I need help with this one, I cannot for the life of me work out what's wrong with this superhero character :S
*Squint*
All right, I'm no "professional" or anything, not yet anyway, but I can offer some tips.
Ok, first thing I would do if I was handed that model and was told to work with it would be to first harden your normals to see what's exactly going on in there (the wireframe is hard to read, and the smoothing makes it difficult to keep track of your geometry). Delete one half of the model, right down the center, and mirror the geometry as an instance, or leave it be whichever you prefer. Then, check out some references of legs or even an entire male anatomy to get an accurate view of where the joints need to be. A quick glance at this told me a few things: the thighs and knees are melded together and are sitauted too high, the feet need to be pulled back a bit to give him some balance, the crotch is way too jagged and hanging in the wrong direction (they usually..hang), the forearms need to be a bit more rounded/thicker, and there needs to be more definition in that elblow area. Check a male anatomy reference, it WILL improve your ability to accurately model just about anything (or so I'm told).
Next, maybe add a new edge loop going from the crotch all the way around the leg (just under the hip), and balance out that jagged crotch by making the new loop's edge and the center edge of the crotch float at around the same level. Try to make it more of a downward buldge rather than a chasm. Pay close attention to the reference(s) you acquired, and all should go well.
The hands look ok I guess (a bit heavy on geometry though) , start by removing the buldge from the side of the hand and take a peek at a hand reference to get an idea of how a wrist is shaped.
Do what you did for the thighs/knees when working on the elbows. Refer to the anatomy reference.
The torso could use tweaking too, but it doesn't stand out as bad as the other parts. Not to sound like a broken record, but reference would help this as well.
I'll leave the face to you, but I suggest looking up some facial topology.
I hope that wall of text helped, I'd like to see your username preceed you eventually, so good luck!
@Gauss, it is nice to see someone spending the time to make a weapon accurately, and you are doing a great job at it. Just a few nitpicks and it will be perfect, seeing as you are attempting to make it as realistic as possible.
To be more specific, Ohnomelon is pointing out the super sharp edges of the rear sight, which sadly does not look sub-d because of it. The edges on the rest of it look pretty good and smooth though, I must say. I had/have this issue still with my sub-d work, but it really helps to have slightly overly smooth edges, it looks much better on your bake.
Also, the dustcover, but you just pointed out that you are going to work on it, so continue doing what you are doing.
Had this old model sitting around and decided to play with it. I considered making it game-friendly but nah, wouldn't really learn much from it and thought I would just make it finished enough so I can move on. I would like crits though as I'd like to make it good enough for a portfolio piece.
Felipefrango - Fill his pipe up with something maybe? Honestly, it's got style and it looks great, I personally don't see anything wrong with it.
Thought I'd share this before I crashed for the night. I'm kind of happy with it, it's basically done...It may not be "functional" or practical, but it sure was a fun project.
Thanks, Snader. I ended up using 6 3 sided cylinders for the strings like you suggested, and they turned out great as far as I can tell. MUCH better than the flat planes I had as placeholders. I was able to smooth the normals out on them and make them appear rounded, just what i was hoping for.
I was a bit worried about using the 3 sided cylinder because I thought that there would be some bad/sharp edges appearing after smoothing them, but nope!
Hand painted this whole thing, the frets were a bit tedious to paint, which is also a flat normal mapped plane. The pickups/pickup switch and knobs are also normal maps and don't actually exist at all in the geometry. I'm becoming a big fan of this normal map voodoo. It weighs in at 3954 tris and rocks a 2048 diffuse, normal and spec map (too big, or just right? I'm not sure what's "optimal").
@ rollin: Thanks for the crit man. Yeah...I kinda wanted it to be a generic alien, kinda like the greys. You know...the basic alien everyone sees when they get abducted. My previous one was looking kinda boring though...I made some changes, hopefully it looks a bit more interesting now.
MY GOD HIS EYES
(I like the fake SSS, also jealous of your afroman, did you use a magic program to do the animation or just string together images (Which of course is what an animation essentially is but..))
learning how to render.
