Demon Hunter - Andr
Hello Polycount 
My model is (mainly) based on the following concept: http://eu.blizzard.com/diablo3/_images/artwork/ss102-hires.jpg
Main tools of the trade include (but are not limited to):
Autodesk 3ds Max
Autodesk Maya
Pixologic Zbrush
Adobe Photoshop
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Thank you for your time,
- Andr
My model is (mainly) based on the following concept: http://eu.blizzard.com/diablo3/_images/artwork/ss102-hires.jpg
Main tools of the trade include (but are not limited to):
Autodesk 3ds Max
Autodesk Maya
Pixologic Zbrush
Adobe Photoshop
----
Thank you for your time,
- Andr
Replies
- only crit i have as of now is maybe the cross is the smallest bit bigger then the reference, maybe not, regardless deff got me interested in following this model
Maybe a blockout of the entire thing would be good for you to fix proportion issues before is too late.
Keep it up!
Thanks a lot guys! I will construct a blockout for you as I progress.
- Andr
Can't wait to see the rest
It's time for another update
Thanks! I hope you will enjoy what will be on display until the completion of the project.
The blockout will be posted in the update after this one. I've been focusing on working on the mid-section of the character, there are still pieces which need to be added of course, but the general shape is in place and I'm going to be able to continue building downwards from this stage.
More to come,
- Andr
You've come a long way. When did you start doing characters? The anatomy looks pretty spot-on so far.
THe model looks great! So you'll be using zbrush for the microdetails?
Hey Rex, it's been ages
Sure, if you scroll up to the first post you will find a supplied link. Thanks!
Thank you! I will indeed be using Pixologic Zbrush to make the smaller details.
- Andr
Even though I probably wont be doing characters >.<
her arms seem really stiff (bicep) the buckles and straps seem like they would keep her from being able to flex her muscles... also, if you plan to animate her, you want to be careful about clearance on shoulder pads/collars... we had a similar design with some of the warmachine characters we are working on... looks like if her arms would move you'd have some pretty noticeable clipping.
some of the pieces look a bit wacky, but that could just be the render/material...
i second the proportions blockout comments too.
I do like the forms you've created, quite a lot actually... a lot of awesome stuff going on here.
cheers
I've been visiting a sibling the past few days, so I haven't been able to work on the character, really. I'll make sure to let you all know in advance the next time ^^. I'm going to get the block-out ready and up today (unless internet goes down!)
Thanks a lot! Me too.
Hey!
There is almost nothing as rewarding to me as being an inspiration to another artist! Who knows, perhaps one day you will too jump into another part of the art discipline, those references you've collected over time will then prove useful! Collect everything you can whenever you can, except for the 'bad' things I suppose. Then again that's just a matter of personal preference
Hi,
You know, I'm not really sure myself what all of these components are made out of. Just like you I keep guessing at what things may or may not be made of. I think we're on the same page regarding the lower armor being leather however
I agree about the arms being stiff, particularly the one on the right (from our POV.) I'll see if anything can be done about it.
I guess in this case you'll be the third person to second (this is getting confusing) the block-out;
don't worry though it's coming right up
Thanks! Lots of valuable criticism.
- Andr
As you may have guessed my internet did not want to stay connected yesterday, darn internet! My apologies.
I'm not accustomed to making block-out meshes for characters, so I only made the legs as that is enough for me to depict the proper proportions. The positioning is not entirely accurate and will be changed. This is the bare legs without armor so don't mind the gap between the armor and legs. Oh yeah, she obviously does not have any feet in my block-out reference.
I hope this gives some of you a broader perspective as to how the character will develop. Another update will be up tomorrow, with more detailed content!
This is not going to be added to the first post, it's only for those who wanted a deeper look into the proportions.
Refresh a few times tomorrow if you want to see some new progress!
Thanks,
- Andr
The armour is looking sexy as hell though!
