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Termidian's Follower - Character asset experience

Hey guy's..me again. I've just created this image which covers all..

I need to clarify his head is supposed to be like that. The hands are supposed to be like that. He's an alien :)

This is purley for some experience in asset creation utilizing Zbrush, Max, Zmapper, Hard surfaces, texture maps. Wish me luck? : P

How's the topo? Decent character going on? This is all from my head :/

termidiansfollower.png

Replies

  • Ott
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    Ott polycounter lvl 13
  • Chaosv49
    Sorry? See this is the type of thing. Who else gets treated like that? Is there anything in my post that is wrong?
  • Pope Adam
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    Pope Adam polycounter lvl 11
  • Chaosv49
    <Sigh> Anything contstructive? Is there suddenly a hate ChaosV49 day?

    I'm just another polycounter -.-
  • Mtg_kirin
    doesnt make sense for his skinnier more limber finger to be behind the brick of a finger. Also the head are those like tentacles coming out of the side? if so should define the head a bit more cause right now there isnt much explaining what it is.

    I would also say make the legs/arms skinny if the spine is going to be so skinny maybe pronounced joints

    Last thing is the armor is left heavy (his right) try dividing it up a bit more evenly
  • Chaosv49
    Thanks for the crits man :) I'll get to it. Yeah I see what you are saying about the skinnier stuff. They are tentacles coming out the side, yes. I'll define the head some more.

    Thanks again.
  • Pope Adam
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    Pope Adam polycounter lvl 11
    did you make any concept drawings so that we might be able to compare this blockout to something substantial? That would probably help you in the long run during your sculpt also

    The legs aren't set up very well IMO, at least as far as their style is concerned. I would keep the design's theme consistent between the arms and legs, by that I mean give him skinny thighs, big calves and large feet to match the skinny biceps, big forearms and large hands.

    Cuz right now from the waist down he just looks kinda play-doh half ass designed.

    I'm not a character guy, but I'd reckon you find some DW entries and look closely at their edgeflow. Find a character that has a similar body style to yours and see if you can replicate some of their polyflow around shoulders, hips, neck etc. As of right now you have this character set up in such a way that he'll only be able to flex around like gumby.

    He'll be a great basemesh to sculpt from though since his topo. is fairly even throughout and if this is your greatest concern then I would go ahead nad forget about re doing any edgeflow.

    good luck!

    ps. ott's funny
  • Nizza_waaarg
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    Nizza_waaarg polycounter lvl 15
    i wouldn't be stressin stuff so much man :P

    as has been said, legs are set up kinda funky atm, hips are a bit wide and his legs have got a rickets thing going on a little (could just rotate them outwards from the hip and at the knee a little as well. google rickets... i remember homer had them in the sunblocker episode :P). But all of that doesn't really matter because it'll probably completley change once you get sculpting, there's lots major forms to define still.

    Not much else to really crit on at this point, i'd say just start sculpting and see how the shapes and proportions develop coz there isn't that much to go on right now. Armor looks like it could be cool?

    ...oh, and his fingers are a bit too curved throughout, they bend at joints more than the bits with finger bones in 'em, might be somthing
  • SHEPEIRO
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    SHEPEIRO polycounter lvl 17
    this is a bunch of blobs so far, your not going to get much crit if you dont post enough to go on.

    if you start stressing about stuff you will probably get your thread filled with small cuddly furry things that are young cats (dont say the word)
  • killingpeople
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    killingpeople polycounter lvl 18
    great job man!
  • Chaosv49
    Thanks for the replies.
  • Chaosv49
    Pope adam : I agree he is looking quite plain and no... no concept art :/ altho I could make some from the silo of this guy when I'm done -.- I know... concept art always first but I planned to go in and sculpt till my hearts content XD. I'll check around the thickness of the legs and so still some is more unique. He's a zphere basically so thats kind of why there boring.

    Nizza_waaarg : Stessin? where? I stopped that ages ago. I'll see about them rickets : P I kind of like the armor -lets hope hard surface modelling works. My main priority is to fix ALL of the bodies concerns in due time.
    Shepeiro: It's not that blobby -.-...
    Killing people : Genuine or sacrasm xD Thanks anyway? :)

    Killing people - Thanks :P I think


    SO :
    "is skinnier more limber finger to be behind the brick of a finger."
    Head - tentacles
    "Cuz right now from the waist down he just looks kinda play-doh half ass designed."
    "Rickets" OH! Rickets! right... like kind of inflated to make an expanded shape? Right?

