Hi, what's the goal of your portfolio? Is this a WIP? Already fully textured? This looks fun and mostly competently done for what it is. The claws look a bit lowpoly or as if the control cage has some messy geometry, but the rat body looks very clean (perhaps a bit too regular overall, but that's fine by me for such a cartoony character). Some of the ears seem to float, though?
What this doesn't tell me is how you would fare with more realistic or even more "standard" stylized stuff that is probably more in demand. Another concern would be animation without distorting all those little buggers too much.
I agree with Noren. Atm it looks like a bean bag man. The lower jaw doesn't look like it is made for eating. The lumpy flesh doesnt really make sense. When doing characters its important to ground them in fact. You can use an app like Daz3D as reference to help guide your anatomy.
Hi! I think the non-rat elements look a bit undefined/ un-descript and the overall creature shape is a bit too artificial. The surfaces look untextured. To help with direction when making design decisions, you could pick an existing game and make the creature fit within the world and visual style.
I too would also ask what the goal is, for this project but also for the portfolio generally. With more context, people can give more specific pointers Generally you might make faster progress and get to a higher quality when you finish smaller, focused projects.
To get better with the 3D part, I would recommend cutting out the design part at first and work off existing concepts, there's still plenty of creative decisions to make throughout the process. A good framework for this I like to recommend is the Bi-monthly environment challenge. If characters is more your jam, there's plenty of old character challenges threads with cool concepts. When doing such challenges (or any project really), I would make sure to do some pre-planing, what it is you want to do in what amount of time, and scope the project accordingly (just a prop, head, ...). From time to time it's worth doing a reality-check and when you're off, perhaps re-scope once more.
If you're more interested in designing/ concepting, I would look into creating and iterating blockouts to use as a base for overpaints, but also do 2D sketches and studies.
I think regardless which path you take, gathering references and extracting defining features is a crucial skill to work on.
Hi Fabi_G, Kanga, and Noren. Thank you all for your help, I do appreciate you all taking the time to help out someone who is quite new to all of this and answering some silly questions. I am wanting to become a 3D artist for game development, I am thinking I might try at prop or environment artist so will put character/creature creations to the side for now before I learn more and take up those bi-monthly environment challenges that Fabi_G mentioned. If I could take a little more time and ask a few questions?
Noren. 1. When you say "the rat body looks very clean (perhaps a bit too regular" What do you mean by 'regular'? as in it looks plain and uninteresting, or that the mesh might be too even and not detailed enough? 2. When you say "standard stylized" what does this mean? From what I can find online it talks about standard stylized being premade assets that share common consistent stylized features. So across different assets they share the same features in the exaggerated cartoony sense. Is this correct or am I misunderstanding?
Kanga 1. Thanks I will look into Daz3D, It's not a software I have heard of before. But I will aim to make all things believable even if they are based in fantasy or sci-fi.
Fabi_G 1. When you say the "overall creature shape is a bit too artificial" do you mean in how it is posed or do you mean the literal shape like as Kanga said it looks more like a bean bag man rather than a body?
Although I did say I will try to heed Fabi_G's advice and forgo the design element and focus on the 3D creation part during the environment challenges, I do already have an environment I was chipping at and adding to when I had time. If people have any thoughts (I'm sure I've made a tone of mistakes) I'll happily endeavor to implement any advice into the bi-monthly art challenge.
Thanks again for the help and time and all the best
With "regular", I meant the overall simple shapes of the limbs as well as the homogenous size, distribution and orientation of the rats. For a more realistic character, you could add a lot of visual interest by changing things up, but like said, for a pretty cartoony one, that's not necessarily the case.
With more "standard" stylized models I meant that while your model is stylized, I don't expect a lot of demand for this specific style. Perhaps take a look at other portfolios and find a style that you like (and that you see used in games) and try to emulate that.
Fabi_G 1. When you say the "overall creature shape is a bit too artificial" do you mean in how it is posed or do you mean the literal shape like as Kanga said it looks more like a bean bag man rather than a body?
