(NSFW) Demons: A Personal Art Project using the UDK
polycounter lvl 8
Hey there, my name is Paul Stratton, I'm a 3D artist, and I'm looking to break into the 'big leagues' of professional art. I've been floating between various projects for some time now, but rarely have I really shared them with the community. I've decided to start working on my personal portfolio, as the most recent entrees are nearly a year old at this point. I want to share the step-by-step work-log with the Polycount community (and others...). I've decided to go with a theme, in order to help streamline the work and to add a bit of style to the overall project. The goal? to have an assortment of models and environments suitable for interactive arts to use as portfolio centerpieces. The theme is based off of a now cancelled/shelved project centered around demons, hell, and the brutal society thereof.
Replies
20-1-2014 begin working on new demon
21-1-2014
22-1-14 finishing up topology
26-1-14 Kurr inside UDK first pass
29-1-2014 update to kurr model inside UDK
30-1-2014 added gloss/sweat
30-1-2014 New demon sculpt
31-1-2014 Progress
2-2-2014 more detail
4-2-2014 Zbrush colouring
5-2-2014 Tellon inside UDK
9-2-2014 New gloss maps on Tellon
Here at polycount we love them big ones
good job so far
Sure, any other imgs I upload for the polycount forum will be uncensored, but you have to understand, I post these pics on various other sites that are much more... reserved.
Honestly I agree: he was modeled in the standard position aka:
But I didn't adjust his pose in Zbrush, I used bones and skin-weights in maya. If you look at the outstretched arm, it seems normal; but his downward one looks a bit funky. I think there is still some weighting work to be done
Anyway.. i agree on what Cexar said about the arm anatomy, but I think the "It's a demon so normal anatomy might not apply' is something you shouldn't buy into. Sure, anatomy might be different, but it still needs to appear functional, and as it stands I just don't think his arm would WORK. Where is the bicep supposed to be connecting? What's it supposed to do? Right now it looks like he wouldn't be able to bend his elbow without pulling his shoulder inward as well. His pecs don't look very functional either.
Just in terms of design, I think (bicep aside) that his arms and head are looking pretty cool. The torso area seems extremely lacking in comparison. I guess I could understand if you didn't want to carry that same level of muscle definition there as you do with the arms, wanted to show a bit of flab or whatever, but right now it's just looking like you spent a lot less time there, and it lacks visual interest.
Anyway, interesting project you've got going on here, keep it up.
Jesus! FINE!
there!
Now that we have that sorted out..
I agree with everyone about the biceps and the way they connect to the shoulder, that is 40% an animation weighting issue, and 60% a modelling issue. I'll probably go through annother pass with Zbrush and re-render some normals. This also means re-rendering the diffuse, specular and transmission textures also, so don't expect it soon! Also, I won't have any access to my PC for a couple of days this weekend, so progress is going to be slow until Monday. Also, after the Najno is considered 'gold' I'll be immediately starting work modelling another character from the fiction, Any votes on who I should model next?
Also, on the belly/abdomen lack of detail: The truth is I could probalby go crazy giving him 'fat abs' or lots of wrinkles, scars, veins, tertiary mammary glands, or braindead attached fetuses but the turth is that fat bellies are simply big, smooth and for the most part: boring.
If its truly uninteresting to a point of detriment, I can add several aforementioned details. once again, votes?
Like seriously. you have nice detail on the head but why not on his private area?
Right now it looks like the balls is gled to his thighs which i found really odd.
How can he run without hitting his balls ?
Thats 100% a skinning issue, right now I have the edges of his scrotum a bit too 'attached' to his femur, so they stretch WAY too much with it. It WILL be fixed, SOON.
Also, for an imposing demon type, he isn't too imposing downstairs. Kinda cute infact. Not striking fear into my heart.
Also, it might help if you posted a wireframe, too. (not just of the johnson, I mean the whole body.) I'm not sure what kind of polycount you're aiming for. But you probably could afford more geometry.. in places.
For the demon, I'm not a big fan of the deltoid or bicep and haw they fit together with the other muscles, would try and make them more human and less abstract. The leg muscles look weird too, (feet sort of like those on a pig, though maybe that was your intention).
Its a custom material I've been working on for a while [ame=
and yes, 5x resolution screen-cap with a Photoshop reduction.
Feet: intentional
Arms: not so much, see above.
And with that picture: where the hell are his testes!?
Well the first place I tried was a few life drawing reference sites, no luck so I googled bear porn or muscle bear porn, picked one that wasn't sexual and and the right build. IN THE NAME OF ART!
It must be cold out.
Seriously though nice work man... hope to see more soon
NEW SCULPT
OLD BODY:
NEW BODY:
in engine I think he looks great. first page updated.
i cant help but laugh at that pose - especially when i skimmed this threads reply's and nearly every single one is about dicks
should change the title to something like "Demons and Dicks"
On the serious note.
