ChiZ's Workshop Thread

ChiZ

Although I'm not new to modding, I've just started creating things for the Dota 2 Workshop. I mainly plan to release full sets, because I enjoy making complete looks for characters.

I currently work in MODO Steam Edition, and Photoshop, and most of my concept sketching is done on paper.

I have a DeviantArt page http://cgramnaes.deviantart.com/ (that sees no traffic at all) where I intend to post some concept sketches for projects as they come, though they'll probably end up in here, too.

Submitted Workshop Items

Magebreaker's Arsenal



http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=238737923

Magebreaker's Arsenal is my first attempt at creating a full set for Dota 2, and my first experience with MODO. I imagine my second project will go a lot smoother, with the initial learning curve mostly overcome, but since I've had some complaints about his weapon, I might end up making an alternate one for the set before moving on.

Amberlight Raiment (Accepted)






http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=244003478

This is the set I originally wanted to make when I started creating stuff for the Dota 2 Workshop, but since I was just getting the hang of how everything works, I didn't feel confident that I could pull it off. I got some practice polishing up renders in Photoshop, something I felt like I fell short on for the Magebreaker's Arsenal. The enchantress skeleton and triangle limitations were a bit frustrating to work with at times, but I did what I could with it, and I hope the results look like they can carry the design.

Dreadhawk Armor



http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262830252

Armor of the Stalwart Soul



http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=275497459


Relics of the Sundered King



http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=293122532


The Hidden Flower



http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=297631807

Loading Screen by Foxclover: http://kheleksul.tumblr.com/

ChiZ

Thanks! The helmet is actually my favorite part of the set, and the piece I'm probably most proud of, too. It was my attempt at maintaining his head silhouette without making a pointy helmet.

ChiZ

After fighting off some awful, completely random flu attack, I added an alternate weapon to the set. It seemed like the least popular part of it, and I had my own reservations about the original design, so I suppose it worked out.

AndrewHelenek

Love the set, it's so clean! Can't wait to see more from you!

Pipotchi

I really like this set but I think the reason behind the weapon dislike is because its supposed to be a throwing glaive. And silencer's projectile is the weapon that's thrown- and yours is almost as tall as the hero himself. So it feels not like a glaive at all and ends up looking a lot more like a javelin or darth vader lightsaber- it looks heavy enough to be wielded with two hands.
So if you were to make a new weapon I would suggest maybe experimenting with a weapon which is a lot shorter.. its a shame because I think both weapons look nice, but they dont really fit the hero for the reason I said

edit: alternatively a good thing to do would be make a recording of the attack animation so you can prove the animation doesnt look unwieldy or weird with the huge weapon flying through the air.

ChiZ

Thanks for the tip! I know what you mean about the length. It would also look a lot more throwable if it had three blades instead of just the two, as others have pointed out, or the blades were curved.

I'm already working on my next set, though, so I probably won't be making any more changes to the Magebreaker, at least not for a while.

Here's the sculpt, and an early WIP for the low poly paint job (Bad render, sorry).





It's the project I originally wanted to do as my first, but quickly realized I didn't have the know-how to do at the time. After learning my way around MODO with the Magebreaker set, I figure I'll be able to do it now. It's my first time doing any real sculpting at all, so that was exciting.

It's for Enchantress, and will focus mostly on an enchanted ambers and bark theme.
The liripipe is supposed to help maintain her silhouette in place of her large ponytail.
The yellow tips on her horns is going to be glowing with the self-illumination map to match the ambers, if I can pull that off.
There's cutout areas for her hood where I intend to do some alpha transparency, but I'm concerned about her bald head being visible through it, not to mention the lack of a backface inside the hood...

ChiZ

Updated with the release of the Amberlight Raiment set. I did end up changing a lot of the color choices I'd made originally, and the cutout areas I had made for the hood didn't end up working at all once it was skinned to the body. I ended up having to make them further forward, which was not at all optimal, but something to keep in mind as a lesson learned, I guess.

I also learned some better UV layout habits as I was designing this, but I still feel like I can do better (and should), given the low resolution of the Dota 2 textures.

ChiZ

I've been working on a set for Omniknight for a few weeks now. So much left to do, too, but I feel like the design is worth spending some extra time fleshing out.

ChiZ

You're right, I'm sorry. :poly122: I don't know what I was thinking when I took that shot.



