Medieval Batman

Xeros

I decided to try my hand at creating a new version of Batman for a university project. I wanted to redesign the character as if he had existed in medieval times as a European knight. While I want to aim for a certain level of authenticity, I also want to include some fantasy elements to make the project fun and interesting. The final product will be a current generation game character intended for use with the Unreal 4 engine.

Here's what I have so far, it's all a WIP at the moment and this is only the third character I've ever created, so please excuse any mistakes and errors. All criticisms and comments are welcome

I started by researching a load of armour, both real and fantasy, to create a few basic sketches of how I would like the character to look:




First design didn't come out too well, mostly as I had try to keep things a little too traditional in my opinion.




Second design was a little better than the first, I really tried to make it look more like Batman here, rather than a generic knight with pointy ears.



Third design was the one I think worked best. I think (while rough) it is good enough to use a basis for what I'd like to create in 3-D. After this design was chosen I went to work creating a base mesh to build all of the armour pieces from. I wanted to create something fairly realistic, but (as his body will be covered in armour) not go too crazy with the detailing.

After quite a few hours of work, this is what I came up with in Zbrush:







Some of the muscles (especially the back) are still off, but as time is a factor, I decided to carry on with the armour creation and then revisit the anatomy if time allows.

After some concept sculpting and lots of revisions, I ended up with this as a basis for the character. Some pieces are still in the concept sculpt stage, and some have been taken to high poly using the Zbrush hard surface workflow (retop, sub divs etc.):



Some elements didn't appeal (shoulders in particular), so after some reflection and more high poly work, I've ended up with the character looking like this:





There is still plenty to do, but he's starting to come together. The new shoulder design is more appealing (but still in the concept stage), the leg armour came out o.k, and the helmet is looking o.k too (although I'm dreading making the front portion in high poly).

Here are a few close ups of the armour elements with more to come soon:

Xeros

Big update now, with most of the high poly elements done. spent a lot of time working on the armour and chainmaille in particular. I'd love some feedback from anyone who's feeling kind enough to give it thanks guys.

Cglewis

i cant really put my finger on it...but the proportions feel a bit off...
and i would almost say the armor is too boring,

for example look at all the ornate sketching....i feel that something like that on this would be really cool

wheres the cool teeth from the concept! lol i think that would be baller....almost make the helm like a demon bat head or something

but i love this concept and idea i cant wait to see it finished

Xeros

Thanks for the reply dude Really appreciate you taking the time to critique my work. Yeah I've been wanting to do more to the armour and flesh it out with some more detail, but time is becoming a major factor now as it's for a uni submission lol I was thinking about adding a chest piece with an improvised bat symbol on it to try and bring the theme back to "Batman" a bit more. Hopefully that will make it a little more interesting

Xeros

Quick update, put the bat symbol on the front of the chest armour. I think it makes the armour look a little less plain, and adds a bit more character to the piece in general.

apllana

Your character is shaping up well but there are a few issues you might want to address. It looks like you still have some clips left from tiling on the edge of the chainmail and, unless it's fully rusted, the noise is too big and intense on the armor. You'll probably want it to look more like this.

Regarding functionality, will you give him any weapons? A shield? I don't think it would make much sense to fight unarmed under all that heavy armor.

jhoythottle

Batman's utility belt is where he keeps all of his bat-gadgets. The belt in your design is very plain and serves no purpose. Try to think about the types of tools he might have at his disposal for this time period or translate his modern tools into a Medieval setting. Also, I can't tell if the armor is throwing me off, but I feel like his legs are too short or his torso is too long, or both. His arms are also looking a little stubby. I'm at work or I'd post some ref, but I think you should double check your proportions.

nickcomeau

I agree with the comments that have already been said and to add my own comment, I would look back at your anatomical proportions. Something about his arms is making them feel a bit short. It may be the shoulder pads but I think they're a bit short in general. Maybe just do a quick overlay to check it? It's coming along well ^_^

Xeros

Thanks for taking the time to critique my work guys I really appreciate it.

@apllana Yeah the clipped pieces of chainmaille were a real issue for me. I tried to figure out a way to eliminate them, but as I was using micromesh with a tileable pattern, they became an unavoidable evil lol If you have any tips for getting rid of them I'd be eternally grateful The chainmaille itself had to be decimated down to a useable polycount (as each piece was well into the millions) and I think that's whats causing the noise (some stretched triangles etc). In terms of weapons, I wanted to give him a sword and shield originally, but as this is for a university submission (and time is very much against me) I've had to keep to just the character for now. I will be revisiting this piece after the deadline though to improve on it as best I can . In terms of the armour, I think it may be a little overkill with the level of damage and surface noise, I was trying to use this technique https://www.pinterest.com/pin/552465079268280474/ to add some detail to the surface, but I agree that it could probably do with toning down.

@jhoythottle I agree completely about the belt, I really wanted to add some extra gadgets and batarangs etc. to flesh out the character and make him a little more functional overall. Sadly though, as I'm quickly running out of time to submit this piece, the plain belt will have to do for now. Once it's submitted though I will be returning to add more details, and the belt is number 1. on that list. His proportions have been an issue from the start. While my base mesh was anatomically correct ( as far as I could tell anyway lol I'm still learning anatomy and I'm sure it could be improved upon ), as soon as the armour started to get placed on the character, things started to shift visually. He looked very dwarfish to begin with, and this caused issues. I tried to move things around a little bit to compensate but he always seemed too bulky and short, so I agree with you that things definitely look off. I'll be looking at his proportions after the submission is done and making some revisions.

@nickcomeau Yeah the proportions have been a pain from start to finish here lol I have tried changing things around to compensate, but like I mentioned earlier, nothing really seemed to help. The armour is the big issue, and whenever it's placed on the body, things suddenly start to look wrong and distorted.

Thanks again for taking the time to look at my work guys, I hope to have some more progress pics to show to you all soon.

Xeros

Hi guys, I've been hard at work trying to get Batman finished the last few weeks. Here are a few shots of him taken in UE4, textured and posed. I'd love some feedback if anyone feels kind enough to give some Thanks guys.

Xeros

Here are a few more renders with a different lighting setup

Maxilator

The index finger seems too short.

JohnnyDop3

I think it looks amazing! However, you could do without the batwing symbol on the bracers and instead create a shape akin to the shoulderplates. Also, a loincloth for the private areas or have the armor go all the way.. he looks kinda naked there. But really great work.

I'm working on a Batman myself atm.

Brian "Panda" Choi

There needs to be proportion adjustments.  Right now it looks like an average human in a Medieval Batman costume instead of  Batman in his medieval armor.

Notice the proportional scale of how big Batman's torso is relative to his lower body.  And also how relatively larger some of this body parts are in relation to other areas.  It communicates heft and power.  I'd also paint his eye area black, so it's just pearly whites peeking out through the armor.: