Paul-Improvement Thread Doing some VFX! Critiques welcome

pmiller001

I'm not as good at anatomy in zbrush as I'd like to be. I'm going to devote two hours a day to working on it. I really enjoy drawing people, and I'm pretty confident doing it, and I want to be just as confident in 3D. This is going to be one of them long term threads. SO Please critique along the way. 

Edit: I"m just going to use this thread to post every new model i finish. and i"ll post all my WIPS in my sketchbook in the sketchbook thread.  I dont want to over saturate the air waves with a ton of WIPS  
Sketchbook:http://polycount.com/discussion/173902/sketchbook-paul-miller#latest


Most current image

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Svyat

Keep going man, I believe you can do it! I'm actually doing kinda the same thing just studying anatomy, and it can be a pain but hard work always pays off.

pmiller001

thanks @Svyat
 I appreciate it amigo. Yeah its just gonna take hard work, time, dedication, and making sure i learn from my mistakes haha. 

PS: I forgot to hit "post reply" ! I'm sorry dude. I dont like to make it a habit of not replying to people 

pmiller001

Last update on this character for a while. I learned quite a bit form this little project. I'll use everything I"ve learned on this piece to better myself on the next one. I had a LOT of fun working on this, which is partially why it took me so long. I Felt like I was learning something new every other day. With that being said I cant wait to start working on my next piece. There are more WIP images in my sketchbook thread. here
http://polycount.com/discussion/173902/sketchbook-paul-miller#latest

Also heres the art station post for more images and a Viewer file. 


https://www.artstation.com/artwork/GD3DQ


Critiques MOre than welcomed, please do so. I'd like to know where I can improve on for the next time. 

pmiller001

Made some Fan art of the Fox from Rime. Didnt have a lot of time to deal with it, but I think i'll be able to come back to it soon. IT was a lot of fun, considering I never do anything like this. By which I mean, animal, and/or cute. Cant wait to try something like this again. 
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/r4mx6

pmiller001

Going back and taking a few of the things I've learned recently to redo a model I really enjoyed a while back. I'm addressing some concerns i got at GDC, namely. 
The polycount was too high. (They weren't kidding, I had the original model at over 30k polys. I got it down to 11k, and it looks better now IMO.). 
the texture wasn't varied enough. 
It needs to be presented better. 

SO the next thing I"m going to do is mess with the presentation, and try to copy what some successful people have done. 

pmiller001

Did some sketching tonight, before deciding on what to model next. I took some advice and started with one of the templates that Zbrush comes with. 

pmiller001

pmiller001

So i'm trying to emulate what HeV did on their diver girl piece. (Saw it on the front page.). I feel confident that I can make this sculpt better, after coming back at it tommorow with some fresh eyes. 
Hair is ultimately the one thing i'm worried about, So I think i'm going to take this week, to figure out how the hell to do it, before I bust open this model to sculpt again. 

pmiller001

part of the head piece for that mummy character

pmiller001

Trying to keep it down to only the big updates in this thread, and the more frequent WIP images int he sketchbook. But yeah still chuggin along. Choo choo. 

pmiller001

Just some comments I've recieved on this piece so far. i thought sharing it would prove helpful myself andsome others.

I think the eyes are sort of a weird shape, I would remove t he eyeliner as a seperate object and make them lashes.  The face has some weird shapes on it.  Definitely make sure you understand and show the cheekbones and how they interact with the cheeks.  How the lips fold over each other is important too (the top typically creases over the bottom lip in an interesting shape), the chin and muscles around the mouth do some interesting things there too

she's coming across as cross eyed right now, be careful about that

the hair is looking pretty good, but make sure that you detail the top and back as well as you detailed the front

pmiller001

Based off some critiques including the one you see above. 

pmiller001

So this is wierd. I'm trying to throw some materials on this joker, And for whatever reason  My triangles keep showing up hard AF. 



With normals applied even. 

Yet, in Painter it looks fine...

This seems like a bush league issue, but for the life of Me I can not figure out what the problem is. THought I was smoothing the normals in Modo but I guess not? Woof, Maybe I"ll be able to solve this tomorrow, until then I"m going to bed...

pmiller001

Womp! figured it out. Turns out my light was too close? NOt sure why thats a problem, will do more problem solving otnight

pmiller001

so I fixed one problem then ran into several more , ambiguous and completely solvable problems. I'm still following hevs lead on this. imnreallynglad they shared a breakdown because that's intensely helpful. 
anywho gonna work on making the face and hair look like Hev did, this weekend. then following up with some hair cards to add more volume.

pmiller001

edit: Boo for posting things out of context, 
NOt where I want it to be, but i'v elearned a lot so far. 
things that are bothering me:
1. It feels ultra plasticy in the face. 
2. I guess faceting on the hair isn't the worst thing on the planet. The hair doesnt look detailed enough. SO I guess i'll try painting in more hair strands? I"m really not sure what to do for it. 
3. Eyelashes look weird, so i'm going to take a good look at Hevs piece (Diver girl) and really figure out whats going on in there, 
4. I wanted the green to be this marble kind of material, but i'm not sure i got that right. SO going to have to check out that reference again. 

