After browsing this section for a while I've come to a conclusion that I'm supposed to start to post only if my project has something substantial to show. But then what if I commit to a grave mistake early on? I do need help with the whole thing after all. Deciding to just go for it, I'm starting this WiP thread, sorry X)
This is a pretty straightforward interpretation of Unreal's default character - Gina.
I'm aiming for something relatively simple in design, down-to-earth materials. I do want to play up some of the original model's... perceived features.
One such feature is a "hooked nose", been dead set on that one for years =D
The goal is to push for a more realistic model - something that I don't normally do, as I don't have an eye for realism. I can enjoy it, but how to achieve it?..
Started on the body, it's still easy enough to change things around.
Goal: a somewhat tough-looking lady, but not "super-human super-model" type. Can use just a little more volumes all around I guess? Or not.
Already not sure if proportions are realistic or not. Especially with the arms and hands. Are they tiny?
The head so far. Never made a fully realistic one before, so quite a bit lost here.
Any help would be most appreciated! Thank you for your time.
Replies
Remade the forms. Abs seem less broken now. Still have doubts about the arms.
Now I'm not sure how to proceed further D= The face seems off-target and I can't see why.
I was making cream for a cake today, and it feels like a very similar process: "Oh no, it's still too liquid. Did I mess up the ingredients? Maybe it needs more time? But it's burning a little. Did I miss a step? There's like only two of those though, how could it possibly go wrong? Well darn it, it's never going to work, the blasted thing is ruined now, it... oh wait, it's done"
The point is, I guess, there's no need to be so dramatic every step of the way XD
The head and hands of my current basemesh are separate from the main body because it wasn't easy to resolve different loopcounts. I just shrinkwrap a few loops on edges between these objects a couple of times - haven't failed me so far, but I guess it only works, because there are no small details in overlapping areas.
Yeah, I always check proportions this way (since the hand is easily detachable =D). But I always doubt what I see anyway =')
Here's what I've got:
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It occurs to me, that I should've put a firm time limit. It's not like I'm in a hurry, but there are other things I want to try sometime in this lifetime.
With this in mind, I'm wrapping up "blockout" stage. I thought about adding armour, but I'll leave it for later. There enough new things here to learn as it is.
First time trying out Blender's Cloth brushes. It took a while, and I still don't quite understand how to control the results.
The resolution of the mesh influences the size of the folds - can't get small folds if there's no geo there, but at the same time, it seems hi res geo can only result in small ones.
Drawing XYZ-folds beforehand seems to almost guarantee that these will get reinforced by the simulation though.
I do love using floating geo for seams. So crisp. So far had no issues baking them, though my previous tests were more stylized.
But it only feeds my indecisiveness (and slows down performance eventually), so maybe I should turn these to meshes sooner rather than later ='D
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Meanwhile:
I have no idea how I'm going to retopo and bake this harness thing and I'm definitely going to regret those loops on pants if I leave them like that...
Probably have to rethink the gloves, because they still don't match the rest of the clothing and it looks odd.
Other than that what's left to do is another iteration of the face, collapsing the last of non-destructive geo, adding wrinkles/imperfections here and there on the cloth and... I feel like I'm supposed to be doing something more, but I don't see what that could be.
Seems like the "trick" was to use very low-pressure Draw brush to gradually build it up. It's easy to zone out and completely forget about structural considerations though. Having PureRef open during the whole process helps staying focused a little bit, or at least reminds me to kick myself to attention once in a while and make conscious decisions about what to put where.