Shizuko - Game character progress [Beyond Human Artstation Challenge Submission]
polycounter lvl 6
Hey guys! I decided to do a Polycount thread for the character i am creating for the Artstation Challenge "Beyond Human".
Here is my submission thread: https://www.artstation.com/contests/beyond-human/challenges/24/submissions/20747?sorting=popular
Feedback and CC is more than welcome of course!
Here is my submission thread: https://www.artstation.com/contests/beyond-human/challenges/24/submissions/20747?sorting=popular
Feedback and CC is more than welcome of course!
Replies
The Concept
Even though i loved many of the concepts from the first part of the challenge, the moment i read the title of the challenge i got an idea for a character and i just couldn't get it out of my head, so i had to make it!
The concept consists of a disabled girl who moves and attacks with the help of a floating mech which also supports her body. This mech has huge hands, the left one is used for defense and the right one is used for attacks. She is the offensive type of character with short to medium range attacks.
She is mostly inspired from anime mecha girls but with an overall darker feel.
Rough sketch i did:
Of course a lot will change in the forms but this is the basic silhouette i had in mind.
My moodboard:
A little backstory for anyone interested: In the distant future, mafia clans in Japan have come to power, controlling the politicians and the economy of the country and leading it to monarchy. After some years, the people of Japan chose to take the situation in their hands and started rioting. Shizuko is the daughter of the head of the riot clan. After her parents died in a violent conflict, she and her younger sister were badly injured. Shizuko was informed that she was now disabled from the waist down and she was taken in a lab for experiments. This lab is creating fighting mechs that connect with human bodies. Many experiments were performed on her against her will but Shizuko started to finally control her mech and became a powerful weapon. After she learned that the lab belonged to her parents' killers, she tried to escape, stopping midway through after learning that her little sister was held hostage and if she wanted to keep her alive she had to fight for them. Paralyzed and broken there was nothing else she could do, so she accepted, hoping that someday she will take her revenge and free her sister.
Proportions
Working on the proportions of the body and some parts of her bodysuit. I am looking references from some older mecha anime like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Code Geass where the characters have elongated stylized bodies. I also found helpful the some images of Russian ball joined dolls (mostly from the "Popovy Sisters"). They have this kind of creepy slim look to them that i really like! The face characteristics are squashed close together, something common in anime faces, but i want to keep a semi-realistic kind of look and not too cartoony. The anatomy is still rough and needs tweaking, especially the lower part of the legs and the arms.
Rough blockout
Here is the outcome of yesterdays experimentation! Super rough blockout but now i have a basic shape and the scale of the mech. The handle of the sword is a bit small for these huge hands but i didn't like it bigger, so i have to think of a solution for that.
Today i'll work on each piece individually so i can refine the shapes. I don't want to do the anatomy details yet because i want a cleaner look for the mech and the overall silhouette.
Mechanical arms blockout progress
I am straggling a bit with the mech arms because i want them to look nice but the joints have to function properly. I guess it's the price i pay for not choosing one of the finished concepts, now i have to figure out how robot arms work. It's an interesting learning process but it takes more time than i had calculated. I'll try to speed up!
Right now i am pretty happy with what i have as a base but i need to add some more parts to break the symmetry. I also intend to make the upper part of the arms thinner for a more interesting silhouette.
Mecha base progress
Unfortunately i didn't have much time the past few days so i don't have much to show. I did the round things on the base of the mech and i am pretty happy with how the shapes are coming along, I am also experimenting with the hands so i'll post another update about that.
Shoulders mechanism
Finished the mechanism on the shoulders. Pretty happy with the overall silhouette of the mech. Now i am moving on making the sword.
After that i'll have to finish the arms. Then i'll move to anatomy (face/body) and the bodysuit. Lastly i'll do the touch ups and the details so i can finish my high poly. I think i can make it on time!
P.S In these images the body is low on polygons this is why it looks different from the early images i posted. I want to keep this file light to avoid lags and crashes.
Sword progress
A little update with the sword progress. When i started blocking it out i put too many details and plates on it, but when i tested it out on the mech it looked too noisy, so i decreased the amount of detail.
This is how it turned out. I wanted it to be smaller when she is not using it because it looked better on the overall silhouette. That would be too small for the mech hands to use though, so i did a simple mechanism for it to get bigger.
Mechanical arms progress
These past few days i was working on the mechanism of the arms and the first pass of details. I still have more plates and parts to put on them but the base is finally finished and theoretically it works (i hope so). To be honest i struggled a lot with this because it's the first time i am working on a mechanism. It was hard to keep the shapes appealing and functional at the same time. A good learning experience though!
Feedback is always welcome!
Mechanical arms - Asymmetrical parts progress
With these parts i finally finished the whole mech! So as i said in my older posts the right hand is for offense and the left one is for defense (it works like a shield generator). I'll create a holographic type of shield with a plane on 3DSMax when i have my low poly ready!
Now i'll cleanup all the parts of the mech, i'll make nice edges and new details for a better bake.
