My road to character design

kimarh

Total noob here. 
I recently started 3d modelling and I love it. Its freaking amazing. 
My goal will be to get as close as possible to proffesional level stuff. 
I will post WIP and what i learned through each step. All feedback is more than welcome, especially on my Notes (since I could have gotten the wrong idea and i dont want to build my knowledge and skill on a bad foundation.

WIP
My first project is going to be a game ready character for League of Legend (The water sculptur/artisan). 
 I want to take him all the way from idea to finished product with animations and everything (is this too wide spread? should I spent my focus on one or two proccesses?)


First model: The water sculptur/artisan.
What I learned: basic knowledge of the software and introduction to sculpting. 
Notes: use simpler shapes. Make all pieces from scratch. Finish all detail on one sub level before subdividing. Make good base topology at the beginning of the sculpt.
Learning the software. First concept. 

kimarh

second model. The water sculptur/artisan. WIP
What I learned: I need to learn UV and normal mapping. 
Notes: Much cleaner shapes. Extracting 0 thickness objects into remesher and the topology brush create clean low polygon bases. 
Really happy about buckle and swirley cloth concept.

Lowest sub level and poly view.
Game res?
Honestly I could use some pointers here. 
polygons: 20k.
What I learned: shrinkwrapping is cool. I really need to learn UV and normal mapping. 
Notes: is this too simple? and is it ok? I made this with shrinkwrap and base topo instead of redoing topo from scratch. If you have a good base topology do you still need to redo topo from scratch?

kimarh

Game res. forgot to show gloves.

JohannesAg

hey man looks pretty good for your second character. Are you doing everything in zbrush? because for doing your low poly and uv´s you´re gonna want to use a package like maya, max, blender or something similar. Zbrush is awesome but it´s mostly just for the high poly. Using your lowest subdivision level as the low poly is often fine if your topology is clean and for heads and bodies it´s what I generally do but for cloth you usually have to at least modify it to have edges along any folds that stick out and that kind of thing. Also make sure to have extra edgeloops along joints. 

Brian "Panda" Choi

Hair could use more sharp definition and separated subtools to  get that cleaner look between each volume clump.

kimarh

thanks a ton for the feedback. Really nice with some pointers. I am now learning Maya for low poly and UVs. I agree hair needs more shape. Gonna figure out what volume clumps are and see what I can do. 

Brian "Panda" Choi

Volume clumps isn't a widely used term.  I'm meaning it in terms of separating each "pyramid" clump of the high poly sculpt into itsown subtool so you have clean separation.  You can see this a lot with Zbrush Anime sculpts where man times the hair there is seperated for clean contrast.

kimarh

aahhh i see thanks alot. That sounds like an awesome tip! 

Aydhe

Really nice start dude, especially since its your second character ever but here's some words of advice.
I feel like this character has misplaced point of focus (area where your eyes are drawn to) interesting stuff is happening primarily at the bottom of character which makes the top get lost; wraps around his legs, fancy boots, big belt buckle. This leads person to look at the bottom of character while rest of body feels non-existent
Would really suggest trying to create point of focus on your characters in future

kimarh

you are totally right! It seems I skipped all of the 2d steps in 3d design. The model above was created while learning the programs and I feel like its look, kind of reflects that. Ill finish it up with UVs and post the final result still. 


In the mean time, I took what i liked idea wise and created some quick sillouttes. 

I also looked at alot more reference especially "style" wise for league of legends. It seems to me like they focus on simple and sharp shapes. 

With that in mind here is the 3rd model (WIP).
I wanted his look to also tell his story. 
I will do similar guards for legs and other arm. 
What I learned: Shadowbox is perfect for "carving" stuff out. Inflate brush is great for making clean big forms.
Notes: stick to a few points of focus. 

kimarh

I made two different arm and legguards. Im having alot of trouble deciding which one to go with. I feel like they give of very different kinds of weight?
The most left one (with the flat area on top) I feel like it gives a more metalllic (cast/forged) look. Also it gives off a more "non magical" feel aswell. 
The right one (swirley one) I feel lik it gives a more organic (carved) and flowing look I tried to make it look like a wave abit. The swirley armguard is lighter and has a more magical/godly feeling to it. 


My character i would say could be taken in different directions, I want the lore and the outfit to fit together. I have 2 rough background stories that im bouncing a bit between.

Since all elemental mages in league seems to be wandering/travelling (Brand, taliyah, yasuo) I decided to give my character a traveller styled look.
1) Student of water from Ionia. Was sent out into the world to study the currents of the world. 
2) Man who gave his body to a lake. (more folklore inspired). The lake wanted a form and the man wanted peace.
ALL inputs are more than welcome.

Brian "Panda" Choi

Get those fingers to a more relaxed position.  You're going to make a rigger cry.

kimarh

thanks for the heads up! Do you have any pointers for how to place "hanging" parts? like degrees from object its attached to? or middle of the range of motion the hanging part can make? 

Brian "Panda" Choi

Hanging parts can hang any which direction as long as they bake well.

Your clothes are reading fluffy in terms of feel.  Was that intentional?

kimarh

okay thanks! yes i wanted to go for a more cartoony style and I wanted the clothes to feel like soft water flows. his arm/legguards to feel like strong currents and his hat to show sharpness

Brian "Panda" Choi

The tunic construction doesn't make sense at this time.  Have you referenced real robed tunics while constructing it, especially how it drapes across the torso?

kimarh

no i didnt. Ill take a look at cloth drapes and study every bit more. thanks for tips, really great help

kimarh

So I started over again. The model before this one I did without looking at enough reference and ended up with something wrong and wierd. 
What I learned: look at reference whenever you can. Base your "style" on something real. 
Notes: When dynameshing remember to remesh early.

Either elemental(water or fire) martial artist or Ki master. Cant decide. 

Standard:

When using ultimate.

kimarh

I am having a bit of trouble with this. Im not sure what to do. I made this bag and the things sitting on it as different subtools. I wanna connect the things (feather, map, container etc.) to the ring. but to do that I need to merge the objects. Is this the right way to do it? or is there another way? like for the connecting part(wire)? im not sure which way is the best to take here. if I merge it together will I run into trouble later on? like with colouring or separating the things again? 

Brian "Panda" Choi

Something about his propotions at the legs look off.  Have you done measurements?

kimarh

I agree his upper body seems long. No I didnt do measurements. Ill look into how to do that now. Thanks

Brian "Panda" Choi

Use "head lengths" to determine the proportional relationship of the legs to the size of the head.