WIP - Space Jockey Alien

Four6810 · Feb 2012

Hello everyone.

I have finally decided to post something after lurking this site off and on for the past few months.

I've been working on the Space Jockey from Ridley Scott's Alien.

I still have a long way to go. After I'm done with the high poly model, I'll start working on the low poly version.

If you'd like to critique or make any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

Joshflighter · Feb 2012

Great start man! I recognized this instantly.

dirigible · Feb 2012

^ditto
Good start to an iconic setpiece!

lloyd · Feb 2012

depending on what pictures of it you look at the head changes, for some its taller and for others it goes further back.

right now yours is round, maybe too round, Pull it back some.
Even if you're not going for the longer style it still seeds to go further back,

round but slightly going backwards:
http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/SJ2.jpg

tall:
http://images.wikia.com/avp/images/d/dd/SpaceJockey-1-.jpg

long face / bulging backwards:
http://hollywood-collectibles.com/space_jockey1.jpg

http://thepeoplesmovies.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/alien_space_jockey.jpg

look at human heads too, they go back further than you expect.

also put up some ref. pics for people to compare to.

Four6810 · Feb 2012

lloyd - Took your suggestion about the head.

Here's a before and after:

These are the references I'm using mostly:

SamboMambo · Feb 2012

this is looking sweet!

uncle · Feb 2012

Looks good so far, gogo power rangers.

Go crazy with textures, it has so much potential...

ZacD · Feb 2012

Has anyone told you it kinda looks like a penis, yet? Not that its a bad thing, its looking cool so far, can't wait to see it finished.

Lucas Annunziata · Feb 2012

@ZacD

As far as Giger's painting go, these phallic shapes are pretty subtle in comparison to most.

poopsterspappy · Feb 2012

Friggin sweet can't wait to see it textured

PogoP · Feb 2012

Mmmmmm phalic.

You should do the entire scene, would look awesome in Cryengine or something!

lloyd · Feb 2012

Thats better! I know its only a small change but its stuff that adds up! keep going.

Ack Master · Feb 2012

the minute i saw the trailer for the new movie i was like ok, when the heck am i gonna see the jockey on here.

good start cant wait to see it done! love that peice

Four6810 · Feb 2012

Thanks for the comments, everyone.

Ha, I was wondering when the comments about it looking like a phallus would start coming in.

PogoP - I do plan on making the whole scene somewhere down the line and bring into UDK.

lloyd - Yep, small change, but makes a big difference.

Ack Master - Ha, yeah. My brother showed me the Prometheus trailer and I got so hyped that I had to make the Space Jockey scene from Alien.

Anyway, plan on working on this some more this week once I've got the time. Hopefully, I'll be able to post an update later this week.

Four6810 · Feb 2012

Finally posting an update. Ran into some problems with my PC, so I lost some progress, but thankfully I did backup a file that didn't go to far back.

I'm working on the chair as well in ZBrush. Retopologizing parts and refining the shapes more. First, I'll have to reinstall ZBrush and reactivate it after I have Pixologic deactivate it since I never got to...

thepapercut · Feb 2012

Looking good.

Four6810 · Mar 2012

Been a while since I posted an update on this.

I never really created any hard surface objects in ZBrush before, so creating the back chair part was good practice.

I'm going to try and wrap it up on the high poly model so I can start the low poly version. I'll see how that goes. Too many things going on right now.

darthwilson · Mar 2012

Looking cool! Just keep working on the hard surfaces!!

Now that Prometheus is getting closer to release Im sure your excited to get it done!

StevenEgan · Apr 2012

Looks awesome! Are we going to have the busted ribs?

StraightDraw84 · Apr 2012

Very well done, can't wait to see it finished

Four6810 · Apr 2012

Thanks for the comments

StevenEgan - I almost forgot about the busted ribcage. Thanks for reminding me.

Four6810 · Apr 2012

Calling it a wrap on the high poly model. Already started on the low poly version.

Four6810 · May 2012

Here's some new screenshots that I took in UDK. I'm taking a short break on modeling the low poly model and starting to do some texture work. Change things up a bit. I'll start modeling the other half sometime next week when I get the chance.

uncle · May 2012

Holy shit man. I think you could put some more work on the material definition, but it is damn good already. Good lighting will pimp it too!

Four6810 · Jun 2012

uncle - Yeah, definitely going to play around a lot with the lighting once the low poly model and texture are finished.

Here's another render from UDK:

I think I may have gone overboard on how detailed I want the low poly model to be. I'm making the model into 3 separate parts with their own diffuse, normal, and specular map. I have the diffuse and normal at 2048x2048 and the specular map at 1024x1024.

The finished model is probably going to be around 30k.

Is that a little too much for a model like this?

SouthpawSid · Jun 2012

way too much. Looks amazing tho. If this was me, I'd go for closer to 15k triangles. Which is still a little heavy... haha.

