Mean Dinosaur!

VikingJim

Hey All, Im new to Polycount and just wanted to throw up a comp sheet of a model im currently working on for class. It is an emaciated tricerotops with meaty raptor style legs. The assignment was to design and model a dinosaur for a new turok game. Crits welcome!

dale22x

it seems really messy right now. could you post some bigger pictures. i can't really see it as well as id'like

VikingJim

Hey Dale, thanks for looking! I have a couple of the images that were in the comp sheet scaled up so you can see them a bit easier. I think i may re-work the layout and finish textureing him, but any imput you have is welcome.




Thanks again, Jim

dejawolf

i agree that it looks very messy. additionally, the skin looks like its made from some sort of polished rock. and the detailing is nondescript.

SHEPEIRO

that looks like a bump map not a normal, have you plugged in your normal map correctly?

VikingJim

Shepeiro, Yeah it is a normal in the bump channel. It is just turned down very low. I didnt have enough geometry to fill out some of the areas from my zbrush sculp, since for the class there is a 4500 tri limit. I was thinking of turning the specularity down to make the skin look less waxy as well.

AsylumSeaker

I don't understand the point of this dinosaur.. is it supposed to be a herbivore or carnivore or what? It looks like it would move awkwardly and starve to death.

dabu

oh snap!

Seriously, you are mixing different dino parts without thinking through their functions. Most of the aggressive carnivorous dinos weren't heavily armored, cause they were the aggressors. The vegetarians needed a defense against these predators, hence the horns and collars, and beaks etc...

Your design would be stronger if you though through the function of this a bit more, and your sculpt is very intense, not very subtle...

why 4 identical feet?

Armanguy

Im not an expert on these things but the dino looks really awkward, i think you should rethink what this dino is as said above by dabu, i know its dis-heartening to hear but if you want to pump out quality work you should try to fix the issues with this dino, Even if you already finished the assignment for school as it will eventually become a strong portfolio piece. good luck my friend.

BradMyers82

Hey VikingJim, It looks like you put a lot of effort into this and I like the detail pass you gave this. I think what many people are having problems with is the overall design. It's kind of like putting cheetah legs on a horse body, then using an elephant head. It just seems unbalanced. Personally, I am super impatient when it comes to doing concept work, I always just want to get modeling. However, it would be best if you post your concept work first, get critiques then go from there. You can easily change things on paper, but when modeling it takes way longer. If you are just posting a finished work, to say “check out my work” only the very best artists will get nothing but praise, so you should expect to hear some disheartening stuff. Just my two cents, but good overall effort here.

VikingJim

Hey guys, thanks first of all for all the interest and comments.

The design i went with was to make the tricerotops fierce, and carnivorus. The assignment was design a dino for the new Turok, and many of the dinos in there have been "evolved" or tweeked to look more mean. Example being the raptors with black spikes shooting out the back of their head.

dabu- 4 identical feet, because the tricerotops had 4 identical feet. They just looked like hippo, or elephant feet, which were boring so i changed them to look more like talons that could grip and turn quickly. Also the back 2 are haunched up and a bit more meaty for support

With the mean Raptor style legs and bulldogish front, I imagined him walking around with the gait of a komodo dragon or giant alligator, something along those lines for movement. In some of the concept sketches, i have a mount harness on the back of it to make it a form of protected transportation, but with the skull ridge, the rider would have a difficult time seeing approaching, well anything. Another idea was that actual tri's were roughly 30 feet tall. The transport idea could be reworked from a single transport to maybe a clan of warriors or something along those lines.

Unfortunatly, the class ends very soon, so I will be using this model textured differently for the turn in. Posting concept sketches before the modeling occurs seems to be a wise choice.

However, over the break between classes I may rework this into a solid portfolio piece. What suggestions does anyone have for any revisions to the actual geometry?


THanks to everyone for looking/ crits.
Keep em comin!
Jim

dale22x

the geometry is messy, I'm not sure why you spaced them out the way you did. there are three loops together on his belly, and the spacing of the loops seems kind of random. i would space them out evenly so they deform properly, since they don't' seem to be providing any detail.

this can't walk like an aligator or kimodo, they have very primitive style legs and they walk the way they do because there legs come out to the side and they angles down at the elbows. It's pretty much only theropod dinosaurs that have talons, so also looks strange to see a 4 footed dino with talons, it would be very awkward to walk on four legs with talons.


i would suggest getting good at making things look really nice before worrying too much about the concept