Games Character Development

Feb

Hello!!

I'm fairly new to polycount so I hope I'm posting in the right place!

I thought it would be great to try and get some feedback on a current project I'm working on -

I'm trying to develop my skills as a character artist, and so I'm working on a project that allows me to try out the entire character creation process (concept, modelling, rigging, and animating,) though this is my first attempt at a more realistic character.

I'm currently working on the character's textures, though this is still in the very early stages... Though I'm struggling a bit to find a decent way to create low-poly hair, does anyone have any advice? I've tried using opacity maps though they're not quite hitting the spot!!

Any feedback would be really appreciated!!

Thanks

Snader

She's about 9 heads tall, is this intentional? Generally you want to aim for 6.5~7. The neck is also awfully thin.

Alberto Rdrgz

It's usually about 8 heads. and I think you should squash her mid section a bit, it looks like it's getting stretched. Especially in the area right above her navel and under boobs. like the textures tho man! great job on those i think if you make those corrections it'll look even better!

Feb

Hey Snader and Alberto Rdrgz - thanks for your comments!

I had intended to make her longer than most (almost bayonetta style) though I can see how it might look odd! I'm trying to find a happy medium between exagerrated and realistic features (with height and eye size) though you never know if you've pulled it off until you get feedback!

I'll take out a few edge loops around her mid section and see if this softens the look of the extra height, will hopefully be enough! Will also thicken the neck up too.

Glad to hear you like the textures so far, I just hope I can pull the rest of them off!

Caldria

Hey this is going well so far, the high poly is looking pretty awesome.

As for hair. You could probably use planes with alphas and then maybe 2 or 3 chunks of geometry for bigger clumps of hair. Just a suggestion anyway - keep it up, looks great.

Feb

Caldria wrote: »

Hey this is going well so far, the high poly is looking pretty awesome.

As for hair. You could probably use planes with alphas and then maybe 2 or 3 chunks of geometry for bigger clumps of hair. Just a suggestion anyway - keep it up, looks great.

Thank you!

This sounds like a good idea for the hair, as just alpha maps seemed to make the hair look a little too soft and floaty.. (though this could just be something I'm doing wrong!)

Feb

Tried a few different techniques for the hair though i couldn't get the chunks of geometry to look right... So I tried alphas again and they seemed to work better for me. This is where I'm at with it at the moment, does it look right??

Xaltar

Cool concept and style on this, looking forward to seeing how well you impliment it. I was going to say the mouth seems a little narrow and then Skully from X files popped into my head and now I can't stom seeing her when I look at it lol. Keep at it, its looking promising.

Caldria

Hey feb, that looks great. I see the hair came out really nicely - well done.
Although I think you're missing a few of those extra little pieces at the back of her hair, where it joins the neck. (visible in the side view)

Like you have in your concept's side view. If that was intentional, no worries.

Otherwise awesome progress ^^

Feb

Xaltar wrote: »

Cool concept and style on this, looking forward to seeing how well you impliment it. I was going to say the mouth seems a little narrow and then Skully from X files popped into my head and now I can't stom seeing her when I look at it lol. Keep at it, its looking promising.

Haha, I hadn't noticed that - Now that's all I can see, too! I've widened her mouth a bit, (in pic below) though I don't think I'll ever stop seeing that resemblance! Maybe I should give her red hair.... (I almost did!)

Caldria wrote: »

Hey feb, that looks great. I see the hair came out really nicely - well done.
Although I think you're missing a few of those extra little pieces at the back of her hair, where it joins the neck. (visible in the side view)

Like you have in your concept's side view. If that was intentional, no worries.

Otherwise awesome progress ^^

Thank you - I think you were right about the back of the hair, I've added a few extra alphas and extended the base hair texture so hopefully this softens the connection a bit - is this what you meant?

Caldria

Hey, ye, that's closer to the concept ^^

The model is looking really nice.

Feb

Thanks Caldria

This is just an update of my progress with texturing for any feedback as I go... Only working on diffuse textures at the moment though struggling to hide some of the seams!

Cexar

Hey, just wanted to stop by and say I really like where this is going and keep up your great work.

I'm curious if you've thought about the consequences of facing the hands backwards if you ever want to rig the character. Correct me if I'm wrong but won't that produce constant deformation on the forearm even in the idle? I'd understand if the palm of the hands faced forward but not backwards. Anywho, it's just a thought and I hope that this isn't too out of topic!

Xaltar

I wouldn't say that was off topic at all. The elbows are still angled as though the arms would come forward if bent, put your hands in that position and look ath the angle of the elbows. I would strongly suggest you rotate the hands to face palms down or forward, that position is going to come out very unnatural when you rig this.

Feb

Thank you Cexar and Xaltar for bringing this to my attention - I do intend to rig her so you may just have saved me a lot of trouble later down the line!

Will get this sorted today

Feb

Hey, just posting another small update on my progress. Haven't managed to get a lot done these last couple of days, but I've rotated the hands and developed a few more of her diffuse textures... Hope to have her fully textured and with Specular maps by tomorrow.

