Working on a military sci fi character. Shown here is the low polygon model with Ambient occlusion and Normal map applied. C&C is welcomed and thanks for viewing.
Is all of this sculpted? Because it looks very lumpy. Generally you're much better off doing hard surface detail in a root program like Maya or Max and then do nicks and scratches in a sculpting program. The cloth also needs some more study and reference. It looks decent at the bottom of the pants, but it really falls apart higher up. Especially in the arms and the chest. From what little I can see of the face it looks rather flat, and he suffers from fish lip syndrome. The design looks a little weak too, do you work from concept art or reference?
Your issue is mostly refinement, lack of reference and an apparent eagerness to use zBrush and Mudbox more than necessary. But I can see that you have an eye for detail and aesthetics so keep at it and you will get much better.
Yeah, i think you would have been better off using max or maya for the hard surface elements. But as it stands, even the more organic elements are a bit lumpier than they should be. Try some different brushes. Like scrape and wax in mudbox, with a fairly flat falloff, or planar flatten and polish and things like that in zbrush. It will especially help to get your hard surface areas looking more.. hard surface, but I feel like the whole model could benefit from some sharpening and flattening.
Thanks for the comments. I sculpted everything in zbrush. I did retopologize and use Maya to make the shapes more uniform. I did want a battered look, but it is looking a bit to bumpy. Shiniku, I will try those brushes u mentioned next time around. Thanks guys for the help.
New update. Got more done on the texturing. Mainly added in the 2 main colors for the scheme. I didn't get around to the shoes, but they'll be brown or black in the end. Any comments are welcomed. Thanks for viewing.
It was suggested that I tone down the brightness of the suit a bit. So, here the yellow has been made into more of a brown color. I think it does have a better look now.
Hmm if I was u I'd work some more on the colors , they dont really look attractive.
I'd suggest to play around with hue/Saturation in photoshop on the diffusemap that wil help a lot
Also try to give your metal pieces some wear and tear on corners and sides
Good luck !
ok here are some suggestions..
the extreme forehead looks a bit strange.. you should really tone down the shape and make it more round. the other armor parts could use some harder edges. they should appear a little flatter, less .. blobby.
the new colors look alot better than what you had before.. but the armor still looks like its made of cheap plastic.
Thanks for comments. I changed the hue a bit as suggested. I tried to do some weathering. Hope it's looking a bit better now. The helmet is suppose to act as a thought controlled computer relay for hacking enemy electronics. With that in mind I felt like the odd shape would be cool and distinguishable from a regular helmet that just protects the wearer.
more specular on the armor would be better, but most of the critiques are flowing towards redoing those hard surface parts in maya, hard surface can be done in apps like zbrush but it's typically harder to pull off.
As has been said the armor has come out a bit on the soft side. I did use zbrush for the initial sculpt, and then maya to harden edges. I think where i messed up was in trying to sculpt out the maya generated mesh again in zbrush. So lesson learned. From now on I'll use zbrush for the rough shape and then refine it in Maya. I'll only use zbrush again if i need to make imperfections in the mesh. Here I've added more specular into the weathering on the armor. Hope it looks better.
My main critique would be that his armor looks really impractical. How would it bend if he tried to lift his hands above his head? I seems to be solid around his shoulder, chest, and even in his arm pit. Why is it so heavy and thick even though it only covers minor parts of his body? There's a reason that typical body armor covers the torso. Right now, his upper thighs and forearms are covered in thick plate armor while his abdomen and back are exposed.
About the helmet: I don't get it. So can he see at all? Is there a screen in there with a camera pointing out? Why does it have to cover his eyes but not his nose or mouth? It looks like it would strain his neck. Even if I use comic book/video game logic I don't really understand why it is the way it is.
Here are some ref photo's (Makoto Kobayashi) i used in the creation of the character. As I've started to rig it has become a pain to rotate the shoulders forward and back. So ur comment is spot on jmt. The helmet has camera lenses (which are a white color for now) for him to see through. I'm thinking now I should just re do the armor design with the lessons learned.
Replies
Your issue is mostly refinement, lack of reference and an apparent eagerness to use zBrush and Mudbox more than necessary. But I can see that you have an eye for detail and aesthetics so keep at it and you will get much better.
I'd suggest to play around with hue/Saturation in photoshop on the diffusemap that wil help a lot
Also try to give your metal pieces some wear and tear on corners and sides
Good luck !
the extreme forehead looks a bit strange.. you should really tone down the shape and make it more round. the other armor parts could use some harder edges. they should appear a little flatter, less .. blobby.
the new colors look alot better than what you had before.. but the armor still looks like its made of cheap plastic.
About the helmet: I don't get it. So can he see at all? Is there a screen in there with a camera pointing out? Why does it have to cover his eyes but not his nose or mouth? It looks like it would strain his neck. Even if I use comic book/video game logic I don't really understand why it is the way it is.
His hands look too skinny for his size.