    "I would keep the design's theme consistent between the arms and legs, by that I mean give him skinny thighs, big calves and large feet to match the skinny biceps, big forearms and large hands."
  • Chaosv49
    Here is the updated version. I really...hope you like it xD I think its alot better. Please give me crit's because it's already better with the changes you guys suggested =] thanks again

    117uy6p.png
  • JohnnyRaptor
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    JohnnyRaptor polycounter lvl 15
    dont worry so much. Get it in to zbrush and start detailing it. In there you can adjust all proportions etc. Start producing!
  • Chaosv49
    Thanks Johnny. I will in due time. Unwrapping is the last thing to do now.

    Can you please comment on the base mesh and the difference? How's it looking to you?

    Peace.
  • JohnnyRaptor
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    JohnnyRaptor polycounter lvl 15
    Well, generally, a vertex with more than or less than 4 edges will cause artefacts when sculpting, so thats a good thing to keep in mind when creating your basemesh.

    also even edge density is pretty important too, and you seem to have that covered.

    the shape looks interesting, latest version is an improvement from your first one. not much more to say until you start detailing it :)
  • Chaosv49
    Thanks man, I shall start detailing it soon.

    I've all polygons. Can you see any tri's?
  • 00Zero
    if i were you, i wouldnt unwrap this. just sculpt it in zbrush as it is now. then build another lowpoly around that one and unwrap that.
  • Chaosv49
  • butt_sahib
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    butt_sahib polycounter lvl 11
    Probably......
    Thats because the sculpt youll probably use in the end for projecting your maps onto your low poly might not match the low poly accurately. when youre done with the high,just retopo that. I bet your lowest subD level will mirror the high poly more than the low you imported into zbursh.
    Ive seen that the way youre planning to go is most often used when displacement maps or micodetails are being worked at.
  • Slave_zero
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    Slave_zero polycounter lvl 8
    I agree to 00zero.

    The reason I would also do it this way is, that at the moment you still have a very basic mesh. You have defined a nice silhouette and it looks interesting. But as you start to sculpt and put in details it will be very likely that the whole charakter will change in proportions and anatomy. I guess you don't have any concept you are following but trying to find interesting shapes and details during your modeling process. Imo it's very likely that this approach will lead to major changes in the model while sculpting it.

    Last reason to just jump into z-brush is:

    Your model doesn't have a nice edge flow. Especially in regions like the face, chest, muscles etc.. But you'll need a clean edge-flow which supports the anatomy of your charakter or it will be harder to rig and animate it properly. And even if you don't want to animate it It should be your goal to create a charakter which could be animated of course.

    With those things in mind it is pretty obvious that after you have finished your sculpting you will have to do a new low-poly which supports all the details and shapes of your highpoly. This way your final results will be better, than just using the model you have right now.
  • j4polaris
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    j4polaris polycounter lvl 18
    It's a good base mesh to start from, and I don't know what style you are going for, but I don't get a good sense of your character's anatomy. Try to keep that in mind as you make your high-poly sculpt.
  • Chaosv49
    What if I don't add loads of stuff jutting out so I can fit it around?

    I've only made the low poly for now and what if I just don't add stuff that sticks out alot?

    Is that normal to create the high poly first?
  • ParoXum
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    ParoXum polycounter lvl 9
    It is normal. You basemesh should only serve as basemesh.
  • Chaosv49
    The thing that I don't understand is - Lets say I'm gonna take this base mesh and put it into Zbrush to add form and muscle and all that good stuff.
    What are the steps?

    Create topolgy via the edit topology?
    Decimation Master?
    lowest sub? (What if that isn't good enough/ makes the defining points go away?)

    Would I some how get it to the lowest sub with still the same sort of shape to get a good base mesh.. if I have to change it around how do I know if it fits my high poly more?

    Can somone PLEASE explain..my brain ain't working...
  • killingpeople
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    killingpeople polycounter lvl 18
    - create a base mesh
    - import it into zbrush
    - sculpt your highpoly
    - create your lowpoly
    - unwrap your lowpoly
    - bake your maps
    - texture your model
  • Chaosv49
    Wait I undestand you from every single part.. but this got me incredibly confused...

