Modeling from an angled concept...

Havok

I have a problem and was wondering if you guys could help me out a bit. I recently tried to begin modeling from a 3/4 view of a character I concepted and am having a hard time. Do I need to learn to model from a 3/4 view or will I always be provided with front and side views when working in the industry? I am thinking whether or not I should just draw a front and side view for myself or just learn to model from an angled concept. Also, have you guys learned to model from angled images or do you always draw orthographic views of characters you design? Thanks for any input you guys have.


Mike

aesir

I think most of us prefer not to use orthos at all when we model for our own personal work. Artists are given orthos for their professional work so that you make exactly what the art director had the concept artist come up with. If you can't model without orthos, then you might want to practice.

Eric Chadwick

Depends on the modeler, but most prefer front and side views, along with a 3/4 for easier viewing/judgement.

Depends a lot on the ability/experience of the modeler. Some can extrapolate very well.

It might be that your 3/4 isn't planned well, so it won't translate to 3D without some major revisions. Or it might be great. Post a shot.

stimpack

If you have a 3/4 view, you will deffinately atleast want a rough front and side to guestimate perportions. From that you can wing it with just a 3/4. As long as your base structure is right (anatomy) then the rest should fall into place fairly easy.

EarthQuake

aesir wrote: »

I think most of us prefer not to use orthos at all when we model for our own personal work. Artists are given orthos for their professional work so that you make exactly what the art director had the concept artist come up with. If you can't model without orthos, then you might want to practice.

A lot of the time perspective concepts have flaws, things that would just be impossible to do in 3d, concept artists tend to use a lot of cheats to make things look cool when drawing persp concepts, esp if it didnt start as a blockout mesh. So having a rough side/front view(s) is pretty important, you're not any better of a modeler if you have to spend half the time tweaking your mesh because of a poorly drawn concept, all you've managed to accomplish is waste a decent amount of time. I prefer to have a clear concept, especially if its technical by any means. The mentality that you're more badass if you can work from a shitty concept or whatever is just retarded.

Orthos + perspective is the best thing to have, personal or proffessional. Even better would be to have a blockout model as well.

Havok

Well thanks every one, here is a shot of what I am attempting. I blasted out the right arm so I know the position of it is off. I started trying to model the nose first but I just couldn't do it. I cant figure out why. Sorry for the large image, but you'll live.

Snowfly

Winging it from an inspiration painting is definitely a useful skill to have. Work on your observational skills as an artist and you'll get there.

Do I need to learn to model from a 3/4 view or will I always be provided with front and side views when working in the industry?

Be careful with that line of thought

Havok

I was just going to edit my post, but I have too much to type for an edit.

EarthQuake - That is kind of what I wanted to hear. I just wasn't sure if it is worth the extra time and effort to draw those out for a personal piece. Now that I think about it, I definately should to make my final portfolio piece as perfect as possible.

But I am just curious EQ, for your weapon for the FPS challenge, it looked like you didn't have a side view at all of your gun. Despite this, it came out great. How did you do it?

EarthQuake

Well, just like i said. Lots of tedius time spent tweaking things until they looked just right. I would have loved to have a side view but couldn't find anything so i had to make due.

MoP

Most good 3d artists in the industry will be able to create a 3d model from a 3/4 or angled concept. Even if there are parts which don't quite make sense, usually it's up to the 3d artist to figure out the best way to construct it.
Sometimes trying to make stuff identically match concept drawings is an exercise in futility, a lot of the time a model will slightly differ from the concept anyway, especially with characters.

Obviously if you're doing highly technical or precise work, then you will want side/front/back views (I find these more important for vehicles or objects, than characters).

The rest of the time if your concept artist is in-house, you can usually ask them for a quick sketch from a better angle, of a problem area (like the underarm side of a torso, for example). This is faster for everyone than having to wait for detailed (or even rough!) complete front/side views to be drawn for every concept.

Chai

I haven't worked from orthos for a long while, and usually work from one 3/4 view.
My work envolves a lot of hardsurface technical constructs. (vehicles, weapons, etc), what I usually do is start with some sort of concept model (made from primitives and simple geometry) to make up the missing information from the concept art.

For your character, try making a rough shape of the armor with simple shapes to get the silhouete, and make another rough in zbrush to get the organic shape, this will help you get the proportions and you can fill those with details, good luck

Havok

Thanks guys, I was actually thinking of making a sort of proxy mesh, freezing it, and then building around it, Chai. Do you guys think this is a good way to go about doing it?

MoP

Yep, quick rough models are definitely useful especially when building large or complex objects and characters.
They can help get the volume, form, proportions and overall "feel" of the model without having to spend ages worrying about details or complex attachments.

Havok

Alright, that is definately a good way to go about doing it. I got most of my basemesh done this way. Thanks again, everyone.