Sure, working on it. I won't really be using this version for my own reference
As a matter of fact, most if not all of us are familiar with the overall look and proportions of the Demon Hunter - this blockout stage if for you to use in order to fix her as early as possible. That's why you'd better spend your time on the blockout stage now, instead of adding armor pieces bit by bit.
Hi Pior
I completely agree with you, and I believe that you may have misunderstood me (or perhaps I formulated my sentence wrong.)
I myself am interested too in delving deeper into the proportions. In the quote you addressed from my former post, I too am included in the group of "those".
Thanks,
- Andr
More changes to come,
- Andr
and I agree! Lets see dat ass! :P
Very nice modeling for a nice character so far.
No critics at the moment, I'm waiting for more !
:thumbup:
ps : demon hunter looks boring to play in d3 :poly122:
Time to update with another post
Artistic liberties were taken to make the model logical in structure and true to the concept. :thumbup:
In due time, I need to make some refinements
Thanks! I'll have the backside of the character up to date within the next two updates.
Thank you!
I hope you like what you see,
- Andr
I've gone down the road you are taking right now many years ago, so I'm speaking from experience, and so are the others who commented earlier. I guess it's all just part of the learning process
Keep it up!
Thanks
Hi Quasar!
Thanks for all of your input. The current legs are just blocked out! I won't be using those cylinders that you see for the actual plating and leg "formation" later. The newest addition which are the plates on the hips are not conformed to the legs, so I didn't bother removing the blocked out legs past this stage. I will be studying more leg anatomy over the next couple of days as I work my way down the character!
In my experience/opinion, Blizzard is not known to conform to proportion in many cases, I like their style and that's why I'm working around it. I'm not trying to convey a proportionally correct figure, as it never was meant to be from the beginning
Anatomically however, I would like to express believable visuals ("perfection" is difficult to achieve when it's virtually my first character), as you said however I'm probably down that road you were referring yourself to being on once upon a time.
As for blocking out the entire character, I'm not entirely inclined to create things which won't be seen, although I know it would be a helping means to understand the proportions at hand. I will definitely be doing this for any future character I'll be making! I have standard primitives which I use for the hands and head which aren't really very beautiful (and I hide them most of the time), so I don't include them in the renders :P, they're pretty distracting!
I'm sucking up your input like a sponge and will carry it into the next parts of the project. Hopefully you will approve of my future endeavours on this piece.
Thanks again for your input, I appreciate it,
- Andr
I'm calling out for a little help. A generous member from diablofans.com helped me acquire the below concept shot from a HQ stream from the Blizzcon 2010 conference, when the Demon Hunter characteristics were presented. This is a concept which I am having a huge difficulty finding anywhere online.
http://i.imgur.com/8vwDp.jpg
If anyone has a higher resolution image displaying the details better I would very much want to receive it (and of course, I'd be very grateful.)
Thanks!
- Andr
Why would't you do it on that one ? You merely have a third of it modeled a at the moment anyways. Blocking things in now would be perfect, since if you wait any longer things will become impossible to fix.
A full blockout for an armored character like that takes about a day to do. You will get a huge lot of information out of it. Just trust us!
Hey again Pior
I do trust you guys, I hope I have not given the impression that I do not!
You guys most probably have more experience than I do so naturally I should listen to you. I can definitely block out from that back image (and I will soon) but I would really like a higher res image which I can use for the fine detailing later (thought not 100% necessary.)
I'll show you guys the new blockout in my next update!
Thanks,
- Andr
The front blockout is done and I'm currently working on the back block-out of the character (little left, will have that up later tonight.)
My first reaction is that the head may be too high up? I would like to have your inputs as I've probably been staring at this character for too long at this point
I have studied quite a bit of human anatomy in the past with traditional art but never really applied it to a 3d model (mostly done hardsurface work), thankfully I was able to translate my thoughts quite well into 3d space with the new legs (in my opinion, at least!) I 'obviously' didn't make the toes because they won't be seen in the final product in any case, I'll save that for another day. I have yet to add the boots.
