. I know drawing, modeling, sculpting all have their place, but I don't know how good you have to be to create the awe inspiring works that are seen on a forum such as this. guess I'm asking all the great designers here, What is a good road-map for character work?
Any advice, help, tutorials (Just acquired Zbrush, so I'm still looking for a great deal of tutorials on it.) and such is greatly appreciated.
Replies
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=108454
Here's a free online tutorial on box modeling a human head
http://www.anghelescu.net/tutorials/Russell_Crowe_3d/Russell_Crowe_page3.html
If you also want to model/sculpt something realistic, it's also a good idea to do anatomy studies.
I find this book to be very useful in that case.
Ryan kingslien has a youtube channel (Rkingslien) where he messes around with Zbrush and talks anatomy. He also likes and favorites other talented artist's videos for you to reference. That said there are websites like Eat3d and the Gnomon workshop that are just awesome for learning stuff.
Also I would suggest posting here more. I saw some of your threads and posts and noticed that you sort of dwindle off during projects, like the Darksiders 2 mace and the Asuka WIP. You gotta push through that and finish strong, or move on to something you can finish. I can tell you this is a great place to learn if you're serious. If you are serious about making characters then the people here will take you seriously and do what they can to help.
I hope this helps you. I'm sure more people will chime in and give you some more advice. Best of luck to you man, and I can't wait to see some good stuff from you!
http://wiki.polycount.com/CategoryCharacter <-Polycount wiki
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98113 <-Hazardous workflow
http://www.3dtotal.com/index_tutorial_detailed.php?id=1276#.UOT_v280V8E <- an old tutorial i did.
http://www.marcusdublin.com/TutorialsselectionPage.html <- older tut by Marcus
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CharacterArtistHome.html <-Basic unreal workflow from Epic
http://www.splashdamage.com/publications <-Brink character pipeline from MoP and Spacemonkey
The list goes on, there are literally hundreds of tutorials out there explaining the very thing you're asking for, you just need to search for yourself.
My basic workflow is:
Concept> Base mesh > Sculpt > Low Poly > Textures > Rig. But that changes depending on needs, how much I bounce back and forth during sculpting, etc. Personally, I prefer to concept a model through modeling and organically develop the character that way. Studios are usually more rigid and follow that traditional pipeline, there really isn't a solid answer - it's what works best for you.
Are you good enough to create something awe inspiring? No. Probably not. At least this question would make me seriously doubt your abilities. But that comes with time - years of work. In my opinion, the best thing you can do is set a bar for yourself. That is your responsibility to your own career - honestly. You need to set your own goals, no matter how unattainable, and go for it.
Personally, what I would do as a character artist (what I did, and still do) is take your work and stack it up against artists you respect. Like, the work you save in your reference folder, guys that have shipped games, work at studios you like, on games you like. Take your work and compare it to theirs, it'll serve as a reality check for where you are and how far you need to go.
I get that it's like looking up how to spell a word in the dictionary, but you honestly just need to put the work in. Right now, you're going to be overwhelmed. If you haven't even completed a character yet, you probably have a long way to go. You're going to get frustrated and you're probably going to have your work shit on - but that's all part of developing. The first step definitely is not learning ZBrush, if you want to get your feet wet with the software that's one thing, but diving head first into sculpting is a common mistake. Then, you're piling learning this alien software on top of fundamentals that you probably don't have - like texturing, proper topology, anatomy, etc. Basically, don't fool yourself into thinking that the first character you pump out is going to be AAA quality - start small, and work your way up to a goal and keep it going.
http://www.3dtotal.com/ffa/tutorials/max/joanofarc/joanmenu.asp
1. Low Poly
2. High poly Detail/Sculpt
3. Uvs
4. Bake Detail from high to low
5. Paint textures