The Monthly CHARACTER Challenge | September 2014 | Zilean / Chakram Assassin

PyrZern

And welcome back, folks.



Google Hangout Link

1. Try to leave at least one critique per post. It makes you a better artist if you have the ability to give constructive critiques. Just because you're working on a different concept piece, doesn't mean you can't give feedback to others.

2. Challenge yourself.

3. Your final presentation should be posed and rendered in real-time. (Marmoset, or game-engine like UE4 or Unity)

4. Try your best to finish on time.

5. Post your work-in-progress in this thread.

6. Specify your own triangle count and texture size. Be reasonable and stick to your budget. Some suggestions are as follows:
Mobile: 2k Triangles, 512 Maps
Mid Res: 16k Triangles, 1024 Maps
High Res: 32k Triangles, 2048 Maps

7. Similar to #6, you may pick an art-style yourself. You are, after all, an artist too. (Realistic, Stylized, Cartoony, etc)

8. Learn as much as you can. Share what you've learned.

For this month, we have two concept art chosen. Pick one you want to do.

Chakram Assassin URL="http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2014/187/2/e/more_character_practice_by_digitalsashimi-d7pgl83.jpg"]Link[/URL by DigitalSashimi @ http://digitalsashimi.deviantart.com/

League of Legends' Zilian(?)URL="http://dxthpu4318olx.cloudfront.net/assets/images/images/000/161/939/large/bc8971edfb10a29b8a1b2253b2009ef4c0343852.jpg"]Link[/URL by 大头小左 (d

Sunn

I want in this month!

I am going to work on League of Legends Zilean at mid res.
Will, fingers crossed, complete and render inside UE4.

I had a feeling Zilean was going to be one of the choices, from the voting thread, so I started working tonight.

Here is where I am so far.




Still a ton left to do of course, but I'm trying to push myself, and even at this early stage, I'd love some criticism to get me moving in the right direction.

independ-hans

I go for Zilean at high rez aimed for in game cinematic.

Before I start i want to do a overpaint of the concept to clarify that materials will be used.

here is my analyse what material I guess it I see.

Busterizer

Quick question - Why is it required that final render is made inside real-time environment? Its not really accessible (Marmoset Toolbag 2 has 30 day trial, but i could only scam it for 30 days), and it requires potentially work outside of the field of 3D artist.

iadagraca

Busterizer wrote: »

Quick question - Why is it required that final render is made inside real-time environment? Its not really accessible (Marmoset Toolbag 2 has 30 day trial, but i could only scam it for 30 days), and it requires potentially work outside of the field of 3D artist.

You could use blender 3D, which is what I did for my project.

Both Maya and 3ds max have features that make real time rendering easy too.

I think submitting a Sketchfab or something might be acceptable too, which also has screen capping features.

Sounds hard at first but it's kinda easy when you see the options.

iadagraca

As much as I love doing female characters, I think i want to do Zilian to have some diversity. He also looks like the biggest challenge which of course is the point

I think i want to do another low poly but not as low poly as before, and i want to use a zbrush pipeline this time.

So i think i'll do mid-poly but lower.

Mid-poly below 10k tris, preferably 8k. And 2048 maps.

Still doing hand painted textures.

Abidus

Busterizer wrote: »

Quick question - Why is it required that final render is made inside real-time environment? Its not really accessible (Marmoset Toolbag 2 has 30 day trial, but i could only scam it for 30 days), and it requires potentially work outside of the field of 3D artist.

UDK is free, so is unity. UE4 is just 20$ as well.

Busterizer

I am trying to avoid getting additional software, just to do renderings, that I already can do in 3ds max, so, what are my options for real time rendering in 3ds max?

Do Activeshade or Mental Ray renderings count as real-time? How you people can tell what was rendered in real-time? Blender and Maya have different renderers but neither of them specifies that they are real-time (which they are not).

iadagraca

Active shade is somewhat real time but you should look up direct X shading features

Orange

Alrigth. I chose Zilian. I'm going to go for mid res 16k model, and I'm going to bring this guy into Unity and build a web player export.

Here is a quick blockout before I begin sculpting:

Abidus

I don't think anyone is gonna come after you for rendering your character in max as opposed to a a real-time engine of some sort. The whole idea of the thread is to practice and create characters that will look good in real time, as opposed to just as still life or with extensive post-processing. It is an additional challenge layer, is all.

