Female Game Char.
polycounter lvl 11
**completed**
It's been so long, couldn't face it to dig out the old thread~
I picked it up again a while ago and reckon, I guess, i feel i'm about 95% done with the modeling (5% more tidying up here and there...)
I added simple colors in Max just to help visualize what it might look like when.. if.. i can texture it.
She's still only got Chun li's hair.. that's something i will tackle later, make some different hair styles.
I made different accessories with the aim of making a game character that could be customized..
Its currently 7758 tris (including underlying mesh, which i guess should be deleted as it won't be visible..)
I guess i can call it a finished character in terms of modeling...
It's time to try and unwrap it..
all crits, comments greatly appreciated~!
It's been so long, couldn't face it to dig out the old thread~
I picked it up again a while ago and reckon, I guess, i feel i'm about 95% done with the modeling (5% more tidying up here and there...)
I added simple colors in Max just to help visualize what it might look like when.. if.. i can texture it.
She's still only got Chun li's hair.. that's something i will tackle later, make some different hair styles.
I made different accessories with the aim of making a game character that could be customized..
Its currently 7758 tris (including underlying mesh, which i guess should be deleted as it won't be visible..)
I guess i can call it a finished character in terms of modeling...
It's time to try and unwrap it..
all crits, comments greatly appreciated~!
Replies
You used UV maps for this?
I followed this ref for the body proportions (pic taken before i shortened the arms)~
The neck looks odd because i hadn't joined the 2 sides (the body is mirrored until i join it into 1 ready for texture etc.) No UV maps.
Yes, it's all vertex colored just for now, to give a loose guide to what it might look like when textured (my next challenge).
Thanks for the crits/comments guys. Kinda scratching my head right now, the only thing i'm thinking to try scale the head up, make it bigger, i think that might be whats throwing it off... i think that might be it.
Other than that, i followed the body ref in the pic exactly~
Really wanna try and unwrap/texture this~
[update] Yup, i think a bigger head will definitely fix it~!
so, a bigger head, then on to an adventure in texturing~!
indecision, the bane of my life~!
but, i scaled up the head and can now see it was def too small and what was throwing off the proportions.
so, fixed that,
now... how in the world do i go about unwrapping this?
Is is correct to unwrap the head as a separate texture sheet?
I deformed the mouth by shifting around the polys to get an idea if the mouth setup was heading in the right direction~ I have no idea how to rig or deform..
If i ever get to the point of having it fully textured and decent looking i would love to pose it~
These are the rough approaches i have tried (all untidy, but you get the idea i hope..)
1# the most space saving, but most warped..
2# less warped
3# almost no warp, but awkward map (i could save more space by placing parts of the map over each other..i guess..but still most awkward map..)
I'm hoping someone can tell me the best way to approach this.
Really appreciated any help on this guys~! thanks..
1#
2#
3#
3 Is ridiculous, never do that
You could also cut it in half (front/back) or in quarters (think of orange slices) so that you get a sawtooth looking map
Unwrapping spheres usually sucks, it can help sometimes to plan for it in advance and build your topology around it (like using subdivided spherized cubes instead of spheres/geospheres, so that you can unwrap it as if it were a box)
the saw tooth/orange slice method sounds a good compromise..
In the meantime, im gonna continue with unwrapping the rest of the head, plenty of tutorials on how to do that
any game industry pros who can recommend best approach for the buns i would love to know how~~
I was wondering, is it reasonable to always expect some distortion when texturing a low poly for maximized texture space?
I almost finished UVW for half of the head (i'm guessing i can match the other half after..)
also, one more question, if i may, for some reason the vertices wont weld now~?! i had no problem breaking up the map and welding back together before now...
Also,for the hair, why not just opacity map it?
Well...I'm pulling my hair out right now~!
I followed this seemingly simple pelt head unwrap guide to the word,
http://www.3dtotal.com/tutorial/3d_studio_max/perfect_uvs_by_pelt_mapping_in_3ds_max/pelt_mapping_01.php
(hope it's ok to post link and pics?)
but, well, it doesn't work for me. I think the 'spinner' might be causing the problem as mine isn't a nice circle like in the example, but a hexagon attached at the mouth for some reason???
I also detached the hair buns as separate objects to keep the mesh as simple as possible to work with...
Please, please, please any solutions before i got no hair left~~~
*tutorial
i feel so frustrated why i can't achieve the same, even with a much simpler mesh than in the tutotial
it's like it's mocking me~~~
My UV map before i tried the tutorial took hours to get the checked squares looking so-so..and it still needs a lot of work..
whereas the tutorial seems to make it look like an almost effortless task.
I don't understand why my spinner points for the pelt aren't picking up the seam edges correctly???
the tutorial didn't cover how to do the top/back of the head or the ears..so i had to go it alone as best i could~
This was the best result i could get for the buns for space and least dist. (i spent ages trying out diff. ways)
**I'm really hoping that if the seam (red line) is mirrored identically, it wont be an issue when painting if i also match up the paint?
both display almost exactly the same UV's, so i guess the best one is the easiest to paint/texture space saving?
Am hoping for any crits or advice before i start painting~
**!! ooh, and i have a question, if anyone can help,
where the mouth bag joins with the lips, do i need to combine the mesh and weld, or can i leave it as a separate object?
Thanks~
**!! is it OK to keep as 2 separate objects with no weld here?
Since i am just a super eager self taught hobbyist with no schooling in 3D, i was thinking i would paint the map in photoshop as .tga (it seems this is standard texture format from what i reserached?)
keep a simple approach to try and complete this before i even consider trying out high poly zbrush sculpts.
also, i kinda wanted to give it the same look and feel as SSFIV, Final fantasy, other such game style texturing, rather than aim for a realistic paint.
I'm really keen to know if my UV map is OK? before i start painting...
I prefer it when stuff is wielded and part of one mesh, I don't see why you'd need to seperate the mouth from the rest of the head? if it's to save uv, you don't need all that much to begin with for the inner part of the mouth anyways so..
I'm no uv master, but I think your stuff looks legit. I don't know what the sword in the middle is though :P
loving the character overall and especially the customize idea!
just combine everything into one mesh and I'll be happy ;p
here's painting progress. still a long ways to go, trying to feel it out...
eye highlights (the white bits that make them look shiny?) will be a separate mesh overlaid later, i guess this is how to do it from some tutorials i visited..
"I don't know what the sword in the middle is though :P"
that's the mouth bag, i guessed it can be super small as it won't contain any real detail and cause pixelation problems.
am battling with making perfect alpha maps using .tga alpha channel method~~
it seems tough getting images with fine details (eyelashes in this case) crisp and clean without any kind of washy outline.
It's basically 99% how it's gonna look now when i'm ready to call it done,
so any crits, things i've overlooked, greatly appreciated~~!
I think the light directly above the head might be making the parting look brighter than it should. The texture map is darker in that area than the rest of the face. probably should adjust that light to check~
No idea how to rig or animate, so just had a bash at moving around faces to get an idea of what it may look like if rigged...
The idea of learning how to rig and pose it feels like a distant dream~
also, think i'll make the mouth bag a darker color.
I've learnt a lot so far, and hoping the process of texturing the body will be a lot quicker..
either way, they still need more contrast i think?
wish i knew how to get a perfect lighting setup~!
I'm edging closer day by day, when i can squeeze in time..
i wonder why the head looks so much bigger from behind?
probably gonna get rid of some of the obvious symmetry in the arms now that i finally finished the seam texturing (which took a while to find a good method..)
...and now my computers puny processing power makes itself be known that it does not like having to handle all this animation stuff~~~~!