Stuck on character detailing
Hi everybody,
I created a character and it's fairly low poly. I want to to rig and animate it. But it needs some detailing. This the look I'm going for: http://buck.tv/#/work/project/17592/bankwest (the character on the bicycle)
What's the best way to approach high res. zipper (and pockets) for animation? I can easily sub-d model it but I want the deformation to look good when the character's torso bends, twists and stretches (the zipper etc will not be animated!)
How do I achieve similar result as in the example above but with good result? I think it would be difficult to weight paint it. And I want to avoid using mesh/cage deformer for the zipper in Cinema 4d.
Should I use substance? Should I paint the zipper with custom normal maps. Or sculpt it on a high poly mesh and finally bake it on my low poly mesh?
Replies
Sounds like you want a hi-rez animated end product. The way I would do it is to create a hi-rez final model, export that to a 3d app (in your case C4D), create a low-rez mesh over the imported hi-rez. Uv the low rez and bake the details of the hi-rez using the lo-rez to extract maps. In your case I'd include a displacement map, or height map among the textures.
This means I would only have to rig the lo-poly mesh, then apply a subdivide modifier to it for the final render sequence. Makes rigging and animation easier because you only have to work with the low-rez, and for the detailed smooth profiled end result just flick on the sub D modifier to display the details of the displacement map for rendering. The general rule is: normal maps for hi frequency details and displacement maps for larger details. I would use both.
As far as your zipper being deformed, well you are going to get that anyhow. Just make sure the links in the zipper are not so large as to become noticeable in the end animation. If the zipper is really king in the end result and its vital it only changes form to conform to the underlining body shape without stretching maybe someone here will be able to help.
Here are a couple screenshots from the spot:
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The zipper look like it's real geometry becaus of the close up on the last shot.
Here is my character right now in low poly with subdivision surface:
The jacket is supposed to be a nike/adidas windbreaker. I tried using bump map for the zipper but I was not satisfied with it.
Here is a test a did today with displacement map without having to subdivide the mesh:
I kinda like the result but I had to split the geometry. And how do I use displacement map on other parts. I dont know how to use the displacement map on poly's that dont follow a loop or straight path. For example this blue part of the nike air max:
Is there a tutorial how I can go about this without having to create new geometry? Besides this I will go for your method to use displacement and sculpt the details on a high res mesh and bake it later on a lower mesh.