Sketchbook: Kindri

[Kindri]

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[Kindri]

Update:
Got my gremlin body roughly fleshed out. Still need to add the details and clean up a bit:
C&C appreciated

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y295/frootsmoothie/gremlin_start.jpg

[Kindri]

update

changed the hair a bit, not sure if I like it though

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3067/2690823604_e7aee177ea_o.jpg

[Kindri]

My photoshop skillage is still embarrassingly bad, but here's a quick paintover of how I think I'm going to take the colors:

damn I just cringe looking at "preview" mode, hehe. Hope to hold a candle to some of the posters on this forum someday.

[Kawe]

I like your colors. You may want to pick another background color though cause that creature seems to almost be the same color as the background.

[Kindri]

Thanks Kawe, you're right about the background. I've since gone back and changed it to a different color.


Well I started sculpting. I didn't spend too much time on anything since this was more of a practice in seeing if I can get my normals onto my low poly.





I was able to get my normals on the body (victory!) - however, when I try to do it for the head I run into some serious issues.
I'm just using the default 3Ds render-to-texture - so when I import my high poly and make a cage, the cage just looks like a giant explosion of vertices. Then if I try to render the normals, everything is a "ray miss" so basically nothing is generated at all. I'm getting pretty frustrated with it and haven't been able to find any easily-googleable solutions :(

I'm really starting to hate normal mapping! Everyone on this forum makes it look so easy ;)

[Kawe]

Did you check out the normal mapping thread?

[Kindri]

I looked at that thread but most of the info seemed to be about advanced techniques that were a little over my head.

Ben's tutorial saved the day though!
It's funny how some of the simplest noob questions are the hardest ones to find answers for. I watched 3 or 4 tutorials on render-to-texture and none of them mentioned that using reset/push magically makes your cage awesome -_-

I think I just embarrass myself making these posts. Oh well, all for the sake of learning :)

[Kindri]

quick update:

Ok, finally got my normals and some diffuse on there!

Gonna add some alphas to the tail very soon.

I've never done a spec map, but I plan to add one :)


update:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3204/2721437154_2af96512a5_o.jpg

[Rens]

well for someone who just started,
its very nice, fun colors, nice proportions,

the wireframe is also good for a start, but you might want to have a look at the joints,
ben also has some info on this, (at the right bottom of his tutorial page, if i remember correctly)

keep practicing

[Kindri]

Thank you for the feedback Rens :) I went back and added some edge loops to the knees and elbows, and a little bit to the shoulder. I wasn't sure about hips - I've never rigged anything before but I couldn't figure out if the hips needed anything, though I guess I'll find out when I go to pose/rig this character o_o

Also random question - I know most people don't read this sketchbook but it'd be nice if I could avoid making a topic somewhere else - is it possible to make a plane two-sided (texture showing on both sides)? The loincloth and fur alphas on the tail are invisible from the backside and I'd like to have the diffuse show on both sides if possible. Thanks in advance.

[Rens]

you can set the material to 2 sided,

hit "m" for the material editor > it shows in the middle, on the right side.

[Kindri]

Ah, thank you very much!

[Kindri]

Haven't updated in a while :x
I was busy finishing up with school (yay for graduating with a totally unrelated degree!)... But now I'm done and can totally focus on cranking out a portfolio in the next few months!

gremlin:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3102/2797164598_ac89b24335_o.jpg

updated my iguana beast texture a little, since the last one was pretty sad:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3285/2794046097_e03a1039d2_o.jpg

[Rens]

I would suggest studying alot of wireframes.

There are many vertices that look like stars, (a vertex with more then 4 edges ) try to avoid that. Also there are many faces that can be removed since they dont add alot of detail to the model,
Though i think its better to start a new one with the knowledge you gained, then to restore this model.

When i render a model, i mostly set the anti aliasing on catmul-rom, that way the texture comes out less blurry. (somewhere in the rendering tab)

keep it up

[Kindri]

Thanks for the heads up. Could you be more specific as to why it is important to avoid "star" vertices? I tried to avoid any n-gons, but I've never heard of avoiding vertices with more than 4 edges, so am curious as to what they do.