Or rather, learning why all my materials and my whole execution sucks and rethinking how I do things from now on... der
eneyeseekay: that's one rocknroll guitar. I think for the size of the textures and polycount you're not getting the bang for the buck there. It looks like a 1024 at least. I also think the main body of the guitar being silver or metal or whatever looks odd with the stock. There's not enough transition, it doesn't look built, but kinda tacked together a bit. You might want some bolts or whatever pieces connect gun stocks to their bodies.
fatcap he is really cool, the hair could use a bit more work looks way more painted than the rest and the eyes could use more live, but really well done
duck haha the gangstaz are great
ok going on
worked on the textures and shading/rendering, i again have to say, coming from the realtime background makes it a really pain in the *** to waaaaaaait and waaaaait
Beautiful work neox - the materials for the skin look amazing as well!
Holy crap, neox, that's amazing work! Especially since you say you are new to mental-ray. The SSS is simply, and subtly, spot-on. Can't wait to see this finished..
@Rollin -I really like that last character Rollin - its simple yet elegant. Maybe the upper lip could be pushed out a bit more in profile view?
@BeatKitano - Nice design so far - I look forward to where you are going to take it
Right - last update of this guy until I manage to get a proper render/ capture done I promise!
I have tried to take into account everybodies suggestions and so have slightly elongated the lower legs and the lower arms. I also slightly desaturated the elastoplasts (or bandaids for our American cousins) but didn't want to dirt them up too much as the graze it is covering is meant to be quite fresh and has quite a bit of shine although you can't see it in the shots I have done so far.
Also took one shot into Photoshop for a bit of futzing about with some dodgy lens effects and post work to test what the final render will be like!
what is the tris count on that fella matE? looks amazing!
@ohnomelon: Hah, thanks. I don't know what TLC is, though but I'd be happy to try it.
@neox: Thanks, man, means a lot. I kinda like the blocky look of the beard but I think it's just that it'd be too great a change to get to it now, I think I've spent enough time on this already and I just wanna make it as presentable as possible without wasting much more time on it. Now, shapes and wrinkles and etc. are easier to mess around with, so I'll keep that in mind.
Eneyeseekay: Thanks man, I'll consider it, although I have no idea what could be put in there. I also don't wanna make it too dark inside, so it has to be done carefuly.
MY GOD HIS EYES
(I like the fake SSS, also jealous of your afroman, did you use a magic program to do the animation or just string together images (Which of course is what an animation essentially is but..))
Just sketched them out and did pixel art over the top, as per the assignment brief (its a school thinger)
I started 2d pixel animation back when i was like 12 so it's easy enough for me to knock out something that looks passable. For some reason I can't seem to apply my abilities to 3d though
@Crazyfool - Wow - that's looking great! I love the face and the feeling of weight on the body. Is it just going to be a sculpt or a fully textured game character? No more changes to anything on my character though as it has dragged on too long already!
@Neox - Looking really great - I love the vibrancy of the colours on the last render. The hair on my character uses a anisotrpoic shader and I found the hair planes needed to be fairly simple to get a pleasing result.
@kjell - Thanks! It comes in around 14 thousand or so as far as I can remember. It could probably be reduced more but doesn't need it for just a portfolio piece as it is.
Currently working on this:
Any tips on how to improve the lowpoly would be appreciated currently at 2372 tris
I hope you don't mind but I've painted over some suggestions. I think you could safely remove the loops in red without changing the silhouette. IF you think it's still too high you could try removing the ones in orange. They'd affect the silhouette a bit more, but maybe not so much depending on what you're aiming for. Hope it helps. :thumbup:
I need help with this one, I cannot for the life of me work out what's wrong with this superhero character :S
First it is probably dangerous to get so in depth with the hands before doing so with the rest, but more dangerously, applying smoothing before roughing out the shape more - that might just be my opinion.