I'm having some real trouble trying to match his base armor color, because of how plastic-y it looks. I'm really torn when it comes to white armor in general. It's so easy to lose details. With shaders, it can look more metallic, but then again, white never reads well with metallic shine, and it'll subtract even more detail.

I'd want to go with more of a steel color for him, but then I think he'd look way too similar to Dragon Knight.

I'm probably going to add some white into the cloth at the front and back of his waist, but I haven't really decided on how to break it up yet.

ChiZ

Here's a Templar Assassin set I've been working on for a while. It's pretty close to completion, but I'm trying to get the hang of using Marmoset, so progress is being delayed a bit. I realized somewhat into this project that the Dota 2 shader map guide seems to use reversed values for some things, like Tint Spec by Color...

foxclover

Chiz, that is gorgeous. The pants are my favorite part! Gorgeous, I'm sure it'll get into the store.

quockhanhlk

awesome work!

Todestomate

wow, that set kicks ass!

ChiZ

Thanks for all the kind words!

With the Templar Assassin set all finished up and nearly ready to release, I've started working on a Wraith King set.

Here's the weapon, which still needs some mask and color adjustments... His armor is going to have shattered elements like the sword, hopefully while keeping a less than shabby look overall.





I still don't know why his specular values are so extreme in-game and not in the loadout, but it's kind of annoying. :shifty: The bloom effect from the detail mask also only shows up in-game, but at least that's what I was banking on.

Anyway, I kind of hate his standard color scheme, and while I think I strayed a bit too far away from it with the first color draft (It's based on his lower body colors), I would love some input on it.

I would also appreciate some thoughts on what you guys think is acceptable in terms of how far you can/should deviate from a hero's standard colors.

Slayer of Lies

ChiZ wrote: »

You're right, I'm sorry. :poly122: I don't know what I was thinking when I took that shot.



I'm having some real trouble trying to match his base armor color, because of how plastic-y it looks. I'm really torn when it comes to white armor in general. It's so easy to lose details. With shaders, it can look more metallic, but then again, white never reads well with metallic shine, and it'll subtract even more detail.

I'd want to go with more of a steel color for him, but then I think he'd look way too similar to Dragon Knight.

I'm probably going to add some white into the cloth at the front and back of his waist, but I haven't really decided on how to break it up yet.

First of all, a huge fan of your works even since the days you were making skins.
The idea is really good but the pants are clipping a bit, so if you can, please fix that - it is inevitable that items from different sets will clip and now that I looked again it clips with the original model.
Also if possible add a second version (style) of those pants because the majority of the community doesn't like the Jasmine pants she have.

ChiZ

It took me a while to understand what you were referring to, since you quoted the wrong picture. :poly121:

The clipping at the knees has actually been fixed in the final version of the TA set, although if you're referring to the clipping with her standard skirt bit, then that's unavoidable, because even her standard legs clip with that part. Here's a some pictures of the final version.



As for the Jasmine pants thing, these are very different from those, and I don't intend to make a second style without it. In fact most of the set was built around them as a thematic element. It's more like classic ninja pants than anything, thus the various Asian inspired elements throughout.

My thoughts on clipping in general is that you should do your best to avoid it, obviously. That being said, all heroes in Dota 2 have some inherent clipping issues, even in their standard sets, especially when animating, and some types of clipping is just unavoidable.

Zack Maxwell

Oh, awesome work.
So Modo SE can be used for full sets? I had concerns about it only working on weapons, since the lack of animation/rigging tools seemed like it might prevent proper rigging of clothes, and couldn't find information on that myself.
Very nice to know.

ChiZ

@Grimwolf: Modo SE has some serious issues with rigging. I run into problems every time I get to that part of the workflow. It can be done, but for anything more than a weapon, or a simple helmet, anything that only need one bone or joint, it's a hassle and a trial and error process.

Just a warning, if you're looking to get into it! I'm thinking of upgrading to full Modo with the Steam functionality plugin, but I'm not entirely convinced it'll get rid of these problems, so I haven't decided yet.

ChiZ

Some progress on the WK set. Helmet and Pauldron are pretty much finished. I'm looking forward to getting the chest and back slots done next, since they're going to really tie together the design.

Still need to adjust the breakage on all of these parts to look more cohesive from the in-game view.

ShorkGamer

WoW AMAZING WK set. Very high quality stuff I love the textures amazing shiny metal!