I'm going to go back and re-topologize a little bit I guess

edit: ok tried to clean up the mesh a little bit (replaced the old pic). There are still some "stars" but I think its getting better

[Rens]

You avoid them to

Keep your model clean
So it subdivides better
Deforms better/ has less streching

But its not a sin if they appear, specialy with low poly models youl find them coming back.

Im no expert!

Its more a pointer so you would think a bit more about the wireframe and how it flows, and not weld everything together :)
Also made a step forward with that cleanup, nice work

[Kindri]

I decided to go back and redo my faun character. The original was fun to make but a total mess and obviously not portfolio quality, so I'm starting again from scratch.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3178/2839960041_8b60c1276c_o.jpg

I need to clean up a bit and haven't figured out what I'm going to do with the hair. Probably alphas?

[Kindri]

I had so many computer problems this week I haven't gotten much done :( Now that everything is working again, I started sculpting:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3118/2861190214_1f6e94a63f_o.jpg

I think I am starting to feel more comfortable with zbrush

[Kindri]

learning everything on your own can be very slow and frustrating -_-


better than my first faun at least :3 this one doesn't look like it has down syndrome

5.6k poly, 1024x1024 diffuse,spec,normal

[Ged]

good effort.

Some crits
the sculpt isnt really showing much of the fauns secondary forms, where is the anatomy?musculature? etc. At the moment its just some smooth shapes with subtle detail on top. You could have alot more information in there, she doesnt need huge defined muscles but some hints all round could do alot because of that the normal map doesnt have much effect on the piece. Hope that helps.

[Kindri]

Thanks for the crits Ged, I appreciate it.

I agree about the normal map, I was a little disappointed that it wasn't really reading well. I guess I am still pretty reserved with zbrush, I'm always scared I'll ruin something if I do anything too drastic, but in reality I suppose I just need to get comfortable and sculpt away.

I guess it's zbrush sculpting practice tonight :)

[man_o_mule]

i would have to say that the jaw area really sticks out to me. She seems to be lacking a jaw. It looks like her chin is poking out of a round glob of clay. grab some reference of some hot chicks. even they have jaw lines.

other than that i would have to say you have made quite an improvement from the last revision. Keep at it.

[Kindri]

Thanks for taking the time to crit man-o-mule!
For the chin, I guess I was trying to go for a nymphish look which is why I chose a very diminutive jaw, though I guess I must have missed the mark in that department D: I tend to find smallish jaws attractive so it may be an over-projection of that.

I was considering doing a model of the egyptian queen Nefertiti as my next model. She has a very strong jaw (the historical version of Angelina Jolie, imo!) I can focus on improving my zbrushing, and the jawline can't dissapoint!

[Rens]

oeh i see skills improving!

Like Ged said, it still looks quite cylindrical.

The neck and pelvis/crotch look pretty odd. The neck is lacking muscles at the back, and the crotch looks too short, and ends quite suddenly.

Start looking at how the muscles flow, so you can see where your going to put your strokes on in zb.

I like to use the "clay" brush, seems to be working quite well for me, maybe check out some other brushes aswell. Also you can use the "move" brush to push shapes around a bit.
This can be very useful, not only to change but to see what happens or what i will look like.

Go rough, put on some strokes and see what it becomes, because shapes are all curves that flow into eachother and that way you'll get rid of the cylindrical look :)

Oh and maybe go with natural breasts instead of big anime ;)


Its going great, keep it up

[Kindri]

Thanks for the suggestions Rens! I tried out the clay brush last night and I really liked it, it feels very natural. I guess I need to play around with more brushes!
Anatomy studies time now ^_^

[Kindri]

I started sculpting my Nefertiti.
I am trying to improve my anatomy, though I am still trying to get totally comfortable with zbrush. <3 clay brush though