(Critique / Tip request) 3D Character Model for Game Animation

ColdAardvark

Hello Polycount! I'm new here, and as a student in video game art and animation, I'm new to the scene as a whole. I've always wanted to bring characters to life so I chose to specialize in animation, however we've learned a lot in Maya with a boundless amount more still left to learn, but as my final personal project before we team up with programmers, I wanted to make my own character and animate them as a portfolio piece.

I wasn't planning on anything fancy, and I knew it would be difficult going into it. However, despite that I want it to be the absolute best I can manage as a model, rig and animation. So with that, I wanted to send this up here on the forums to hear the advice or critiques everyone had for the model.

I haven't completed the rig, and I know the rig will break the model as soon as I animate it, but I'd like the model to be in the best state I can manage before hand so fixing it should be easier, or at a minimum.

Front with topology.

Side

Back

Any feedback or input would be very appreciated! I've always wanted to do this since I started class, and now after a year into it, I'm taking my chances to pull this off. I am working off of a concept, and I have the 2D turn-around of the character if that's necessary. 

Thank you all in advance!

Brian "Panda" Choi

carvuliero

if you aim for low res model try something a bit more organized , keep your line straight this way you will have much easier time painting skin weights , also its a good idea to have at least 3 edge loops per joint or some modification of that 

ColdAardvark

Brian "Panda" Choi said:

I assume this means I should add loops and or move edges to these areas. Thank you!

ColdAardvark

carvuliero said:

if you aim for low res model try something a bit more organized , keep your line straight this way you will have much easier time painting skin weights , also its a good idea to have at least 3 edge loops per joint or some modification of that 

I was informed to have the edge loops try to follow anatomy a bit so that it would be easier to animate. Is it actually a better choice to try and make them straight? I am aiming for a lower poly / res model, since I want to focus on animating but I want to make sure it's with a model I've created. Thank you for the input, I'll work on it as I have time and post what's new. I appreciate it greatly!

carvuliero

There is no rule that say you should keep them straight , you can have them as crooked as you want 
It will be hard to predict if deformation will be correct and painting weights can be confusing 
Don't have to make them all straight just around the joint will be enough 

ColdAardvark

carvuliero said:

There is no rule that say you should keep them straight , you can have them as crooked as you want 
It will be hard to predict if deformation will be correct and painting weights can be confusing 
Don't have to make them all straight just around the joint will be enough 

Alright, that makes sense. So the straight edge flow is more of a safety so you know how things will deform, as well as making skin weights easier. I'll try for that, thank you again! I appreciate it!

carvuliero

Yeah pretty much you can experiment of course but not necessary need to invent the wheel every time 

ColdAardvark

Alright, so after the input I received and some more time in class, I've edited the topology of the character and removed some tri's, as well as followed the advice I was given. How is this looking now, as for an Animation ready game model?




Thank you again in advance, this has been very helpful!