P.S: Having a basis in game engine knowledge is essential for any 3D artist working in games. If you don't know, for example, the format requirements and technical limitations of a the engine your game is running on, then you won't be able to create something that looks good and performs well on it.

iadagraca

Abidus wrote: »

P.S: Having a basis in game engine knowledge is essential for any 3D artist working in games. If you don't know, for example, the format requirements and technical limitations of a the engine your game is running on, then you won't be able to create something that looks good and performs well on it.

My lesson learned last time, alpha channels and textures seams are a B****.

iadagraca

I've made a very rough reference from the concept art.

I'll use this to initially block out the form.

You guys are free to use it but please keep in mind there may be flaws so be sure to use your own interpretation. The original is still my main source.

This just helps me model a bit faster.

PyrZern

Nice one there. I doodled a bit in Photoshop then jumped right into ZB <_<"

Just blocking out the form right now. Also Zilean here.

iadagraca

I noticed the concept makes the outfit appear very very large over the form. there's literally no neck room from what i can tell...

You need to consider that when making the form, zillian is either very buff, or the outfit is very large.

PyrZern

I'm gonna go with very large cloths.

Asura

I need to start working on characters alot more and get used to my tools. Im going for chakram assassin mid res 18k. Zbrush >maya >UE4 2048 textures.

DireWolf

Zilian here as well. I'm new to character art, looking forward to learning from all of you!

PyrZern

I hope some ppl go for the Chakram lady, lol. Cuz we contacted the artists :P

Inhert

I think I might give the Chakram assassin lady some love . Even though the last time I joined in on this challenge way back a long time ago it ended up frustrating me :poly127: and could not get it done due to frustration. Plus I love the whole sexy femme fatale theme to her. I don't know we'll see.

slosh

Are you guys actually completing these challenges in one month?

PyrZern

.... Yeah ?
Well, most anyway. Some I think kind of disappear midway through. And some take longer to finish them after... I think twice so far I gave up midway in as well <_<"

Sunn

Day 2

Well, its only day 2 and I already went back to the drawing board :P
I decided to go ahead and block out the whole body before I start making a detailed head, don't know what I was thinking (still in bust mode I guess).

here is my progress from tonight:


From here (tomorrow hopefullly) I would like to get in and tighten everything up and begine working on the face of the character.

I plan to make him in his underwear. Games like LoL and DOTA rely on user generated clothing and accessories, so this character has to be able to be mixed and matched with other items.

Then I will do the clothing and accessories per the concept. I would still like to shoot for medium res, and perhaps a more handpainted style for the textures that would fit in with LoL or Dota.

That said any glaring mistakes that I should fix now? I am a total noob guys. I have never done a character from start to finish. I haven't ever unwrapped a character or anything :poly118: this will definitely be a learning experience. All tips welcome.

thanks for looking

iadagraca

slosh wrote: »

Are you guys actually completing these challenges in one month?

I was able to last month

A decent number of others did too.


On the matter of modeling i started in maya but I'm not used to it enough yet, i might model this time in blender then bring it back into maya for the rest...

slosh

I think this is a really great practice for you guys but my only concern is "the finished state" at the end. I've browsed through a few of these challenges and even those that finish, the characters feel pretty mediocre. I'm not saying you guys are mediocre but I assume people are doing these while sometimes working fulltime. Seems a bit rushed to finish and you aren't able to polish and create fully portfolio worthy pieces. My suggestions are as follows:

-choose simpler characters(possible stylized?)
-maybe just do busts but with more detail
-extend it to 2 months

Again, I don't want to ruin the mojo you guys have going and if you're doing this just as practice and not for folio pieces, then keep doing what you're doing!

iadagraca

slosh wrote: »

I think this is a really great practice for you guys but my only concern is "the finished state" at the end. I've browsed through a few of these challenges and even those that finish, the characters feel pretty mediocre. I'm not saying you guys are mediocre but I assume people are doing these while sometimes working fulltime. Seems a bit rushed to finish and you aren't able to polish and create fully portfolio worthy pieces. My suggestions are as follows:

-choose simpler characters(possible stylized?)
-maybe just do busts but with more detail
-extend it to 2 months

Again, I don't want to ruin the mojo you guys have going and if you're doing this just as practice and not for folio pieces, then keep doing what you're doing!

