First Character [Solye's WIP]

Solye

Hi guys, im Solye and what im going to show you it's my first (maybe horrbile) first try on 3d modeling. Im posting this here in order to receve feedbacks and tips to improve my skills over time.
Thank you for reading and partecipating!

Here's what im working on at the moment:



I was doing it just to get used with Zbrush following some head sculpting tutorial but i ended up messing around without paying attention to what that dude was saying (it had to be a realistic head at the beginning) so i just kept having fun and improving my confidence with the program.Since i ended this far i thought i could share it with you and start collecting some feedbacks and opinions about it.

Brian "Panda" Choi

Do you have concept art?

Assuming we're taking this to final completion, we're gonna need a piece of concept art or something to explain what the eventual whole character will look like.

We're not stopping at sculpting, we're going all the way to texturing.

It's good to get used to an obtuse program like ZBrush, but staying in that rut of messing around becomes potentially an issue of not becoming a useful artist in any game devleopment pipeline. Great work, but if I can't stick it into a game engine, what's the use?

Solye

@JadeEyePanda Ow well, as i said i was just following a tutorial in order to gain confidence with the program and i ended up working on this on my own without any type of reference xD

silvershrimp

Reference,realism, anatomy studies are the best thing you can do, just keep working.

Solye

@silvershrimp thank you for the advice, im starting a new work using some refence, i'll start posting something when i have someting done properly

Solye

Ok, i decided to do things properly now, this is the concept im looking to:



And this is the first phase of my work, something's not good i think, but i don't know what...

Torch

Don't bother with the hair right now, just get the whole body blocked out at Subdiv level 1 (keep the subdiv's low for blocking out) and post another update.

Solye

@Torch Following your advice, i deleted the hair part and im focusing on completing the full body...just having some problems with the sculpting of bones and muscles (even if i think this sculpt body doesn't need too much refinement since it is a manga character and have to be smooth better than over-detailed)

tragische

It will be a lot easier if you start with a base mesh, and after some refinements go to sculpting details.

Solye

@tragische it will take a while but i think in going to full model it on my own...climbing this obstacles lead to improvement

Solye

This is the point i've reached:

silvershrimp

Head looks too small, could do with some shoulder muscles, but good start.

Solye

@silvershrimp upperbody's proportions are 3 heads right? If that's it i think im doing fine, i still have to shorten and define the lower part of that upperbody.

CSOConnor

I agree with Torch, you'll want to get all of the primary forms of the body figured out before moving onto hair. His head is definitely too small, based on the concept, the characters body is roughly 4 heads tall, so start with the general shape of the head and base your measurements off of that. Check out Andrew Loomis's drawings on proportions and muscle structure, I've found he's a really good resource for basic anatomy. The concept is really cool, it reminds me of drybones! Keep at it, I'm looking forward to seeing some more.

Solye

It looks better now?

stevston89

You really need to have to whole body blocked in before you start addressing anything. You won't know how long to make you torso with out having your legs in there. You won't know how big you head needs to be without the rest of the body. Proportion is about relating sizes and without all of the pieces there you can't get it right ( especially not at a beginner level).

Second use a different material. The material you are using currently is just hiding all of the mistakes and you can't really understand the forms. I recommend something like basic material or basic material 2 until you get a good material.

slosh

Block out the whole body shape at a very low subdivision. Slowly add detail and proportions at each subdivision. Don't go high fast or you will not get your base proportions and anatomy to look correct. Oh, And use A LOT of real reference...not just comic style illustrations.

Solye

@stevston89 ok,thanks, i'll follow you'r advice. For material do you mean matCap?
@slosh thanks for your help. Im already using real reference to build this body shape

stevston89

Yes I do. Though matcaps technically use faked lighting. The basic material I am talking about is found in the same menu and it reacts to realtime light.

Solye

@stevston Ok, modified...just another question, do you think that it's better to sculpt i later or with the base mesh? Im talking about that right arm

stevston89

Personally I would sculpt the whole body from a base mesh symmetrically. After that I would lop off the arm and make it separate. It depends on the level of detail you want though. If you want to show him without the jacket then the method I just mentioned won't cut it. In either case you are going to want to start symmetrically until the overall forms ( anatomy/ structure) are correct.

Solye

I tryied extruding my legs with the move tool but the result has been destroying poligons and making them unworkable...i have to try using the move brush?

stevston89

If you have the latest of zbrush I would look into using dynamesh. If not look in to using zspheres to create a base. Other than that you could build a base mesh in Max or Maya.

Solye

@stevston89 using Zbrush 4r4...already in dynamesh but at a 64 resolution...i'll try turning it just to extrude...

Solye

Little update:



Been busy this days so i just extruded those arms (im already feeling like improving everyday little by little learning new things). I posted this before starting sculpting some details to receve some feedbacks reguarding proportions...

Vertrucio

Thing about proportions is that you need some more anatomical landmarks on the model to get the best feedback on your proportions.

But, the overall forms are problematic. You're not following your concept. Look at the shape and silhouette of your concept, and look at your sculpt.

In the concept, he's pretty rectangular. From the armpit to the waist and down to the feet, it's just a straight line down. In your sculpt, you have his shoulders way too wide.

I also noticed you're trying to throw in muscle even this early. Don't, focus on getting clean shapes that you can build muscle on top of. This is a very cartoonish character so having solid shapes to build on is pretty important.

To that end, drop down to the lowest subdivision level and focus on getting that shape first. The biggest problem new sculptors have is they jump to doing detail at high subdivisions much too quickly.

Solye

@Vertrucio are you telling me it's better to restart and go back to low subdivision level?

stevston89

Personally I think you should work form a realistic character. I know stylized characters are fun, but you really need a solid background in anatomy to make it work. Also you need to be able to reference real people when learning anatomy. From where you are at now if you wish to continue I would drop you subdivisions and work at a really low res mesh focusing only on silhouette and the anatomy.

Solye

@stevston89 lowering mesh resolution for torso too?

stevston89

Yes. You really don't have enough done here for it to be worth keeping. Also there are a number of anatomical issues in the torso. I recommend focusing solely on structure and getting all of your forms correct first before going into any details.