Hi! By "overall creature shape is a bit too artificial", I meant the rats placement look like a pattern. Combined with the deliberate placement of the other elements, it looks less like an organically grown creature to me. I mean this could be an intentional choice, like the rats just being a very disciplined bunch
Cool that you started an environment. Perhaps it would help to look for an art style to follow. Then you could break out props into their own small projects, collecting reference material for each one to get the details right. Since you're interested in game art, I'd create the final environment in a game engine (Unreal, Unity, Godot, ...?). To keep scope small at first, could do just a table diorama with map, knife, navigation tool, mug?, all lit by a candle or lantern? When all this is completed nicely, could expand the environment further, adding more of the room.
On what you got so far, I'd note this: Looks like there are some strong mesh shading gradients (table legs), which could be resolved either by using hard edges or more geometry. Size and proportions of individual elements could be balanced so they match better (navigation tool looks tiny in comparison), details can be extracted from reference images. Long straight edges, especially when going for a stylized look (map, table), could be broken up some, damages added.
Hi. I am always pushing Daz3D because I love the possibility to rotate a figure around while I use it as reference. It's a free to use program so don't be tricked into paying for it on a bad link. You can also remove the textures so you get a better idea of form. Also best to have it on a separate screen while you work.
Just wanted to mention since nothing was really said about it from op but: clicking link.
rat king concept search (it was a test in google search to see if they implemented it into search engines.)
I'd recommend doing a lot of reviewing for concepts to get an idea what has already been "fleshed" out first than trying to "out due", or mold into your vision of what is already there, of what you envision.
Some pretty gnarly things came up, kind of inspiring for other things, (for me anyway). keep on, keeping on.
Dmorgan: I am wanting to become a 3D artist for game development, I am thinking I
might try at prop or environment artist so will put character/creature
creations to the side for now before I learn more and take up those
Yup, probably best, do characters on like, on & off days "sat"/"sun". Was to late to respond with my .02's perhaps it will help some other out there. But yeah you can work on the idea with the link for a while comfortably on the side before getting into the 3d if you ever want to return to it. No need to respond to my post.
Thanks for the help everyone So regarding something you mentioned Fab_G; were the "strong mesh shading gradients" I'm assuming you are talking about the dark lines along the sides of the legs? I made a high poly detailed table then baked the details onto the low poly version, but maybe that was too much and is leaving the intense gradients you mentioned?
Ah, I see. Is on left lowpoly with normal map applied, on the right lowpoly mesh shading?
Personally, like to reduce the mesh shading gradients for such objects so that the normal map has less to compensate, keeping its limited bit depth in mind. Whether mesh gradient will actually come through also depends on the final surfacing, it's probably most noticeable on smooth, metallic ones. If it works, it works
A few thoughts what could improve the table asset:
Overall shape currently looks overly boxy/ straight, quite sharp edges. Could push towards a more used, old look. Break up silhouette (wood has shifted and cracked over time, Weight has pushed down middle), add wider bevels.
Construction details: Is it practical the tabletop boards have gaps between? I imagine it wouldn't work well when using quill or measurement tools. Perhaps push the boards together resulting in a continuous top. Frame doesn't provide much stability along its length, a cross-beam would enhance stability. Iron nails and fixtures?
I would look for wood grain references (furniture generally). Currently wood grain on the ends seem too straight, considering those boards are cut out of tree trunks of a limited diameter. Perhaps use less bump overall, considering the wood was probably treated, perhaps planed and sanded smooth, detail could be put into other maps (Albedo, Roughness). Some stains (dirt, beer, ink, wax, ...) would add further variation.
Perhaps some points are a bit pedantic, but viewed as it's own project, I think it's worth being thorough. Some learnings and materials might apply to the next piece too (cabinet, chair, chest, ...).
Replies
This looks fun and mostly competently done for what it is. The claws look a bit lowpoly or as if the control cage has some messy geometry, but the rat body looks very clean (perhaps a bit too regular overall, but that's fine by me for such a cartoony character). Some of the ears seem to float, though?
What this doesn't tell me is how you would fare with more realistic or even more "standard" stylized stuff that is probably more in demand.
Another concern would be animation without distorting all those little buggers too much.
