Mini-Project : Slurp the alien

Jaco

Slurp the alien, a fairly unintelligent creature who uses his penis-like forearms to feed, mate and even fight ( Cock slap!)

I started with a ZSphere concept (after doing some thumbnails in Photoshop), did some sculpting on the result and then used the topology tool to get a better base mesh.





Wip sculpting so far, haven’t really touched the legs:

Ged

great character, quite interesting. I know you havent really touched the legs yet but in my opinion they look too normal and seem too generic in proportion and size, like an average guys legs just stuck on to an interesting character.

Jaco

Thanks Ged, that's a good point. I'll definately change them, just not sure how yet.

stimpack

this is fun! the pose sells it for me.

artstream

Oh ZSpheres...how amazing they are...

MAUL0r

slurp you say? delicious.

artstream

Only thing I would say is, he doesn't have a crotch...especially if it's gonna be using it's "phallic arms" to attack, he should have some crotch region, even if it's just there to be there.

Jaco

stimpack: Thanks!
kaoticvisions: Indeed
MAUL0r:
kaoticvisions: Agreed, crotch added

Update:





I might still change some of his proportions and add some small details but the sculpt is pretty much finished.

Slum

LOL

"penis-like forearms"

Mark Dygert

Looks cool! I applaud your ability to create anything from ZSpheres hahaha

It reminds me a little bit of the Goon from PopEye.

_Eclipse_

he have an human ass but no mouth

notman

He eats through his hands/arms/thingies ... like an ant eater. Or at least that's how I interpretted it.

rooster

hmm yeah, how *does he eat.. some kinda 2 way system maybe..

SHEPEIRO

if he has no mouth why an adams apple?

Rayne13

I'm pop-eye the sailor man....
hahaha kidding. I like him. Oh come on, the protoss from star craft don't have mouths either.
Beautiful anatomy work though.

Ferg

awesome

needs a couple of straws for his hand-mouths

Sage

looks cool, nice

Piotr Słomowicz

Yeah thats is rare skill indeed to do anything from zspheres. I tried and failed.. badly.

Anyway looks cool, what material are you using in last render?

wake

Jaco, I'm a fan of what you've done so far, and kudos for approaching a less run of the mill character design. I know you're pretty far along by now, so this probably won't matter, but I feel like if you're going to build this sort of goofy/awkward character that you should keep pushing the anatomy. I feel as tho the muscular buttocks and thighs don't really complement the rest of the body as they might, because they're almost too elegant. I did a quick photoshop and just cropped the model at the knees. See what you think:

Toomas

The forearms look like human ones, and it doesnt make any sense cause human forearms are all about moving fingers that this alien doesnt have any.. It even seems to have tendons (right word?) under its "wrists".

rooster

/me wonders what toomas' forearms look like

Jaco

Thanks for the c&c guys!
Zspheres aren’t impossible to use, they just take some getting used to. I find that previewing by pressing A, and then sculpting on the preview whilst I’m still busy working with the zspheres helps.

Piotr you can find the material here (second post, attachment)

Yeah notman’s right, he feeds through his arms, acid dissolves the food (this same acid can be squirted at enemies) and the liquefied food is then transported to his enlarged stomach area where it is stored. After the stored food has been used he obviously poops it out.

As for why he has an adam’s apple and apparently useless muscles on his forearms A)evolution fucked up it looks cool Like a chicken’s useless wings, evolution has left Slurp with some useless bits of anatomy.
Toomas you’re right. It does make some sense though, the brachioradialis , extensors and flexors in his forearms can be used to move the tip of his feeder around, although it isn’t the most effective way of doing it (The muscle structure of a snake’s body, or an elephant’s trunk would probably have been a better choice)


Thanks for the paint-over wake, I hear what you’re saying. I actually like the contrast between the big soft belly and the sharp/defined legs. ( the same contrast is happening with the forearms and upper arm). The fat on his belly isn’t from too many beers, it’s more like the hump on a camels back, that’s why the rest of his body is skinny.
I like the proportions of your paintover though, I'll change the low poly accordingly.