Does anyone have any tips on creating Spec maps that will help give the appearance of more realistic skin? Not done this before so any advice would be really helpful!

Thanks

LRoy

Ha! I thought I was still looking at the drawing on the last images. You've got a nice style. Her shoulderpad could use a bit more spec I think.

DOG-GY

Putting the model in a more relaxed position will make it easier to rig down the line. Even with the hand fix it's still going to have problems, especially when making fists and such.

Feb

Thanks for your comments, LRoy and Dog-gy!

Just finished texturing now - took longer than I expected! I've relaxed the hands more and also created the spec maps. Any feedback or crits would be greatly appreciated!

GragGunslinger

I think this character looks really cool, but I'm not really getting a lot of information about who she is from her design.

From her sickle to the gun and her clothing makes her kinda feel like some sort of hunter, or person who lives off the land, but then she has the horns and satyr ears and it kinda makes me wonder if she hunts humans, or if she hunts other demons or if she IS a demon?

I think your model execution is pretty darn good, but I think you could get more about the character out in her design.

Or maybe I'm a crazy person.

Feb

Hey GragGunslinger,

I think you're right that the character direction is perhaps a little vague - though at least everything you've noticed is about right.

I had it in my mind that she was an outcast because of her horns and ears, (almost like Ico) and so has to live in wastelands to survive, picking up random bits of armour and weapons as she goes... though this is about as far as I took her backstory.

I'm hoping that once she is rigged I can get more of her character out in her pose, but we shall see!

Thanks for your feedback

Feb

I think I've finished the main texturing of the model now, and also fixed the normal maps as they were looking a little flat. Any feedback on this would be great!

Just looking into creating a HDRI map for reflections in the metallic parts of the model, does anyone have any advice for getting this to look right in 3ds max?

Here are the most recent renders:

achillesian

lookin very good

Caldria

Hey feb, looking awesome.

Regarding the reflections - I think you'd be able to get that in a reflection map (a picture of what you want reflected). and then reflection mask map (to paint in the areas that u want reflecting). Similar to Valley's Witchblade entry in last years comicon challenge.

Just a suggestion anyway (I also dont know much about HDRI lighting ^^).
keep it up. looks great!

Feb

Thanks achillesian

Caldria - I think this was pretty much spot on, worked pretty well for me!

Just on to rigging her now, will post up another render once I can get her posed.

Thanks for everyone's comments, they've all helped me out a lot!

Feb

Hey!

Just finished the body rig and thought I'd upload a pose render for any feedback/crits.



Thanks!

Edit: Updated pose render

Elyaradine

Looks cool! Dig the folds in the clothes.

Regarding the render, maybe use a different coloured background? The white hurts my eyes, but also makes your character appear a lot darker than I assume she's supposed to be. With the current pose, your gun and arm kind of get lost. Perhaps you should change it so that the they're visible in the silhouette, or change your lighting to make the depth more apparent.

Xaltar

Good job dude, I'd hit it

Feb

Thanks for the comments Elyaradine i have updated the render so that the gun and arm can be seen a lot easier, and i hope to get a render with a decent background soon – once i get her into a game engine with a solid environment.


Haha, thanks Xaltar - I'm glad to hear that!!

Feb

Hey - Just another update

I've finished the body and facial rig now and trying to decide what kind of pose to go for for her final render.

I've completed a few test renders and would love to hear anyone's thoughts on them, or if anyone has any suggestions for other poses that might work better...?

Also, will have a background in the final image, but just been trying to focus on poses that show the character model well, so sorry for all the bland white!




Thank you!!

PaulP

Thats some really cool work, the poses and facial expressions are looking really good and full of character

Alemja

I think pose 5 is the best one for showing off the model, and 3 has the best silhouette for an "action" pose

sanketpro3d

gud work man .. i like the pose 3.

Feb

ThanksSCB, Alemja and sanketpro3d - I appreciate the feedback!!

Going from what you've said and from other comments I will probably end up using pose 3 for a turntable animation and pose 5 for the render, hope it turns out alright!

Thanks again

Feb

Hello again,

It's been a while, but I finally put together the final render, 3D turntable and a short animated lip-sync.

I'm still hoping to come back to the action pose render - I just didn't have time to create a cool enough environment for that pose! Hope the standard does the job for now

Thanks for all the feedback along the way, though there's always room for improvement so if anyone has any suggestions/crits please let me know!

Turntable: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs-OQ-uXxoQ"]3D Ciri Character Turntable - YouTube[/ame]

Short Animation: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL_dB4lRkMs&feature=related"]Ciri Lip Sync Animation - YouTube[/ame]

Tenchi

Turned out great! You've infused a lot of character in your model and the textures look good too. Has that Clone Wars feel to her. I would only suggest to work on your folds for your next model ^^

Belias

good work, but her shirt is like a stone and her hair is like mud.

PaulP

Looks like its been a successful project, congrats on finishing it! Final render's looking good, but composition could be improved. Because of the defined horizon in the background my eyes are being drawn to her mid section, distracting from the upper half of the body where the focal point (mostly) is.