[The Beast] - [Jackie Estacado - The darkness]
LAST UPDATE - To see all the final entry, check last page
: 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Polycount,
After reading the contest rules and theme, I told myself "i'm in!". It sounds really exciting and i can't wait to see all the good stuff created by polycounters.
Yesterday, I was looking for a great idea of a beast... This exercice is not simple, there are so much awesome existing beasts. Which type of beast fits with my needs and why?
I defined three big families of beast :
- The human like beast:
As the name say, they're looking like human, as Dracula, jack the reaper, ... The idea is to keep a human looking style to underline their real cruelty.
( The human reconstructed, but their is (in my mind) two families )
- The anthropomorph :
Easy to recognise, they are fascinating... There is a lot of possibilities : Chtulhu, The pirate poulp in Disney movie (the caribean pirates), Werewolves, etc.
- The genetically modified :
They're ugly, they look like zombies. Normaly, they use to change their apparences to be more efficient / powerfull, or maybe to get an ability ... I don't know, but i'm sure they're strong and scary.
These three families of beast are so cool, their is so much to do... I really like the Human look, to me it's important to keep a part of human to get the perfect beast but the Anthropo are so badass, more "creative". It announces a cool challenge in zbrush. Also, Gen-Modified are great. I can't imagine all the possibilities and it will be a real challenge for the substance flesh render.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I considered that all of these beasts can be attached to a human being (wife, daughter, the little boy always beaten by his alcoholic stepfather, etc.) which has a terrifying and cruel death experience. That's why our protagonist change and pratice experiences on himself. So we can say that's a beast, isn't it?
A night past, but i was not sure. A Cthulhu Human Prince, or Le German Scientist with his Big Mouth Devorating Soul...
I knew something more. I don't want a realistic rendering reference. With all the voluntees i have, i will never product the same quality as Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean.
I took the problem with a different angle. I asked myself : what characters i like?, which one of them is a beast?. I finally target these non-realistic characters : Spawn and The Darkness.
They shared a bad end story of love, relativily. Spawn has a lot of representation in 3D contrary to Darkness. It's a good point but Darkness is too clean in those comics illustration. Of course, I'm talking about the skin / appareance.
However, if i represent my Beast during the transformation, "He" should keep a part of human and a demon one.
Ok, so now i have to decide how to represent this transformation. One of my best reference is Venom's one. It's really organic (more like a welding feeling) and painful during the process.
Too long to read ? Here's a resume
: - Part of human look like (to illustrate love and humanity)
- Part of demon (for the badass beast side)
- An organic merging (to feel the pain and consumption)
That's how i found my theme character. Let me introduce to you Jackie Estacado, also known as The Darkness, during his transformation process!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacky's story : (from wiki indeed)
Jackie Anthony Estacado was born October 29, 1981 in New York City. He has Italian and Spanish heritage. Jackie joined the Mafia at 6, after being adopted by Mafia don Frankie Franchetti, who was told by a mysterious stranger named Sonatine that Jackie's presence in his mob would make Frankie powerful. Jackie came to the Mafia life easily, losing his virginity to a female officer during interrogation at age 14,and making his first hit at 16. He matured very quickly, and soon enjoyed the life of sex and violence. His actions within the mob caused Franchetti to become the most powerful don in the city, fulfilling Sonatine's prophecy.
However, when he turned 21, his dark powers awakened and he learned of his evil heritage. Jackie spent much of his time escaping from or fighting the Angelus and Sonatine and his Brotherhood of the Darkness. Eventually, Jackie chose to quit the mob and turned on his adoptive uncle, Don Frankie Franchetti, to get a clean slate and exit from his life of crime after a meeting with Batman.(This is not interesting).
However, Frankie kidnapped Jenny, a childhood friend of Jackie's, killed her and sent a videotape to Jackie in revenge. Jackie could not take this and called out Franchetti's mob, leading them to an abandoned warehouse covered in gasoline. When the crew arrived to kill Estacado, Jackie and the Darklings threw down their lighters and blew the place and all its occupants to bits, killing Frankie and burning Jackie alive. Over the course of this series, Jackie has made uneasy and often flirtatious alliances with Sara Pezzini, the current user of the Witchblade.
Jackie spent two days afterward wandering around Hell while searching for Jenny until Tom Judge came and gave him hope, a gift that allows men to exit Hell. Jackie's body was then reconstructed by the Darkness.
Replies
Here's my first little progress on my beast Jackie. To begin, I worked on body shape / proportion and I put a first try of mafiosi clothes. I hope you like, all commentaries are appreciate, indeed
Little update, i imported clothes in zbursh and i began some retakes.
I Hope you like, all commentaries are appreciate
And the clothes look really good with the folds and all, but what will his face and body look like? I'm actually a lot more curious of that ;>
I like your research and thoughts about it all. But enlighten me because I didn't understand: is Jackie an already existing concept/character?
- Yes, Jackie is an existing character from the comic call "Darkness". But i will represent Jackie during his transformation and I permit myself to tranform the darkness armor in something more organic.
