W.I.P. "Nev"

halcyon-88

Hey all,
In my attempt to learn Max(been working in Maya almost exclusively till now), I'm doing my first character model in Max. Not only that, it's my first female character and second attempt at a game model.

The original character and concept is by a buddy of mine. Here's his site if you're curious. http://milkinthepantry.com/



I roughed out some of the basic forms a week ago.





I spent last night refining the face. Though there are a few things that feel off. I used to doing realistic work, so I'm having a hard time making the forms a bit more basic for a cartoon character. Any crits would be much appreciated.



Beyond that, I did have some questions about hair solutions. I was recently shown wires for one of the Guitar Hero characters, and his hair was composed of extrusions straight from the scalp. Is this standard or is the hair usually a separate mesh? I'm also worried that since I'm building the helmet and mask over the face, it's going to hurt the form of the hair a bit.

Any advice or critique would be great though I know it's certainly in its early stages.

halcyon-88

I did some more refining today, but I have a few concerns. She till looks fairly alien like. I'm pretty sure this is mostly due to lack of definition in the jaw. But beyond that, it's her eyes. I have had to stretch out spheres into ovals to properly fit into the eye socket which makes me worry about rigging. My knowledge of rigging is somewhat limited, but aren't most eyes kept as perfect spheres in the eye socket? And yet, I'm trying to stick to the concept where the eye sockets are elongated.




If anyone has any advice or critique, I'd be much obliged.

Jonas Ronnegard

Reference, might sound harsh but my advice would be to dump this idea and maybe try to do some human body studies and learn how to make a more human looking character before trying to make something cartoonish or what you are going for.

I think it takes alot of knowledge in ordinary human anatomy to make something that isn't supposed to look like an ordinary human, and to make it look good.

halcyon-88

Thanks for the input Jonas! Truth be told, I've already done studies. But they were mostly in Maya for the past couple of years. That being said, you're right; my knowledge of anatomy is not quite where it should be. A lot of the issues I'm running into are technical problems in Max. This is mainly an exercise in learning how to use Max. As far as issues with anatomy, a friend of mine critiqued the face; so I'm getting an idea of what needs to change. Do you have any critique for the rest of the body structure?

halcyon-88

Jonas, on second thought, you're right. It looks like I'm scrapping this project. After a talk with my teacher, this project is a bit of a step back from my other work; and it's far too basic. Not only that, it really doesn't make a great portfolio piece. Anywho, thanks pointing me in a better direction!

Jonas Ronnegard

hi again, well i would say just look at a human photo though the body looks alot better then the head, i am not experienced making characters so i'm not the right person to give you advice though.

Well i feel you made a good decision in scrapping it, though it's never a bad idea to continue practicing, but as portfolio piece i can't really see any future for it.