Soldier Base Mesh Development and Anatomy Study (nsfw)
polycounter lvl 7
Hi everyone,
I'm a long time lurker and aspiring character artist. Over the past year I've been very slowly learning the fundamentals of anatomy and have been dissatisfied with my progress, so recently I've decided to start an anatomy project with a set goal to try and better educate myself.
The project I've chosen is to create a faction mod for the game Squad and I'm going to create all of the character assets from scratch. Specifically what I'm planning is to create an African Rebel faction so I've bought a reference pack off 3D.sk of a man with the body type I'm going for.
I'm following Rafael Grassetti's tutorial series for my workflow and so far I'm still working on the blockout. Once I've got the proportions correct I'll move onto the torso anatomy and continue through the rest of the body after that.
I would really appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism, Thanks!
I'm a long time lurker and aspiring character artist. Over the past year I've been very slowly learning the fundamentals of anatomy and have been dissatisfied with my progress, so recently I've decided to start an anatomy project with a set goal to try and better educate myself.
The project I've chosen is to create a faction mod for the game Squad and I'm going to create all of the character assets from scratch. Specifically what I'm planning is to create an African Rebel faction so I've bought a reference pack off 3D.sk of a man with the body type I'm going for.
I'm following Rafael Grassetti's tutorial series for my workflow and so far I'm still working on the blockout. Once I've got the proportions correct I'll move onto the torso anatomy and continue through the rest of the body after that.
I would really appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism, Thanks!
Replies
As you still on proportions you might ask yourself which proportional system will best to use (If I remember correct Rafael used 8 heads ) . There are quite a few to pick from :
- head width
- head height
- relational
Meanwhile one thing is a bit off if you using 8 head height as proportional system - head is to small (height and depth)
Best
I will let you have some more fun with your character , maybe on your next post I will step in and give some tips
Maybe just one this time - push chest out
Can I ask you a question > Is Rafael's tutorial working for you , is it understandable , easy to follow
Best.
As for Rafael's tutorials I have already gone through them once to understand the workflow and I do find them very helpful, although my first attempt was heavily flawed because I didn't use consistent reference. I think generally his workflow is effective for me, I've tried a couple others but never got results to the same level as what I'm getting out of his.
In my mind the main issue I struggle with at the moment is my eye for overall anatomy. I get very tunnel visioned when working on a specific areas and it quickly gets disproportional to the rest of the body. I also tend to compromise on changes when I shouldn't, like the chest for example, I pushed it out more initially but then quickly pulled it in because i was worried it was too much.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback, always appreciated.
I could probably help you with some of your current problems :
-consistent reference : You can prepare and lineup you reference as first attach image and later use guides similar to second attached image in zbrush (Note: use side view for calibration always ) I am using just few measurements (widest point on shoulder, waist and widest point on pelvis)
Also you can use a box with maximum dimension of you character (cyan rectangle) , just to keep yourself in this boundary its helpful when you blocking , its like a marble block your sculpture cant ever be bigger then that
-tunnel vision : You can block your character in straight line(or use primitives or big simple shapes- 3rd image ) and just compare 2 lines at the same time (red marking) also you can use the box and negative space to check yourself
Best
One more thing , maybe enlarge the space between medial border of pectoralis(xiphoid process)
I was planning on refining the pose to make it more accurate to the Squad models after getting the major proportions done to reduce any issues with rigging, but what would you recommend to do? Should I continue sculpting in this pose or switch to a more natural pose now then change it later?
Also, following your advice for creating a consistent reference sheet I've spliced together some of the images from the pack I bought and come up with this:
I would also like to ask for advice when it comes to following the reference. Because I want to turn this character into a base mesh to use for other characters how strictly should I follow some of the more abnormal features of the reference? For example, he's got proportionally large obliques and his posture is fairly bad. So would you recommend I try to make the model as close to the reference as I can or take some liberties to make the base mesh more versatile?
And thanks again for all the help, you've brought up a lot of stuff I would of never thought to do myself.
Pose is up to you (just keep in mind that carrying angle is part of anatomically correct human arm its not accessory-pose thing ), current A - pose is perfectly fine for rigging and with some re-sculpting can turn into T-pose or whatever
Basically you can use a pose as tool to show some character to your model , I have attached an image which clearly show that same model can look and feel differently just by changing pose (also notice poses are symmetrical you can sculpt in them ,every character artist should know this thing and most have not idea what leading with is http://sonjebasa.blogspot.bg/2014/10/pushing-your-figures-leading-or-head.html)
Looks like you did great job aligning this images , one thing tho middle measurement should be waist , sorry I didn't explain myself why pick exactly those 3 measurements (widest point on shoulder - its widest point on your model when arms are close to the body, so you have outer boundary , waist - narrowest point on your model , so with shoulder you have min and max , widest point on pelvis which is more or less at gluteal fold level - this 3 measurement give you approximation of the trunk, from here you can use comparison or relation to measure everything else )
About your reference question :
1 Reference is just that a reference so you can use it as closely as you want or not at all
2 Base mesh will be retopo of what up end up from current sculpt so at this low polygon state you can make drastic changes in a click of a mouse , if your topology is good , base mesh should be able to encapsulate everything humanoid like
3 Also about using references : you can just use one part from one model and another part from another - mix and match make yourself a perfect frankenstein , but as you still learning stick to one model till you know how different parts interact and connect to each other
Great progress ! Maybe just a few small suggestions
-biceps doesn't seems to go under the deltoid
- missing semilunar line
- maybe add just a little costal cartilage
- some more volume to top of gluteus medius
Also can post few more views nest time
It's rare to see such an in-depth criticues here, and you had a couple of cool latin/latin-english terms that I had to google to find out more. Speaking of the gesture of an A-pose or a T-pose, I agree that it's crucial to get that natural flow of the body. A proper lordosis (the balance of cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacrar curvatures) is the key.
