Female Elf Character - Critique Requested

Sunsetrider

Hi,
I'm working on an elf for a school assignment.
We have a maximum of 10 000 triangles to work with, my model's tri-count is 7788 at the moment and I'm not planning on increasing that, I'd rather lower it.
The deadline is next Friday and I'm planning to have the model textured and rigged (body and face) untill then.
I mostly want to focus on the rigging. I have not modeled the elbows/knees etc yet but I'm getting there.

Any feedback is welcome, but have in mind that I don't have that much time to work with.

Thanks in advance.

Nemecys

Well seen as your main focuses are on the rigging and the animation side of the project, the critique on the model seems slightly redundant but i will give you some anyway

I like the sculpt so far, your doing a good job capturing a very sleek sharp elf face, the ears need a bit of work they seem a bit messy inside, the form is a very human style elf, rather than a more characterized character but thats more artistic choice,

topology wise as a base mesh you should try and avoid tris, if its a low poly, its too high poly, so youll have more of a problem animating it without finding it being a bit fiddly,

Not sure what else really we need a bit more info i reckon

Alehr

Looking good! With 10,000 triangles at your command, I'd suggest putting them to work on creating a more varied silhouette. The polygons that are sitting fat and happy on the pants and shirt, for example, could be tugged around to create nice bake bases for wrinkles.

Your topology is fantastic. The only thing I might see causing problems is the renegade edgeloop that shoots up along the bridge of the nose and dies alone on her forehead. I'd say kill it sooner at the browline, where the loop termination would fit in more naturally with the shape of the face.

Sunsetrider

Thank you for the crtique,
Alehr: Your suggestion about making the silhuette more intresting is really good, I'm going to focus on that right now before I continue. And the edgeloop that you mentioned is now taken care of. ^^

Nemecys: Here is the ear-sculpt, I hope that this isn't too messy.

Sunsetrider

I forgot to post the concept, here it is:

DillonBarba

dat concept

Sunsetrider

DillonBarba: What would you do different?

JR

I believe he means that we hope something a little bit more ellaborated for a concept, like in this examples. http://www.google.com.br/search?gcx=c&q=female+elf&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=pt-BR&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=cew0T-WnFdKCtgeUntC_Ag&biw=1680&bih=920&sei=c-w0T5DVO4eftwfUkainAg

If you arent good at drawing a good tip is to make a paintover of your 3d model.

almighty_gir

some info for you...

what defines an elf differs from game to game, concept to concept, but usually only in one or two areas. there are some unifying "facts" that are carried across just about all of them.

generally speaking, all elves have a more "hawkish" facial appearance than humans. much more slender with slanted eyes.


more commonly, elves are shorter than humans. although they are taller in some renditions (lord of the rings for example). but regardless of height they are generally considdered light, slim, nimble etc. usually so light that they can leave no visible footprints in snow... you should make their body build reflect this


also bear in mind that as a general rule elves are considdered to have a natural beauty and grace. this is more often than not tied into their affinity with magic, with some games/lores stating that elves even live halfway between the physical and mystical planes of existance. this generally gives their skin a "pure" appearance, often even a slight glow.

Sunsetrider

Hi, I forgot to mention a few things about my model and concept. It's supposed to be a young and short wood elf, not a high elf.
I hope this clarifies why my model dosen't have a slim and more "hawkish" appearance.
I chose a rather rounder face to capture the age good and simple.

Something more like this:

almighty_gir

i dunno... i kinda feel like if you're going to make an elf, make an elf. not an anime character with pointy ears that you want to call an elf.

what you have there looks more like a faery.