[Help!] Need advice on a WIP of a game charcter model

zearou

Hi there.

I'm working on a new game character model, and I have problems getting the results I want.

This is the concept I found randomly online:



This is the stage of the model:




I did post this on Technical Talk but was told "You probably should have posted this in 3D Pimping and Previews", and I really really want to get over this blunder and find a way to create this model right. So I'm posting it here too in hopes for a 3d knight with a white texture applied to help out.

The things that I need your help with are her ponytail and the torn jeans.

(putting a side the fact that there's no small detailing, I haven't started with the hands and hat yet, and the necklace and bracelet are missing)

I created the base of the hair (these planes on her head) with Maya and used Photoshop to create an alpha channel and imported it to ZBrush, but when I tried sculpting the ponytail with a cylinder and Dyanmesh it just didn't go well. I tried twice but either I can't do it right or it's just doesn't blend well with this kind of hair modeling method.
(To be honest I have lots of difficulties with the Planes/Alpha method of hair modeling for games)

How would you approach it? What other option do I have to creating her hair and ponytail so it looks good and be accepted as game model?

And what about her torn jeans? I'm not sure if I should leave it to the texturing phase or sculpt it on. maybe I should use an entirely different subtool for it?

I'm a hobbyist and this is my second try on creating a character so I'm kinda lost :S

Thank you!

BagelHero

Oh wow, how tired was I when I popped into your other thread-- I just realized this is a braid, not a ponytail. There's a tutorial for that;
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7110gqo594bccfg/danielorive_frozen_fanart_breakdown.jpg

Additionally, look at this sculpt of Ellie, from the Last of Us, to see how good hair cards look.


They're carefully placed along the flow of the hair, and have lots of soft curves and even a few cards for the occasional stray strand. Also, very few overlap. Put some more love in your hair cards, and you'll probably have a nicer time trying to integrate them into the braid.

You could also go all-geo if you continue having trouble, like with that Elsa tutorial posted above. It looks nice and will get you a good render, if a bit cartoony.

You can find even more Last of us cards and sculpt ref here:
http://www.artstation.com/artwork/last-of-us-sculpts

Also, you'll notice that the clothing damage on these is indeed sculpted on. You can do this by hand with sings like dam-standard, or there's a lot of generic damage Brush Sets and Alphas (try looking up BadKing, they have some good-ass resources), or you could even look into making your own alpha for this custom purpose. A lot of ways to go about it, I personally recommend sculpting it in rather than just flat texture though. Put it on a layer, so you can sculpt the damage in way over the top, but you can always use layer blending to dial it back without consequence.

Hope this helps!

zearou

BagelHero wrote: »

Oh wow, how tired was I when I popped into your other thread-- I just realized this is a braid, not a ponytail. There's a tutorial for that;
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7110gqo594bccfg/danielorive_frozen_fanart_breakdown.jpg

Additionally, look at this sculpt of Ellie, from the Last of Us, to see how good hair cards look.


They're carefully placed along the flow of the hair, and have lots of soft curves and even a few cards for the occasional stray strand. Also, very few overlap. Put some more love in your hair cards, and you'll probably have a nicer time trying to integrate them into the braid.

You could also go all-geo if you continue having trouble, like with that Elsa tutorial posted above. It looks nice and will get you a good render, if a bit cartoony.

You can find even more Last of us cards and sculpt ref here:
http://www.artstation.com/artwork/last-of-us-sculpts

Also, you'll notice that the clothing damage on these is indeed sculpted on. You can do this by hand with sings like dam-standard, or there's a lot of generic damage Brush Sets and Alphas (try looking up BadKing, they have some good-ass resources), or you could even look into making your own alpha for this custom purpose. A lot of ways to go about it, I personally recommend sculpting it in rather than just flat texture though. Put it on a layer, so you can sculpt the damage in way over the top, but you can always use layer blending to dial it back without consequence.

Hope this helps!

It looks like we meet again. thank you very much. It really does help. especially the tip on BadKing.

BagelHero

hey, no problem. Hope to see the finished product at some point.

DireWolf

@BegalHero - those sculpts are breathtaking especially the clothes. Any similar example with hair texture breakdown? Thanks.

PyrZern

There's also this.

BagelHero

@Pyr:
Hey, I forgot about that one! Thanks for the link, it's going right to my tutorial hoard lol.

@Direwolf:
Haha... I wish. Sorry, mate, don't have any with good breakdowns. Been looking for ages, but I can never quite find anything really good. If I ever find them, I'll be sure to share them around like nothing else.

zearou

PyrZern wrote: »

There's also this.

Wow! Thanks! that's an amazing guide. I'll defiantly try this method.