[WIP] RPG Warrior

Apocrs1980

Hey Poly count,

Still a novice at the whole 3D art thing but I figured I would share my progress on a Warrior Model I am making for a RPG side project.
First time modeling a human character so CC are welcome

High Poly is finally done!



Cheers!

~Apoc

Brian "Panda" Choi

His abs shouldn't be caved in.  Also there's no definition of his rib cage.

Apocrs1980

Thanks Brian, 
I'll go back and continue refining. After a while of looking at it over and over you tend to loose sight of such things.

Brian "Panda" Choi

Also helps if you post turnaround.  Lets us see everything better.  Front angles can only show so much.

Apocrs1980

Sure thing, here are a few other shots around the current model. again very rough sculpt :P



Fully aware of the ears and such all will be cut and remodeled in my final pass, I just want to make sure that the forms are correct and look appealing. been modeling out his hands in 3D max because I just find it easier to tweak before importing into Zbrush and fleshing them out



One more iteration on blocking out the form. alright back to modeling his fingers.

Apocrs1980

Hand is roughed out, now working on the lower body, I think I have the basic general shape of the upper leg going, just checking proportions so he isn't looking goofy from being too short/tall. also did some small refining on the ears and such, still very early but slowly getting there.

Brian "Panda" Choi

You might be going to aggerssively into higher subdivisions.  Pull back, everything is feeling lumpy.  Let's focus onyour big forms first.

Also, who's naked body are you using for reference?  I feel like you're going blind into this.

Apocrs1980

Only referencing anatomy online for basic shapes and proportions.
So you are correct there isn't a specific conceptual drawing I am referencing, only what is in my head.
I agree the dynimesh is a bit high on the subdivisions.  
Didn't want to loose the shape of the face as I really like it.
However, I suppose I can just devide it into it's own subtool and crank back on the rest of the body.

Technically this is my first 3D human model I have done....well ever. And this is my 3rd model done in Zbrush, so I am sure I am making a butt load of mistakes as I go.

Brian "Panda" Choi

With no reference or concept, you're gonna have a bad time.  You should probably at least sketch out what your plan is.  People who don't have a strong design sense that try to design on the fly usually end up using more time and end up with something not so well designed.

If you're not comfortable with designing something, no shame in breathing life into someone else's concept and making it look DOOOPE

brandv3d

I agree with Panda,  reference(s)  are key and very important.  Im not a character artist but sometimes as starting out as a character artist it helps to do someone that is well known like a game, movie character or actor,  so that people can see it looks just like them and that the goal was accomplished, unless its done for something commercially.  I once painted (for painting class) a portrait of my brother but it didn't do me much good cause no one knew who he looked like and if I got it right or messed up on the face\eyes sort of thing. 

Apocrs1980

Yup, I totally get that. 
See if I can locate and hook up the ol' Wacom. 
I'll say, being the only artist on a game project is rough going, especially when you feel you can't get content made and finalized fast enough.
I can only imagine how my programmer feels.

Ty for the continued input Brian.

Apocrs1980

@brandv3d

Thanks for the perspective man,

Yup, the whole reason I skipped over the concept stage is because, well I'm the only artist. :P

So drawing it out when I already know what I want in my head seemed redundant at the time,
however, as Panda and you pointed out I also can see the critical benefits to doing a concept piece first.

Apocrs1980

Continuing to Hammer out the form.
So far to me it's appealing to the eye, been covering the muscle groups to assure everything lines up.
Of course no feet yet, but I feel really good about the overall direction of what I wanted to get from this character.

Ultimately, he will be a player character in a top down game so all of the detail I'm putting into him will not be totally visible, but it's a good study, good practice, and I believe will only make me a stronger artist in the end. 

Brian "Panda" Choi

Biceps don't bulge out to the sides like that with most buff people. 

Youre re adding additional serratus Magnus muscles that don't exist next to the abs. 

The divot in the trapezius isn't that deep. Where the diamond shape of the trapezius' hole?

Show us your reference and use it. Your anatomy knowledge is lacking with the medium forms, but you seem to know where to generally place the large forms.  

Apocrs1980

@Brian "Panda" Choi

Fixed the Biceps and shallowed that divot in the triceps.
 I agree they looked off.
Your referring to the Serratus Anterior muscles? I was using this reference image for those

Did some additional tweaking though got them to this state.


