Lets Get me Learning

Nemecys

Okay Polycount Lets get to work hurt my soul i need to learn hurt me enough to be motivated dont call me a fat loner who has no friends or something thats just mean :P

So heres some work


Wireframe - Untextured - Textured

This is my first real attempt at a fully topologized animatable model with a set of maps i only just learnt to do...

He stands at 9K tris which is very high poly but after the long time i spent getting him done i really cba to start taking out edge loops and what ever else to make him "Game Friendly", in my next more serious projects i will go all out

heres a link to some of the maps i used...
Specular, Normals, Ambeint Occlusion, and Diffuse

Okay a quite note on all the other maps, the only correct one was the normal maps i had a problem with max continually crashing as i imported each part of the model so i could only escape with a normal map i had to just Crazy Bump to get the AO and Spec, so i know i did wrong but they had a slightly useful effect in the end when toned down....

So How did i do?

P.S. Better ways to take High poly bakes withotu crashing max any other methods

Cyph3r

**

Nemecys

I think im ready to join Epic Games don't you Cyph3r? xD

praxedes

download xnormal for doing your high to low maps. it's free!

you've got a very undetailed "melty" looking model here- you need to sharpen up the forms a lot more, working from large shapes into mid sized and then detailed shapes. Don't leave everything to the texture. The normal map is pretty much a waste of time cos it isn't adding anything to your base form. The anatomy is poor- the human eye is very good at perceiving anatomical forms and if you are as way off as this is, the viewer disregards what they are seeing. Even though it's a monster, it still should be grounded in reality (I've made enough shit monsters to have learned that the hard way!) get some anatomy reference in place for your next model- and take a good look at which edges define silhouette and which don't add to the volume- there's loads you could eliminate here. The cloth and boots are not reading at all- no folds, weight or anything. Use lots of reference and go to gnomonology and get richard smith's excellent short video tutorial on cloth sculpting- it's about 5 dollars, or splash out on his full length game character dvd which is really really superb. Keep plugging way- I'm sure your next model will be better!

~P~

Nemecys

Cheers for the comments Praxedes, i admit i used no reference at all apart from the head and it was my first attempt in Z Brush i did try using Xnormal but when i was rendering out the AO it just came out blank why is this? can you give me any hints?

Now looking on it i see that it is poorly defined and i left FAR too much to the normal map but there does have to be a limit to how much detail you put in the model without making it too high poly and defeating the points of the maps

still thanks

JBB

I'm trying to think of how to get my crits across in a constructive manner...

First thing i noticed, your 'low poly' mesh is FAR too highpoly, you could easily cut out half the edges and it wouldn't effect the silhouette at all.

secondly, the high poly just looks like the low poly with turbo smooth, you haven't really put any thought into shapes, forms or silhoette. you could do so much more with the low/high poly meshes.

lastly the textures, did you get the specular and AO from crazybump by any chance? they look god awful and are doing more harm than good. Do specular + AO correctly and it'll look alot better.

the shoes on your model look like the best bit texture wise, everything else needs a TON of work, again, you need more definition. i suggest you check out some tutorials + look at other peoples work and see how they do it. texturing is alot more artistic, especially when doing organic models and it seems like its something you need to practise alot.

Nemecys

cheers JBB, and yea if you read my first post you would have answered half of your own questions, and as for the high and low poly yes i know the high poly really didnt have much to show for the low poly, cause i really didnt have any ideas for this model there was no reference involved it was just from the top of my head with no real plan or idea it was just a test but cheers anyway

JBB

Nemecys wrote: »

cheers JBB, and yea if you read my first post you would have answered half of your own questions, and as for the high and low poly yes i know the high poly really didnt have much to show for the low poly, cause i really didnt have any ideas for this model there was no reference involved it was just from the top of my head with no real plan or idea it was just a test but cheers anyway

well then it seems you posted this for no reason, it doesn't matter if there was no references or if it was just off the top of your head, you should have the creativity and knowledge to succesfully create something, saying its just a 'test' just lets yourself accept it for being worse than what it should be. If you dont have the creativity or (in this case) anatomical knowledge, i suggest you develop them.

There is so much more you could do to make this model of a really high standard, but by using excuses like its a 'test' or that you had no references, you're limiting yourself massively and thus already makes your thread pointless, as i'm sure its titled "Lets get me learning" and judging from your attitude, thats not what you want to do.

System

The topology could do with revising, as mentioned you have alot of loops there that aren't doing much. Also the maps you posted look very blurry, are they at full res?
Other advice would be to get some reference of maybe a bodybuilder so it's easy to see muscle groups and then recreate them in zbrush. This could be a good base for some high poly sculpting if you tweak it.

Anuxinamoon

I whole heartedly agree with JBB's last comment.

What I would suggest doing, is learning how to low poly model or high poly model. Not both at the same time. I found that learning low poly will help because it teaches you about how to utilise shapes to get the main parts of your design across. Aim for a 1000-1500 Tri mesh. Don't worry so much about animation or deforming edge loops just yet, just try to learn how to maximise your shapes with your limited budget.

Once you are confident with low poly modelling and texturing, that will give you a stronger base to learn high poly modelling and explore different tools like zbrush or mudbox.

I would also recommend always trying to draw out your character first. Drawing helps you figure out the character. It doesn't matter if you cant draw well, just draw it. Better to figure it out on paper than to figure it out in 3D which could take three times as long.

You have a ways to go yet, but if you listen and learn you will develop fast and in a few years will be alot more confident.