Help me hand texture my (low poly) elf
polycounter lvl 11
This is just a character im making for fun, and i was very pleased with the actual model and i dont want this to go wasted. For some reason i cant get muscles right because im pretty much winging it because ive never seen any techniques before.
If you guys could guide me through this it'd be great.
Form:
My attempt at texturing....
uv
Right now i think my main problem is being way to soft, but when i make harder painting it looks too hard. I cant find that nice midpoint.
For some reason i've never really had a problem with faces, but heres another project that was ditched because of my inability to paint muscles:
If you guys could guide me through this it'd be great.
Form:
My attempt at texturing....
uv
Right now i think my main problem is being way to soft, but when i make harder painting it looks too hard. I cant find that nice midpoint.
For some reason i've never really had a problem with faces, but heres another project that was ditched because of my inability to paint muscles:
Replies
2 - use more colors, cold light and warm shadows - for examples.
3 - shadow is more saturated than light
4 - look at your texture with at least 50-60% ambient, or even 100 (full white)
BUT FIRS IF ALL - read this http://itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm
I would also add that if you're having trouble with color, do your texturing in grayscale first and then go over that grayscale with a mix of layers set to Color, Multiply, and Overlay blending modes (provided you're using Photoshop) and using layers set to normal for extreme lights and darks for some added definition.
Try experimenting on a couple of smaller assets first to see what style you might like best.
I like the form of the Elf, by the way.
Man this guy is one of my favorite artists, he has some videos of him painting like a chromey looking soldier and some space marines and another one I forget, but watching his process has always really helped me.
It will be great if you share link, can't find it
Ill start drawing in muscles with hard brushes and post as i go.
I was looking at a photo reference when i drew the torso muscles, but refer to my first comment.
You know, while were talking about painting, for some reason my photoshop no longer has a targa (and a bunch other bmp etc) save for some reason. If i start a new file and try to save it then it works but as soon as i add anything in it wont work.
When the torso outline is good then ill do the arm outlines and then we can start shading :P.
I have a question. Did you reference (copy) a model from the WoW model viewer by any chance? The reason I ask is that your form and proportion is actually pretty good, but you clearly have no understanding of muscular anatomy.
In any case, I know it's a generic answer you don't want to hear but as others have said, study study study anatomy.
I literally stopped all my art work and got immersed in learning anatomy for a few months and it's helping me no end. Draw, read, memorise, from books and you'll quickly learn what goes where and how it works.
Taking the time to learn will really show in your work. You've obviously got the technical fundamentals down so worry about the art fundamentals now and your character work will improve.
Yes, i did take a model from the wow model viewer and create orthos with it (front and side render). I see nothing wrong with this because i dont have a concept artist. I make alot of things like this, and i do end up learning alot. I also left a slight wireframe on the orthos to see how some parts where achieved and what the polyflow was like.
The problem with just 'looking at a photo' and drawing on your model is that your not really learning anything. Also, when someone comes along and says 'the serratus and external oblique look wrong on your diffuse' you're gonna be like 'wut?'. So properly learning how anatomy works allows you to paint and model knowing what bits are where and how they all connect.
For the shading. Try this:
Basic round brush, 100% hardness.
Set opacity/size to pen pressure and main opacity between 80-100%.
Then paint your extreme values and a midtone and then alt-click to sample colours near to each other and just work the graduation in the values til they're smooth. Harsher height transitions will need shorter value gradients and longer, gradual changes in surface level will obviously call for drawn out changesxin value and smoother gradients.
But thanks, ill try that. Im more worried about getting the get-go to start my arm muscle outlines, and then start painting.
I recommend to buy one - Wacom Bamboo for example - good tablet,low price
That's your problem right there.
Painting with a mouse is going to be very very hard to get decent results. There are a very select few who manage it but it's by no means practical and if you can get hold of a Wacom then I highly recommend it. It's a great investment even though it's a lot of money up front. Also, I'm not sure if you're a student but you may be able to get one slightly cheaper. Certainly here in the UK there are a couple sites that take 10-15% off for students.
Is there any chance ill be able to complete this? I was highly inspired by http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76301 and this is a big let down..
I'd say time consuming, rather than impossible. You'll spend a lot of time messing with the opacity slider.
If someone has the time, could you please paint me a quick torso that i can tear apart and look at? And itd be great if you could do a quick step by step thing along with it, like that one wood tutorial.