Thanks for the feed back Panda, appreciated.

kreativbloc

I agree w everything that has been said anatomy wise. You need someone or some model to reference constantly. Also i would ease up on the muscle detail. You need places of rest for the eye. Right now its way too busy everywhere. Hope this helps, keep it up. I'll keep an eye on this.

Apocrs1980

@kreativbloc
Thanks for the input, yup I am referencing just about every anatomy study I can find to continue working over the proportions.
Been doing multiple finesse and minor tweaks to get the look right for the final character.
Once all of the anatomy is looking spot on I will tone down all of the muscles, they are mainly there for my reference.
For some weird reason my brain does a much better job of tweaking each individual muscle that I identify on the sculpt then working over the entire shape.

So far here is the progress:
Also trying to keep his pose to where he is easy for me to rig and animate.
I will take a high poly variant  later on and pose him in Zbrush for a final render, but I am a very long way off from getting to that point.

Well back to the Zbrush dungeon for me

~Apoc

Brian "Panda" Choi

Apocrs1980

Great feedback,  thanks Panda going to work on these revisions when I get back home.

Apocrs1980

Made some revisions tot he model and fix a few of the areas you pointed out.



Also whipped out a super quick concept render and pose to get a feel for how he will turn out, so far I am liking the direction.


At any rate, I think that is about as much as I can fit in for tonight, I got a headache the size of the Grand Canyon.

Apocrs1980

Slow but steady progress being made on this, starting to define areas, searching around a bit on the best way to get very subtle skin creases for the skin stretching on the muscles. I have at least figured out the veins and how to get them blended in.
Also starting to define facial features... I gotta remember not to go too realistic on this as it's for a semi-realistic fantasy RPG.




Thanks all for your ever watchful eye and ringing the bell when you see something funky.

NovaaH

Be careful not to exaggerate features too much. It's fine looking at ecorché to reference your sculpt, but don't worry there is a fat/skin layer on top of those.  Also, strongly suggest that you work at a lower resolution when blocking out shape like those, you'll avoid that "bumpy smoothed" look.

Keep on working, you're clearly improving. 

Apocrs1980

@NovaaH

Thanks for the encouragement man!

I was so bummed when I found I couldn't really go back to low poly without totally destroying all of the other intricate parts of the mesh, so I pushed and pushed and actually found a way around it and am able to sculpt in the high poly and achieve the same results!

So imagine my relief when I found I can save the model.
Yes it is going to take extra time then if I just did it at the low poly level (common zbrush newb mistake.) but I am getting promising results with this method.



No more Mr. Lumpy



And one final shot before I turn in for the night, by George....I think I got it!

Apocrs1980

Still plugin away at this guy, here is an update.
He is stating to take the desired shape I set out to get, still working on fleshing out his hands and feet and refining some areas.

Apocrs1980

HIGH POLY FINISHED! Whew... modeling toes is the most tedious boring thing ever!
Hope you guys like the over all model... will be moving on to low poly, hair and clothing.



Cheers!!

Apocrs1980

Still plugin away at this dude, going over the retopo in Zbrush.
And I'm pretty convinced that I am crap at it. :P
Might bring him into max and optimize some of the areas that do not deform or hold much shape. Almost done, then going to bring this bad boy into Substance.

Strongly considering getting Marvelous Designer for making the clothing but the thought of learning yet another program....

Brian "Panda" Choi

What helps with clean topology is when you're retopologizing to not have to make sure every think is connected at any one time. You can just work on sectons, make those as clean as possible and even, before you connect to others.

Your assessment is right about the retopo not being the cleanest.  The density of your legs don't match the torso, etc.  You should get those fixed.

pmiller001

On your suggestion of going into Max to optimize some area. I'd totally suggest that. DO what you have to do to make it (your model) look correct. 

Apocrs1980

Hello Poly count been quite some time since I was able to revisit this but still working at improving my topology skills, as long as I keep at it I'm confident I will improve. Here is the head I have redone. Comments and suggestions are always welcome. This process is defiantly not the most fun part of modeling.

Continuing to just work on small sections as Brian suggested. Thanks all.

Apocrs1980

Finally done with the topology of this character. I'm looking forward to adding color to him. C & C welcome, Poly count keeps me on my toes and dosn't pull any punches.

High poly model is also coming along. I'm happy with his face overall, cool to see him come to life.


Also tossing in a pic of all of the environmental art I have been doing for the RPG in UE4.