Mixamo Zombie Creation Contest-Teen 'Mom'ster or LumberJack O Lantern

jayson · Oct 2012

Latest pic:

Critiques and comments are welcomed and appreciated!

Two concepts to throw out there. Lumber Jack O Lantern and Teen "Mom"ster. Aren't puns fun? Anyway, lame names aside, I'm not completely sure which one I'll run with, however I'm leaning toward the latter. Some really rough, really quick sketches:

nkonstantino · Oct 2012

LOL @ Teen Momster.
That's pretty disturbing.
I kind of really want to see it.

jayson · Oct 2012

@nkonstantino: Honestly, at first, I wasn't overly impressed with the pumpkin/zombie theme, as this is kinda out of my genre. I'm not into the horror thing (more of a hero and villain kinda guy). Ya the thought occurred to me that that concept may be offensive to some (not saying your one of them) I guess based on how it's percieved and by whom is percieving, but as I said I'm not really into the horror thing. So my goal is to try and take something grotesque and make it beautiful. Show a different side of a "zombie", a caring, nuturing side, I guess. As for as the title I just used it because I believe there is a TV show called Teen Mom and it suited my lame pun theme. Should be ok, if I do it right. The lumber jack was my first thought, but it seems kinda standard, this might add a unique twist to it. But I'm still undecided about which one. Thanks for the response. Much appreciated.

nkonstantino · Oct 2012

jayson wrote: »

@nkonstantino: Honestly, at first, I wasn't overly impressed with the pumpkin/zombie theme, as this is kinda out of my genre. I'm not into the horror thing (more of a hero and villain kinda guy). Ya the thought occurred to me that that concept may be offensive to some (not saying your one of them) I guess based on how it's percieved and by whom is percieving, but as I said I'm not really into the horror thing. So my goal is to try and take something grotesque and make it beautiful. Show a different side of a "zombie", a caring, nuturing side, I guess. As for as the title I just used it because I believe there is a TV show called Teen Mom and it suited my lame pun theme. Should be ok, if I do it right. The lumber jack was my first thought, but it seems kinda standard, this might add a unique twist to it. But I'm still undecided about which one. Thanks for the response. Much appreciated.

Yeah, I can totally see how it could become offensive, but the rough sketch of it seemed pretty unique. And if you color it and render it out to feel all nurturing and sweet then you could probably really minimize any offense someone might take with it.

Both of the concepts seem pretty neat though. This is outside what I'm used to doing too. :P

jayson · Oct 2012

I ran it by my wife and she liked the mom idea better than the lumberjack. Thanks again for the feedback and good luck with the mailman. It will be interesting to see what things people come up with. It's definetly a different theme.

jayson · Oct 2012

Not sure how many updates I'll do, but I got some proportions blocked out to give me a start on modelling. I'm also contemplating working some vines flowing out of the limbs and into the appendages as shown. Arms or legs or both. Hopefully that won't cause any issues with Mixamo's auto rigger??

Anais · Oct 2012

jayson wrote: »

Not sure how many updates I'll do, but I got some proportions blocked out to give me a start on modelling. I'm also contemplating working some vines flowing out of the limbs and into the appendages as shown. Arms or legs or both. Hopefully that won't cause any issues with Mixamo's auto rigger??

Sounds like a really cool design, Jayson.

Looks like you're thinking of elongating her arms and legs with small vines or fusing them along her limbs, correct? Then there's shouldn't be any issues. Unless you create several arms and legs out of vines, the Auto-Rigger should be able to handle it.

(Even if you guys run into trouble to Auto-rig your characters, Mixamo's support team is only an email away!)

jayson · Oct 2012

@Anais: Thanks for your help and quick response. One more quick one, if you're able. Would hair longer than shoulder length raise any issues in the auto-rigger?

Decided to commit to the "Teen Momster" concept. A little more design into the face structure and some 3D work. Just a roughed out base mesh for now. Still alot to do, but we're off and running:

Anais · Oct 2012

Usually it doesn't cause problems, no.
What will most likely happen is that it'll be skinned to the body... Which turns out well usually.

Unless it's a very long and massive quantity of hair. In which case it might present an issue though. Either way, if it does, let us know and we'll make sure to help you out.

RogerP · Oct 2012

looks good so far, also try using imageshack or something similar to post the pics easier to see it on the post than having to click

we are lazy people

jayson · Oct 2012

@xxxcubanxxx: lol, thanks, ya I'll look into that.

jayson · Oct 2012

Todays update: Fine tuned the proportions and such on the base mesh. Also blocked in some clothes and hair. Not sure if I want to go blonde or black yet. Dirty and graying in either regards. Also planning on adding a womans dress shirt opened and draped to either side of the belly.

jayson · Oct 2012

Pretty content with the base mesh now. Getting ready to start some detailing. Back to some concept/design today. Did a paint over of the pumpkin face and find myself torn between traditional yellow and an eerie blue for the eyes and mouth. As for the zombie aspect of the character I've decided to go away from the horrific death(sorry blood and gore fans) and take an approach that the pumpkin creature is draining the life out of her, hence creating a zombie. Comments and critiques are appreciated. Thanks.

