Kaneda and his Motorbike from AKIRA (W.I.P Thread)

JeffRobbins

Hi Polycount

I recently decided to start a fan art project to start learning 3D Modelling/Sculpting as I'm more of a 2D artist.  I have decided to base it on the Akira Manga/Anime as I've been a fan ever since seeing when I was young, I also felt it would be a good challenge (until I regret the idea) to attempt translating into a semi-realistic 3D project while staying faithful to the source material.  

My personal goal is to create at least one character/weapon/vehicle based on the Akira universe so I can learn as much as possible about current game industry workflows, especially focusing on the High to Low/Sculpting/Texturing processes so any tips and critique along the way are greatly appreciated.

Cheers in advance guys!

JeffRobbins

I've started by creating reference sheets for Kaneda and the Bike so I always have something to refer to when I'm creating the models, as I want to keep them as faithful to the originals as possible while giving it a personal twist.

JeffRobbins

I recently started using Zbrush a few weeks ago so after messing around I decided to use a base mesh and start working on Kaneda, I'm focusing on getting the base forms and shapes in first before going into any details.

JeffRobbins

Thought that Kaneda's clothing would be a good chance to try out Marvellous Designer (I've lost count how many hours I've sunk into it over the past week), struggled to get something exactly like what I had in mind but got it to a stage that I think  I can work with in Zbrush.

JeffRobbins

Think I'm calling this finished in MD after adding some more of the details to the jacket, hopefully this should be good enough to take it into Zbrush and start sculpting.

JeffRobbins

First pass after exporting in to Zbrush, had to smooth out the entire mesh but still pretty happy with how it turned out!

JeffRobbins

Starting to slowly work in details etc.. 

stororokw

Hey, some nice progress. Some crits. The fingers and toes are losing volume from subdividing and the face looks kind of strange in some parts:

• The inner part of the eyes needs to be further down then the outer corner.
• The eyes need cleaner curves.
• More pointy chin like in the references.
• The bridge of the nose does not get narrower as it connects to the brow.
• The brow ridge just seems to be overdone.
• There needs to be a stronger side plane from the forehead.
• The lips need more gesture and the bottom one needs to be thicker.

JeffRobbins

Cheers for the crit @stororokw, really helpful so will have a go at applying your feedback, hopefully it'll look better for it! :P Definately need to take a look at the hands and feet as well, I failed to noticed they were affected by ZRemesher until it was too late.

JeffRobbins

Another update, dropped some base colours on after I finished modelling the rest of the assets.

JeffRobbins

Still struggling to get the face to a point I'm happy with, tried to apply @stororokw critique but it stills feel off atm... 

stororokw

The face the is looking better. I am kind of wondering what sort of style you are going for since the nose, mouth and overall proportions are realistic, but the eyes seems to be very stylized. Maybe something like what they did with the new gantz movie might work. It is still very stylized, but has realistic anatomy (proper lips, lower eyelid, etc) and I think it manages to match the original character well.
Keep it up.

manga:

movie:

https://www.dfx.co.jp/cgmaking/gantz_O/index.html

JeffRobbins

@stororokw That's a really good suggestion, might take a look into playing around with that style if I want to attempt a more realistic approach. Tbh this is my first attempt at a character so thought something a little more stylised might be easier to achieve, just so I could learn the ropes and workflows.

Played around with the head a little more over the weekend, definitely feels a bit closer to what I had in mind, although something feels a little off when viewed from a 3/4 angle...

JeffRobbins

Here is the final stage of the High Poly, forgot to post it once I finished it up a little while ago.  Already moved on to the low poly so that should be my next progress post.

JeffRobbins

Thought I might as well update this thread as I'm back working on this fanart project.
Realised I never posted the final images of Kaneda when I wrapped it up in time for the deadline last year so here are the final high and low poly:

JeffRobbins