Feedback on 3D character model

Tonjo

Hello guys, this is my first post here! I just joined today, excited to be here and learn from everyone and hopefully help someone as well!

I am in desperate need of some feedback on a character I've been working on in my freetime since the end of December 2024.. The more I work on it, the less I like it and I am struggling to see the issues.

So I'm currently finishing up texturing, and it is now I am realizing something is not working with the model overall.. I dont know if it's the textures that's not good enough yet, or if the colors are not working.. but somethings bothering me. I will post a couple of images of the different stages, the problem might lie in an earlier stage and I'm willing to backtrack to fix issues further behind in the process if I need to. I really want this piece to be good!

My goal for the model is to be hand painted PBR style, game ready! It's a portfolio piece.

High poly sculpt



Retopo (its around 30K tris)





Flat textures (hand painted)



Viewport render (EVEE)


Any suggestions on where and how I can improve will be greatly appriciated! Thanks for looking.

- Tonje

zetheros

clean work, this might help you imo https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0688-7692-4D5A-1935

Tonjo

zetheros said:

clean work, this might help you imo https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0688-7692-4D5A-1935

Hey Zetheros! I was not aware of this character guide. I see it has a lot of good tips, especially about the gradients and values, color mixing and how they divide the color palette into big, medium  and small! For some reason I've only thought that way about shapes and not colors and values, but it makes so much sense! Thank you for sharing it with me.:)

Muzzoid

Your character is solid!

when you say it isn't working, It might be helpful for you to put it into words what isn't feeling right.

I would honestly say though, try and wrap up this character and do another. This sort of thing you just need to do a lot of, and you will naturally improve.

Like if you were to say aim to do the next character in half the time, but maintain the quality, it would be a solid goal for you!

Tonjo

Muzzoid said:

Your character is solid!

when you say it isn't working, It might be helpful for you to put it into words what isn't feeling right.

I would honestly say though, try and wrap up this character and do another. This sort of thing you just need to do a lot of, and you will naturally improve.

Like if you were to say aim to do the next character in half the time, but maintain the quality, it would be a solid goal for you!

Hello, Muzzoid! You're right, I should have explained better what I feel like is not working. After reading the character guide Zetheros sent me above, I think that my biggest issues with it is the color palette, values, and the materials that feels off to me.

I think your advice is on point, sometimes you just need to say you're done and on to the next project. Take note on what didn't work and how I plan to conquer it this time around. Definetly feel I spent way too much time on this, so I will take a look at my approach and finish the project quicker! Thank you for feedback and advice!

Fabi_G

Looking good

I think with the final asset, some of the forms of the sculpt got lost, in particular with the head. This probably in part due to the different lighting/ reflections between the matcap highpoly render and final render. It's up to you (or how you intend to render) to what extend you paint highlights into the textures or use a roughness and specular map, perhaps a combination. With the latter, the lighting situation is important to allow the maps to work.

Then you could also add some color zones to the face and add in some color variation in general.

Perhaps decrease brightness of eyes in a gradient going away from pupils, so the eyes appear less flat. Similar teeth when overly flashing.

Here is a rough overpaint, overlayed matcap for specularity/highlights, painted in reds on nose and ears, darkened eyes and teeth some, some slight blue on the lower face:



Keep it up!

Tonjo

Fabi_G said:

Looking good

I think with the final asset, some of the forms of the sculpt got lost, in particular with the head. This probably in part due to the different lighting/ reflections between the matcap highpoly render and final render. It's up to you (or how you intend to render) to what extend you paint highlights into the textures or use a roughness and specular map, perhaps a combination. With the latter, the lighting situation is important to allow the maps to work.

Then you could also add some color zones to the face and add in some color variation in general.

Perhaps decrease brightness of eyes in a gradient going away from pupils, so the eyes appear less flat. Similar teeth when overly flashing.

Here is a rough overpaint, overlayed matcap for specularity/highlights, painted in reds on nose and ears, darkened eyes and teeth some, some slight blue on the lower face:



Keep it up!

Hello Fabi_G! I see what you mean, I 100% agree! I feel it got very flat after rendering it, and I miss the details from the sculpt. I will look at my light setup and materials, seems like the textures overall roughness is very high which probably makes the model read flat and normal gets no chance to pop. And I assume it doesn't help that I'm using a large rect light to light my model either, so I will take a look at a different lighting setup.

I love the overpaint! I will follow your advice and add some color zones in the face and add gradient to the eyes so its not too bright and flat.

Thank you so much for giving such detailed feedback, it helps a lot!

Tonjo

A bit more progress on the model. I think I feel done with it, but if anyone sees anything they would fix, let me know!

Tonjo

Aaaand I think I'm done! I added some more geometry to the sleeves, they were a bit janky. And played around in marmoset. Im not very experienced in Marmoset yet, but I love the baking tool there! So much better than Substance Painter.
Also, the beautiful characters design is created by Alfaunshifha! https://www.artstation.com/alfaunshifha

Muzzoid

Nice work finishing it up!

Always good to see the work posed properly!