Time to post some work...
Hi all-
I've been on the forum a while now but haven't to date posted any work. Well, all that's about to change! I'm currently working as a primary school teacher, but am looking to change careers and work in 3D for games as this is my passion (or obsession, if my wife is to be believed).
The following images represent the last few months' work in my spare time- I've just left my fulltime job to become a supply teacher so that I can work on portfolio and developing my skills. These pieces are the third 3D model I've done onwards. The first two are so hideous no-one deserves to have them inflicted upon their eyes!
(apologies for the photobucket links- I guess I've not posted enough to be able to attach images yet).
First up, a soldier type that I did after watching a gnomon DVD on integrating ZBrush into low poly workflow. This was also my first attempt at texturing. He came in at 8.5K and has two textures, one for his head and goggles, and one for everything else. Were I to model him now I think I could easily shave about 2K off by making better choices about edgeloops and poly flow!
Some basic posing...we don't talk about what happened when I tried to rig his legs :P
Trying out facial bones and alternate textures...
This is the ZBrush sculpt that I created intially- the topology for the low res was then done in Topogun
The texture mapping for this guy was my first run through, so I didn't use my texture space optimally.
Model number four was this "toad" alien guy, based on a sketch I did a couple of years back. I know aliens are tres passe but please bear with me! I wanted to have a go at some hard surface stuff. He's just under 6K with one texture for everything. NB- giving his over-long arms was a design decision rather than crappy proportions- although I'm not too sure about the result!
His ZB sculpt...
Once I finished him I wanted to make a weapon and a mount for him. I went for a komodo dragon as the basis for the design. I sculpted and modelled this in two days, plus another three to get the maps and textures done (due to some massive normal mapping errors that took a day to figure out). He is 3.2K with one texture.
Straight to the Zb sculpt...
The weapon was two days' hard push start to finish . I found time along the way to do a concept paintover before starting the game mesh and texturing, which I've included as well!
And the low. This is 850 polys and one texture.
and everything put together for this project:
That's 10K poly all in with three textures, the main guy at 2056 and the others at 1024. Looking at them together, I would make the komodo the biggest texture, but at the time of making the alien, I didn't know I was modelling the rest!
I haven't posted wires or maps initially, but should anyone wish to crit those as well, I can stick 'em up!
Next up is a female low-tech sci fi character and some work on environment stuff- plus I have a bunch of cyborg and robot designs to model, but they'll have to wait while I get my organic modelling better!
Thanks for being patient with my very long thread- all critique welcome as I am seeking to improve to the point where someone would consider my skillset of employable quality!!
Thanks a bunch
~P~
I've been on the forum a while now but haven't to date posted any work. Well, all that's about to change! I'm currently working as a primary school teacher, but am looking to change careers and work in 3D for games as this is my passion (or obsession, if my wife is to be believed).
The following images represent the last few months' work in my spare time- I've just left my fulltime job to become a supply teacher so that I can work on portfolio and developing my skills. These pieces are the third 3D model I've done onwards. The first two are so hideous no-one deserves to have them inflicted upon their eyes!
(apologies for the photobucket links- I guess I've not posted enough to be able to attach images yet).
First up, a soldier type that I did after watching a gnomon DVD on integrating ZBrush into low poly workflow. This was also my first attempt at texturing. He came in at 8.5K and has two textures, one for his head and goggles, and one for everything else. Were I to model him now I think I could easily shave about 2K off by making better choices about edgeloops and poly flow!
Some basic posing...we don't talk about what happened when I tried to rig his legs :P
Trying out facial bones and alternate textures...
This is the ZBrush sculpt that I created intially- the topology for the low res was then done in Topogun
The texture mapping for this guy was my first run through, so I didn't use my texture space optimally.
Model number four was this "toad" alien guy, based on a sketch I did a couple of years back. I know aliens are tres passe but please bear with me! I wanted to have a go at some hard surface stuff. He's just under 6K with one texture for everything. NB- giving his over-long arms was a design decision rather than crappy proportions- although I'm not too sure about the result!
His ZB sculpt...
Once I finished him I wanted to make a weapon and a mount for him. I went for a komodo dragon as the basis for the design. I sculpted and modelled this in two days, plus another three to get the maps and textures done (due to some massive normal mapping errors that took a day to figure out). He is 3.2K with one texture.
Straight to the Zb sculpt...
The weapon was two days' hard push start to finish . I found time along the way to do a concept paintover before starting the game mesh and texturing, which I've included as well!
And the low. This is 850 polys and one texture.
and everything put together for this project:
That's 10K poly all in with three textures, the main guy at 2056 and the others at 1024. Looking at them together, I would make the komodo the biggest texture, but at the time of making the alien, I didn't know I was modelling the rest!
