Realistic Link (Legend of Zelda fanart - WIP)

ChaosWWW

Final Result:

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In this thread I am planning on making a game ready character based on Link from the Legend of Zelda, but doing it in a hyper-realistic style. I'll try to post as often as I can and any critiques or comments are welcome.

To start, here's all the references / mood boards I'm using. To start, here's the clothes reference and general feeling I'm going for for the character, based on Twilight Princess Link.



Next is the body reference. I wanted a body that was fit but not too muscular. This is mostly for proportions.



Finally, here's my head reference board. I wanted to base the head off of a real person to ground the character in reality. I might stray from it a bit, but this is the general feeling I'm going for with the head (minus any facial hair, just the head shape)



Some challenges I'm anticipating are the clothing and the hair. For the clothing, I'm going to use Marvelous Designer, and this will be my first time seriously using it on a full character. For the hair, I want to go for something detailed using cards, but I don't have much experience with hair so that will be a challenge.

Once again, comments and critiques welcome!

ChaosWWW

To start with, here's the sculpt for the body. This is mostly for proportions, but some secondary forms are in to make sure the cloth reacts properly to the contours of the body in Marvelous Designer.



Also, here are the primary forms of the head.

Tetranome

Cool, nice start. Looking forward to seeing some future shots.

KingKellogg

I like the idea, but I don't think that guys face is what I would go for.

Kaine123

I would try to give link a thinner, more asian-looking face considering the style and origins of the series.

ChaosWWW

Thanks for all the feedback so far everyone! @KingKellogg and @Kaine123, I did mess around with changing the head to have a bit more Asian features, but when I mixed references the head ended up looking more generic. For now I'm going to stick to the reference in the OP to create a distinct look, but later on I might change the head if I have time. This is also for a school assignment so I have to get done with everything before May. I do understand what you mean, though, and I agree.

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Now it's time for a much needed update (it's been a while)!

First of all, started moving into secondary forms in the face:



Also, made some progress with the clothing in Marvelous Designer



C&C welcome!

Odow

Even if you're going for a realistic style, don't forget that link is an elf, you didn't take the best reference, your ref has a pretty much manly face. You need a more suitable men. I would suggest you look at LotR/The hobbit to check their elf. Make his face smoother. Link is really feminine, so feminine that everyone thought he was a girl in the next game. Also is look old, remember that link is pretty much around either 7 or 15years old in every game. The higher he goes is 17years old in Twilight princess. You make him look like a 35old dude when he's a kid. (Hylian ages like human not like elf)

Odow

Damn you sure the third picture isn't him ? And now everone know i suck with American actor they all look the same.

ChaosWWW

First up, here's an update! Got all the pieces in place in some form or another, but many of them are lacking secondary forms. Lots of detailing ahead. C&C welcome as always.



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I have decided based on the feedback I have gotten that I will change the head. Update coming soon.

ChaosWWW

Alright, so based on the feedback I've gotten it seems people didn't really like the reference I was going for before. So, I went back to the drawing board and went in a different direction. Hopefully you will think it's more suitable.



Also here's the head in the context of the rest of the body and with the simple blocked out hair.



Next up I need to focus a lot more on the rest of the body, which is still untouched from last time.

Let me know what you think!

AshuraDX

Really nice !
but the chainmail needs work, check this out : http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1115091&postcount=156

the download link to the requried plugin there doesn't work anymore though - but I found a site linking to that plugin : https://simonfuchs.wordpress.com/2014/08/17/tutorial-adding-detail-to-your-highpoly-objects-using-the-slideknit-script/

Odow

This face is 100000x time more suitable for link ! GJ

Wendy de Boer

The one thing that really sticks out to me is the hair. You've gone realistic for all other parts, but the hair is really stylized. I understand it's in blockout stage, but even still, real hair could never be styled to be this big and chunky. I think you need to find a real world reference for the hair, even though that will undoubtedly change the character considerably. The volumes on actual floppy bangs are quite different from how they are often represented in stylized artwork.

ChaosWWW

Hey, here's another update! More or less done with the zbrush work, going to move on to lowpoly now.



@AshuraDX - In this version I did improve the chainmail so it is actually linked, but now I think it looks too small and too uniform. I'm going to see if I can't get good results out of micromesh, and if not I'll try your technique. Thanks for the link!

DemonPrincess - Right now it is pretty hard to visualize the hair as being realistic, but once the cards are in and textured it will feel more real. The hair I think won't be 100% accurate to real life but will hopefully be convincing. I am planning on toning down the hair in some areas because right now I agree it feels too stylized. However, I'm still sticking to more or less a similar design because it is iconic for Link.

Thanks for all the feedback so far! If you have any critiques or comments feel free to voice them!

apllana

The previous ring size of the chainmail worked best, I think. Some of the edges on the boots, tunic, gloves and straps look a bit lumpy and might be worth refining if you're going for realism. I like how the face turned out and I can't wait to see how you approach the hair.

ValXVI

WW! whats good man! This is looking great so far! The wrinkles on the boots is lookin a little too much to me anyway.

ChaosWWW

Got the lowpoly done! Did my first pass of baking as well. Still got the hair to tackle and of course texturing. BTW, micro detail in the normal maps are going to be handled during the texturing phase.



@apllana annd @ValXVI - Thanks for the support! The chainmail size is changed now although it's a little wird to look at without the alpha. I agree about the boots and in general the lumpiness, I'm going to try to fix this stuff but I gotta finish this in 2 weeks so I might not have time .

Brian "Panda" Choi

The way the pants are crinkling suggest that they are made of a wafer thin material and NOT something that's heavier and more protective. It seems off-putting to me. I don't imagine Link wearing anything that would be that thin, even for yoga-like leggings he had in Ocarina of Time.

ChaosWWW

Alright, a bit of a jump from last update, but I'm calling this done! Thanks for all the feedback and support everyone!






@Brian "Panda" Choi: I agree about the wrinkles on the pants. I thought they looked strange but everyone I asked said they looked okay. I should have probably changed that earlier on.

slosh

Pretty solid! I think the head could use work...sort of lacks personality. The hat sits on his head very oddly as well. Overall, a nice piece...

Vertrucio

The metal guard on the bow could use some dents on the front hard angle. It looks too machined for something that's fantasy, even realistic looking fantasy.

3dReaper

This looks great as a character, but considering Link is one of the characters I grew up with... Im going to say he does not resemble Link if he was real-istic...

His face looks off, kind of looks like a surfer guy.

The Green Cap/hat really looks odd, as Slosh said.

The rest of his outfit looks good.

Also is that supposed to be the Hero Bow? If so it looks off:

JacqueChoi

Interesting to see responses on what people think what Link *should* look like.

I think an easy-ish fix would be just to lower the entire hat on the head, so it fits a bit more snug.



Overall though, a VERY solid model.

ChaosWWW

Thanks for the feedback guys!

@Slosh: I agree with what you're saying. I had some issues getting the hat to look proper and is one of the weakest parts of the character I think. Also I do wish that I stuck to one solid reference for the head and really went for a particular look, because right now it is a bit generic. I'm glad you liked it though, your work is inspirational so it's motivating to hear!

@Ventrucio: Yeah, the bow was kind of a last minute thing. Considering the time constraints I think it came out pretty well but it could definitely use improvement.

@3dReaper: I see what you mean about the look of the character but I wasn't going for an exact copy of Nintendo's version, this is sort of my own take. The bow was based on one from skyward sword, although the design was changed a bit.



@JacqueChoi: I couldn't have done it nearly as well without your feedback and demonstrations