Docm30 · Jun 2012

I don't think 30k for a huge centrepiece prop is too much for a modern game. Not at all.

Looking great, anyway.

WarrenM · Jun 2012

I agree. If the room isn't hyper detailed around it, a hero piece like this is fine at that triangle count. It's not ideal, but it can definitely work.

Four6810 · Jun 2012

That's a bit of a relief. I've been playing around with the Simplygon feature in UDK to lower the poly count. Right now it's at 32,730. I'll try to lower it a little bit more.

Here's more screenshots of the model near completion.

Drav · Jun 2012

Work on the texture more, you are letting the model do the work, rather than making the texture stand out on its own. Some specular differences between the materials would help, as it all looks a bit similar with just different colours.

Good bake tho, and nice high poly too

AlanSMitchell · Jun 2012

the dude in your reff looks slimy maybe try a slim pass or something ^^

circle of friends · Jun 2012

Really excellent, I love the boney textures, its looking great. I think the metal's a bit bland right now though. You could perhaps mix in some bottley greens, blues and browns like the ref?

Low · Jun 2012

Holy shit this is certainly on a nice track! I agree textures need some more lovin' but I would love to see texture sheets and/or your texture workflow.

Iciban · Jun 2012

i agree. Maybe make the alien look slimy would be cool. This model is insane tho. So much detail.

Four6810 · Jun 2012

Yeah, textures are pretty bland at the moment. I kind of see this as the first pass. I'll try posting the texture sheets tomorrow when I've got the time.

I'll play around with material editor to give the jockey a more slimy look. Shouldn't be too hard.

Fomori · Jul 2012

Finally had a look at this. Nice lighting and it looks like your normal map is working great. Looking forward to what you do to push those textures.

ScoobyDoofus · Jul 2012

I think with some continued texture work, and a nice presentation you'll have a real winner here.
This is looking great so far.

Four6810 · Jul 2012

Fomori - Thanks. Can't go wrong with 3 point lighting. Well, sort of. I have some other fill lights to bring out the specular high lights.

ScoobyDoofus - Yeah, I'm going to keep working on the texture. For now, I'm just going to take a shot break. I feel like I've been neglecting my modeling sessions for a while now.

Here some updates on the model's textures. I'm mainly using Giger's painting as a reference now.

Lit:

Unlit with just the diffuse:

Diffuse texture sheets:

odium · Jul 2012

No edge wear and tear at all...?

Four6810 · Jul 2012

odium - There is some, but looking at them at this resolution, I see they're not visible. Thanks for pointing that out. That will be the first thing I work on when I get back to this.

Tidus · Jul 2012

I still don't get why everything in videogames has to be rusty and damaged. The chair is completely isolated in a giant room with no objects, and doesn't look like it can be moved. The design also implies that the chair and the guy have been in the same position for centuries.

There's honestly no logical explanation for edge wear.

odium · Jul 2012

Because things decompose, rot, rust etc. Yes, maybe edge wear like this thing was dragged and dropped about the place is wrong. But theres no way to tell at all where the edges are, because the spec map actually looks like a diffuse map copy thats maybe just been greyscaled or something?

Adding grime, dirt and rust isn't just "MAEK IT NEXT GENZORZ!", it adds character, and also lets your eyes easily pick out features you might usually miss.

ATM, I would be far more concerned with how the spec looks, rather than the edges.

Stormie · Jul 2012

There's no rust on space jockey and barely any wear in the movie. I think that would be a bit excessive. But It's Tida's model and he has done a awesome job. Space Jockey has a place in my heart for it's fantastic design.

respawnrt · Jul 2012

Is this from the movie ?

there seems to be quite a lot of rust and leaks of rust. and
oxidated metal of some sort.Lots of hues of dark blue grey blue etc in the spec.The floor looks like a mess verry rusty and contrasting specular.I'm with odium here, his advice sounds good.

Tidus · Jul 2012

Yes, but that doesn't mean everything in a videogame has to be fifty years old. An artist should be able to transfer their style and make an impression out of anything.

Making something shine isn't only about making the rest look aged. Variety of colours offers a better alternative, in my opinion. And standing out of the trend is a great way to discover and learn.

Anyway, talking about the jockey, yeah, I would work the specular map a lot. You should play with a gloss map too, and lower the specular ammount.

respawnrt · Jul 2012

But he says at the start of the thread that he works on the version from Ridley's Alien which is more than fifity years old if i remember.

Tidus · Jul 2012

I was talking about common art direction in games. I was replying to odium's response, not yours

Four6810 · Jul 2012

odium - You're observant. Yes, the spec map at the moment is just an altered version of the diffuse map. I'm currently messing around with the spec map and seeing how things look in game. Creating a specular map is something I never really focused on before, so this should be good practice.

respawnrt - That is a good ref for me to work with. This is one that I really overlooked. Thanks.

WIP - Space Jockey Alien

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