Demon Character Art - Darksiders Style
greentooth
Hey all,
Posting my current project progress. Calling the sculpt done and moving onto retopology. Based on concept art by Zhenyi Shao ArtStation - Small design
This has been a long project due to limited time, but glad I've made it this far!
Replies
Hey this is looking really good!
I did a small paintover with some thoughts about a few areas on the face.
I think if you beveled the edge of the metal jaw line if would add a bit more interest with the additional plane catching some light and feeling more like where the teeth are intersecting.
Softening some of the sharp lines of the upper lip area could help keep it feeling like the fleshy part of the head, giving it a similar treatment that you did in the eyebrows/socket area.
Overall, this is looking fantastic, and I'm really loving the treatment of the horns and the wings! Can't wait to see more progress!
@Bolovorix Thank you for your kind words and feedback! And thank you so much for taking the time to do the paintover, it looks great and is incredibly helpful. I will do my best to implement it as well as you've shown here.
Quick update on the project.
Retopology is mostly done. I'm at about 25k triangles, and slightly over my intended budget, which I think was already too generous. Soon I will start the alpha cards for the various fire fx on the model, once I know the polycount for these I will try to reduce the model a bit more to get as close to 25k as I can - though honestly I'm not sure if fx cards are typically counted in the character budget.
I'm also aware that for rigging it's better to keep quads, but does anyone know what happens in the case of quads that are non-planar and need to be triangulated to prevent rendering errors? Is the triangulation done before or after rigging/animating? Just before engine integration? I typically place my priority on form and optimisation, but I'm trying to keep deformation in mind too.
Looking good!
I always do that sort of triangulation before sending off to rigging and, honestly, I've never had a rigger make a big deal about triangles as long as there is proper edges to give decent deformation. Specific case examples would be a lot of bunched up fabric at points like the knees and eblows. I do my best to mainatin an edge ring and triangulate to match the forms of the folds.
As far as VFX cards being factored into the poly budget I would say that depends. Most VFX stuff I've done on the character that hasn't been handled by the VFX department hasn't added that significant of a poly increase to cause any real concern and the stuff that is more significant has had it's own budget.
Hope that is helpful.
@Bolovorix Thanks for the reply, it definitely is helpful! I'm currently doing some tests for the fire fx, never really done before, but having fun with them.
Awesome, looking forward to seeing the FX! Are you doing them in Unreal or another game engine?
Looks really incredible and smooth! Good job
Excited to start painting! But first I want to setup some lighting and rendering in UE so I can check my work as I go.
Can't wait to see the textures and flame FX!
Small update - base colours are coming along and the bakes are setting a good foundation. Looooong way to go still, but happy so far.
Here is the material preview in substance painter.
This is diffuse only.
Quick test in UE 5.2 with a rough test for the fire fx for the hair.