I've never considered this for portfolio work, mainly just practice and getting the workflow down. I'm currently learning a lot of new software and processes like with Maya LT

I'd spend WAY more time on a portfolio piece. But for now I realize i have a lot to learn. Which is why I'm taking a break from the other project i posted in favor of doing a few of these.

I really want my other project to succeed but I can't do that going in blind like I did (and also really oblivious to proportion issues).

Once I feel comfortable that I know what I'm doing I'll go back to portfolio work.

EDIT: I do agree busts would be a really good idea, maybe if one concept was a bust and the other a full body character for more experienced people.

Felixenfeu

Even for someone experienced, if you work fulltime or do this just as a side project, 1 month is a really short timeframe. I agree there should be a bit more variety of options . Exemple : A bust, a complete simple character, a more complexe character.

Defunct

Yeah I agree too. I've never modeled a human character before so I might not be able to get this the way I want it to look in a month. Been pretty busy with other things too. But I'll try my best

PyrZern

It has indeed been tricky balancing around. Like, back in March, it seemed we had some pros in the midst and many finished it in like 2 weeks, or something. Similar thing happened in May too. 2 weeks in and like half of participants were already done <_<"

And for me, at the moment I don't feel like I could greatly improve a piece even with extra time. So, my goal right now is to keep outdoing myself for every new piece. Also trying new techniques and optimizing my workflow.

I would love more people so we can have more options though. That way we can have concept for busts as well, instead of just turning a full char concept into a bust, and what not.

Hmmmm, how do we get like a semi-official unofficial judges for these pieces ? Would love there to be some feedback when the piece is done from more-veteran non-participants.

Abidus

As someone who is teaching himself and hasn't had any formal training in the field, I often times find myself redoing something time and time and time again without any significant improvement, only to find myself getting more and more frustrated and eventually I just stop working on that project all together.

Since I started doing these challenges, I've been trying my best to get things as right as I can from the get go, and not to waste too much time trying to achieve perfection. I push things as far as I think I can take them, then I move on to the next stage with lessons learned for the next character I make.

Simply put, I'm not at a position skill-wise at this point in time to truly take advantage of an open-ended time frame. I personally find the relatively short time-frame to be much more productive to my improvement (at least, at this point of my "career").

On a side note, the idea of having some Pros unofficially judging this would be amazing! Personally, I'm finding that the hardest challenge I've had to face since I joined Polycount is getting some good constructive feedback on my project. I feel there is this Bermuda Triangle between beginner and profession skill levels where people just don't want to comment on "mediocre" works. Beginners get a lot of feedback on how to improve. Pros get a lot of feedback from their peers as well. Middle-of-the-line threads face a deafening silence.

Anyway, just my two cents. Sorry for the wall of text.

Orange

Alright. Started sculpting the head. Will begin to rough out the torso tomorrow:

iadagraca

I'll definitely be on the hangout tonight, I'll start modeling in blender instead of maya.

PyrZern

Blocking out his clothes. A mistake I made last month was I didn't plan for the whole character in the beginning. Gotta tackle the overall look first before I jump in and details each individual part. Also I made his hands a bit larger.

This dude has CRAZY layers of clothing !!

I will post my progress tonight.

Busterizer

I will be doing the chakram assassin (well, i did vote for it). I aim at creating something between mid and high resolution, probably somewhere around 25k polys, and 2048 textures.

I already spent 3 hours on this, will be posting images when this thing starts to resemble something (only completed part of it).

devingeesr

@independ-hans Nice color break down I might need to do this when I start.
@Orange Nice base!
@iadagraca Nice sketch!
@PyrZern The hands look to small
@slosh I was able to finish as well granted it still needs some polish but it's mostly done. I think this is great it forces you to work smarter/ faster. I know it's harder on the ones with jobs to put in the time to do some thing like this. At the same time if this is your passion you have to put in the time to get better.

I'm going to try and make Zilian as well. I start school this Thursday so well see how that goes.

renanfab

Choose the Chakram Assassin and this is my day 02 doing the character. What you guys think?

Orange

@renanfab Great base! Especially loving the long legs.

PyrZern

@renanfab Nice sculpt there. I expect a bit more ab muscle around her belly button though.

Here's my progress thus far. His pants are pretty dang hard to make.

Orange

@pyrZern Looks great. I like how well you capture the gesture of the forms. It makes your sculpt feel very natural.