I'm busy with the low poly, I'll post it soon.

PeterK

That paint over kinda breaks the shape and hurts the anatomy. I think you might consider further research before painting over someone's models.

although it does not hurt to provide feedback, I just think the feedback should be a bit more measured.

John Warner

what, like wake did something he should be ashamed of or something? looked like a helpful opinion to me.

i think this model is beautiful, and you're doing a great job. i love the way you're treating the anatomy, but i agree with wake to the extent that the legs could be a bit shorter than they are now.. at the moment something is feeling uncomfortable about the front views. the back isn't as bad in this respect though. i think that if you did shorten the legs, you'd certainly have to raise the ass. the length of the torso in wake's paint over is too long in contrast to the short legs.. imo.

wake

I have to say Jaco, I'm not sure whether I'm entertained or terrified at the prospect of someone getting cock slapped with an arm-sized phallus that can eat things

Warner, you're right about the proportions bit. That edit was to illustrate the general idea rather than its precise execution.

and PeterK, what you said would be right if I was telling Jaco to work directly off of the image I provided. The quick photoshop I did was just to give an idea of what it would look like if the legs were shortened, and not to be used as reference, which I think Jaco understood.

Jaco

John Warner: Thanks. Yeah the front view has been bothering me for a while, because the legs look fine from the back or side. I've played around with the proportions of the legs, hopefully it looks a bit better now? Enlarging the feet helped quite a bit.

I've started painting the texture on the high poly, it will be baked with the normal maps later.

This is still very wip, just some quick painting with the alpha brushes. I like the arms and torso so far, the rest still needs some love. C&C will be much appreciated.

Texture WIP

ironbearxl

Coming together nicely Jaco, I like the paintjob so far. Is he gonna have any clothes or armor?

Jaco

Thanks ironbear. I thought about clothing/armor but then I asked myself : How the hell is he going to put armor on if he has dicks for hands?

ironbearxl

Maybe his wife dresses him?

Jaco

You don't wanna know what she has for arms...

SHEPEIRO

like all the colouring except the feet though sure thats just cos its temp

Austin

Stellar model dude, reminds me of Odd World a bit. Good work.

ironbearxl

[ QUOTE ]
You don't wanna know what she has for arms...

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL

Jaco

Thanks for the comments. A small update, more views soon:



Edit: The colours aren't showing up nicely in zbrush, so here's a shot with 100% self illumination to see the colours properly:

Wells

he needs a BIG vein winding up his forearms.

this guy is pretty sweet. I'd love to see a fine-detail pass on him.

Jaco

Thanks Sectaurs, I'll make the veins bigger and make them stand out a bit more.

Started the low-poly:



I'll do most of it with the topo-tool, and then make it prettier in max.

Jaco

It's 3 in the morning here and I'm going to bed

Japhir

really cool! i wonder why you added all the toe detail though, it doesn't add much to the silhouette, i think that you could do with a lot less polies there. great stuff!

Xaltar

Looking sweet. He looks completely useless lol. Like he couldn't actually DO anything. Wonder how he would tie his shoe laces...

Great modeling dude.

Jaco

Japhir : Thanks, toes fixed.
Xaltar:

Low-poly with normal map + diffuse. This is the first time I've tried painting my maps in zbrush. Some of it came out okay but his back looks like shit. Luckily it's pretty easy to repaint in zbrush and then rebake in xnormal again.



C&C on the texture so far would be much appreciated.

EricElwell

For a second there, I thought "where the heck are his hands" but you know.. I kinda like him without hands... maybe little sucker thingies on the ends of his arms? heh..

As far as crits for the texture... Have some boldness with color and values. You really don't have any contrast going on. The smooth transition of color you have now is nice, but I see such things as freckles and whatnot that seem to be culled back a lot. It can help to add a little detail, but if you never get some hard edged contrast, the end result will be murky and generally hard to read.