WIP satyr - Showcase
polycounter lvl 4
Hi polycounters,
I have been lurking around these forums for some time. I have finally decided to take a step forward and creating a post of my own. I have picked up BLENDER in the last couple of months as a hobby but after sculpting I am really considering it as a possible career choice.
This is my first attempt at sculpting a humanoid creature and I would appreciate any insights or feedback that might help me improve.
I was a little bit concerned about the anatomy and any features I might add to make it look unique. This includes adding more detail and muscular definition.
I am welcoming any constructive criticism so don't hold back.
I have been lurking around these forums for some time. I have finally decided to take a step forward and creating a post of my own. I have picked up BLENDER in the last couple of months as a hobby but after sculpting I am really considering it as a possible career choice.
This is my first attempt at sculpting a humanoid creature and I would appreciate any insights or feedback that might help me improve.
I was a little bit concerned about the anatomy and any features I might add to make it look unique. This includes adding more detail and muscular definition.
I am welcoming any constructive criticism so don't hold back.
Replies
first of all I will say bravo for being proactive and getting creative and modelling something. Getting motivated enough to actually start learning some software and having a go at modelling is half the battle, so you're already moving forward. :-)
I will attempt to give a few pointers, which are obviously only my opinions but hopefully you may find them useful. It's also worth noting that I do actually work in the games industry as a 3D artist and have done for 15 years now, so I do have at least a little experience. :poly124:
My initial question would be... why have you chosen the subject that you have? This isn't a criticism, it's a genuine question. As an experienced 3D artist I can say that a humanoid character is one of the most difficult subjects you could pick. Admittedly yours is only based upon a human form and has features that set it apart from a man, but it is still bipedal and having a human torso and arms etc.
I have no idea how experienced you are at modelling, but from your initial comments it would seem that this is something that you are new to. If this is the case then I would have recommended a much less adventurous project. This isn't meant to deter you, as you have chosen this subject for a reason.
One of the main problems with humanoid figures is that we are more familiar with the human shape and how they look and move that we are, even if subconsciously, super critical. If an arm or hand or even a finger doesn't look or move right it is immediately noticeable and hand to ignore.
We all probably agree that the T-Rex in the original Jurassic Park film was amazing and so well animated and realised - still some of the best effects ever seen, even by today's standards. BUT... I am willing to bet that if we ever saw an actual T-Rex moving we'd think the one in the movie looked odd or clunky. "It's legs don't move like that. It's head's too small" or whatever.
By rather lengthy point is... if you are going to base any part of your character on real world animals (or humans) then you absolutely HAVE to get those parts right.
I'm going to try and paste a link here:-
http://cgvilla.com/2015/03/25/making-of-creature-the-beast-by-javier-blanco/
This link is designed to inspire, not deter. This guy has utterly nailed an imaginary creature. And the secret is his skill at observation and his use of reference material. He's found real world animals that have influenced his design and studied them in detail and incorporated them into his design. Stunning.
Now the next question is... what is the model for? Is it just going to be a show piece "statue" for a portfolio? If your intention is to go down the route of considering 3D art as a profession and presumably in games, then you have to consider what the target platform might be. I've worked on everything from PS1 and original XBox, through subsequent console platforms, PC and now work on mobile devices. And while the power of these platforms increases with each generation, there will still be limits on textures and polys that you should always consider when you create the model. Additionally is the character going to be animated eventually? If so then distribution of polys around areas that may bend is extremely important.
Again I don't intend for my comments to deter you, but rather guide you constructively. When you put stuff into a portfolio and potentially have to show them to someone in the industry they WILL ask the questions and if you can show that you have considered everything, you're going to create a positive impression.
The first question I was asked in my first ever 3D artist job interview was "Why did you choose this subject matter?". And my response was the truth "These were easy to build and texture". I was learning, I was inexperienced - it's much better to do a good job of a simple model, than a bad job of a complicated one. :poly124:
So without going on any further I would say... if this is the model you want to make... make it. Don't worry about the surface detail you're trying to put into it unless you're intent upon using that to create a normal map for a much lower poly figure. Keep it simple and nail the detail in the texture. I have recently modelled a low poly dragon and the scales are done purely in the spec map - it doesn't even use a normal as the brief didn't allow for one. So using the spec map I pick out the scales and it works really well once lit. And even though I'm not an animator, I put bones in the model and skinned it to see how it posed. This immediately highlighted a couple of areas that needed extra geometry to ensure that things bent smoothly. I'll have to get some renders of it added when I can.
So if you're still reading ShadowDragon... keep at it, get a texture on it (!!!) and hopefully I have given you something to think about.
Good luck
Nev
first of all I will say bravo for being proactive and getting creative and modelling something. Getting motivated enough to actually start learning some software and having a go at modelling is half the battle, so you're already moving forward. :-)
I will attempt to give a few pointers, which are obviously only my opinions but hopefully you may find them useful. It's also worth noting that I do actually work in the games industry as a 3D artist and have done for 15 years now, so I do have at least a little experience. :poly124:
My initial question would be... why have you chosen the subject that you have? This isn't a criticism, it's a genuine question. As an experienced 3D artist I can say that a humanoid character is one of the most difficult subjects you could pick. Admittedly yours is only based upon a human form and has features that set it apart from a man, but it is still bipedal and having a human torso and arms etc.