Any advice will be taken into account, so don't be afraid to be harsh, as long as the critique is reasonable as it has been so far
Edit:
I. Maybe the head is just too big? Something is not right, though the scale matches the concept, I wonder what's up.
II. Changed position of the head, looks better now, changed the "hoodie" a bit. Working on the back again.
Thanks,
- Andr
This same angle you have it at over and over is making it very hard to judge the anatomy. Either way the head is too high up and the shoulders and legs look weird. I think the thigh is too long too but that's just what my non character-eyes can pick up right now. *edit probably because it is from a drawing which already distorts our perspective.
Also, I am worried about how this is always being shown at the same angle particularly when it comes to the shoulders and back anatomy. It is covered by a lot of armor and it will become pretty obvious when you finish if it is not done right.
The hands are also really weird right now. Hands, like eyes are huge in conveying expression in a character. Even slight imperfections in these features are something that people pick up on really quickly because we are trained from birth to look at them and read people's expression.
You may not notice these things yourself initially which is why you should post some more angles so the pros on this board can pick out what is wrong right away and save your ass (and your character's) a lot of wasted time.
I would worry more about them than any more detail in armor at this point.
I hope you keep working on this!
Hi Tory
I thought about this about an hour ago, I also realised that the camera FOV is boggling the image outcome, which is why I'm rendering out new screenshots with my newest improvements on the blockout right at this minute.
I will be posting a front/side/back/perspective image within this hour! I will keep your notes in mind regarding the hands (they are built out of splines right now, they do indeed look really weird, don't worry I'm going to replace them!
So in a rusty Deckard Cain voice: "Stay a while and listen" (look though, in this case)
EDIT
Ok, so as promised here are the other angles
My suspicion is that the upper body needs fixing, the shoulders up to the head, they seem too far up indeed. Oh yeah, I really need to do something about those rigid and misplaced arms, hahaha! Any suggestions? In the below image the right leg is pretty thin by the joint, fixed.
Hopefully you guys can point me into a better direction now!
Thanks for all the help by the way, appreciate it
EDIT II
If you cover up the head the proportions look right (in my opinion), going to try moving it down a bit!
Thanks!
- Andr
At last robo-hunter is coming to life
With the generous guidance of Pedro Lopes and Hamish Bode I was able to give the character more life. Here are the most recent results:
(She will be wearing heels! Still some proportional work left on the hands/hips)
Anyone interested in more of Pedro's awesome work can click here:
http://oission.deviantart.com/gallery/
PS. I was thinking of perhaps having her hold an arrow in her right hand and a bow in her left. Thoughts?
EDIT: Made some blockout weapons, crossbows work the best, looks great. A cape works well too!
Wohoo
- Andr
Nice progress here!
Hamish gives me way too many props - theres no resident mastery going on!!
Firstly I have to agree with others on getting a rough blockout going first before you go any further!
This is typically how I would approach this:
I would break the concept down into points of reference - I usually have a pattern I like to use the similar points like what ive got here in this crude mockup but you can get as in depth or super hardcore as you want to ive not been exactly critical here but you get the idea - try it and see for yourself!
Ive put your model next door because I see your doing your best to emulate whats in the concept and this will help illustrate where your going wrong. I think its self explanatory!
Doing a blockout will help you get these key points spot on before you go any further. You can get a little caught out with perspective and whatnot, but you can finesse this stuff around once youve got your blockout done.
I strongly suggest you also blockout even a loose female body under that armor first - and I hope your not building her posed!
If it were me, i would attempt to get her blocked out in a neutral pose along with her armor. You can worry about the pose much later on, as thats a whole other dimension man.
Some quick notes on your side view, there are some key areas on a torso that i think need solid attention always. Clothed, armored or not youve always got to find a way to indicated these lines. They dont need to be as arched or as exxagerated - but imo they will always add that extra dimension if there, even subtlely:
I hope that helps some man. I promise to post some more of my thoughts as you develop - will make this model kick all kinds of asses when its done, just keep going!
