Giger Alien
Hello Polycounters -
I'm just getting off the ground with Zbrush. I've been using it off and on for a couple of years, but only recently started to feel comfortable. I've been (poorly) drawing this alien since childhood. After 25 years I finally have the tools to make a respectful image. What do you think?
I'm just getting off the ground with Zbrush. I've been using it off and on for a couple of years, but only recently started to feel comfortable. I've been (poorly) drawing this alien since childhood. After 25 years I finally have the tools to make a respectful image. What do you think?
Replies
model looks great
Any plans to take this further? As in normal mapped character or colored/posed high detail art?
esp. I love the legs
when i saw this thread, I thought "oh good, another Giger Alien that's going to be done just as poorly as the rest of them, because all the crazy detail will be impossible to read and flattens into a mess of pixelated shit"
but you sir. You, who have simplified the pose into a delightful circular shape, making it easy to read, and supporting the otherwise crazy complicated details with a lovely simple shape...
I love you.
What matcap is that?
1. The mouth area is somewhat lacking. There aren't enough teeth, and the teeth should be more irregular. (aliens don't have orthodontists) The jaw goes too far back, it should be brought forward slightly. There needs to be more webbing / exposed tendons linking the jaw to the rest of the head.
2. The number of fingers aren't correct. Killaball said it, the alien is supposed to have six fingers, not five. Check the end of the first Alien film, when the creature is resting between the pipes. You get a really good look at its hand in that sequence.
These are minor quibbles from a fan who has seen these movies way too many times. Kudos on an excellent model.
@warby - I agree. I was really surprised not to see more higher quality alien art. It seems like a really good midlevel modeling challenge, and it's such a cool IP, you would think it would have more of a presence. There is one really impressive piece a guy did of a face hugger here : http://maxko.mysticline.com/wp-content/alien_staff_07_04.jpg
@cholden - The thing that is most interesting to me is modeling. I'm not so much interested in taking a piece all the way through the low poly process. Every now and then I decide to finish a piece. I'm usually about half way through the UV process when I realize my mistake. That being said, I may need to prove I can do this sort of work at some point in the future, so who knows?
@killaball - you are correct sir. Unfortunately I realized my mistake too late. I could always add another digit as a subtool. I may if people think it will make a significant difference. If that's the only thing that pops out as being inaccurate though I am satisfied. It seems like every image available is designed to hint at but never totally reveal what this thing is supposed to look like. It definitely added to the difficulty.
@kontruct - too friendly huh? You think more snarl wrinkles would help? It's tough with of the whole exoskeleton thing.
@John Warner. Thank you sir. Giger sets a high bar. It can be hard to take the rough treatment of a beloved institution. I set out to do right by the IP, and I am humbled by your praise.
@ TWilson - The matcap is a color dodge combo of dj grubby green and md antique bronze. The bronze is on top. Both are available on the pixologic website.
@mathes - thanks! I think I'm probably done with the model for now. I might pose the arms and legs so they aren't so symmetrical, but I don't think I'll take it further without a good reason. Truth be told, I've already completed another quick model and started a third.
@richard Kain. Also well observed! There is one tube that lead from the back of the jaw that I keep meaning to add. I'm pretty sure they added that tube to pump all the goo out the aliens mouth for the movie. It should be included. Sounds like a consensus is building to add another finger. I saw a lot of different teeth. This is the image I settled on:
I think you're right about the extra jaw webbing/tendon stuff.
@ralusek: So I used a little bit of a different process for different areas. For the tail, I built a two vertebrae piece in max, copied it, moved it and scaled it into place along a placeholder tail (just a tube). Then I repeated that until I had all the pieces for the tail. It might sound laborious, but it only took a half hour or so. In zbrush I divided it a couple of times and worked over each piece until it looked naturally but subtly irregular. For the inside tube, I used the same placeholder tail, increased the number of edge loops, and extruded them. That part was tedious, but again, it only took a few minutes. For the other parts, I built up the volumes with clay tube, then used flatten to get that hard surface look. I used soften as well, but not too much. I like to keep all my tools (except inflate) with a focal shift around -55 and a z intensity about 15.
@kaburan - Thanks! I built the portfolio a few weeks ago in preparation to be on Games Industry Mentor with Aaron Canaday (http://gim.acanaday.com/ - episode 7). We were talking about portfolios, and I wanted to have an example of a good entry level job portfolio site. It might be time to expand the content a little bit!
Thanks again everyone!
Very well done! I really dig it... I agree, you should pose him out.
Yay - more BW Austin peeps :P
@Jon - Thanks man! I really appreciate you taking a look!
@dippndots - Good observation! I added some jaw webbing and also cleaned up the outside of the foot. I'll try to post an updated version sometime later today.
hence lacks some scary attributes i say
Full props though its a brilliant model!
Heh, if you ever get a chance, check out the making-of documentaries they package with the 2-disc collectors edition of Alien. You get to see the guy who was in the Alien suit, out of the outfit. The guy they found to play the Alien was insanely skinny. I felt hungry just looking at him.
I think this sculpt is actually pretty close to the movie version in terms of slenderness. I might have made the limbs just a bit longer, but the skininess of the torso and head strike me as spot-on.
@Omar + achillesian - thanks!
@ richard kain - you ARE a fan! I'll keep my eye out for the dvd set.
There is a HOST of alien reference on the net. An example
As it is now, it looks fantastic, though. Great work!
What colour is the original alien anyway kind of an opaque black? How did they do that?
same, and the hands, they look really sweet for whatever reason.
also, here is reference
[ame]
i think the tubes coming off his back are a bit lower, they're usually both coming off the back of the ribcage. other than that nitpicking, it's a nice interpretation!
But the rest looks great!