Nice work on the demons.
oh and btw.. DICKS
:-|
edit: as for sexuality invoking fear and confusion, this scores quite low. this is more in-your-face-sausage-&-tea-bag-fest rather than cleverly implimented sexual innuendo (geiger's xenomorph, hl1's gonarch (?)) that catches viewers off-guard, and has a more subtle effect that won't 'turn off' those with lower 'sausage' tolerance.
good job btw. youve nailed it all (no penis mention... ops.)
The Najno demons (and other male demonic castes) are not meant to invoke sexual confusion, their nudity is entirely non-sexual in terms of design. Allow me to quote myself:
The idea of sexual confusion is only in relation to the female demons or 'cows' in the fiction (which I haven't modeled yet). The fact that the females have attractive, human bodies, yet demon hooves and horns help to occupy the mind of the player. Its not unheard-of or original: I am certainly not the first artist to think of this idea, but it works. Often times the cows will be chained, hanging in fetishistic, highly sexual positions. 'Subtlety' is not what I aim for. The goal of sexual confusion is to keep the player's mind on the horrid, yet arousing brutality and not on his weapon's crosshairs.
You've succeeded in making something insane and fucked up, but there are anatomy flaws, many of which have been mentioned. You should use reference images, and if you already are, you should follow them more closely. The overall shape of the arms is ok in the pose, but they look really off in the T pose. I would recommend using a relaxed T pose for less deformation when the arms are lowered. You have a ton of dark painted shadows in the muscle creases, but your creases are almost all in the wrong spots.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, those are some crazy looking dicks.
I'm sorry about the long word count: just a way of me introducing this world to the public. I'm fine if certain people don't want to wade through 1400+ words of my fiction, hell even I skip to the purdy pictures on everyone else's threads. So long as people don't try to poke holes the literature they haven't read, I'm happy. If someone has read the post and wants to poke holes: poke away, although I'm more interested in art crits and props. Speaking of which:
If you could please expand on the anatomical flaws present in the model, I would be glad to address them. Also I addressed a couple flaws with the upper body on my newest version, are these flaws in the older version or the newest version? I am still quite new to Character modeling: I come from an environment art background and making a wicked-sick wall texture is a lot different to modeling biological anatomy. I enjoy learning and appreciate any help along the way. I didn't use a reference image to perform the initial modeling, but used some concepts to detail the model. I'll take your suggestion: the next model I create will be using a reference table from the start, to avoid these anatomical errors.
Why do people keep using the word "dicks". There is only one dick! all the others are still blurred! There will be more dicks in the future, but for now there is only one!
Thank you! Though this is not a game, just a personal project. Good luck with your project as well: I'm a big fan!
In all seriousness, this is looking pretty damn good mate. Also, brilliant work on that shader!
Here are a few images I found in a brief Google search, placed alongside some of your pictures. These aren't exactly the same as they are flexing and yours are in neutral poses and from slightly different angles, but hopefully they will be some help anyways.
The first things I notice when comparing yours with these refs:
- Your model's deltoids are really big and have massive creases with dark shading.
- In contrast to the large shoulders and defined arms, his chest seems flat.
- Giving him a big gut is fine, but it seems to contrast the amount of muscle definition he has in other areas. Also, you should lessen the dark crease under the bellybutton, and you should follow the advice given earlier for the genetals.
- It seems like you've combined the traps and the neck. This creates an odd shape in that area. Look up pictures of orcs for how they handle this area.
- The biceps look square in the T pose and the forms in the armpit/shoulder area should flow better.
- The forearm muscles are kind of blobby and don't seem to be in the right spots. It seems like you didn't follow the places that real muscles stick out.
EDIT: And I said "dicks" because there are so many dick images. There are also two of them in one of the renders.
Touch
I've got the basic shape into Zbrush, and done some detail work on it.
obviously not done, but any crits are welcome!
Also out of curiosity have you looked into Wayne Barlowe's work? The way he went about deconstructing and reconstructing hell and it's society could help you flesh some more things out if havent checked him out already.
use the horns of beaten enemies as daggers or other 'equipment'. However, having weapons means they'll probably need to have leather straps (made from cows?) which can be seen as a form of clothing, or accessories.
A parralel thought to the above is that of wearing trophies, like the teeth/hornes of enemies, and/or body painting (enemy blood mixed with dirt/mineral pigments?).
http://vimeo.com/9869813
I briefly had a look at some of his work, very cool stuff. I'll definately look into his inferno series.
About the weapons: Demons use weapons and tools like humans, however the craftsmanship as a bit more crude. Though, taking a second look at the sword, I can see how it looks quite generic. I've been really 'playing it safe' with concepts for this project; after hearing this (awesome) forum's feedback I've now come to the realization that I need to be bold. I'm creating an entire fiction here: why do I have to play safe? thanks for helping me realize this!
Originally my idea was that these demons simply held their weapon in-hand at all times, however I realize that though this is possible and in a arcade style doom-shooter that nobody would complain; I plan to be a bit more thought out. Maybe demons of combat rank could have a crude, metal frog pierced into their hip or back. As for body-paint: its only used by the highest ranks of najno to separate themselves from the lower ranks....
Redesigned the handle for the sword, you like?