Character design / First time texture

tsuchinoko

Hey folks, long time no post!

Here's a project I just wrapped up from my past semester. I took it upon myself to tackle all-out character design and texturing for the first time. All of this was done with Maya and Photoshop. Although I learned a lot of things along the way, (mostly about how not to approach something like this), I do consider this a personal success. I'd appreciate comments, feedback, ideas, etc.

















This was also a first attempt at anything "environmental" related, just some typical sci-fi elements.









As I only used Maya and Photoshop, I had to wonder if my particular workflow is even "relevant" anymore? Meaning, I didn't use any sculpting program to generate high-quality normal maps, I only used Maya's Soften/Harden normals tool, and used hand drawn bump maps for all the minute details. How necessary is it to use a sculpting program from the get-go?


Thanks for lookin

Dustin

skodone

sadly the renders are quite dark and the character is nearly the same shade as the background so your silhouette gets lost due to no contrast and foreground-background separation

as for the workflow its how you like it,... sculpting isnt necessary at all if you are able to achieve the same quality through different methods, if you are super good at painting bumps so be it i only know that with a sculpting tool you are very free from the beginning on, you dont rly have to worry so much about topology and you can concentrate totally on form, structure and look of everything and then add the details just as you want them. i think the problem is if you paint on a bump you have to check your model every time if what you painted looks like how you wanted it, when sculpting gives you this option just instantly...

ljsketch

^agree with skodone about the dark renders and workflow.
Perhaps you could post a grey scale version of the character for better feedback. Otherwise, I'd try adding more lighting that showcases the character better.

tsuchinoko

skodone & ljsketch: Thanks for the tips! Here are some renders with a flat background, hopefully this reveals more detail.







Let me know what ya think!

Legion_studios

was this inspired by iron man? kinda looks like him

TomGT

Look into three point lighting on google, it will really help push your presentation further and help the character stand out from the background.

As for workflow, I still model in Maya a lot though I find with a sculpting program, it is much quicker to create details like armor pieces without worrying about topology.

That said, this is really great for your first character! It must have taken a great deal of effort to get him finished. Good to know you've learned a lot from the process.

skodone

nice now we can see things

proportionally i would add a bit more hip and ass to him so he gets more curves
right now his hip area is quite straight all over
the rubber texture you have i think could pop out a little more its hard to see it right now
(the light grey overall) or is it some smooth plastic?
the brushed metal looks nice and could benefit of a anisotropic map or comb map (google comb maps) maya also has anisotropic shaders for that. if you add some more polys to the front of the helmet and adjust the uvs you should get rid of that big break in the brushed metal texture

other than that way better than my first character :D good job

ljsketch

Much better . This is a pretty good for your first character. Overall, he seems low poly. I imagine you created this for a game?? If so, you could definitely use more detail or more exaggeration in the texture maps as skodone stated.

Proportion wise, I'd say his arms are a tad bit short. I generally use the image below as a point of reference when gauging proportions. Notice how his hands stop almost mid thigh. However, Your character's hands stop around the crotch.



Keep up the good work!

tsuchinoko

@Legion_studios: I've ingested Phil Saunders' designs from Iron Man more times than I can count, so undoubtedly his approach is buried in my subconscious. That being said, I didn't outright use Iron Man as a reference, but I'm sure it's there. Though, half way through modeling this, I came across an uncanny resemblance with "Ultraman", a character I've previously never seen before. Go figure?



@TomGT: It took quite a good amount of effort trying to get the anatomy correct by just pushing and pulling verts, figuring out how to properly UV segments on him, where to place UV seams, and the rigging was a pain. But a good lesson for sure. I think I'm going to try out sculpting for my next project. And thanks for the lighting tip!

@skodone: Thanks! It's technically not my first character, but it is the first time working with UV's and textures. And to be honest, I'm not sure what the material is for the grey? I guess it is a sort of rubber material, but I never sought out to achieve a particular material. And I actually thought his butt turned out pretty nice! haha. This is the first time doing any "real" anatomy for me in 3D, but I did spend a lot of time cross-referencing to make sure it looked believable. Sculpting probably could have helped at this stage though!



@ljsketch: He is low poly, but I didn't make this for any particular engine.
And yea, after creating the textures, spec maps, etc., I realized a lot of the details get washed out because of how far away the camera is. And when the camera is close, you start to see all the blemishes. I blame the short-armedness on the fact that I started with a T-pose? I read online it's recommended that you start modeling in an A-pose, to help with rigging deformation. Any ideas?

tsuchinoko

Another question: I parented all the armor components to the base skeleton, then soft-bind the body to the skeleton. Is there a way to make rigid components remain rigid on a mesh bind? Like, have the armor bind along with the body to the skeleton, but keep the armor rigid?

skodone

just parent them, dont bind them? maybe?
and attach some rotation constraint or parent constraint

ljsketch

I've tried both starting in a T-pose and an A-pose. I find the A-pose a lot more relaxing to work with for me. I also do an arm check before getting to far into modeling, which basically includes rotating the arms down to the side to see where they land and then rotating them back up to my desired sculpting position. I try to make it a habit to check my proportions throughout the entire process even though it doesn't always happen.