Using ref images (Still?)
polycounter lvl 14
Greetings Polycounters; after a daily chores of "personal studies," I have come to a strange realization that many (or most) 3d artists just sketch out the character in different forms and sketch one final painted version. There are none "Front and Side pose creation tutorial of ref images."
I have also came across several workflows while I was doing some tutorials.
One was pretty "traditional" which is creating the ref front and ref side of the character for traditional 3d modeling.
The other workflow was and it seemed kinda easy that sketching one reference image from front and back regardless of the scale levels as long as you understand it. Then sculpt it out in zbrush and import it in to the xsi, maya, 3d modeling program of your choice. Then work on leveling the geometry out in the 3d modeling program.
The last one was just doodling in Zbrush and import it in to 3d modeling tool for further modifications.
After 6 months of hitting head against the wall of concept arts and props I just noticed that the game / 3d art generation has moved on to the better ease of the work flow.
So my question to you is, Does anyone of you still follow the traditional 3d modeling or you prefer sculpting tool and re-topology tool for better ease.
If you have been following the traditional work flow, Do you create the front and side ref or just google them. (I think I asked this about 6 months ago)
If you have been following this new work flow, then do you make one final sketch of the character (front and possibly back of the character) and paint it for your idea elaboration.)
PS: Also I am looking for a good human props book if anyone know please state the name.
PPS: Both work flows make sense, its just one demands more then the other but as you become good with it, its practically easy.
I have also came across several workflows while I was doing some tutorials.
One was pretty "traditional" which is creating the ref front and ref side of the character for traditional 3d modeling.
The other workflow was and it seemed kinda easy that sketching one reference image from front and back regardless of the scale levels as long as you understand it. Then sculpt it out in zbrush and import it in to the xsi, maya, 3d modeling program of your choice. Then work on leveling the geometry out in the 3d modeling program.
The last one was just doodling in Zbrush and import it in to 3d modeling tool for further modifications.
After 6 months of hitting head against the wall of concept arts and props I just noticed that the game / 3d art generation has moved on to the better ease of the work flow.
So my question to you is, Does anyone of you still follow the traditional 3d modeling or you prefer sculpting tool and re-topology tool for better ease.
If you have been following the traditional work flow, Do you create the front and side ref or just google them. (I think I asked this about 6 months ago)
If you have been following this new work flow, then do you make one final sketch of the character (front and possibly back of the character) and paint it for your idea elaboration.)
PS: Also I am looking for a good human props book if anyone know please state the name.
PPS: Both work flows make sense, its just one demands more then the other but as you become good with it, its practically easy.
Replies
Just do it in a way that makes sense.
Want accuracy ? Draw your subject from as many angles as you want, then go 3D, take screenshots, paint over them, tweak, repeat.
Want to improvise ? Then, huh, improvise.
I wouldn't doubt that when they want to change things but keep the pipeline going smooth they just do as Pior said and paintover the 3d model progress. Characters go pretty quick these days.
With all due respect, if you've stumbled this much at this stage, you're gonna hit some real roadblocks later on. I'm gonna use this as an opportunity to give you some advice which I really hope you can heed.
Give up on the tutorials. I know you've been a fan of tutorials and you often mention that you're following them but it's starting to become evident in your questions that you're starting to become dependent on them. Now I fell into this trap when I was starting out. I did so many tutorials that when I was 'left on my own' I felt lost and constantly had questions.
The most important thing is that you get comfortable, and just get into things yourself. Like Pior said, do whatever feels right. If you wanna draw up some ref images for front/side views then do it. If you wanna mess with some ZSphere concepting then do that.
The only thing that matters is that ultimately you create a kickass piece of work, nobody gives a shit whether you draw ortho's, concept in ZBrush, paint your ideas on the refrigerator, or wear frilly pink panties on your head throughout the whole project. It's what you get in the end that counts.
Honestly though, the most important thing with characters is a strong anatomy knowledge. Don't look for game or 3D specific stuff, just get some good books on anatomy and study. Personally I'd recommend the Atlas of Human Anatomy by Stephen Peck.
Draw, sketch and study. Then when you're doing your own characters, use your new found knowledge.
Please take this advice though, I know in the past you've said 'but how do I learn software without tutorials' and that's fine, but you don't need to learn everything inside out. I've been using Max for 7 years and probably only use 20% of what it does. If I need to know how to do something new, I look it up as and when I need it.
In either case though, sketches and color comps are a good habit to get into, as they're generally much better at nailing the look n feel in a quick way, and at communicating that to the rest of the team before you go too far down the 3D road on a piece.
In my experience the number of concepted angles depends on how comfortable the team members are at extrapolation (I'm talking about both mgmt/deciders and artists). Some people need it more spelled out, but generally the experienced artists don't need anything more than a 3/4 shot to get their work done. Sometimes a front concept and a back concept are called for if there are particular design issues that need to be worked out ahead of time.
If you're not doing team work, then it doesn't matter what you do, just do what makes sense for you.
Some good examples here
http://wiki.polycount.com/CategoryReferenceConcept
I suppose an analogy is that a pen and paper artist often does life drawing exercises. However, to draw their images they don't snap a photograph, and then trace it to get the end result. They just do exercises to imprint forms into their mind and then reconstruct them on paper. Modeling a character in 3d from concept art is very much the same practice. That's my opinion on the subject anyway.
Ya it was approximately six months ago and I was about to say that very samething. lol
But you have a point there. And I will definitely leave the tutorials' support at the end of summer because I already paid for it. In this time I am trying to learn whatever I can to figure out the decent work flow to finish the small projects that I think of on day to day basis and start posting.
Reason I posted this related topic again was to see how many people do not give a damn about the concept art at their drawing boards before they actually start making the stuff. And I've seen many who just sketch the character good enough to help them understand (not a master piece). Then they model it out. Some people dont sketch the concept or write the concept at all.
@pior: Agreed. But creating as many sketches as I must to have a better 3d end result does not work for me sometimes and it works sometimes. Since I am still learning the comic figure arts this may take a while until I have everything understood for my concept drawings.
I'll try to way you have suggested thanks.
Overall, Thanks everyone for input.