I could draw one for you but you'd be better off looking up a master!
http://vimeo.com/5820395
http://vimeo.com/5821890
Ok guys ive been practicing:
Sorry for the quality of the paintover just thought I'd try and help out. The "6 pack" is much lower, and the muscles aren't of equal size. There should be a space between the pecs and the abdomen, where the sternum is. The top two are fairly large, the middle the smallest, and the lower muscles extend right into the crotch, although there may be some indentation as I've shown.
The muscles covering the ribs are less prominent, and they should follow the line of the rib cage, which I've tried to illustrate.
Excuse teminology, I'm not sure what they are and I don't want to guess them wrong and then someone repeat/curse me!
PS. I'm no expert but I have been reading/studying anatomy for a whole week now!!
Ignore the cape, im just brainstorming ideas, and the glove is not finished.
Painting:
Invest in an Intuos4. I use it for absolutely everything.
Good work so far BTW!
Final update :P Had to keep working a little more before bed XD.
Still very much a WIP, suggestions? The belt was unexpected so im going to have to figure out a way to work with the mirror. The cape will be complemented with extra armor, and will all be uved separately as gear.
Im really excited about this, this is the best thing ive made ever along with my UMP
Anyone else think i should soften the abs a bit?
because you tend to avoid that stuff to the sides of the six packs, and don't define things much:
theres a lot of stuff to the sides of the abdominals that makes it more interesting
here also is the orc wow texture, thought it might serve as a good reference as well
I see what muscles you're talking about though. Ill add them in. In the reference i was using at the time the guy wasnt completely buff, but you could see is abdominal quite well.
This is what i had before i read your post, ill fix the muscles. Sadly im starting to lose interest in the character but im thinking its because im not spending enough time on everything below the waste. So now im going to be doing overall retouches to try and get myself motivated again. The parts i feel are weak right now are the knee pads, the boots, the belt, the face (still a WIP), and hands (havent done much to them yet).
Not that great, heres a flat
I am completely ignorant when it comes to wrinkles, so i just draw dark lines and blend them in a bit. Any suggestions? I have major issues with hair to.
I usually use a big hard brush to pain in the shades and lightning on all materials on the model. Then I use a smudge brush to blend them together and end with doing the details and adjustments.
And yes, you should pick up one of those Loomis books!!!
I made a paintover:
Don't paint in the shadows/lightning like outlines. It make it look like there's no skin of fat overing the muscles. Try to just use a small, soft brush and paint dots with dark and light after getting the main shapes down to make it pop but maintain the illution of skin!
Points!
Now I'm off for drinking.
Good luck and goodbye
Before i buy a book, are there any tutorials on painting characters out there that are free? The keywords are waaay to broad and i dont get any results.
right after i click post on this post ill be looking through that PSG tut for anything about wrinkles or hair.
Curvs dot technique interests me alot though.
- Abs don't stop at the belly button, they surround it.
- A 6 pack is actually a 8 pack but due to public decency laws the last two typically aren't shown... They are normally not as super defined as the 6 pack but its important to hint at them.
- The top of the abs are framed by the rib cage, the abs start under the rib cage, never on top of it.
- The bottom lowest part of a rib cage lines up with your elbow which is typically where the first row of abs end.
- Don't forget about the other muscles surrounding the abs, the abs you have now look a little more like watery sacks sitting on top of everything rather than being a part of the muscle structure. I think this is coming from the overt highlights on the abs, you could either reduce the highlights or build up the surrounding muscles.
I dont see how good form detail can outdo all those tiny details around the eyes. Im not arguing that forms arent important, i just think they can only hold so much detail.
By the way, whats the best resolution to paint at?
To do so, simply colorpick the highlight of the big shape surrounding the wrinkly spot you want to create, and use that. Same for the dark underside. But if you dont have that big shape nicely defined and painted already, you will have nothing to color pick from.
So, go ahead and paint the broad shading on that goblin first.
A good starting point is to bake the lowpoly shading of a good, creamy lighting setup to texture using transfer maps/rtt. Then use that as a base for the early shading. Then detail like explained above.
As for res, for this one I would say 512. You could works 1024 and scale down but thats not necessary.
It's not about one outdoing the other, it's about using them properly to compliment eachother. And one thing is for certain - if you've got to choose between big shapes or details, go with your big shapes. And if you've got to choose which to do first - again, do your big shapes. Otherwise you'll spend 3 hours on wrinkles just to muddy them up when you finally get to forming those very necessary masses, and it'll just look like ass.