3D Hand Held Character WIP, for uni

[Deleted User]

Hello, currently in my final year of university, and that means practise!
Aiming to get as much feedback, opinions and corrections as possible- that is why this is being posted on Polycount!
Making corrections to my own ability while I still can.

There is an assignment, it is here.

The task is essentially to recreate a character from a graphic novel, in the style of the graphic novel, for a hand held game and imported into UDK Mobile. The decision has been made to create Gandalf from the 1990 Graphic Novel 'The Hobbit'.

Currently, Gandalf has been broken down and the base mesh has been built. Realistically, the target is to get him into ZBrush as soon as possible, because there are prior projects and dedications to work on.

LRoy

The proportions in the book look fairly based in reality. Your model looks far too stylized.

[Deleted User]

In what way? The hand & fingers being too small, and other aspects such as the hat thickness. Are aspects I aim to resolve.


In what way do you think it is too stylized?

[Deleted User]

Made some changes. The hand was too small, the hat was too small and the moustache was too thick.

The hands were too small, initially tried to edit it but chose to start again. What is interesting is that Gandalf does not have old wrinkly hands.

The hat was too small, the shape needed to blend more around the top of the head. The shape is different.

The moustache was simple too thick, realistically it needed tweaking based off the character.

[Deleted User]

Aiming to sort the hands out soon, they are too thin. The staff has an orb that needs placing atop it. Unsure about the cloth at the bottom of the robe itself on the edge, may add some more creases on the sleeves, and the may change the flow on the cloak.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User]

Stinkfoot

Hey Howard,

you got some kick ass tips in your last thread, I advise you to take a look at the mountains of adivise you got in there to use on this model.

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=127313

blinKX10

- Lower your shoulders, it looks like hes always shrugging
- Shorten those eyebrows they stick off WAY too much
- The ears shouldn't be sunken into the head
- The eyes need to be sunken more into the face
- The feet need to be wider and less pointy
- Your hands also need quite a bit of work, I'd recommend importing an image of a hand and modeling that so you can get the proper proportions

I HIGHLY suggest using reference when modeling your characters, even if it is not the exact same as what you are creating.

AlexCatMasterSupreme

Why do his eyebrows look like hands reaching out at me, begging to leave his face?

I would go back and read your last thread. Also start at lower subdivs, you went into details too early.

[Deleted User]

In the reference his eyebrows do go out, they are not normal eyebrows. Creating a character for UDK mobile.

Also, do not understand what you mean by use a "lower subdivision", I used a lower subdivision (1 -2) to make changes that would have a greater impact on the higher subdivisions, such as creating a distinctive shape to the cape, and then higher divisions (4-6) to create crisp curves on waves in area.

Stinkfoot

Howard, again read the stuff posted in your previous topic, you're jumping from A to step Q atm.

You want to create character for a game, first set up a solid base, forget about zbrush atm, make sure you base mesh has the correct shape, silhoutte and polygon layout so you wont run into any problem when moving on later.

Refine your base model, look at examples for polygon distribution and correct edgeloops and show some wireframe shots of that, then move on.

weisheng

Alex is telling you to use lower subdivs because the base forms of your model are poorly defined and you're trying to add small details on top of that poor base and it just looks like blobby noise

Try building up the basic shapes before u even add a pore or wrinkle, spend a lot of time on just the structure of the head

here's a quick paintover to help explain

BARDLER

Howard3008 wrote: »

In the reference his eyebrows do go out, they are not normal eyebrows. Creating a character for UDK mobile.

Also, do not understand what you mean by use a "lower subdivision", I used a lower subdivision (1 -2) to make changes that would have a greater impact on the higher subdivisions, such as creating a distinctive shape to the cape, and then higher divisions (4-6) to create crisp curves on waves in area.

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb342/Nantchev/GandalfIntro_zps33cb3cd7.png

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb342/Nantchev/GandalfMoodboard_zps47c8156c.png

You have to get better at reading, understanding, and observing your reference. Yes his eyebrows in the reference shoot out, but they also curve almost like eye lashes, and they are really thin and gestural. What you did with his eye brows isn't even close to what they show in those drawings, and you have to be able to see why, and understand why. This goes beyond just this assignment for school, this is something you absolutely need to do as an artist.

Pedro Amorim

I think the problem is that the hat needs to be more pointy.

D4V1DC

Listen to everyone they are making valid points and once you start seeing the cats in your thread it is bad.

Weisheng, pretty much stated it, on level 1 it must look pretty spikey before you move into level 2 it might be frustrating at first getting used to building from the ground up but if done right can look pretty cool.

best of luck, I like the idea you just need to drop back to your level one and make sure every aspect of the design is made at the level then repeat to create the forms. So it is like making the design 3 times but every time your refining the model. But yea do exactly what weisheng says.

To add people here pretty much get a feel for those who do not take critics seriously and will pretty much start ignoring you if you don't take them into consideration. Just f.y.i.

Joshmjc

It may be worth while if you do some anatomy studies and life drawing lessons, they can really help you to stop drawing what you think is there, and what is actually there.
Goodluck.

Justin Meisse

Joshmjc wrote: »

It may be worth while if you do some anatomy studies and life drawing lessons, they can really help you to stop drawing what you think is there, and what is actually there.
Goodluck.

Yes, I'd suggest seeing if you can sit in on some life drawing classes. Typically schools allow you to sit in, or "audit", a class you've already taken. It would also be a good idea to get a small sketchbook with you and sketch as much as possible, you can get Moleskines that are small enough to fit in your pocket.

Snader

Howard3008 wrote: »

Aiming to sort the hands out soon, they are too thin.

I know what to do!

Snader wrote: »

Stop going into zbrush. Make a lowpoly model that had decent proportions. And then make another one. And another. And then you might dip in to sculpting a bit. Right now you're trying to build a scyscraper in a swamp.

Focus on the basics. Focus very hard. Take something like 500 or 1000 triangles and make a good looking basic human shape.

Seriously. It's not about how many polygons you use, it's how you use them. This here is much better looking and never had any highpoly done. Just lowpoly and a diffuse map.

Snader wrote: »

Stop using Zbrush.

Start with a proper base mesh.