Saurian beast WIP
polycounter lvl 6
Sup folks. It's been some time. I've been working on this dinosaur creature and would like some pointers and critique regarding how the initial anatomical proportions look before I begin the sculpting.
I started in Sculptris and then retopo'd for further sculpting in Zbrush. I will retopo again obviously when it's time to texture and rig. I'll probably play around with Dynamesh to make sure the quad size distribution is as clean as possible. The relatively high polycount of the initial retopo is deliberate since I liked the overall proportions of the sculpt. Plus I didn't want to spend an eternity in the retopology phase and never get beyond it due to overanalyzing the quad size, and I can aways retopologize after the sculpt.
Here's some shots of the retopo'd sculpt mesh with 1 level of subdivision in Zbrush.
The anatomy isn't going to strictly follow the dinosaur physique entirely though, especially in the arms, which I've decided to make more anthropomorphic. They also seem pretty huge too; not sure if I'm gonna keep that size.
Looking at it now I like the proportions of the legs but I don't think the top view looks right anatomically. Actually I'm certain something is way off in the lower body. I'll need to straighten lots of things up along the spine; right now it's a bit too uneven. I had a whole folder of dinosaur reference images; damn hard to find good ones where the dino isn't in that certain mid-stride pose all artists seem to be in love with (seriously, google it and see)! Need to dig that up off an old HD.
Any responses as to how you guys think the anatomy's shaping up and how it could be improved or changed (a red draw-over/redline would be awesome!) would be appreciated.
I started in Sculptris and then retopo'd for further sculpting in Zbrush. I will retopo again obviously when it's time to texture and rig. I'll probably play around with Dynamesh to make sure the quad size distribution is as clean as possible. The relatively high polycount of the initial retopo is deliberate since I liked the overall proportions of the sculpt. Plus I didn't want to spend an eternity in the retopology phase and never get beyond it due to overanalyzing the quad size, and I can aways retopologize after the sculpt.
Here's some shots of the retopo'd sculpt mesh with 1 level of subdivision in Zbrush.
The anatomy isn't going to strictly follow the dinosaur physique entirely though, especially in the arms, which I've decided to make more anthropomorphic. They also seem pretty huge too; not sure if I'm gonna keep that size.
Looking at it now I like the proportions of the legs but I don't think the top view looks right anatomically. Actually I'm certain something is way off in the lower body. I'll need to straighten lots of things up along the spine; right now it's a bit too uneven. I had a whole folder of dinosaur reference images; damn hard to find good ones where the dino isn't in that certain mid-stride pose all artists seem to be in love with (seriously, google it and see)! Need to dig that up off an old HD.
Any responses as to how you guys think the anatomy's shaping up and how it could be improved or changed (a red draw-over/redline would be awesome!) would be appreciated.
Replies
Dynamesh isn't intended to seamlessly keep the original edge detail of the mesh before you Dynamesh-ize it, right?
This is what a Dynamesh set at 109 Resolution gives me:
IMO way too many polygons
I might just have to add in the fingers and claws in Modo. I thought I could get by with dynameshing them in, but I guess that's not the best method. *shrug*
I don't know. Thought I'd prepared this correctly, but I don't think I've set it up right again.
Like so. Awesome silhouette, but crap topology. I have a feeling the claws and feet are going to need more levels of subdivision in Zbrush than necessary, thus making it all unworkable.
I'm racking my brain trying to get equity in quad resolution in a base mesh that has tiny areas like those fingers and claws. Every time I end up going overboard with resolution on the head and miss out on the rest.
What am I doing wrong? Focusing too much on one area? Because my intent in retopology was to get the smallest number of quads I could, and that's what I ended up with.
I feel like I'm this close to getting it right though.
Sometimes I feel like all this time I spend on it doesn't pay off (as fast as I'd like) because I keep making the same mistakes. So close/so far etc. But that's how you learn.
Any advice appreciated.
You're topology isn't as bad as you think it is! Your polys for the most part are evenly spaced and quaded nicely! What do you find is giving you an issue? Is it that you're not having enough detail for microlevel sculpting? If so that's not something you should be so worried about just yet. Your current topology looks pretty fine to go ahead and start sculpting on.
In regards to your toes and fingers currently I would say you could probably do with about half the loops they currently have but overall your mesh looks perfectly fine to sculpt/subdivide.
I'm not sure I answered your question, if not try to elaborate a bit more and heedfully can help aim you where your trying to get to.
Looking forward to seeing more, The top looks like it has a saddle