Oh yeah, the carrying angle (cubital angle as I've known it), nice to know those other search terms to keep in mind (cubius varus and valgus). Generally it's more emphasized on females, but I agree that some males have it too. I've seen so many male sculpts with the opposite "varus syndrome", that they could really go a bit for the valgus' side more than anything else. BUT, still, the carrying angle on males tend to be more neutral than in the zone of "cubitus valgus". Maybe the general rule of thumb for males would be a careful angle of 2 degrees, and for females you may go as high as that max 15 degrees. But with Stealth23's recent changes, it looks good though.
What comes to the use of references (mostly just proportion charts) in ZBrush, I've usually used the See-through slider on top of its UI. No need to hazzle with setting up reference images inside ZBrush. Just line up your character on top of the background image with the See-through feature to check your proportions, and you'll good to go.
Anyway, I'm one of those character artists who devours artistic anatomy knowledge, and this is just awesome. I encourage other artists in Polycount to be like carvuliero and give feedback like this. It's extremely helpful. Also, I just can't highlight this fact enough:
No matter how much clothes are going to cover your character, make sure your underlying anatomy is correct and detailed enough (apart from micro detail, unless the characters is going to be nude or close to nude, like wearing underwear).
Nevertheless, keep working @Stealth23. (;
FourtyNights said: I have a lot more thing to share so if you or anyone else need some help with his/her anatomy , I will be happy to do it
If you care to learn one more thing try "mental trigon" its the last weird thing I found about human body
I've continued working on the torso using the feedback you provided @carvuliero but I haven't touched the arms yet, so I'll keep your feedback for them in mind when I get to them. I find I'm still being too cautious with muscle definition, is it too little or too much at the moment?
Also, I imported the rig I'm going to use for the character as a guide mesh to get the proportions right, it feels a little off in areas like the hands but that could just be because I've been staring at the model with different proportions for so long.
Pectoralis is missing one of his plane changes and looks deflated on the side
There are a lot of other smaller things so you maybe can use some of RIcher's help again , it a bit idealized so keep that in mind , but is great reference
The Richer's reference you provided was very helpful in furthering my understanding of muscle group relationships. I definitely need to continue refining but it was particularly helpful for the Obliques. I still haven't touched the arms but tried to add some of the muscle definition to the legs which you pointed out. Thanks again for your help.
My suggestion is to put bony landmarks first so you know where to connect muscle to and not get lost in the process
I adjusted based on your feedback, this is what I've got now.
I have attached on of my old studies might help you if you see actual thing in 3d , its old so use it as a broad reference
See how deep in the ribcage the spine goes :
While your overall back muscles position seem OK, the volumes themselves at the moment are way, way too flat.
I wasn't able to download your study without it corrupting when I got home @carvuliero but luckily I downloaded it at work so I'll be able to check it out tomorrow.
Thanks for the feedback guys.
Part of the reason I wanted to do this project was to figure out what areas of anatomical understanding I have issues with and the back is definitely one of them. After I get this base mesh done I will do some proper studies but for now I'm going to press on with this and try to get it finished.
There is a hole between deltoid and torso which should not exist - actually deltoid need some adjustment
My suggestion is to fix head proportion next as is looking smaller in relation to body
General proportion for head - Width 5-6 Height 8 Depth 7 -> in relational units
I'm leaving the torso for now. While I want to try and do all of the major anatomy of this character the only important parts for mod are the arms and head so those are what I'll be putting the most effort into.
The last couple of weeks have been really slow for this project. I've had a lot of real life things to deal with but nothing bad. Hopefully now things have settled I'll be able to give this project proper attention.
You have narrow forearm wide hand and narrow fingers , try to unify them so they flow nicely together
You don't really need references for this study just check your hand ,but just in case I attached few images that might be helpful
Finger can be better shaped they look like someone with rickets also male finger doesn't taper as much as females
Just use your hand as a reference if you need to take a piece of paper and something to draw and make an outline or use ruler to measure and compare different parts or if you have 10 extra bucks you can get some alginate and make yourself a plaster copy
Maybe take a picture of your hand laying on the table or ask someone to help you so you have good top view this say you will have something to compare your sculpt and image in something like photosop .This is good exercise to learn to see
Thumb is still to short and palm to wrist width ration need some adjustment - forearm/wrist is a bit too thin
Here's my hand I'm using as reference. they're not quite as pink in reality.
You could check proportions one more time(use wrist width as a measuring unit with transpose tool ) , 2 other things that need reworking are thumb orientation to the fingers(check your arm if fingers are flat thumb is around 60 degree rotated inward ) and stepping down of hand to wrist
If I may suggest to plane your fingers make then long rectangles will be easy to get their length width and taper ,you can always round them a bit later
Let me know if this is the right direction.
I think you could exaggerate even more stepping effect on pinky side so you get clear delineation
You don't have to completely plane the fingers just trim them a bit(use lightly hPolish/TrimDynamic or similar brush ) so you have more clearly define planes , something similar to image below
Maybe just add a bit more mass to pinky base - in side view fingers are wedge shape , side view thumb side -> index finger is a good example