As mentioned by others, you have some anatomy issues here, he needs more continuity like with the back and neck into the head, he'd also be neat with some bulges like a biceps
Try to think in much more general shapes, cut all the angles in like a faceted diamond, then apply subdivisions as you please
First it is probably dangerous to get so in depth with the hands before doing so with the rest, but more dangerously, applying smoothing before roughing out the shape more - that might just be my opinion.
Try to think in much more general shapes, cut all the angles in like a faceted diamond, then apply subdivisions as you please
I have to second this. First get the overall proportions and shapes settled, as primitively as you can, then move on to the next level. This workflow pretty much works for everything in art I suppose, be it a low poly model, a sculpture (either traditional or digital) and even paintings. Before you detail anything you should always block shit out.
A study scene I've been working on this week. Didn't have a plan going into it, made the fireplace then just decided to make a scene for it to go in. Still some optimization I could do, and my lighting isn't the best. Crits would be great.
Well, it's definitely an improvement! There are issues with your muscles though, most noticeably the pectorals (your are pretty circular, while they're formed by stripes that flow into the deltoids, as you can see here); the trapezius, which looks kinda flat; the crotch is very very weird, and the face is getting there, but the nose is a little too thin, especially down the nostrils.
You should take a look at anatomy references ASAP or you'll never get it down, and something like a simple google search can get you started. It's hard to learn and it takes a long fuking time, but don't feel ashamed to work with reference, pretty much every piece of art you saw and found awesome was made with reference by it's side.
RAWTalent you really should be using some references man.
Get some good front, side and back refs, set them up in the scene and model over those.
Go through the videos on this site , do the good old Joan of Arc tutorial, spend some time drawing from anatomy books/life, and then start a thread to get some proper feedback.
Neox: once I looked at her groin I couldn't "unsee" the crease there; I know it's subtle, but it strikes me as a bit uncanny mixed with those proportions and the realistic looking skin. Obviously up to you, I think it looks better without though.
Some great stuff guys. nice render Neox. The only thing bugging me is the eyes reflection. looks a bit harsh to me as though its just stuck on.
FAT_CAP Turned out great. I just noticed that the boots look a bit shiny as if he has just bought them:) Don't suppose it really matters though. nice render also.
TheMadArtist - like it
cool stuff gauss. Not sure about the feet turning in though. foreshortening seem a bit weird.
mucking around with my basic anim skills again. skin weighting needs work. just a basic first pass.
madartist the fireplace seems to have a flourecent white light in it rather than a soft orange firey glow spreading around the room, nice looking scene though
Ruz- That is so awesome! There's a little umpf, when his left leg comes down...I think it might the loop of the animation. The model is so sick though!
Like Ged said, when fire is your main light source, it casts an ambient orange glow on everything.
Quick paintover:
See also: This Ref which has more dramatic shadowing, but likely because this is out in the open and light disperses more than indoors where it could reflect and cast weaker shadows.
Also because it's brighter indoors, the outside would appear darker.
Ged and RedRogue: Thanks for the crits, and the paintover RedRogue. Looking back at my original pic versus the paintover is a really big difference. Will be making the changes later on tonight
@Crazyfool - Wow - that's looking great! I love the face and the feeling of weight on the body. Is it just going to be a sculpt or a fully textured game character? No more changes to anything on my character though as it has dragged on too long already!
cheers man, Hes for a sculpting comp so Im just gonna polypaint him and try for a nice render, I still got a lot of refinement to do and to add all the stitching and gross stuff hes looking too much like the hulk at the moment
You obviously haven't read a word people wrote about your previous update but here it goes again in a more short and abrupt manner: you shouldn't be wasting your time with this kind of detail and coloring and whatnot. That time you took to do this could've been better spent studying anatomy and making the appropriate changes to your model. Get reference and practice a lot, make lots of sketches, lots of drawing, etc.
Replies
*Squint*
All right, I'm no "professional" or anything, not yet anyway, but I can offer some tips.
