[WIP] Ed - Cowboy Bebop (Need Crits)
polycounter lvl 8
Okay, Polycount masters. This is my second character. I've got a very basic mesh so far and would like some input before continuing, as I'm sure I've done fucked up. Some proportions are a little off, she's not as stringy as she should be. The goggles are just floating at the moment. I haven't added any edge loops for animation. Not sure how to go about doing her hair, I'm thinkin' that I'll simplify it and do most of the hair with geometry then the bangs with a few polys with an alpha mapped texture.
Alright, tear it apart. Come at me, bro.
Alright, tear it apart. Come at me, bro.
Replies
Anyhow you look like you have a good start. But try having your edgeloops mean something if you are to deform this char you might want to add some moore in the knee and armpit/shoulder areas. Also the elbow and mouth.
However i cant say that much about it, since its anime style it will come alive in the texturing. Good luck!
Yeah, anime characters are a bit tough, the hair especially.
I plan on adding some edges around the joints for animation. The face, however, won't have any sort of animation going on, but I still plan on adding a little more depth to it.
My main concern is where the geometry of different parts connect. Feels like I've gone about it wrong. But it could just be I'm being paranoid.
Also started a very basic model of Ein. Can't have Ed without Ein.
Hollywood has been making a living raping my childhood lately so I wouldn't be surprised if the movie is made.
If anyone has any good tips or resources for hair, let me know.
Keep going!
Here's the updated body.
I'm suspecting you're not working from reference here. Get yourself some real anatomical reference as well as a bunch of shots of the character and you'll have a much easier time getting her looking right.
I'm slightly leery of posting this, but there's a nude model sheet available here which should prove useful.
http://rule34-images.paheal.net/_images/51cbf71e62f1da6c12c27fa6b4461243/326334%20-%20Cowboy_Bebop%20Edward_Wong_Hau_Pepelu_Tivrusky_IV.jpeg
Lets reiterate that NSFW Nude Image
If you're not going to make the mouth animatable (or even if you are), I'd give it a much wider default position.
Thanks for the reference but it doesn't seem to have the right body type. It's too anatomically correct. Ed's body for the most part is just a tube. With slightly smaller tubes stickin' out for arms and legs. All very long and lanky with her bone structure only slightly hinted in places.
This figure is a pretty good representation.
The polys I put for her mouth are really only for silhouette when she's viewed at a profile. The mouth will just be a simple line in the texture sheet.
Regardless, the face still needs some development to get close the the necessary shape. She's got quite a distinct profile.
The anatomical layout of an anime character and a regular realistic human are identical.
The face detail is the only significant deviation, along with occasional proportion tweaks for characterization emphasis. Ie longer legs, bigger hands, etc.
If you model your loops and major forms like you were going for a realisitc piece you'll get the proper look and feel of anime once the facial features and shading are dropped in.
Anime is just simplified realism. Its not tubes sticking out of blocks, even on a lanky character like ed.
Take a look at Brian Kenny's version of Monkey D. Luffy http://3dbriankenny.carbonmade.com/projects/2889007#5
A similarly lanky character, but you can see how the overall layout is. Yes its a higher tricount than what you're going for, but the principle is the same.
Specific crits:
The eyes really dont need that level of detail on a character with that low a target tricount. Just leave the facial impression and let the eyes come through in texture.
Neck is far too thick. Torso looks a bit long.
Here's what I have as of right now:
Don't mind the hair, it's very WIP right now.
I'll get to fixing up her body once I'm done with her head.
First things first:
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I'll attempt at some constructive criticism.
Firstly, I'll play the broken record and tell you to grab reference, but I'll take it a step further and tell you to draw Ed. Nothing gets you familiar with a reference than working with it. Try and work out all the forms, figure out the hair, that sort of thing.
Secondly, I would posit that making Ed in 1500 tris would be a challenge for the sole fact that how her shirt billows and sways is a big part of the character. I'd say 2-3k tris would be a better goal for that reason, especially if you're trying to build her body underneath.
Lastly, but likely most important, low poly characters aren't easy to build. If you were headed to low poly because you thought it would be faster or easier, I'd seriously reconsider. To create a successful low poly object means you have to master the triangle, because you're working in a strict low-resource environ. You also can't ignore edge flow, it's more important to have a solid understanding of it so that you know where to put information and where you can save on triangle count. You also need to plan ahead and know what you are going to model, what is going to be texture, and how you can best blend the two together.
Keep at it. Every criticism is an opportunity to learn and grow as an artist, and if you put the effort, the product will turn out and people will take notice of what you put into it.
I'm doing low poly because it's the best way to learn. Starting off modeling doing high poly would be a waste of time.
You're definitely right about the flow of my model. It's terrible haha.
Whenever I do anything, more so when I'm new at it, I tend to build/code/draw/model/etc. and just focus on gettin' from point A to B, which usually results in a sloppy result, but then I refine until it's good. Eventually I get less sloppy and have to do less tweaking.
So I'll definitely be spending a lot of time cleaning up and fixing up the flow and other stuff when the geometry is pretty much done.
Instead of spending 8 hours tweaking verts one at a time you can throw it in, get your proportions and anatomy right and have something to show that is more presentable than what you have now. And the good thing is for beginners is if you are doing a 1-5K character you'll be able to bake a nice looking AO off to overlay on top of your textures even if you aren't using normal maps.
Practicing good topology during your retopo phase is just as important as building something from a box and learning that way.
I'll start doing current gen stuff when I'm no longer terrible at low poly.
:poly142:
Keep tweaking, and keep working on flow and form and you'll make a decent model, noone starts off making amazing art, it takes time and dedication. Keep it up man.
Here's an update. I worked a bit on her anatomy, unwrapped, and blocked out the basic colors and features.
I did a pretty shit job on unwrapping. I made the mistake of mirroring UV's and welding them together before everything was properly relaxed. Lesson learned.
Wires
When I say high-poly, I usually mean "current gen". So not just more polys but normal and spec maps and whatnot.
This isn't for a game, just a project to learn with a self-imposed poly limit. I've been a little lenient on the limit though and right now Ed's sittin' at 1798 tris.
I may try creating a more modern game character soon but right now I'm just focusing on getting the hang of the basics.