A few things ive learned
-How to turn down the saturation in Marmoset, and Substance, so ican look at my material values. and wow I'm mad i couldnt figure that out before, but it sure does help. 
-SCulpt the hair exactly how you want it. That would have saved me some time on the end. 
-I'm not sure if this is a rule, but i figure you dont want to be adding thigns at the end of your project ( in my case, eye lashes) so model it on from the jump or atleast think about that stuff. 

pmiller001

Whew, learned a lot on this. Mainly, that i still cant sculpt faces yet. More practice is needed. ANywho. I do like trying to familiarize myself with thep rocess of taking pieces to completion instead of letting them sit in purgatory. SO in the Interim, I'm going to start in on something new whil the critiques come in for this, and I'll just fix this model in the future. 

pmiller001

Been working on this here squig, MOre WIPS in my sketchbook thread. I thought this was a good enough time to show where i'm at so far. Gonna start adding details in tomorrow and this weekend.

pmiller001

Think i'm done with the high poly I"m diggin' it so far. I"m thinking i can get the LP done by the end of the week. I'm gonna be generous with the polys too. 

pmiller001

First pass at materials/textures on the squig, There's more WIP's in my sketchbook (signature) but i thought this was cool enough to show. 

CybranM

Not a lot of replies in this tread.
I think you've advanced a lot since that first post! 

pmiller001 said:

Based off some critiques including the one you see above. 

I think this sculpt is really nice, the lowpoly version doesnt do it justice though but if you keep at it I think you can do it.

The squig is looking pretty good so far, just try to push the textures as far as you can. 

EDIT: you might want to edit the first post and add a more recent image, might get you more views and replies

pmiller001

Thanks a bunch @CybranM , having had some time to digest the model, I'm not digging the low poly as much as i'm digging the high poly. even the high poly still has some issues if i'm being honest. I'd like to go back before the end of the year and rectify some of this stuff. 

-also, thanks on the Squig, yeah. I'm really excited to see what i can do on this joker. 

-I hadn't thought of that (changing the first image) thanks for the advice.

pmiller001

Callin it for now, I'll come back and revisit these textures, but i wanna move on and use my new skills on a new project. 
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/dVxV1

pmiller001

A head for my latest piece. 

pmiller001

Update on where i'm at so far, still noodling away. I want to start detailing soon, but I wanna make sure i have everything where it needs to be before I do that, I know i still got to add a big ole pocket on to the jacket next so that'l lbe the next. thing. 

MOre WIPS in the sketch book

pmiller001

Another WIP update, I think i'm about done with this High poly. I'd like to start on the low poly by Tuesday.

JamesArk

Good stuff in here man, the latest sculpt looks really cool. I thought it seemed kind of soft but the renders on your portfolio look really sharp, probably just the Matcap you're using in the updates making it seem softer than it is.

The Squig is awesome too, I think I prefer it with the simpler texturing you did in your first pass though, but super cool either way.

pmiller001

JamesArk said:

Good stuff in here man, the latest sculpt looks really cool. I thought it seemed kind of soft but the renders on your portfolio look really sharp, probably just the Matcap you're using in the updates making it seem softer than it is.

The Squig is awesome too, I think I prefer it with the simpler texturing you did in your first pass though, but super cool either way.

Thank @JamesArk
I havent figured out how to get really sweet renders out of zbrush yet, so I mainly just use it to show any changes in the model, not really to present things. Ive seen some awesome shots though, so I've gotta figure out how to make zbrush images look really nice. 

Thanks about the Squig too. Yeah I think i feel you a bit. I was really trying to see how far I could push it while still making it look cartoony. I dont think it was "bad" but i definitely learned a lot from my mistakes on that one. 

allengingrich

Your latest looks so much better. The clothing looks a little too perfect though. Would love to see more folds and creases. Study reference for that better and I bet you nail it.

pmiller001

 allengingrich said:

Your latest looks so much better. The clothing looks a little too perfect though. Would love to see more folds and creases. Study reference for that better and I bet you nail it.

Thanks @allengingrich
What would you suggest for some more imperfections? I figured I could get that done in the texture and wha tnot, but i'm more than open to suggestions. You saying more wrinkles would do it? 

pmiller001

Whew buddy, had to stop that model for a bit, Had an art test recently. (HOpe i pass!). Anywho. i started on a new model, thats not a human, because the art test took out my will to do a realistic character, for atleast a week. So here's the blockout of a Valilant, based off the concept art from the Game Grey Goo. Will be posting more WIPS in the sketch thread, just posting here to show you the big updates etc etc

pmiller001

Till blocking this joker out. I'm using a few different methods to get the results I want. I"m really just doing what ends up being the most efficient for whatever piece in the end. I'm not Sub-d Modeling pieces unless I have to. I'm defiantly going to have to do that for the head though. Still haven't figured that part out. 

pmiller001

Figure I'll post here every few days. I think i'm finally happy enough to start doing some details on this joker. I still gotta work out his fore arms, wrists, and hands. Cant wait to make those look uber mechanical. 

pmiller001

Gonna try to keep the posts here to once every 3-4 days. All of the WIPs are gonna stay in the other thread. (sketchbook). Not sure if i made that clear. Womp womp. 

Crits Welcome ofc

pmiller001

I'm calling it on this one for now. Turns out i really enjoy making robots! 

pmiller001

Gonna be takign my time on the anatomy on this one. I feel like i'm already making good progress, but normally in the past this would be where i stop, so this time i'll push beyond.
I"m trying to focus on the hands, but somethings throwing me off. Like, it looks lumpy, but i'm not sure if thats just me or not. More work on it tonight should rectify it, but in the meantime can I get some thoughts? 

pmiller001

not much to say in this update here. comments and criticism welcome as alway

pmiller001

still blocking this joker out. I think maybe i can start detailing this month, but i’d rather not rush it. I just found another piece of reference to use, as for quality bar, the female illidan done by agelessap. they basically already did what i’m trying to do, so i’m gonna emulate them from this point on

pmiller001

got some critiques on the upperbody, placement of her "armor" size of for arms and calves. and i threw in some rope. I'm goign to edit the rope further tonight cause right now it is NOT WORKING for me.