P.S I hope my interference doesnt make this thread NSFW but i tend to always reference 'on the verge' pics - If you want i'll gladly take them down and PM my thoughts to you, whatever works.
Hi Jon-Troy!
Thanks! Honored to have your input on my work! :poly121:
I'm working on the full body block-out right now (didn't think it'd be necessary at first.) Thankfully the pose is in a quite neutral state already, so that's why I worked many of the pieces from the concept into the designated areas of the concept. It was easier for me to determine what the shapes looked like when investigating the front and back concept!
As for the first image, I use this method all of the time with my hard-surface work to determine distance (which in this case is not the matter, it's more of positional question I suppose (that's an older image by the way but I understand that it's for an example)), I will adapt a bit more to your points of reference.
I rigged the legs in Maya so they're alright. I'm going to make a simple IK rig for the full block-out character and match it with the concept and see if my current character state carries a resemblance to that of the 'new' one.
The torso was modeled in place, but that's nothing a few 3ds max modifiers can't fix. The other pieces are pretty independent and free from conformity to the body shape itself. So putting all of that aside, getting the character into a t-pose or something of the like won't be a problem! :thumbup:
I'll keep your notes in mind regarding the aesthetics of the different compartments of the character.
Never worked in an office so I'd never heard the "NSFW" acronym before.
Oh, and I will definitely keep going on this thing, thanks for your valuable input.
- Andr
With the pose in a good state I decided to carry on down the body and work on the armor for the legs. I applied the finished armor to one of the rigged legs, looked good! I couldn't distinguish a detail on one area so I decided to research on what I could replace it with. I deduced that it was some kind of latch to hold the plates together, maybe that was what the concept artist(s) thought it out to be...
I picked up my old copy of Diablo I and started playing for a few hours (and got a bit addicted, I love that game!) I grabbed a few pieces of inspiration from the game and then went on to look into my old Diablo books for further insight. I'm going to replace the original sketch with some kind of tribal inspired shape, though it's a chance to add more character I'm going to look into it a bit more!
Boots are next, pretty excited :poly121:. I probably won't be doing another update until the 14th, as I will be absent from my computer for a few days. I think I'll have lots of fun making those boots in the near future... looking forward to it!
I might add some of the "Full Rejuvenation Potion" bottles to her waist, a small tribute to the first game. Any "bottle" with a skull for a cork is awesome. Might make something similar to those cloaks later as well. I think she should carry around some sort of dagger/knife too!
- Andr
I'm back home again.
I've gone through some more background checks on the Demon Hunter. Even though it's not directly relevant to my current work, it will certainly add to the character in the future.
I've got a t-pose in place right now that I will rig when all of the pieces for the character are done! If there are some (I'm sure there are) Diablo lore nerds out there, maybe this will be interesting to you
EDIT: Any human anatomy books that anyone wants to recommend? Going to go abroad in a few days time
EDIT II: After gathering opinions about what symbolises a hunter from any culture, a simple eye seemed to be the greatest candidate. I made a little addition to the original concept and I am going to add this instead of the latch that I can't distinguish:
EDIT: Going on vacation now, I'll be back in August! Catch you later
- Andr
I'm back in Stockholm again! It's nice to catch a break once in a while.
I decided to finish off the boots for the character, and now I need some help working out these abominable hands. If anyone has any advice to offer, please feel free to advise me.
In the meantime I will be working on the back of the character and refine the t-pose model (everything is instanced). I hope you guys like high-heels:
Another update should be up shortly!
- Andr
Haha thank you! I will rework the knee a bit on the t-pose model
fabrication and function is thowing me a bit but keep it up!
... No pressure xD
But seriously, looking good. Keep at it.
i think her shape is kinda.... lovely!