- Thanks for your commentarie, I focused on the shape of the body to plug all clothes in marvelous, but after it I will focus on Jackie's body and his face.
Jackie's body is partially recovered by a demon armor/fluid on his right side, so i need the body shape and his clothes to plug it. After all this tasks, I will focus on the non-infected skin part.
To begin this week, some work on Jackie's watch and shoes. I try to plug all assets and i 'll come back on their for detail. I'm not sure for the shoes, maybe something more square for the front.
I Hope you like, All commentaries are appreciate.
But beware, you mustn't fail The Darkness !
Can't wait to see how you will represent the darkness manifestation on his body
Last week was hard in job but it's sunday, time to try some fluid tests. During the week, i was looking for a fluid solution which permit to me an export in a mesh scluptable.
A friend showed me blender with meta ball system, he showed me how it works to be efficient, after some try on the interface and modifiers, i plug my avatar to test on it, this is where i go :
It's a first test to get an idea, now it's time to customize fluids, the second step will be the sclupt to get something more "graphic".
Hope you like, all commentaries are appreciated
The fluid looks cool, how much will the armor cover the body and will the fluid make the transition beyond armor and fluid ? Do my questions make any sense ? ^^
- Actualy i'm looking for a "good" result/design between armor and fluid, i'm looking for a partial fluid+ a good armor design. So I think that the armor will be partially recover by fluid and splash.
- For the recovering surface, i want to try something lighter like : right arm + splash fluid on back.
Did I answer your question? and what is your point of view?
Today some retakes on fluid armor design (less fluid on armor),
the next step will be a render pose search (it will impact the fluid)
Not sure my point of view is valuable at all ^^.
For a more "beast" approach (cause the guy might look a little bit too much human except his arm and back) probably you should extend the armor to the right leg (like foot to the knee), half chest and half face (especially the face for the beast/frightening/inhuman part). Just to show that the transformation "means" the inner beast is coming and that he's (the human) not totally in control of the situation. I think that could be interesting but I don't know exactly where you are going for now so my point of view is worthless. I'm not even sure that's what you were asking for ^^.
For the fluid part, maybe less on the fingers, where transformation is finished, and more and more as you go near human material. That is if you want to look closer to the original design, if you want the whole armor to look a little bit ... "liquid", then forget what I said ^^.
I hope I'm understandable and that I answered right ...
Thanks for your commentaries, i will try to answer you
For a more "beast" approach (cause the guy might look a little bit too much human except his arm and back) probably you should extend the armor to the right leg (like foot to the knee), half chest and half face (especially the face for the beast/frightening/inhuman part). Just to show that the transformation "means" the inner beast is coming and that he's (the human) not totally in control of the situation.
i agree with you the fluid armor should recover partially his face, and i think a little bit his right leg too.
For the fluid part, maybe less on the fingers, where transformation is finished, and more and more as you go near human material. That is if you want to look closer to the original design, if you want the whole armor to look a little bit ... "liquid", then forget what I said ^^
It's an interesting point of view
I'm actually working on the character pose because fluids are impact by it. I'm trying two differents poses with transpose master tool and few more by drawing after research.
My reflexion was oriented constraints (because i don't have the time to try so I need to be efficient) :
- I know it's the darkness, so i need easy dark/light zone
- I know it's his first transformation (because my story telling)
- I know i don't have the time to retake a lot (and i don't want)
- I know i want some objects in mouvement but freeze at "a frame" (like a whiskey glass dropping on the ground,...)
With the short time i have until the deadline, I think i should take the simpliest one / with the less retake...
I'll try a speed blocking/lighting to see where i go
First try of compositing: projection shadow will be faked to allow the apparition of demons. Need to be toshoped to clarify the lighting and demons positioning.
Hope you like, any commentaries are appreciated
Little upgrade during the end of the week :
I integrate fluids on his face, i worked on his face expression and I worked on the haircut .
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This monday night i work on arm armor detail (a little bit) and demons head on shadow, it's all wip but I better know where I go.
Any commentaries are appreciated
Looking forward to seeing how this develop further.
@Spoon : Thank you, I will try to get the good way
@Enalya, thank you for your comment, you're right, I have some retake on the pants too (right leg wrinkles). I hope I'll have the time to retake that, the deadline arrive and it rest: Topo, LowPoly, Materials creation, UV, Baking, Integration, Lighting and Compositing... And I have some part of my HighPoly undone yet. Futur nights will be short
For today, few add of fluid on the pants, it needs retakes too.
Any commentaries are appreciated (as always
As for the shadows behind him I was waiting for progress before saying anything but I just think that one of these creatures could be just a little more "complete" (like a full harm and maybe a third of a torso showing ?).
Not sure that it's constructive criticism but I did my best there ^^.
I really like the design though (except he looks a little bit old for now compared to the original one ^^).
