Portfolio quality?
polycounter lvl 17
Ive got this character Im working on for my portfolio. What do you guys think? Is it worhty, if not what would make it better.
tech specs:
4600 tris
one 1024 color with alpha
one 1024 normal
tech specs:
4600 tris
one 1024 color with alpha
one 1024 normal
Replies
as for critique, the unwrap is pretty wasteful, nothing is mirrored and theres still some wasted space, so id either work on that or not show it at all in your folio.
I had read in the documentation that Zbrush dosnt like overlaping uvs, so thats why nothing is mirrored. Of course the same documentation says tris are bad, but as long as you dont go overboard with tris I havent had any issues. Does anybody have tips for mirroring normal maps in Zbrush? also on the far right of the tex there is a blank spot for This guys spear.
as for your portfolio, take a look at this link
http://boards.polycount.net/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=73945&an=0&page=0#Post73945
could you put up the flat for the normals as well, so we could get a look at it?
about the normal map, its kinda hard to tell what you've normal mapped with that small render. i can see youve done the fish net and little bumps on his shoulders which is pretty cool. have you thought about adding little scales, veins or wrinkles in zbrush?
what about a specular map? at the moment hes got this whole rubbery-smooth thing going on, it all looks like his body and gear are made out of the same stuff. a good spec map will help define the materials on your character.
http://boards.polycount.net/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=81058&an=0&page=0#Post81058
another thing i noticed is his texture needs more hue variation, especially in the face, its pretty much just the same shade of blue all over. it looks like he has red blood, so maybe a little red in his face and ears? dont have to go crazy with it
edit: im a noob myself, so maybe someone feels like elaborating on these points
Snowfly, I dont know if this will be my "showcase piece" its more like my first zbrush attempt. I know its subpar, thats why im looking for constuctive crits. What is it specifically about the character design, anatomy, and color scheme that can be improved.
aniceto, I was saving the the specular for last. Thanks for link it looks like a good read, ill go through it more thoroughly before creating the spec map.
Yea, color variation is a must, I think some red in the face is a great idea.
When I layed out the Uvs I ended up changing the vertex nubering as well, so right now im in a good position to make changes. Curently the vest is a bump map becuse I didnt have quite enough poly resolution in zbrush to make it smooth enough. What do you guys think about breaking the model into smaller sections, so I can have more polys for detailing? Then reatach everything in max, and piece the normal maps together in PS.
the eyes you've given him are the type you'd find in mammals, and not an amphibious creature like this guy seems to be. also, the shape of the eye socket needs tweaking, as his eyeballs look ready to slip out.
regardless of the protruding fins everywhere, there's not much to suggest this guy would be a very good swimmer. his body is practically human, and i would imagine he'd have to put in just as much effort as a human to get around in water. large webbing, or even larger hands would've sold the idea better, but instead his hands and feet are standard human, and they're small. look up some picture of legged creatures and figure out why they're built as they are.
the colors you've used this sort of dull toxic goo green for his base color, which may not be the best color choice for a marine creature, and also just looks bad. it may also be the colored lighting you're using that's ruining the presentation. most surface fish, which is what i'm guessing this guy is evolved from, are vibrantly colored.
a loincloth is hardly practical for a marine creature. those things are loose, heavy, and can only slow you down in water.
he has an upturned nose, amphibians and reptiles with nostrils normally have nostrils that turn downwards.
the fishnet clothing is a cool idea, but reading into the design, he goes into war in that? unless you imagine he is quick enough to dodge every swing thrown at him, except for the fresh wound on his chest?
so on and so forth... in fact, the whole design looks like it was never pre-planned, honestly it lacks cohesion.
you can look up the anatomy on your own, no need for me to point out the flaws.
Also, why have you normal mapped his scales, but not the fishnet thing he's wearing?
The lion cloth looks like a cop out really, but I had to cover his balls somehow. The anatomy seems fine to me I made his head large on purpose, an Im fine with the somewhat long forarms.
As far as the fishnet thing hes wearing, I explained that in the previous post.
Thanks for your crit.