I haven't posted wires or maps initially, but should anyone wish to crit those as well, I can stick 'em up!
Next up is a female low-tech sci fi character and some work on environment stuff- plus I have a bunch of cyborg and robot designs to model, but they'll have to wait while I get my organic modelling better!
Thanks for being patient with my very long thread- all critique welcome as I am seeking to improve to the point where someone would consider my skillset of employable quality!!
Thanks a bunch
~P~
Replies
closeup on the human's face
some more posing
the ZB for the gun (ZB used to add rivet detail- mostly modelled in Maya)
a nice side view of the gun low poly model
and, as a random one, here's the very first thing I ever made in 3D (but not one of the two revolting game models I did), courtesy of Blender and a LOT of help on the Blendernewbies forums!
The next best piece is the soldier, although I think the legs are too long. His mouth also looks really huge.
Nice work overall
first character needs more texture work.
The soldier is pretty good. But like previously mentioned, it needs some more love on the textures. You've got a great sculpt, but mediocre textures! Show those textures the same love you gave the sculpt and he'll be badass.
Also, he seems a bit feminine in the waist area to me. I'd widen his waist just a bit more so it doesn't go in as much. Just a thought!
Now that I look at it, are his arms too short? Bah, maybe it's just these old eyes.
The lizard mount looks good too, but there's one thing about the design that's bothering me. Why are there spikes on the top of the tail near the saddle and not on the end? It'd make for sweet tailwhipping, bashing action were they on the end! Not unless those spikes are there to deter other hijacking frogmen.
The design of the frogman also makes me sad that he doesn't have frog feet. I know you're done and all with the model and it looks great, but if he had exposed frog feet or some kind of frog feet boots, it'd be killer.
also the vest, makes him look like a raver on the christopher street day (it being too small some sizes)
would make it larger, more bulky.
@Ninjas- you're right re. more geometry on the lizard- I was trying to keep the whole piece under 10K just to see if I could keep to the limit. However, those blades around his head- by switching out the spheres for icospheres I can save (drumroll...) 500 polys!!! which lets me do a shitload for the rest of the beast.
@conte/d00kie- cool; I enjoy texturing and am happy to put some more time in on his. What kind of thing are you thinking? Oh- froggy feet would indeed be cool but at the time I had a real thing for wanting to make boots. I guess I should stick to the design and not cram everything onto one model
@Rumkugel- fair enough, it's my first armour piece. I will get better!!
@ Picard-I have been playing a lot of GoW it's true
Thanks all for the crits! I'll update where I can and post new stuff ASAP. One question- I wondered if the red on the gun was too saturated? OPinions appreciated!
~P~
Also he's carrying around ammunition for a weapon he doesnt have... And doesnt seem to have any supplies for the p90
Got some ideas about moving this forward now, though, thanks- now to decide between fixing these guys up or cracking on with my new piece before returning to the world of work next week!
Cheers
~P~
I'll look into it
~P~
It's not really something worth changing, but for your curiousity, this is how p90 magazines look (this is an airsoft one by the look of it but the general shape and plasticness is the same)
~P~
Then on the textures, you have some really nice details on the lizard skin, and the metal bits of the frog, but the human is all very smooth colors without enough variation and grit.
I think you clearly have a good eye, and it looks like you understand the principles of next-gen art creation, but I would try to work up the cohesion of the pieces. Try to get the diffuse map to match the material types better, especially in color, saturation, and brightness values. On overlapping elements like the frog's teethe, they need to feel more anchored into the head.
I'm pretty sure if you keep using your critical eye, especially at the texturing stage, and make several more pieces, you'll really see your art progress.
that's really useful, thanks. I'm pretty satisified that the texturing on the human is not up to par based on suggestions from the thread, and I'm inclined to agree regards the big lizard's anatomy as well. It was a fast sculpt and I think that is reflected in the quality of the anatomy.
I'm very interested in texturing, and am intrigued by what you mean by matching the diffuse to material types better- I am probably being dense but could you clarify, possibly using an example screenshot for reference? I understand if this would take too much time but it'd be really helpful! On the frog's teeth, I'm guessing it's to do with the lighting and shading painted into the map to reflect the occlusion that would occur where the two surfaces meet?
I've begun my next piece and want to really progress! The critique from this forum has been invaluable in re-evaluating what I have done so far with a more critical eye, as it's very easy to get too close to the work staring at it for hours on end! Thanks to all who have taken the time to comment. I hope to show some revised work on the soldier textures shortly (I won't be re-visiting the lizard; time to move to new peices!).
~P~