Steampunk Girl WIP
polycounter lvl 6
Hi guys,
Im Guang currently a modeling student at school. This model is one of my latest project which is to be put in my demoreel later this year when I graduate.
I would like to get some feedback and critiques so I can improve. Now I just finished all the geo, I will come back to polish and start surfacing and texturing in two weeks time as I have to do another project before then.
This project is largely inspired by the last two time dominance war contest winners. I would like to make a female character model with a good amount of details. But to make it my own I decide to make this model a mainly steampunk hardsurface piece instead of sci-fi hardsurface. This girl is basically a law enforcer, like a policewoman I guess. I tried to add some special features onto her. Since she is still a fighter type of character yet a female, I decide to make this character a rather light-class fighter. So a lot of bird feature on this character, some very figurative like the metal feathers, some are rather literal like the bird face in the mid region.
Design wise this model is pretty much a free styled work but I did have a general idea of how each part is gonna be.Sometimes I paint over in photoshop or do a quick concept sculpt in zbrush to see if certain details work or not. I didnt have a finished concept before this although I think I will try to do a painting for this project after I finish.
For the technical part, I tried to avoid rely on Zbrush in order to improve my actual traditional modeling skill. In the end I only used zbrush to presculpt one part and retopo, other wrinkles and fold are all done in maya. I have been more of a organic guy before, but with this project I was able to make a lot of simple hardsurface piece. Will make a lower res version after this high res one. There are lots of defect on this model especially the hard surface part. some are made intentionally as steampunk metal piece are mostly hand made, but other are actual failure on the beveling as I find it is really challenging sometimes.
-Theres no render yet but now its the high-res model from maya viewport screenshot....
Im Guang currently a modeling student at school. This model is one of my latest project which is to be put in my demoreel later this year when I graduate.
I would like to get some feedback and critiques so I can improve. Now I just finished all the geo, I will come back to polish and start surfacing and texturing in two weeks time as I have to do another project before then.
This project is largely inspired by the last two time dominance war contest winners. I would like to make a female character model with a good amount of details. But to make it my own I decide to make this model a mainly steampunk hardsurface piece instead of sci-fi hardsurface. This girl is basically a law enforcer, like a policewoman I guess. I tried to add some special features onto her. Since she is still a fighter type of character yet a female, I decide to make this character a rather light-class fighter. So a lot of bird feature on this character, some very figurative like the metal feathers, some are rather literal like the bird face in the mid region.
Design wise this model is pretty much a free styled work but I did have a general idea of how each part is gonna be.Sometimes I paint over in photoshop or do a quick concept sculpt in zbrush to see if certain details work or not. I didnt have a finished concept before this although I think I will try to do a painting for this project after I finish.
For the technical part, I tried to avoid rely on Zbrush in order to improve my actual traditional modeling skill. In the end I only used zbrush to presculpt one part and retopo, other wrinkles and fold are all done in maya. I have been more of a organic guy before, but with this project I was able to make a lot of simple hardsurface piece. Will make a lower res version after this high res one. There are lots of defect on this model especially the hard surface part. some are made intentionally as steampunk metal piece are mostly hand made, but other are actual failure on the beveling as I find it is really challenging sometimes.
-Theres no render yet but now its the high-res model from maya viewport screenshot....
Replies
The last two shots I think I can see some faces from her leg coming through the frilly cloth parts above the knee, though. You probably can fix that just by pulling a few vertices here and there?
Edit: It's visible in the 5th shot, too, which is from a distance. I think if you fix that you will be all set!
How long did this take to make?
Thanks! Yes, Ive noticed those crushing parts because I will surely fix them when i pose this character in the same time some other parts like make randomness on the boots laces.
You mention you want to do a lower resolution textured version of her. Have you settled on a tri count and texture sheet size?
Looking at the current model a lot of the fine detail you have is probably going to get lost when you're baking out your normals. Like some of the smaller gears on her goggles might end up being a pixel or two depending on your final texture resolution.
The idea of having bird features is a nice thought and does come through in the general proportions of her anatomy... but that's the only place it really reads clearly. In the close up shots you start to see the wing/feather detailing but from a distance those details don't read very well. Her silhouette is also relatively plain for the amount of gear that she's wearing. If you turned off the lights in your scene there would only be the tubes and the hat really breaking up her silhouette.
The distribution of details might be a little harsh, either there is a ton of fine detail - like on those arm pieces, or else just large base details - like the exposed skin, the back of her corset thing. There really isn't much in between and all the high detail stuff comes off a bit noisy and each piece competes for the viewers attention instead of leading the eye to specific areas you want to highlight.
In the end my suggestion would be to pick out the details of her costume/character that you really like and really accentuate those. Make them bigger. This will make your life easier when you're baking out your normals, help to focus the viewers' attention, and will help to break up her silhouette and really push the character more.
*Fav*
Well anyway thanks for actually read what I wrote there and also the honest feedback:)
Having said that there are still some nice shapes here. Cool
Its nice you want to push your modeling skills but you should push your design skills and really pick and choose what are the most important parts of the design.
Now this is just my opinion but trying to emulate the winners of the last two Dominance Wars isn't a good idea. While they may be executed very well and show a high level of skill, they're just waaaaaaay too noisy for a good design. You obviously have the modeling skills now let your design skills show
My only critique would be to show off a little more leg. The boots/stockings whatever they are, go so high up.. might as well make them pants. Or cut them off shorter and bring the garter down a bit. I'm no character modeler, but that's what stood out to me. Looking forward to seeing this textured!
Oh, and if you're not that good at UV packing right now you'll be a master at it at the end of this project.
Also I have talked to some employers and recruiters from gaming companies, they told me that it is not required to make low-res model in your demo-reel even if you are looking for gaming job. They just told me to make the high res look good enough, take it as a cinematic model etc. I was told low-res model making is like a technique which when you get to a gaming company they would teach you, also the method of baking low res model varies from different companies . Wondering if that is for the most case.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TFCuE5rHbPA#!
(Looks nice by the way)