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(WIP) Feathered T-Rex for UDK

Hello!

Thanks for taking the time to look at this thread. I'm in the process of creating a feathered Tyrannosaurus Rex game mesh for Unreal Engine 3, and will be in much need of critique as this is my first attempt at a pre-historic creature.

Below you'll see the concept pieces and the progress made thus far. I'll be regularly updating this thread with any progress made and hopefully any changes you guys suggest! :)

(Oh, and I'm not sure how .GIF images work in the forum so open the images in a new tab to see them animate).


Planning_Silhouette_and_Skeleton_zps883a6a78.gif

Planning_Final_Concept_zps36abb524.gif

Production_ZSpheres_and_Base_Mesh_zps770cc171.gif

Replies

  • _DMage_
    Exelent dude, Just asking what are your polycount on this model
  • Helixos
    _DMage_ wrote: »
    Exelent dude, Just asking what are your polycount on this model

    Thank you! The finished low poly mesh will be somewhere between 8000 and 12000 tris - Definitely no more than 12k.
  • Helixos
    Production_Improving_Base_Mesh_Form_and_Shape_zpsa1cb9a74.gif

    Spent a few hours improving the shape of the base mesh at subdiv level 2. Anything glaringly obvious that could be improved? :)
  • AndrewHelenek
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    AndrewHelenek polycounter lvl 6
    As an avid dinosaur enthusiast, I can not wait to see the progress of this!
  • Helixos
    As an avid dinosaur enthusiast, I can not wait to see the progress of this!

    Thanks Andrew!
  • Helixos
    Production_Sculpting_Progress_zpsa25be119.gif

    Sculpt is coming along nicely! Few things, for example the arm, definitely need work but it's looking half decent!
  • Helixos
    Production_Sculpting_Progress_02_zpsddc23077.gif

    Made quite a bit of progress today. What you guys think? Anything looking out of place?
  • aston91
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    aston91 polycounter lvl 6
    Looking really good, i would say the only thing is the arm needs thinning down at the top looks a little too large for a t rex arm. Looking forward to the texture!
  • Buzzcore
    I like your progress, however I think the feet could do with some work. They look a little clumpy. The Trex should look as if it is running on it's tippy toes, but yours seem to look like feet in themselves, with the heel being totally separate.

    Take this image for example.
    3FCDrlk.jpg

    As you can see the foot starts at the heel and the trex is walking on its toes.
  • Helixos
    aston91 wrote: »
    Looking really good, i would say the only thing is the arm needs thinning down at the top looks a little too large for a t rex arm. Looking forward to the texture!

    I think you're right, the arms do need some work. Thanks for the feedback!
    Buzzcore wrote: »
    I like your progress, however I think the feet could do with some work. They look a little clumpy. The Trex should look as if it is running on it's tippy toes, but yours seem to look like feet in themselves, with the heel being totally separate.

    Take this image for example.
    3FCDrlk.jpg

    As you can see the foot starts at the heel and the trex is walking on its toes.

    I do see what you mean... I'll work on correcting the feet next. Thanks for your help! :)
  • Helixos
    Production_Sculpting_Progress_03_zps6d177a02.gif

    Spent a few hours adding in muscle forms and defining areas and fixed the issue with the back of the foot. Still a lot of work to go!
  • Parralax
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    Parralax polycounter lvl 4
    Looks good, all I would say is that the head looks a little too cartoony, you could do with giving it a more menacing look. I would suggest doing this by making the head (and especially the mouth) longer and thinner vertically like the images that buzzcore has posted above. I would also suggest adding a thin defined ridge above the eye (kind of like an eyebrow) which really helps to convey anger and make it look more like a man-eating beast.

    Good progress overall though and the gif images make it a lot easier to understand what changes you have made in each update.
  • Sparr
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    Sparr polycounter lvl 12
    Try pulling the feet in to where the arms are.
  • Buzzcore
    Feet look a lot better now!
  • Helixos
    Parralax wrote: »
    Looks good, all I would say is that the head looks a little too cartoony, you could do with giving it a more menacing look. I would suggest doing this by making the head (and especially the mouth) longer and thinner vertically like the images that buzzcore has posted above. I would also suggest adding a thin defined ridge above the eye (kind of like an eyebrow) which really helps to convey anger and make it look more like a man-eating beast.

    Good progress overall though and the gif images make it a lot easier to understand what changes you have made in each update.

    Thanks for the crit Parralax. Yeah, the head is a little exaggerated... But I think that's just down to my (Below) average drawing skills for the concept :P I'll work on what you said though!
    Sparr wrote: »
    Try pulling the feet in to where the arms are.

    I'm not sure what you mean, Sparr? Do you mean so they're aligned with the arms from the front perspective view?
    Buzzcore wrote: »
    Feet look a lot better now!

    Cheers Buzzcore! :thumbup:
  • naruSol
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    naruSol polycounter lvl 18
    I think he means the feet are set far too wide for ol' rex to remain stable when walking. He would have to be waddling and taking tiny quick steps.
  • Helixos
    naruSol wrote: »
    I think he means the feet are set far too wide for ol' rex to remain stable when walking. He would have to be waddling and taking tiny quick steps.

    I see! I'll get working on correcting the legs and feet. Thanks naruSol (And Sparr!)
  • Helixos
    Production_Sculpting_Progress_04_zpsee4366c4.gif

    Haven't been able to work on this project for a while, but having to pick it up again now as there is a milestone deadline approaching.

    Thought it was about time I added some scales! My method so far has been to mask in the scales, then when I'm done with the larger areas of scaling, I'll switch to using a few alphas for the less prominent detail.