MRJONES · Oct 2012

Wow, this is coming together very quickly! Is the pumpkin going to be growing inside or will it be growing on the outside of her stomach?

If it is going to be inside it could be cool if you try to get a kind of sub-surface scattering effect with the glow of the eyes. So it looks like it is glowing beneath a covering of thin, translucent skin. Might not work at all, but just throwing a crazy idea out there for you!

Keep it up!

jayson · Oct 2012

@MRJONES: Thanks. I was thinking it would be penetrating out from the inside. Thanks for the suggestion. That would have a nice effect. I'll see what I can do.

jayson · Oct 2012

Not much time during the week, but I was able to model in the seams on the shorts and start "carving" (ouch) the pumpkin. The eyes took awhile as I really wanted the right shape. Just need to clean it up, though not to much as some of the sloppiness I feel adds a nice creepy touchl, and as started, model in some slight eye brow ridges and eye socket wrinkles to give it a little personality.

jayson · Oct 2012

It's the weekend, so another small update. Refining the area around eye sockets and mouth. Quickly splashed on some color. Liking the orange, but the yellow was a poor choice of shade. All in all very happy with the direction this is heading.

jayson · Oct 2012

Experimented with materials on the pumpkin. Did some unwrapping as well as some sculpting on the tank top and "zombie-fying" the head. Nothing much yet. Just age the face a bit. Really happy with the glow in eyes. The same will be applied to mouth.

jayson · Oct 2012

Took a break from the belly and started the "Zombie" texture. Given my resources, I need to break up my workflow into seperate objects:

jayson · Oct 2012

Today's update: I roughed in some hair, but looking at this pic at least, I can't help but wonder if I should deviate from the original design with longer hair or if a shorter style might be better suited. Also wondering if I should go with the whited out eyes with some black veins or possibly a red iris. (maybe too vampiry??)

jayson · Oct 2012

Started the hair. Had some issues with the Alpha. Have to take a look a the texture. Still undecided about the hair. In general I feel it's suiting the style (the hair)

jayson · Oct 2012

Fix my alpha problem and the hair is pretty much complete:

jayson · Oct 2012

Progress has come to a crawl the past few days as I've been rather busy. Adjusted some proportions and modelled in the buttons, rivets and seams on the shorts. Also applied a base texture to the shorts, alittle something to start with. The plan is to do the same to the shirt (buttons and seams) then hit sculpting and detailing on both. That will be the goal for the week.

jayson · Oct 2012

An overview:

jayson · Oct 2012

Some more work on the shorts:

lotet · Oct 2012

good work on those jeans.

jayson · Nov 2012

@lotet: Thanks!

Happy Halloween

jayson · Nov 2012

Started sculpting and detailing the shirt. It's looking a little heavy as I'd like to achieve a thinner material as used in a dress shirt:

jayson · Nov 2012

Started sculpting the shapes on the arm. Still need alot of love:

MRJONES · Nov 2012

Wow! That clothing is ace. The arm is getting there. I would recommend subtly going over the vine forms with a really large inflate brush in Zbrush (If that's the software what you're using). Not too much mind, but it's a cheap trick to tighten the gaps between the vines. It should help round them out a bit too.

jayson · Nov 2012

@MRJONES: Hey, thanks for the input. I had something like that in mind. I use Blender, and though it has proved very useful and I am very appreciative, based on what I've seen ZBrush would be ideal for highpoly work.

As all major sculpting is done, I figured I'd do up the low poly. It came in at 14 433 tris. Aside from posing and lighting, I can spend some time giving a little TLC to each part. If I finish the belly, I'll post a Low poly bake later:

jayson · Nov 2012

And aquick shot of the highpoly render:

jayson · Nov 2012

About ready to call the belly, shirt, shorts, and tank top done. Need to hit the arm and leg pretty hard yet. Some small tweaks to the head and hair. As this is more of a "mutant alien" zombie, do the blue eyes fit? or were the white better?

nickolasnm · Nov 2012

I think the white eyes look better imo. Good job.

jayson · Nov 2012

@nickolasnm: Thanks. Still torn, but white would mean no glow, so maybe I'll stick with that. We'll see.

Finished the vines, just the transition and then time to hit the leg:

mixamo · Nov 2012

Just dropping in with a quick reminder! the contest ends November 30th at 11:59:59 PST!

jayson · Nov 2012

@mixamo: Roger that.

Been baking:

jayson · Nov 2012

soso · Nov 2012

I love the precision on the shorts ! =D

jayson · Nov 2012

@soso: Thanks alot! I was very happy with how they turned out:

Last update: Lots of tweaking to do overall, but at least its all small. Tried showing two sides: nuturing and angry mama bear.

jayson · Nov 2012

Construction Sheet and Texture Sheet. I'll post the Beauty shot tomorrow... later today... er...

jayson · Nov 2012

jayson · Dec 2012

And the money shot:

Heading over to try animation process.

jayson · Dec 2012

http://youtu.be/68ol--N9PpE

Mixamo Zombie Creation Contest-Teen 'Mom'ster or LumberJack O Lantern

Replies