Ok, first thing I would do if I was handed that model and was told to work with it would be to first harden your normals to see what's exactly going on in there (the wireframe is hard to read, and the smoothing makes it difficult to keep track of your geometry). Delete one half of the model, right down the center, and mirror the geometry as an instance, or leave it be whichever you prefer. Then, check out some references of legs or even an entire male anatomy to get an accurate view of where the joints need to be. A quick glance at this told me a few things: the thighs and knees are melded together and are sitauted too high, the feet need to be pulled back a bit to give him some balance, the crotch is way too jagged and hanging in the wrong direction (they usually..hang), the forearms need to be a bit more rounded/thicker, and there needs to be more definition in that elblow area. Check a male anatomy reference, it WILL improve your ability to accurately model just about anything (or so I'm told).
Next, maybe add a new edge loop going from the crotch all the way around the leg (just under the hip), and balance out that jagged crotch by making the new loop's edge and the center edge of the crotch float at around the same level. Try to make it more of a downward buldge rather than a chasm. Pay close attention to the reference(s) you acquired, and all should go well.
The hands look ok I guess (a bit heavy on geometry though) , start by removing the buldge from the side of the hand and take a peek at a hand reference to get an idea of how a wrist is shaped.
Do what you did for the thighs/knees when working on the elbows. Refer to the anatomy reference.
The torso could use tweaking too, but it doesn't stand out as bad as the other parts. Not to sound like a broken record, but reference would help this as well.
I'll leave the face to you, but I suggest looking up some facial topology.
I hope that wall of text helped, I'd like to see your username preceed you eventually, so good luck!
To be more specific, Ohnomelon is pointing out the super sharp edges of the rear sight, which sadly does not look sub-d because of it. The edges on the rest of it look pretty good and smooth though, I must say. I had/have this issue still with my sub-d work, but it really helps to have slightly overly smooth edges, it looks much better on your bake.
Also, the dustcover, but you just pointed out that you are going to work on it, so continue doing what you are doing.
emm but idk, that is just for lack of anything better to say
That alien looks awesome!
Thought I'd share this before I crashed for the night. I'm kind of happy with it, it's basically done...It may not be "functional" or practical, but it sure was a fun project.
Thanks, Snader. I ended up using 6 3 sided cylinders for the strings like you suggested, and they turned out great as far as I can tell. MUCH better than the flat planes I had as placeholders. I was able to smooth the normals out on them and make them appear rounded, just what i was hoping for.
I was a bit worried about using the 3 sided cylinder because I thought that there would be some bad/sharp edges appearing after smoothing them, but nope!
Hand painted this whole thing, the frets were a bit tedious to paint, which is also a flat normal mapped plane. The pickups/pickup switch and knobs are also normal maps and don't actually exist at all in the geometry. I'm becoming a big fan of this normal map voodoo. It weighs in at 3954 tris and rocks a 2048 diffuse, normal and spec map (too big, or just right? I'm not sure what's "optimal").
I'm thinking it's because its filtering the diffuse maps. Get a small border around your UV islands, like such:
Neox:
That's hot! You're going to pose her eventually, right?
felipefrango:
That's made of Awesome with a dash of powdered Win.
Eneyeseekay (hah, figured out what it means just now):
This would be so cool in the L4D2 carnival finale.
@ngs616: Hey thanks man!
Here's an update...
(I like the fake SSS, also jealous of your afroman, did you use a magic program to do the animation or just string together images (Which of course is what an animation essentially is but..))
@skamberin: nope no plans on any realtime work this time
@gauss: uh eh well, lets check his blog
thanks guys
Or rather, learning why all my materials and my whole execution sucks and rethinking how I do things from now on... der
eneyeseekay: that's one rocknroll guitar. I think for the size of the textures and polycount you're not getting the bang for the buck there. It looks like a 1024 at least. I also think the main body of the guitar being silver or metal or whatever looks odd with the stock. There's not enough transition, it doesn't look built, but kinda tacked together a bit. You might want some bolts or whatever pieces connect gun stocks to their bodies.
