The Panther

Ravenok

Hey everyone,

I'm not sure if anyone remembers this, but it's been a while and it's been through some changes (within the limited time I can spend on it).

This is a model I started back at the summer after I got a cool idea about a character while reading about Bronn in Song of Ice and Fire. This isn't really Bronn himself, but rather a character I thought of while reading about him in the book for the first time.





I'd love some opinions on the character and it's expressiveness, the outfit design, and anything you can think of.

I didn't break symmetry yet, which is a big drawback I know, but it's coming. Soon. I hope. :X

Ravenok

Well, it's the second time I've posted images of this guy and it's hardly receiving any criticism/comments.

So I was thinking maybe it's not very good, it's not inspiring comments and thoughts...
It'd be great if some people more experienced than me could point me to some places where it's not functioning.

Anything would be appreciated...

Tenchi

Straight off I noticed the material on his shawl, looks a little jarring? Perhaps play a bit more with the noisemaker settings. Also the anatomy in places really stands out, the nose in particular doesn't look correct and the upper leg too. The ears just need some reshaping.

Other than that, he has an interesting design, I like the chainmail and the triple shoulder pad looks well rendered ^_^

vavavoom

Hi, I'm only a beginner to modeling, but i know how frustrating it can be to receive no crits at all,

so, i will try my best..

i guess his nose stands out to me as very sharp at the tip/bridge, maybe too sharp, odd looking perhaps?

i think the model is stylized well, but i just keep thinking it looks like two thumbs have been pushed into his nose tip/bridge to make it look like that.. almost reminds me of a ducks bill.

the rest of the model looks great though

Azkur

hey i think the face looks really strong at he moment but it can go further along, the fingers form the angle you provided look like sausages but maybe its just the angle try taking more shots with different parts so we can see other stuf with more detail, it seems to me you are trying to do too many folds, try taking cloth reference and understand the weight of the material you are trying to portrait also if you want dheck out hogarths book on wrinkls for drawing its really good. oh the leg protection thing doesnt seem to work if its some kind of protection i would assume it would be made of some kind of hard material which would make it hard for him to move his feet in my opinion any way i hope this helps.

Snefer

I think it has alot of potential, cool proportions overall for the body etc, but I think you can sort out some of the detailing. The clasp for the cape is detailed and well sculpted, but the details on the gloves, which are much more visible, feel very rushed. They feel very zbrushed on, and not like actual threads, etc.

Also you can do alot more with details to give more life to him. The belt is supersimple, not even a beltbuckle of any kind, no metal ornamentation. Add some simple metal decorations to the tip of the belt for example. Just a few tips

Mithdia

Blaken wrote: »

Well, it's the second time I've posted images of this guy and it's hardly receiving any criticism/comments.

So I was thinking maybe it's not very good, it's not inspiring comments and thoughts...
It'd be great if some people more experienced than me could point me to some places where it's not functioning.

Anything would be appreciated...

Don't feel bad.. http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1296623&postcount=23 explains why

Ravenok

Thanks for the comments everyone, that was great to see and is very helpful.

About the nose - Well, that was by choice. I actually wanted him to resemble a panther a bit so I gave him this funky nose and raised his ears a bit, played with the eye shapes, and the pupils are fairly large compared to the size of the eye, and his brow is jutting outwards as if it's a cat's. At least that's what I tried to do.

About the detailing - well, that's my biggest weakness these days. I feel like I've improved a lot in blocking shapes and finding a general concept, and building the anatomy, but my level in detailing stayed behind. This project really pushed me when it comes to detail, but I have a lot to work on...

It's funny how you said (snefer) that the bracers feel rushed. They actually took the longest, and thinking back at it, the design process for them was broken and they (to me) are the worst part of this model.
I never thought of making the belt more complex though. I was scared it'd be just too much detail. I guess it might do some good though.


It was kind of a bummer to see that post Mithdia, which basically told me "you're the average joe".
I guess I could be, but I'm not planning on staying that way for long so brace yourselves polycounters...

Oh, any other criticism will be greatly appreciated. Now that I gotta get to that fabled "decent" level at the very least, I need all help I can get

Ikosan

don't worry about the 'average joe' thing, the average level of skill on polycount is actually pretty damn high, a lot of the posters here are industry professionals, just by not failing you've shown that you obviously know what your doing:P
As for the nose thing i agree with the others, the pinch dosn't really remind me of a panther, it just makes it stand out as anatomically incorrect. I'd take a look at avatar or even blacksad. The panther guy/avatars there has a large broad nose, with a down turned tip. The feet are bothering me a little as well, the shape of the toes seem a little off and the foot protection thing dosn't seem like it would allow him to bend him foot upwards. Theres a lot of good going on in the sculpt though, proportions are great and i'm loving the folds of his shawl (i think the detail thing may be a case of it gauzing, try upping the scale of the detail)

sjuskadur

Looks cool agree with some of the notes here above! What struck me right away is how obviously the face is symmetrical. If you are ready to break symmetry i think that might help push it some more. Since faces are never symmetrical. I would make it very slight but still noticable. Push one eye tad bit higher or something, scar or something to push it a bit more since the rest of the character is almost split in two with its asymmetry.

i think its coming along pretty nicely.

sjuskadur

also look at the anatomy of the neck. in the front view it looks like the sternocleidomastodeus (think im writing this right lol) goes in front of the ear. it goes more behind it. And that is how it contributes to making the neck thicker along with the traps and other neck muscles.

Ravenok

@Ikosan - That actually makes me feel good. Thanks.
I study to be a professional (and I did land a few small jobs.. but nothing too impressive), but the bar is pretty damn high these days and it definitely requires more work to get where I wanna go. Thanks for the words, I'll take a look at everything once I get the chance to finish it. I'm making a short film in school now, and all of my time and efforts go into that. I'll post art from the film as it goes along and hopefully get some critiques on that

@sjuskadur - I hear u about the symmetry.. It's a big deal no doubt.
About the Sternocleidomastoid, it's not visible in the shots I've posted here. I think maybe you confused it with the big jaw I gave the guy?

Judging by the comments I got thus far I may have to make another pass on the face. Refine the nose and jaw, break symmetry... that's definitely something I'll look into. I guess I should give him bracers and obviously some shoes as well. ^_^