    Isn't your base mesh your low poly? Is that so you can go in and sculpt then retopologize? Is the "Base mesh" a real start then it's retopologized with retopo tools or whatever..? :/ I thot I knew this stuff..
  • Chaosv49
    I'm also creating the high poly from the base mesh you guy's have seen. Is that corrrect so far? Just confused about the base mesh and low poly..
  • killingpeople
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    killingpeople polycounter lvl 18
    your base mesh can be used as your low poly, or it could be a box, or sphere. however you want to do it, so long as you end up with a high poly model to project to a low poly model.
  • Chaosv49
    Right well those guys are saying that I should take this basemesh into zbrush then retopo to get a fit.. but I'm unsure of how to retopo it because I might looks like some defining points of the mesh or whatever you know?

    Is how I'm going so far correct?

    I was originally going to unwrap it and then go and model on the high poly but then these guys were saying that I wouldn't get a good fit.
  • AimBiZ
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    AimBiZ polycounter lvl 14
    From experience my sculpt have always changed significally in form even if I hadn't counted on it. You might always come up with something in the process that would benefit the design and make changes.

    Also have in mind where you want the most detail. I'd suggest adding some extra polies on the face and even define the basic shapes. Faces mostly get the most detail.

    And your basemesh topology isnt fit for animation either, it's made for sculpting. When you're done with the hipoly it will also be much easier to create optimal topology since you don't have to worry about shape since it's already there.

    So, basically what killingpeople said. Personally I don't like the retopo function in zbrush. In my case I import the hipoly back to Maya but with one or two subdivs lower so it wont lag and use the "make live" function and start bulding.

    You can do however you like simply as long as you end up with a good lowpoly to project the hipoly on.
  • killingpeople
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    killingpeople polycounter lvl 18
    your last post was hard to make sense of.

    a base mesh looks something like this:
    basemesh.jpg

    what you need to understand, is this model is created to work in a sculpting program. it's made up entirely of quads. tris are avoided, because they fuck up the geometry when you sub-divide the mesh.

    here's a decent lowpoly model:
    FHero_00.jpg

    what i'm illustrating here, is there are lots of tris and shit all over. they are there for mesh and uv optimization, shading, and animation reasons. if you were to bring this into zbrush, you'd have a lot of issues and artifacts to work around. if you cleaned up this lowpoly a bit, it'd be way less restrictive and you'd be able to sculpt some detail in there, but you'd have to stay close to the original shape to prevent reworking the low poly to match the high.

    so i say, fuck all that, don't stifle creativity, let loose and build your low poly after the fact. load in the highpoly model into your modeling package. you can bring in one that's a few steps down or use the decimation master tool to lower the polycount but keep the shapes, so you have the general idea for the shape, freeze the geo and then model right over it.

    lvl40_05.jpg

    you dont have to start from scratch, you could start with the basemesh, or the decimation master tool to crunch one down to clean up.
  • Chaosv49
    I already knew the stuff above :/

    Look, I'm making the high poly right now from the basemesh you see up there. Is this the right thing to do? After that do I retopologize? Is that it?
  • killingpeople
  • Chaosv49
    Okay, good. I always like to be re assured. Expect from the fact that I knew this stuff for ages.. I just didn't know that you can do it from a base mesh and THEN retopologize. I was thinking more of like you take an unwrapped low poly in and detail then normal map but that would be hard because when adding in forms the low poly changes, right?
  • killingpeople
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    killingpeople polycounter lvl 18
    a brave and well-endowed hero of a man named per once told me some good advice i'm going to send your way: don't fucking put yourself in a situation where you're waiting for that reassurance from someone else, don't put yourself in a situation where you have to wait on another person to give you the okay on shit if you don't have to, if you're unsure of the asnwer and everything, that's fine i undestand, but you don't need to set aside time for that, make the decisions and find the answers on your own and you'll be much better off for it. the answers are out there, there is a plethera of info on this out there.

    what you need to do, is get dirty, get in there and do some work.
  • Chaosv49
    Sir, yes sir! Good post, I hear ya.
  • Chaosv49
    "don't fucking put yourself in a situation where you're waiting for that reassurance from someone else, don't put yourself in a situation where you have to wait on another person to give you the okay on shit if you don't have to,"

    mbl6w2.png
    2wnohw2.png

    2193xhs.png

    Probably just gonna call this before I scrap it guys.. I lost interest at the face. It's just not the right thing.. I liked it at the start but with the face and all it's not really working out. I'm still gonna try and normal map it.
  • Chaosv49
    Didn't put the detail in.. let's call this an excercise..

    I dislike it because of the way the feet and are such. I realise now that you've got to plan ahead and actually make a mesh from concept. Lesson learned.
  • killingpeople
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    killingpeople polycounter lvl 18
    good job, you got something from it at least. now make another. ;)
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