    Crits welcome! :)
  • DWalker
    The arms - especially the upper arms - seem a bit puffy. The arms of a t-rex, iirc, were roughly the size of a man's arms; they were almost vestigial (and paleontologists still can't agree how they were used).
  • Helixos
    DWalker wrote: »
    The arms - especially the upper arms - seem a bit puffy. The arms of a t-rex, iirc, were roughly the size of a man's arms; they were almost vestigial (and paleontologists still can't agree how they were used).

    Thanks for the crit! Yeah the arms definitely are a little puffy, you're right. I've since moved on from the sculpt but I'll make sure to correct any puffiness in the arm of the low resolution mesh. :)
  • Helixos
    Production_Detailing_zps93a00ac0.gif

    Submission_Sculpt_zpscceb99fa.gif

    Production_Optimisation_zps10022e9b.gif

    Updates! Above shows the final sculpt version and the game mesh, which is almost complete. Any crits on how I could go about optimising the game mesh any better?/Are there any problem areas that I'm missing?

    Thanks for all the replies so far! Much appreciated! :)
  • Helixos
    Low_Res_Submission_zpsf5038d5d.gif

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQIcZ8VtwLE"]UDK - Feathered T-Rex Game Mesh (WIP)[/ame]

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_iqSwgbrp8"]ZBrush - Feathered T-Rex Sculpt [/ame]


    P3D
    http://p3d.in/gZKds/wireonsmooth+spin

    Production_Polypainting_2_zps654543c9.gif

    More updates. Having to flit between projects now as final deadlines are approaching fast! Working towards getting the polypaint and unwrap completed this week before moving onto building the rig and skinning. Crits of the paint appreciated!
  • Helixos
    Final_Polypaint_zpsdb1ec49e.gif

    Production_Unwrapping_zps2900e6a8.gif

    Production_Testing_Maps_zps397c32d4.gif

    OK, so I need some help with the issue I'm having with the normal map.

    It appears as though the mirrored half of the normal map is inverted, but I'm not sure as to why this is happening... Here is my workflow;

    1. Unwrap one half of the mesh
    2. Mirror and weld the mesh
    3. Grab the mirrored UVs in the UV editor and move them 1 unit to the right outside of the texture space
    4. Bake the normals
    5. Reposition the UVs of the mirrored side -1 unit
    6. Apply the maps
    7. ???

    What am I doing wrong guys and girls?

    Cheers
  • Helixos
    Production_Mirrored_Normal_Issue_zps4d4d8825.jpg

    Guys, I'm in need of assistance.

    I just don't know what else to do here. I've gone through ever thread, article, tutorial about dealing with mirrored UVs and I'm just not getting it. What am I doing wrong?

    Eternal gratitude for whoever can help me out here. Thanks!
  • CactusFantastico
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    CactusFantastico polycounter lvl 12
    Are you sure the normals are Y- and not Y+? because UDK will show weird errors if the green channel is flipped properly.
  • Helixos
    Are you sure the normals are Y- and not Y+? because UDK will show weird errors if the green channel is flipped properly.

    I swizzled the coordinates in xNormal to be 'X+ Y- Z+', so no it's not that...

    The normal map is displaying correctly on the side of the model that does not have inverted faces, but not the mirrored side. Just can't get my head around it. Thanks for your reply!
  • xXm0RpH3usXx
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    xXm0RpH3usXx polycounter lvl 13
    did you every try to first put the symmetry on there, then collapse and put a "reset x forms" on it?
  • Helixos
    did you every try to first put the symmetry on there, then collapse and put a "reset x forms" on it?

    Yeah, that's what I'm doing. Just to clarify my general workflow for this;

    1. Unwrapped half of mesh
    2. Applied a symmetry modifier
    3. Collapsed the stack
    4. Moved the mirrored UVs out of the 0-1 space by exactly 1 unit in the X
    5. Triangulated the mesh
    6. Reset x forms
    7. Exported as an FBX
    8. Calculated the ray distance in xNormal (Didn't use a projection cage)
    9. Repositioned the mirrored UVs by -1 unit in the X so they overlap again
    10. Reset x forms again
    11. Import everything into UDK...

    Is there something I'm doing wrong/missing?

    Thanks for your input dude.
  • Mandinga
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    Mandinga polycounter lvl 18
    Helixos,

    Try using ActorX to export this guy over if hes gonna be deforming. Our experience has been that actorx will be the brute force method when FBX fails to give you the intended results.
  • Helixos
    Production_Presenting_the_Mesh_In_UDK_zps89b95f14.gif

    Finally got everything together and in engine, although there's still a lot of editing to do. I'm happy with the results so far! Need to get started on the rig as soon as possible so expect more soon!

    Mandinga wrote: »
    Helixos,

    Try using ActorX to export this guy over if hes gonna be deforming. Our experience has been that actorx will be the brute force method when FBX fails to give you the intended results.

    Hey Mandinga, yeah I'll make sure to use ActorX when he's all rigged and skinned, thanks for the advice! :)

    Thanks for all the help so far guys.
  • Helixos
    Production_Skinning_Issue_zps9db0eb5a.gif

    OK guys I've hit another problem. This time it's the skin modifier, for some reason I can't see the influence of the bone envelopes on the mesh vertices... They should show colour information in the same way that soft selection does, but, I click on an envelope and... nothing.

    Could someone explain what's going on here?

    Thanks!
  • SkywardWizard
    Try turning off X-Ray mode.
  • Helixos
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNUS_iycmSI"]UDK - Testing Animations - YouTube[/ame]

    (Switch to HD for awesomeness)

    Just a quick video showing the animations on the (almost) complete mesh.

    I've done the AnimTree/Blending but I'll showcase that later when I've set him up to be a NPC.

    The problem with the foot falling through the floor... I've got no idea as of how to solve this without completely screwing up the half-decent walk cycle I already have.

    How can I prevent his foot from ghosting?

    Cheers everyone.
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