I have no idea how experienced you are at modelling, but from your initial comments it would seem that this is something that you are new to. If this is the case then I would have recommended a much less adventurous project. This isn't meant to deter you, as you have chosen this subject for a reason.
One of the main problems with humanoid figures is that we are more familiar with the human shape and how they look and move that we are, even if subconsciously, super critical. If an arm or hand or even a finger doesn't look or move right it is immediately noticeable and hand to ignore.
We all probably agree that the T-Rex in the original Jurassic Park film was amazing and so well animated and realised - still some of the best effects ever seen, even by today's standards. BUT... I am willing to bet that if we ever saw an actual T-Rex moving we'd think the one in the movie looked odd or clunky. "It's legs don't move like that. It's head's too small" or whatever.
By rather lengthy point is... if you are going to base any part of your character on real world animals (or humans) then you absolutely HAVE to get those parts right.
I'm going to try and paste a link here:-
http://cgvilla.com/2015/03/25/making-of-creature-the-beast-by-javier-blanco/
This link is designed to inspire, not deter. This guy has utterly nailed an imaginary creature. And the secret is his skill at observation and his use of reference material. He's found real world animals that have influenced his design and studied them in detail and incorporated them into his design. Stunning.
Now the next question is... what is the model for? Is it just going to be a show piece "statue" for a portfolio? If your intention is to go down the route of considering 3D art as a profession and presumably in games, then you have to consider what the target platform might be. I've worked on everything from PS1 and original XBox, through subsequent console platforms, PC and now work on mobile devices. And while the power of these platforms increases with each generation, there will still be limits on textures and polys that you should always consider when you create the model. Additionally is the character going to be animated eventually? If so then distribution of polys around areas that may bend is extremely important.
Again I don't intend for my comments to deter you, but rather guide you constructively. When you put stuff into a portfolio and potentially have to show them to someone in the industry they WILL ask the questions and if you can show that you have considered everything, you're going to create a positive impression.
The first question I was asked in my first ever 3D artist job interview was "Why did you choose this subject matter?". And my response was the truth "These were easy to build and texture". I was learning, I was inexperienced - it's much better to do a good job of a simple model, than a bad job of a complicated one. :poly124:
So without going on any further I would say... if this is the model you want to make... make it. Don't worry about the surface detail you're trying to put into it unless you're intent upon using that to create a normal map for a much lower poly figure. Keep it simple and nail the detail in the texture. I have recently modelled a low poly dragon and the scales are done purely in the spec map - it doesn't even use a normal as the brief didn't allow for one. So using the spec map I pick out the scales and it works really well once lit. And even though I'm not an animator, I put bones in the model and skinned it to see how it posed. This immediately highlighted a couple of areas that needed extra geometry to ensure that things bent smoothly. I'll have to get some renders of it added when I can.
So if you're still reading ShadowDragon... keep at it, get a texture on it (!!!) and hopefully I have given you something to think about.
Good luck
Nev
I was planning to create a first person medieval style PC game and so I choose satyrs because Orcs have been bullied too much in this genre also creating a humanoid presents a challenge and includes all aspects of the art pipeline (sculpting,... ==> animation) so I thought it would be a great practice and test my skills.
Are you suggesting that I should make more Animal/ non-human features so it is more distinguishable and unique?
I have searched and used references often but unfortunately there are not many satyr models around (its good in a way) some examples:
Concept
GOW concept
3D model
3D GOW
and Finally a video reference =>
I am planning to use a normal map on a low poly model and so I am trying to get a review on the high poly so that I can start working on the low poly, are you suggesting to leave the high poly as is and move on to low poly and texturing?
Thanks again for the feedback and your thoughts on the creative process.
Increased head,ear size
Added detail on horns
Detailed body muscles
[URL="[URL=http://s556.photobucket.com/user/5hadowDragon/media/Satyr_SkinReady_zps3c2brbr9.png.html][IMG]http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss3/5hadowDragon/Satyr_SkinReady_zps3c2brbr9.png[/IMG][/URL]"][/url]
[URL="[URL=http://s556.photobucket.com/user/5hadowDragon/media/Satyr_SkinReady_Front_zpsyzymus0m.png.html][IMG]http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss3/5hadowDragon/Satyr_SkinReady_Front_zpsyzymus0m.png[/IMG][/URL]"][/url]
Planning to add some hair probably in the legs and maybe neck have not decided yet.
First of all thanks for the feedback.
I tried to balance between human and animal features as much as I can but since I needed a creature that held medieval weapons I looked at more human references than animal ones.
I mostly used animal references when creating the basic shapes and a little again for a detail pass mostly looked at skulls, horns and legs. I must say goat eyes scared the shit out of me and now I'm looking at some animal references again to make hair.
Should I rethink the structure of the satyr or change some features before continuing?