Sci Fi soldier WIP

Karellen

Hello polycount, im doing this sci fi looking soldier and even though i have learned a lot already making it, i feel like im missing a lot of stuff if i want to take it further. 
Does anyone have any suggestion about how to take this further? Im specially interested in UV making, i use blender and sometimes the uv maps keep looking weird no matter how i unwrap the different meshes and it affects the texturing process sometimes. Are maya or 3dsmax a better option for UVs? 

purplekami

I haven't used blender before so I can't comment on whether or not Maya and 3ds Max won't cause distortion in your UVs. What I will say however is that Maya's latest UV mapping toolkit is very extensive and well done if you want to do it manually.
There are also a lot of 3rd party programs that handle UV mapping more effectively than the standard modelling software. Personally I use 3d Coat and draw out the seems, then use it's packing algorithms to get a good sense of how I'm going to lay out my shells, then operate by hand for the best possible results.
I like where this is going! Do some research on 3rd party UV mapping software, it'll cost money but it's very effective and saves a ton of time as well as reduces chance for human error.

Karellen

@PURPLEKAMI: thanks for the input! i had no idea dedicated software for UV making existed haha so much to learn! i will take a look

Karellen

Hi people, i worked some more on this, because i wasnt satisfied with how the head without the ballistic mask looked i started again. 
Trying to achieve a realistic look like in metal gear solid V, still a long way to go. 

Karellen

Some more work on this fella, i think i will call the head done and go for the weapons/pose/presentation. 

Karellen

Almost done! the P90 and the sniper rifle are placeholders for now, until i design my own weaponry, this character is part of a game project so after finishing the weapons i will go for the female version. 
As always, any feedback/criticism is very welcome! 

musashidan

I feel you might have rushed ahead a bit as the head still needs a lot of work. If there are closeups/cutscenes this will let the rest of the character down. A lot of the lumpiness of the sculpt is hidden by texturing/sss effect but I think it would be good practice for you to keep working on the head.

Karellen

@musashidan  thank you for the advice! indeed i can see it now. For now i will try tweaking the material in marmoset to see if i can get better results but after taking a look at your wip threads and youtube channel (thanks for sharing so much info btw, you got a new subscriber!) i will probably go back to the sculpting phase and try to do it better, since the current face looks too old (even with the details of the sculpt semi hidden by the material) 

musashidan

Thanks for the sub. Welcome aboard. I actually like the style of the head. It reminds me of a type of character straight out of Ghost in the shell. The style you've chosen really suits, I feel. It's more about refining your sculpt to tidy up the lumpiness. We all tend to get excited when our projects progress, but I've found that it always pays to be critical of your own work, and not to leave something as ok or passable but really push yourself. It may add a few days or even weeks onto your project but there's no deadline so afford yourself this time to improve both the current project and your own standard and personal goals. 

You've done well so far. Keep going.