The reason i am doing this step now is because i want to do the retopo on them. I'll be out of town for some days and i'll have my old laptop with me. There is no way i'll be able to sculpt with it, so retopo is the only solution. Of course ideally i would have finished all my high poly first and then move on to retopo but i can't afford to lose time right now. Oh well, i'll make it work somehow... XD
@Larry Well the mecha is gonna fly/float, so its gonna carry her. It's sci-fi logic! lol! XD
Cleaning up shapes
Not much progress this week unfortunately since i was working on my old laptop. I fixed the parts that connects her body with the mech and i managed to finish cleaning up all the parts of the mech. Now they are ready for the final pass of details. First i have to fix the anatomy on the girl! It's so broken... i will start with the face!
Anatomy progress
Finally some organic sculpting! I worked a lot on her face and i am pretty happy with the way it looks so far. I also fixed the structure of the body, still not finished though. Trying to speed things up!
The moment I saw your base mesh for the girl I instantly remember about a fashion dummy reference I have , might help you adjust your general forms
Few suggestions :
-rib cage : maybe just a bit more of it will be good
-arm : too long , forearm is ok
-eyes : a bit too far a part but still plausible
I'll work on the problematic areas you mentioned. I don't know if i want to change the eyes, i made them on purpose like this so she can look a bit alienized. Still i'll try what you suggested to test it out.
Again, thanks a lot for the feedback!
Any time ! You are armed now and can easily patch her up
Anatomy progress (body)
Working on the body. I still have a lot to fix. I haven't worked on the hands and the feet at all. The hands won't have much detail since they are covered from the mechanical gauntlets.
Feedback is welcome and necessary in this stage. Anything wrong you see on her anatomy please let me know! The proportions i chose to do are tricky! ^_^
Some progress images:
High poly progress
Okay i am finally ready for the final stage, the details!
I'd love to work more on her and i am sure there are things that could be so much better, but i am running out of time and i am pretty happy with how this looks. So here is what i have so far!
Have you consider giving some curve to the arms ?
Final High Poly
I finally finished the high poly! I will do the mech details on Substance Painter. Decimated and ready for topology, i hope i'll make it in time! I guess i won't sleep much these days! XD
Renders in Keyshot:
Orthographic renders in ZBrush:
Haircard and cable brushes i made (i ended up using only the simple cable because i din't like the other one on my model)
Sculpting the form of the hair as a base
Creating the haircardds (there will be some changes obviously when i make the hair texture)
Withdrawing the challenge
So i chose to withdraw the Artstation challenge.
I was excited to finish the project within the time limit and see how ti goes but i knew the last couple of days that time was actually short and there was a chance i won't make it. I pushed myself to finish it but i noticed that the topology was turning out sloppy and rushed (and i also noticed the problems that came up with it now that i am uv mapping). As if that was not enough, my hand started to hurt and slowed me down.
I want to keep this project in my portfolio as a really good quality piece and this wouldn't be the case if i submitted within the competition time limit.
I am posting the low poly screenshots, it's what i have so far. I don't know if you can see the bad geometry since the images are low on quality.
Anyway, thank you all for the feedback and the support, it was an awesome experience! I learned a lot!
I intend to go back and clean up the topology so i can move on and finish my model. I am going to post my future updates on this thread!
Still looking forward to you finishing it.
Your feedback helped a lot in the concept!
By the way, now that you don't have a time constraint I am fully expecting you to blow my mind with the end result. I grew attached to this concept because I both have a weird love for mecha musume and you listened to my suggestions while developing it, do not disappoint me
@Rikard86 I'll do my best! Promise!!! ^_^
But now that everything is settled i am back and can't wait to continue working on my girl!
So i was on the baking part. I had some difficulties. As a beginner i made many rookie mistakes so i had to go back and forth many times until i was happy with my bakes. I still have some cleanup to do and then i'll put my details!
I really need to see some color and for that reason i'm really looking forward to work on the actual textures!
Anyway, i am taking my time with this cause i want to learn as much as i can and i want the best result i can get. Here are some test renders in Marmoset with my Normals, AO and wireframes! Feedback is always welcome!
Maybe i'll tweak some shaders in my final scene to compliment the pose she will have. I learned a lot from this procedure and i know what to do better on my next project.
Artstation post: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/4ZvLY
Also congrats on sticking to it and finishing!
All in all great job, it's been worth the wait. Still bummed that you couldn't make the deadline.
I do agree with Rikard, textures could definitely be pushed further, at the moment whole model also looks a bit too matte, i feel like you could really play more with roughness and amound of dirt, scratches and so on.
For example, i'd imagine knuckles and fingers = being almost completely peeled off paint as i guess that's way how she would attack her opponents.
but yeah, keep up the good work
@Rikard86 Really great feedback my friend! Thank you for your time i really appreciate it! I'll be more careful on my next project especially with the topology thing and the texturing!
Are you sure about the res on Artstation? It's 4k and i think it looks right when i open it...
Also i just checked out her palms. I think a knuckle isn't skinned so good, i am not sure though. Maybe they look weird cause of the plates as you said.
@Aydhe Thank you for the feedback on the textures and for the support! I'm glad you liked her from her early stage!