Snowstorm

ChiZ wrote: »

@Grimwolf: Modo SE has some serious issues with rigging. I run into problems every time I get to that part of the workflow. It can be done, but for anything more than a weapon, or a simple helmet, anything that only need one bone or joint, it's a hassle and a trial and error process.

Just a warning, if you're looking to get into it! I'm thinking of upgrading to full Modo with the Steam functionality plugin, but I'm not entirely convinced it'll get rid of these problems, so I haven't decided yet.

Mmmm... I use 701 and for me at least I'd still rather do the rigging in another package than in Modo. I've never gotten comfortable enough in the rigging workflow to keep on using it.

If you're looking for a free alternative just for rigging use I'd suggest Blender - the rigging setup is very straightforward and works as expected. Blender can also import and export straight to and from smd. Allows you to test with decompiled animations and all that. That way you get the best of both worlds - Modo SE for modeling, texturing etc with a good rigging workflow using Blender.

DireWolf

Wow... real nice... if you ever make tutorials or run a course please let me know!

ChiZ

Thanks for the support, guys!

Here's some progress with the chest:





Again, I think the bloom effect added by the detail map is really important to the look I'm going for, but even knowing that, I'm a bit frustrated with just how different the in-game look is from the loadout look. Still trying to adjust specular/exponent/metalness values, but the difference between the two looks is making things difficult.

@Snowstorm: The problem I'm having is mostly due to problems Modo SE has with rigging because of its limitations, and some bugs that seem to come with that. Like not being able to make anything less than a 100% bind, not being able to adjust auto binds, and not being able to bind to more than 5 or 6 bones in some cases for a mesh. I'm still trying to figure out if some of this is user error, though.

@DireWolf: I'm very thankful for the compliment! I'm still really new to this stuff, and I'm not really good at the technical stuff, much less explaining it. I do love to design, though, and I hope that's what's coming through in my sets!

ChiZ

Back slot is pretty much finalized. I still think I might need to add some of that glow on the inside of the collar like his standard set has on the fur. I thought adding a scabbard on his back would be a neat and unusual choice. It obviously wouldn't play well with other weapons, but then again, I don't think most of this set would mesh well with other parts anyway.

Only thing left is the arms, and then I'll be going through everything again to polish up shader masks and rigging.

Reyne

This is a really nice idea, good execution. I would love to see it with the kind of gradient that the default has with brighter, more saturated tones closer to the top.

Godzy

looks pretty cool so far! i'm not really sure about the belly part but everything else is solid. could u post some shots of the high polys? (try not to take em in red wax though)

ChiZ

Some shots of my Lina set that's basically almost finished now. I still need to adjust a lot of things due to clipping, and possibly some of the shader masks. I'm going for a traditional mage/sorceress look, which should make it stand out a bit from what she already has.

Vovosunt

Really like the idea of the Lina set!
Finally a real mage Lina and not a random-floaty-chick-on-fire XD
Great execution as well.

BTW my only crit would be that the hood is a bit off hue-wise compared to her corset.
I feel it should have a bit more of magenta in it.

vertical

Really awesome ChiZ! Reminds me alot of her Dota 1 counterpart.

pior

Hell yeah !! Very well done, and perfectly fitting. Loving the touch of leather too. Nice !

ChiZ

@Vovosunt: Thanks for the feedback! I'll have a look at tinting that hood later, because I think you're right. I did remember to apply it to the top of the skirts to transition it down, because I really wanted it to look like a full "dress" but I probably did no such thing to the hood.

@vertical: Thank you! While Lina was who I played the most in classic Dota, I actually couldn't remember what she looked like, and finding pictures of her has been really difficult. I hope it's not too close!

@pior: Thanks! I've had more than a few looks at your amazing Lina concepts while working to make sure I didn't end up with anything too close to what you have planned. Same with agito's!

quockhanhlk

that lina set is awesome man, you really have some distinguish style man, keep up the good work

ChiZ

@quockhanhlk: Thank you! I hope the Lina set sees a similar reception when I release it.

I've started work on a Doom set, which I'm enjoying a lot more than I thought I might. Only finished the head so far, but I'm trying to go for something a bit more surreal-ish without going over the top with it. His mouth is amazing, so I'm kind of building the whole set design around it, hopefully succeeding in the end. :poly124:

I'd really like to build more organic parts, because it would carry more of the head design into it, but everyone tends to do armor, and his base body is best suited for that on account of all the armor he already wears. I'd love some opinions on that.