Cheeky_Pickle

Hello everyone, I'm new here and a total 3D beginner! This is my second model ever in Zbrush, my first being a male head. I love the idea of this thread to give tips and tricks and the concepts to work from are beautiful! I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with

I decided to go with the Chakram Assassin because it seemed a bit more simple than the crazy Zilean one!

This is a few hours work, I've worked on the torso so far the rest is just blocked out using a body image for reference. I did this using zspheres and then the move tool. Is that the best way to get your blocks sorted? I'm following a tutorial on digital tutors, it's really helpful!

Orange

Starting to rough out all his major forms and mass. Anyone else having trouble figuring out how big his clothes are?

PyrZern

@Holly Mellor Zsphere is very effective way to get your base started. I think some anatomy expert do it from a sphere as well. I think you're off for a nice start though. Her thighs seem too short and her calves too long. If you move her knees down a bit will do. Keep refining the shape! Give special care to her shoulders as well.

@Orange No clue, man. I just keep layering the dude up. I try to keep him somewhat slim looking, though.


I just made his Hakama pants, so now I'm starting on his face #_#

kay-vonlanthen

slosh wrote: »

Are you guys actually completing these challenges in one month?

well, some do. i think they are way to hard. should be a lot easier. much more basic imo. one must walk before he can run.

kay-vonlanthen

slosh wrote: »

I think this is a really great practice for you guys but my only concern is "the finished state" at the end. I've browsed through a few of these challenges and even those that finish, the characters feel pretty mediocre. I'm not saying you guys are mediocre but I assume people are doing these while sometimes working fulltime. Seems a bit rushed to finish and you aren't able to polish and create fully portfolio worthy pieces. My suggestions are as follows:

-choose simpler characters(possible stylized?)
-maybe just do busts but with more detail
-extend it to 2 months

Again, I don't want to ruin the mojo you guys have going and if you're doing this just as practice and not for folio pieces, then keep doing what you're doing!

i agree. i think we should go more sylized. if people finish half way, do another one. when im done with my BA i will go full bore ;D
are you currently doing personal work? love your work. also featured you on my tumblr once. http://kay-vonlanthen.tumblr.com/post/78197823343/name-satoshi-arakawa-country-united-states-san

PyrZern

Kay, when do you finish your BA ?

For September, we can have 2 concepts again, but one is a full blown character, while another is a bust ?

I don't know about extending time, man. True, anyone working on multiple proj or full-time will surely have trouble allocating time into this. And I don't know how many ppl are spending 5+ hrs on this daily like me <_<" The one month length is more soft-cap than deadline, though. If you're busy, take 2 or 3 months.

Man... I really sound like a jerk now, don't I ? lawl >_>"

jacob thomas

I tend to agree with you Slosh. I would actively participate in more of these myself if they either ran for longer or were more focused. 1 month with working full time and other commitments is just not enough time for me to bust something out that I would be happy with.

Orange

For me, I'm capping myself at 2 hours max a day. It's not going to be the best work I can possibly do, but imo, it's a challenge, and that's kind of point, seeing what you're made of. Go as far as you can go within your time constraint and schedule. There's nothing stopping anyone from improving the model after the month is up either.

PyrZern

Oh, btw, I used this as Ref for the Wiz's pants. I made it in Maya, then imported it over to ZB. Will post progress when I get his face somewhat ok-looking.

Fefs

Hello! I'm new, trying to learn more about high poly models (I model, but just little simple cartoon characters), always saw the forum to get information, but now I want to participated and try the challenges (have fun too ^^=)

My character will be the Zilean (just loved the concept), I started this afternoon and my plan is to be economic the best I can (to be a 16k or 18k model, 180 cm height for scale) and make good details in face, clothes and a beautiful hair. I think my problems will show when I start the textures...

I'm not modeling all the legs, because the concept just show the feet and a lot of fabric, but I don't know if it is really all right do that, I tested a character made in this way before and it worked fine, what did you think about?

My progress till now

devingeesr

@Holly Mellor here is a refrence image for the proportions


@PyrZern Nice ref for the cloth I might have to steal that!

lukazguzman

Hello, there! I'm Lukaz! first time on one of these challenges! Looking forward to see how far can I make it!
I'll be working on the female character, as I am shaky scared of the complexity of the other one
So here is my way of starting, I drew some reference for the body to use as reference planes in Zbrush.



I'm happy with this shape (sticking to the concept, thought I would have loved to do a much hotter heroine so I'll move into modelling now!
Cheers!