[Finished] Samurai Firing a Teppo at Night

jim

*Edit: Updated based on Pav's crits. Thanks Pav!







Check out my Artstation to see a breakdown and Marmoset Web Viewer.

Sculpted in Zbrush, retopoed/modeled in Maya, textured in Substance Painter, presented in Marmoset. I wanted the color accents to highlight his face and his swords.

A samurai firing his rifle at night. The narrative of the diorama is a night siege of a castle.

The rope tying the gun to his waistband is a kind of medieval night-sight, where the length of the cord pulled taut would allow the gunner to have the proper elevation for his shot. (Got this from "Giving up the gun: Japan's reversion to the sword, 1543–1879" by Noel Perrin, p. 40.)

The armor is based on this suit that from the Asian Art Museum:
http://asianart.emuseum.com/view/objects/asitem/items$0040:893

Much obliged to Professor Parrish Baker at SCAD for all his support and crits!

Skinner3D

I like the concept, but I think there is issue with the fire. The explosion looks a little blobby like lava, and I don't think fire comes out both ends at the same time. I may be wrong, but I think at the moment of contact the fire is only at the explosive pan and it has time to extinguish in the split seconds before the pressure goes out the end of the barrel.

jim

Thanks for the feedback, man, always good to have fresh eyes on something.

I used a few different images for musket reference, and kinda extrapolated off of them:

Pav3d

Hey I love the idea for the scene and it shows a lot of potential. But I think there are some areas you can improve on or could keep in mind for future scenes.

1. Your main issue is lighting, its mean to be set at night but it doesnt feel like it. You could make use of an omni light on the musket being the main source of light more to create some interesting shadows and composition. Having a darker background could help too. You could add some extra lights to have highlights picked up on areas like the banner or the katanas in the ground. If youre using marmoset make sure you're using Global illumination.

Here you can see how the light from the muzzle creates very dramatic harsh shadowing.

2. Push the main guy into the centre of the piece as he is the main focal point of the render.

3. This is just highlighting potential shadows that could make for more dramatic lighting.

4. As mentioned before the explosion looks off for what it is. Its more of a puff of smoke in reality with a bit of flame, in your render it looks like a bomb from a distance. Also it obscures too much of the main guys face. I think there is a balance to be found there.

5. It may be more personal preference but the red line indicates having a blend around the edges rather than a base with an edge. This suggests more that its a captured moment rather than a sculpture/miniature.

jim

Oh wow, thanks for the detailed crit, Pav! I'll incorporate them into the next iteration. I had more dramatic lighting, but I was losing definition in the process- I'll use your paintover as the starting point for another pass! Loved your samurai by the way, really appreciated the material definition and attention to detail.

kanga

Yeah the flame from the gun messes up the face. Also the prone figure isnt working like I guess you would want. In any case its always good to check your image (composition) is working by viewing a zoomed out instance before doing the final render.

sacboi

An accurate depiction of a Tanegashima (matchlock) though I'd like too see more smoke, both ends which was a main characteristic for this weapon once fired.