Beautiful work neox - the materials for the skin look amazing as well!
what is the tris count on that fella matE? looks amazing!
love the shadows under her eyes and the natural look of the skin.
Fat_cap - looks fantastic everytime
little bit more progress on my franky
@neox: Thanks, man, means a lot. I kinda like the blocky look of the beard but I think it's just that it'd be too great a change to get to it now, I think I've spent enough time on this already and I just wanna make it as presentable as possible without wasting much more time on it. Now, shapes and wrinkles and etc. are easier to mess around with, so I'll keep that in mind.
Eneyeseekay: Thanks man, I'll consider it, although I have no idea what could be put in there. I also don't wanna make it too dark inside, so it has to be done carefuly.
Currently working on this:
Any tips on how to improve the lowpoly would be appreciated
Just sketched them out and did pixel art over the top, as per the assignment brief (its a school thinger)
I started 2d pixel animation back when i was like 12 so it's easy enough for me to knock out something that looks passable. For some reason I can't seem to apply my abilities to 3d though
@Neox - Looking really great - I love the vibrancy of the colours on the last render. The hair on my character uses a anisotrpoic shader and I found the hair planes needed to be fairly simple to get a pleasing result.
@kjell - Thanks! It comes in around 14 thousand or so as far as I can remember. It could probably be reduced more but doesn't need it for just a portfolio piece as it is.
@ moof-- he eez poos.... and no boots.. bad ass man.. love love love the take on the character!
I hope you don't mind but I've painted over some suggestions. I think you could safely remove the loops in red without changing the silhouette. IF you think it's still too high you could try removing the ones in orange. They'd affect the silhouette a bit more, but maybe not so much depending on what you're aiming for. Hope it helps. :thumbup:
edit: oops, forgot the image:
As mentioned by others, you have some anatomy issues here, he needs more continuity like with the back and neck into the head, he'd also be neat with some bulges like a biceps
Try to think in much more general shapes, cut all the angles in like a faceted diamond, then apply subdivisions as you please
I have to second this. First get the overall proportions and shapes settled, as primitively as you can, then move on to the next level. This workflow pretty much works for everything in art I suppose, be it a low poly model, a sculpture (either traditional or digital) and even paintings. Before you detail anything you should always block shit out.
Neox , i love it this cartoon caracter is awesome
FAt Cap , Hell YeaH !
You should take a look at anatomy references ASAP or you'll never get it down, and something like a simple google search can get you started. It's hard to learn and it takes a long fuking time, but don't feel ashamed to work with reference, pretty much every piece of art you saw and found awesome was made with reference by it's side.
Get some good front, side and back refs, set them up in the scene and model over those.
Go through the videos on this site , do the good old Joan of Arc tutorial, spend some time drawing from anatomy books/life, and then start a thread to get some proper feedback.
FAT_CAP Turned out great. I just noticed that the boots look a bit shiny as if he has just bought them:) Don't suppose it really matters though. nice render also.
TheMadArtist - like it
cool stuff gauss. Not sure about the feet turning in though. foreshortening seem a bit weird.
mucking around with my basic anim skills again. skin weighting needs work. just a basic first pass.
Here's an update of my alien dude...
Like Ged said, when fire is your main light source, it casts an ambient orange glow on everything.
Quick paintover:
See also: This Ref which has more dramatic shadowing, but likely because this is out in the open and light disperses more than indoors where it could reflect and cast weaker shadows.
Also because it's brighter indoors, the outside would appear darker.
Good work ruz
cheers man, Hes for a sculpting comp so Im just gonna polypaint him and try for a nice render, I still got a lot of refinement to do and to add all the stitching and gross stuff
gauss - thats awesome
ruz - nice work, NOW MAKE EM FIGHT haha
I'm working on my little human head topology study. I'm really interested make it more realistic as I can.
Any comment or critique are welcome!
you nailed it Neox! Great Job.
and Ruz the anim's look nice but I think Bruce's gun would be more pointed up like so