@Dabou_Master : Hi, and thank you for your commentaries
It might sound silly but I just think the glass shouldn't fall exactly like that ^^, it's just not really convincing and there might be also a little bit too much of liquid escaping the glass (since it just has been falling for probably less than half a second and hasn't yet touched the floor).
- You're right their is too much fluid exiting the glass and it should be better sculpt
As for the shadows behind him I was waiting for progress before saying anything but I just think that one of these creatures could be just a little more "complete" (like a full harm and maybe a third of a torso showing ?).
- For the shadow, i really don't know if the polygonal budget will permit to me to plug what i want with demons and other things like that. That's why i don't work it actually, but in fact demons should be more define with arm, torso ...
Not sure that it's constructive criticism but I did my best there ^^.
- Commentaries are always good and you're constructive
I really like the design though (except he looks a little bit old for now compared to the original one ^^).
- Yep, It's a Jackie Older than the original concept a little bit younger to me. I appreciate that you like
We're getting close to the dead line (rush, rush, rush
Today, I worked on different pieces :
- I added gems on the right arm, plus i re-worked the scales along the armor to get more details :
I hope you like, any commentaries are appreciated
I hope you like, as always any commentaries are welcomed
First one, the elbow and hand gems (well with the point of view you give us) are put in a similar way and I think it could be better just not to have this kind of same triangle of gems for both.
Second, I was thinking about the pose and I think his left hand looks a little bit too relaxed compared to what's happening to him and it doesn't really match the mood of the face's expression.
To finish with positive thoughts, the darkness harm is looking great (I think) !
@Dabou_Master : You 're right and thanks for your comments, I should rework the left hand posing and i think my point of view don't help to see the asymetrie
One week with too much work to do at the job... But today i found some time after so I worked a little bit on the low poly topology, actualy i 'm at 122K, it's too much but it's a good beginning... I will work on armor (hand), pant and shoes to optimise. I want to put more triangles on hand fluid armor.
Any commentaries are appreciated
Today i worked on topology to be under 100K... It's done
I optimized shirt, pants, hair and shoes to get more triangles on fluids. More few retakes on this week-end to integrate objects which are missing and I will begin UV and bake
Any commentaries are appreciated
Today i've finished the topology and i'm under the 100K
It's time to Unwarp UV (hahahahaha....)
This evening I verify my baking.
Now i have to work on my materials in Designer (shirt, pants, leather, armor). I will use metal by default with mask and i'll do some projection for the skin.
I hope you like, any commentaries are appreciated
I'm a little bit surprised, the armor will be metal based ? I've always seen it more like a living thing, like a second skin, a shadow skin ? ^^
I don't know if you will keep the color base for the shoes and pants but it doesn't feel really scary or threatening for a mafia guy ... For me it looks like he's just going on vacation ^^. Of course it's just my humble opinion
Nice work so far !
It was only baking test, so no color or texture set
Actually i'm working on the fabric texture, and I will set the fluidic armor after.
I hope you like, any commentaries are appreciated.
Tonight i worked on substance armor to get something a little bit organic but "liquid". Just notice, that I changed color exposed in the thumbail, it was just to be sure I read different textures shapes.
It's really ruf... but with some tweaks i can get what I want.
It's just a first render, it shows me how the face should be worked, hair and arm too and all colors must be reworked. Armor and liquid must be less vivid, in other words I have to set all shaders
I hope you like this begining, any commentaries should be appreciated.
Tonight, I worked on face detail, fluid armor and a little bit the lighting.
another one :
- Metalness and roughness of the skin are not actually worked; so it's "normal" if it's to shiny...
- Gems on armor are fucked up, I'll try to get an oil render tomorrow...
I hope you like, any commentaries are appreciated.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's my Final Entry for the Beast Contest with the Darkness (Jackie Estacado).
StroryLine :
Jackie Anthony Estacado was born in New York City. He has Italian. Jackie joined the Mafia at 6, after being adopted by Mafia don Frankie Franchetti. His actions within the mob caused Franchetti to become the most powerful don in the city.
However, when he turned 21, his dark powers awakened and he learned of his evil heritage. Jackie chose to quit the mob, to get a clean slate and exit from his life of crime.
However, Frankie kidnapped Jenny, a childhood friend of Jackie's, killed her and sent a videotape to Jackie in revenge. Jackie could not take this and called out Franchetti's mob. When the crew arrived Jackie and the Darklings threw down their lighters and blew the place and all its occupants to bits, killing Frankie and burning Jackie alive.
This is the first time the Darkness awake... (I hope it's under 100...)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Frame Beauty Shot :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
CloseUp Beauty Shot :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Frame Wire Shot :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Texture Sheet 1 - Character :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Texture Sheet 2 - Pedestal :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This character was modeled in 3DsMax, sculpted in Zbursh, I create materials in PBR spec/gloss with Substance Designer and applied them with Substance Painter, to be finally render in Marmoset ToolBag 2.
I hope you like, any commentaries are appreciated
I opened an artstation with renders for this contest. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/eVgy6
I hope you like