Game ready character - Mulan - Finished!

hreazee

Dear Artists,

So a while back I had a though to turn a Disney character into a realistic game ready character model, Ive been playing around in maya and zbrush trying tp achieve ancient Chinese dynasty armour. Of-course i am using all sorts of references, including the anatomy of the character.

I really have not got far yet, since I am still in the blocking phase and moving things around. Though i feel that i have come to a point where I would need some feedback from you guys, and I plan show my progress here.



here is some screenshots from zbrush that i put together....

note that im only using fibermesh so that i can get the feeling of her overall look and get a vision of her facial features.

thank you for any contributions!

Tectonic

her eyes seem strange but I can't quite put my finger on why. what is the reference you're using for her face?

hreazee

@Tectonic

Hi thanks for the feedback,
i tweaked the eyes a little hopefully its a improvement


here are a few references im using for the face

enceer

I gotta agree on the eyes, she looks a little bit cross eyed, even after your fix.
Great job so far nonetheless, keep us updated!

dGreenberg

Hey @hreazee, its looking really nice so far! To piggyback on enceer and Tectonic's comment with her eyes, I'd suggest you try to increase their size and bring them down slightly (along with the nose) to shorten the distance between her nose and mouth. I'm not sure if that's the direction you would want to take it, but it might help Mulan look a little more youthful and get rid of the eye issue. 

If it helps I made a quick paintover to show you what I mean. Looking forward to seeing how the character develops!

hreazee

@dGreenberg

hi, thank you for the illustration, i love it when time is taken to make a point very easy to understand
so i only had an hour to work on this today, so i mainly worked on what you had suggested, and you are right it made a significant difference. Although originally i did envision her as more "native" looking.. kinda like Faith from mirrors edge, and a bit war-torn. Then again shes apparently a princess.



Ive also pushed back her chin and added a little on the cheeks and bottom lip.



edit - sorry guys this is the last images of her face, il post something different to work on soon :P

hreazee

had a few days off work, so i had some chance to work on a few assets for this character

the metal chains were first made in maya as tile-able texture, then baked its height map using xnormal. that height information was then used as a surface noise texture. this is done also on the waist piece.  the belt was more using the texture as a masking tool, i which i just made an extract . il see how far i can go with a couple more days off work.

KyleReeceHall

Looking great man! 

hreazee

So after months of procrastination, I decided to go back into this project again. working on the large and medium details of the armour. still more to go but i feel that its a significant progress throughout this project so far, that i though it might be time for a bit of show and tell.

any feedback will be appreciated as I move forward to her again. thanks

Tectonic

keep at it!

hreazee

Hello guys, big update: sorry for the massive delay, i had to drop this project for a while because of work, house move etc. manage to pick it back up the last month or so, hacking at it here and there. So here are some of the screen shots from my ztool so far. I feel its close to finishing the z brush model and unto re topology.

Id appreciate some feedback if you guys have any. Thanks!



here is just a texture test of her weapon, because i was itching to texture something at one point.

Torch

This looks amazing man, great progress Can't wait to see what you do for the final textures, hope you pose her too.

truemkar

Very good progress! The armor details looks good, but the face is too generic, IMO. 

Tits

Cool work! The armor is looking good,
I also agree that the face is a bit generic, it's also hard to tell cause there is no full profile picture of her head, but I feel her ear might be a tad too far back, but I might be wrong.
Proportions speaking she's kinda tiny, I know asian women tend not to be super tall but currently she is standing at only 7 head tall, I would personally bring her to 7head and a half. Would make her proportions a lot more ''natural''.

hreazee

@Torch
thanks! Very will push forward some dramatic pose for you.

@truemkar
thanks! Any suggestion on how I can make her less generic looking ? 

@Tits
this is gold feedback! I wasn’t sure about proper (or average) proportion for Asian females in particular, but what you said makes sense. Thanks! 

happybell

Hey hreazee, really nice work on the armour! I have some small crit on her face. I understand it's mulan and she has asian features. So I did a small paintover on some characteristics, Namely the philtrum and cheekbone. Then I added in some general female features. And I think the current sideburn looks too crew cut style for females, u may like this version instead. Looking forward to your progression on the textures!

edit: oh and i think the tip of the nose is losing flesh, looks pinched

hreazee

@happybell
Thanks for giving some nice critique, although that’s an old version of her head, those are some very good tips! 

hreazee

hello, just an update so far after following some feedback given; i delve into doing some poly paint block colours with more work on the face

hreazee

Hello, more update: 
Head retopology and skin texturing. This is a real time screenie from marmoset 3 with basic lighting. I am using substance painter. I plan to add a little more to the skin (ie imperfections/discolourations and break the uniformity of the roughness a little bit) later on. this should suffice for now as canvas for her hair which I am less confident on BUT hopefully get some nice results to show later on

(edit: eyebrows + eye liner are temporary)

hreazee

Hi guys, sorry its been a while! i was doing lots of experiment and figuring out a good system for creating hair... eventually i got to where i feel satisfied with it. here is some basic renders from marmoset.
Still WIP specially the back of her head as i though id look for a bit of advice from you guys before going further into finishing up the hair cards.


thanks!

Carabiner

This is looking great! Keep going!

Depending on what you're going for with her hair, search terms like "high bun" or "topknot" will help. Here's a ref I found on pinterest with those search terms.

jose.fuentes

Hair is looking good! I would add some cards to help break up the roots, so it doesn't look so doll like.  Keep it up tho!

hreazee

@Carabiner
thats very useful, thank you

jose.fuentes 
good call, will do that for polish. Thanks!

hreazee

Hey guys, sorry ive been quiet. The last few months has been busy working from home etc, also took the opportunity religiously work on texturing the rest of this character. But apologies that i have neglected to post any of my texturing progress here. Although I am very happy to finally publish this project in art station ( https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Ga8dz4 ) 
I know this has been a long project for me and I cannot drag it any longer so I think its time for me to abandon this and start something new

Thank you all to those who have helped me along the way. 

slosh

This turned out really nice!  great progress as well.  I think my main crit would be the skin feels very flat and could use a bit more softening with SSS.  The hands also could use more values and color.  Overall, she looks great though, nice job.

hreazee

@slosh thanks! good advice, I might do a remaster on this piece again one day. Maybe my next project might involve more skin and hopefully to have a go at that!