I too would also ask what the goal is, for this project but also for the portfolio generally. With more context, people can give more specific pointers
To get better with the 3D part, I would recommend cutting out the design part at first and work off existing concepts, there's still plenty of creative decisions to make throughout the process. A good framework for this I like to recommend is the Bi-monthly environment challenge. If characters is more your jam, there's plenty of old character challenges threads with cool concepts. When doing such challenges (or any project really), I would make sure to do some pre-planing, what it is you want to do in what amount of time, and scope the project accordingly (just a prop, head, ...). From time to time it's worth doing a reality-check and when you're off, perhaps re-scope once more.
If you're more interested in designing/ concepting, I would look into creating and iterating blockouts to use as a base for overpaints, but also do 2D sketches and studies.
I think regardless which path you take, gathering references and extracting defining features is a crucial skill to work on.
Much success!
Thank you all for your help, I do appreciate you all taking the time to help out someone who is quite new to all of this and answering some silly questions.
I am wanting to become a 3D artist for game development, I am thinking I might try at prop or environment artist so will put character/creature creations to the side for now before I learn more and take up those bi-monthly environment challenges that Fabi_G mentioned.
If I could take a little more time and ask a few questions?
Noren. 1. When you say "the rat body looks very clean (perhaps a bit too regular" What do you mean by 'regular'? as in it looks plain and uninteresting, or that the mesh might be too even and not detailed enough?
2. When you say "standard stylized" what does this mean? From what I can find online it talks about standard stylized being premade assets that share common consistent stylized features. So across different assets they share the same features in the exaggerated cartoony sense. Is this correct or am I misunderstanding?
Kanga 1. Thanks I will look into Daz3D, It's not a software I have heard of before. But I will aim to make all things believable even if they are based in fantasy or sci-fi.
Fabi_G 1. When you say the "overall creature shape is a bit too artificial" do you mean in how it is posed or do you mean the literal shape like as Kanga said it looks more like a bean bag man rather than a body?
Although I did say I will try to heed Fabi_G's advice and forgo the design element and focus on the 3D creation part during the environment challenges, I do already have an environment I was chipping at and adding to when I had time.
If people have any thoughts (I'm sure I've made a tone of mistakes) I'll happily endeavor to implement any advice into the bi-monthly art challenge.
Thanks again for the help and time and all the best
With more "standard" stylized models I meant that while your model is stylized, I don't expect a lot of demand for this specific style. Perhaps take a look at other portfolios and find a style that you like (and that you see used in games) and try to emulate that.
Hi! By "overall creature shape is a bit too artificial", I meant the rats placement look like a pattern. Combined with the deliberate placement of the other elements, it looks less like an organically grown creature to me. I mean this could be an intentional choice, like the rats just being a very disciplined bunch
Cool that you started an environment. Perhaps it would help to look for an art style to follow. Then you could break out props into their own small projects, collecting reference material for each one to get the details right. Since you're interested in game art, I'd create the final environment in a game engine (Unreal, Unity, Godot, ...?). To keep scope small at first, could do just a table diorama with map, knife, navigation tool, mug?, all lit by a candle or lantern? When all this is completed nicely, could expand the environment further, adding more of the room.
On what you got so far, I'd note this: Looks like there are some strong mesh shading gradients (table legs), which could be resolved either by using hard edges or more geometry. Size and proportions of individual elements could be balanced so they match better (navigation tool looks tiny in comparison), details can be extracted from reference images. Long straight edges, especially when going for a stylized look (map, table), could be broken up some, damages added.
Keep it up!
No need to respond to my post.
So regarding something you mentioned Fab_G; were the "strong mesh shading gradients" I'm assuming you are talking about the dark lines along the sides of the legs? I made a high poly detailed table then baked the details onto the low poly version, but maybe that was too much and is leaving the intense gradients you mentioned?
Personally, like to reduce the mesh shading gradients for such objects so that the normal map has less to compensate, keeping its limited bit depth in mind. Whether mesh gradient will actually come through also depends on the final surfacing, it's probably most noticeable on smooth, metallic ones. If it works, it works
A few thoughts what could improve the table asset:
Perhaps some points are a bit pedantic, but viewed as it's own project, I think it's worth being thorough. Some learnings and materials might apply to the next piece too (cabinet, chair, chest, ...).
Good luck