WIP Dragon Disciple Character

Wirt · Jun 2007

Hello everybody, I'm pretty new here. I've been making this model for a university course, it's my first character model so I really could use all the critics and suggestions you may have. I would love to export it to the NWN2 game engine but I think it's a bit too early now

. I used a drawing made by my sister for the head as reference, and used some male body pictures found on the web for the body reference. I browsed a good number of dragon and half dragon wings and finally came up with these, not really sure about the topology tho. Since I sealed the membrane to the rest of the geometry I think I got non-manifold geometry now, would this be a problem? Also I probably used too many polys so far...
I think it's enough for now, I'll wait for your feedback. Thanks in advance.

Wirt · Jun 2007

While I was waiting for your replies I tried to follow my own advice and reduced the number of tris on the torso and rear hair. Also I bulked him a bit cause I feel he should be more strong as a half dragon. What do you think about this geometry? Will it deform correctly once animated? Will it be a pain to texture (I never did a texture so far)? As I am pretty noobish here any critic/comment/advice will be greatly apreciated. Thank you

Japhir · Jun 2007

i like the main shape of him, but the geometry flows very rigid, making the character less interesting. you already improved it a bit in your second post, but i think you can make this much more interesting. right now you could delete lots of verts/polys without losing any detail, so make every polygon define something (except for some parts, where extra geometry is needed so that stuff deforms correctly)
the flow on the arms is very unusual, look up some other wireframes of arms.
i don't know about how stuff deforms really, just try it out and you'll see.
hope it helps!

Davision3D · Jun 2007

Legs and Wings need more polys for animateing it good!
The forearm looks too short to me. The topology of his face needs improvement and you should consider defining more shape in the face, it looks very simple.

I think its allready very good for your first character!

Ott · Jun 2007

As far as your first character goes, I think you are doing well. My first character was aptly named "Plumber-Man", because he looked like a green pile of shit.

Now, as far as what I think of the originality of this, honestly there is nothing new here. I really hope you think of something new to do with it. What will really stand your character out from the other generics is giving this guy some more personality. Right now, the only thing that says "Demon / Dragon guy" is the fact he has a few horn things, claw-like hands, and some wings.

Let's get crazy with him and come up with something new and original. Let's make YOUR dragon-man something different. What sort of characteristics would he have? What sort of armor or weapons or clothing that would set him apart from 500 other dragon-dudes? What other sort of physical characteristics would really make this guy something new and different.

You've got the basics of the modeling down, now think of something that will really set him apart!

Wirt · Jun 2007

Thanks a lot for your replies! I'll work on improving it following your suggestions and I will update ASAP.
@ Ott: I'm working on an armor for him, I'm not very good at concepts right now but I'll do my best!
Cheers

Wirt · Jun 2007

Ok here's the update. I've been working a lot on this in these days, hope you like it

. I reworked the topology of the face and torso. I beefed up the face a little and added some distinctive features, the thing on his brow is a dragon scale, this is the major one, but I plan to add others with textures. He may look a little evil but he is actually good naturated, only al little bit more intimidating

, after all he has red dragon blood in his veins (for those who now d&d his alignent is chaotic good). In the torso I tried to get a better poly flow, and the fore arm was actually too short

. I think I can still optimize the poly count, especially in the face. Also next thing I will probably add some detail to the ears. Let me know what you think.

jaalto · Jun 2007

Wrist area is too 'fat'. I think it would look better if you make it a bit thinner.

nice progress

dejawolf · Jun 2007

for a first model, its good. just means you're just going to get better

now for some critique
i think you'd be surprised how "bent" human legs are.

they do not go straight up and down, entiher does the upper body.
you should do some anatomy study 101, the fix up this character. the design is extremely flat and uninteresting as well. lower chest area could do with a bit more shape,
instead of just the tapered tube look that you currently have. and try to make the wings look like they are actually part of the character, not like they were stabbed into the back, unless they're purely ornamental.
some muscles in the wing base would do a lot for the design.
and why not give him a tail?

Wirt · Jun 2007

Thanks guys for your crts and support.

merecraft: you are right, I thinned it a bit, I will post when I have other progress.

dejawolf: I checked some human body anatomy but my concern is: would the legs' bend show under those large pants? For the lower chest you are definitely right, I really need to make it look less tubed. I added some muscles to the wings, will post later. As for the tail, well I thought about it but in the end I discarded the idea especially because it would overplap with the huge sword he has on his back

.
Btw I almost finished the armor and sword, I'm planning to make a major update soon, so stay tuned

Wirt · Jun 2007

Ok here I am again. I tried to give more shape to the lower chest, thinned wrist, gived more muscles to wings, bent legs a little, added more detail to the ears. I also modeled a pair of earrings, but maybe I'd be better to place polys with alphas instead, need comfirm on this.

And now here's the major part of my progress, I really like how it turned out with the armor and the sword, hope you like it too

. Can't wait to texture him

. In my concept the armor and the sword are both made of mithril, magical and part of a set (diablo 2 docet

), the sword is kept in place by the armor that realeses it when he grabs it. I would like to texture some white glowing runes on the armor shoulders as well as in the center of the sword all along it. The sword is actually a mercurial greatsword, a nasty sword with quicksilver inside that will do x4 damage on critical strikes. The black gilet I have to decide if will be made of leather or if it will be a mithil chainmail. My main concern now is if I should let the armor pieces float on the body or weld them to the rest of the geometry. Comments and ctits always welcome!

Wirt · Jun 2007

Hi guys, I have a small design update, I figured that maybe I could go ahead and make him completely wicked

So I made this variation to the armor , the thing floating at the center is a gem, maybe a ruby with magical properties, the armor could be black with a little bit more matte and worn texture, as well as the sword. This way the main colours would be black and red which seem to me a good combo. Also modified his hair style a bit. Let me now what you think.
Cheers

neosorcerer · Jun 2007

Can he lift his arms above his head? Without getting stabbed in the neck? Can he bend at the waist without being impaled my his own 'armor'? Will it be able to animate at all?

it doesn't look functional...

Wirt · Jul 2007

Good point. Thanks for reply. Unfortunately I'm forced to take a little break on this because I have an exam this week, but I will come back and give a look at him as soon as I can.
Cheers

spider2cool · Jul 2007

woah love the wings...can not wait to see him textured and posed.

Wirt · Jul 2007

Thank you

Can't wait to get back to work

{scumworks} · Jul 2007

Look really nice, impressive for a first try.
I would try giving him a more dynamic feel, avoiding the stiff look.

By dynamic I meen this :
http://itchstudios.com/psg/tuts/construct.jpg

:edit - refering to the dude one the right ofc.

Wirt · Jul 2007

Thanks a lot! Going back to work today, I will try to follow your suggestion and make it more dynamic.
Cheers

Wirt · Jul 2007

Hello everybody, sorry for being so slow, I had a lot to do at work and at the university lately.
I tried to make his shape more dynamic and bent as scumworks and dejawolf said, hope I made it better

here's the pic:

Then I reworked the armor to make it more "animatable", as neosorcer suggested. The two stripes on his side are scale armorpieces, I will paint in the scales with taxtures and maybe also normal maps. The other two new pieces are made of metal, and everything is fixed with leather bands. Then I changed the shoulders part a bit and changed also the lower part of the upper body armor, I think it looks better and should animate more easily. I also added two cloth stripes because I felt there was something missing in the legs area.
Let me know what you think

I also reworked the sword, this way I like it better

Finally, I added more detail to the ears, not really sure of them though, maybe I added too many polys? Anyways here's a close up:

Comments and crits always welcome!
Cheers

WIP Dragon Disciple Character

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