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Praetor187 Character art thread (may be image heavy)

polycounter lvl 11
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praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
UPDATE: most current pieces

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Hello my fellow polycounters, Ive posted a few character threads here in the past but decided to consolidate any subsequent threads to just one, this one. Im on a journey to be a character artist (I know shocking :)) but im determined. Anyway here is some sample of my work that i have done and some WIP things as well. i hope you like them i'll be posting my projects on here, and am open to all comments. so join me in my journey I guess :).

A royal advisor model I did last year (2012)
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A soldier model im doing for some friends of mine and our project.
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practicing my texture work, im going to retexture the whole character but here is the face for now.
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The Cleopatra Showdown contest model I didnt get a chance to finish but im going back to it now and gonna finish her up.
RyHQd.jpg

Replies

  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hi everyone, its been a while :) just a small update, I recently finished up the high poly for my Cleopatra model, still working on the soldier model at the moment but making progress. Hope you guys like the update let me know what you think of course :)

    0BP9x.jpg
    uBJHG.jpg

    fooling around with mental ray for this one.
    QBL5c.jpg
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    hey everyone, here is where im at currently with the Cleopatra model. Got the AO bake done, im using the valve Character art guide as reference for this character for the texturing gonna shake it up a bit. Hope you like it, as always let me know your thoughts. :)

    JbjMuxb.jpg
  • Ravanna
    That cleo hi res sculpt is beautiful.
  • Elyaradine
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    Elyaradine polycounter lvl 11
    Your sculpts are great! The screens from within your sculpting app look sweet.

    The renders, and the ones in game engines, really let them down though in my opinion. Lighting isn't just dumping a light in a scene, turning on shadows, and calling it lit. In your mental ray one, for example, the ground and her feet gets lit up, but her face fades away. It could be helpful to think of it as a painting. For figures, you'd usually want a face to be the main focal point, and your lighting should support that instead of fight it.

    Hope that helps!
  • cozzbp
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    cozzbp polycounter lvl 9
    The fingers (or maybe the riggging?) is a bit off:
    uMfQxxy.png
    Other than that, looks fantastic!
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    @Ravana - thanks man im glad you like it :)

    @Elyaradine - Hey thanks for the reply, i agree about the game engine stuff an area I need to pick up the slack in for sure, I think the Cryengine Render I did is probably the best so far so i think im going to shift gears from marmoset to Cryengine and really get into the nuts and bolts of Cryengine for my in game rendering, I'll definitely be approaching my rendering techniques from the idea of a painting more as well and really make sure to highlight the faces of my characters. :)

    @Cozzbp - yeah the fingers are off quite a bit when I get some free time i'll be sure to go back and put her fingers in the proper positions. Thanks for the compliment too glad you like her. :)

    Thanks for the feedback so far guys, every little bit helps.
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Its been a looong time, how have you been? haven't had a whole mess of time to work on my stuff, but did get the chance to last week, so I decided to started texturing my Cleopatra model, I haven't touched her hair or clothing yet but been working on the skin, pretty happy with the results, and trying to improve my game engine rendering and presentation as well. Let me know what you guys think. :) thanks.

    pLw3vbl.jpg
    W5thG0h.jpg
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hey guys been a little while, just finished up my Cleopatra model. Learned a lot and taking some lessons from this one so lets see if the next model will be a step above now. :)

    rknZvq4.jpg
    LEXwZSe.jpg
    Ihckttg.jpg
  • PaulP
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    PaulP polycounter lvl 9
    Hey man cool stuff on here! Be careful with the spec on the eyes, its reading a bit white and glassy on your Cleopatra. Also the Philtrum and area above her top lip looks a bit off.
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    @SCB glad you like the work, thanks for pointing out the eyes and philtrum too looks like I still have work to do :), i'll make sure to keep it in mind on the next project.

    Here are some Cryengine renders of Cleopatra gonna call her officially done and move on.
    HwC26BT.jpg
    sVavKbn.jpg
  • e-freak
    that looks cool! are you using different materials/shaders for the different parts?
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    @ e-freak thanks man :), yeah I used the ilum shader in Cryengine for the clothing, and the skin, hair and eye shader for the organic parts.
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hey guys long time no see, just wanted to post this wip up before bed. progress on my retro soldier, hes close to done, just need to do his hands, and finish his backpack, then a detail pass and hes ready for LP. :) of course comments and crits are more than welcome.

    x1EtrrY.jpg
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hey Guys its been ages, but Im still here. (and plan to be much more regular with my posting from now on :) ) Anyway been working to revamp my work and do better with my presentation recently and I think Ive hit the sweet spot. Here is a render of my Cleo in Keyshot.
    qMP4Fis.jpg

    I also got some great advice while at GDC about my work and am going trough and making the changes. The first one Im redoing my female warrior model. I actually removed her from my portfolio recently. Here is the new model in Keyshot

    G8Pgjcr.jpg

    and just one from the front.

    5dwz2Cm.jpg

    Hope you guys like it, as always any feedback is much appreciated. :)
  • -Em'-
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    -Em'- polycounter lvl 8
    Both looks sweet ! Did you remodeled the high from scratch ? it looks really good !
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Thanks -Em'- glad you like it, I tweaked the face to give it more structure and added some things that weren't on the original model like the dagger and the belts. But most of it is from the original just with some minor tweaks.

    Just dropping by for a really quick update, I worked some more this weekend on my warrior model, got her all baked down, (the body and armor at least weapons will come soon.) As always let me know what you guys think

    Gi6Dv12.jpg
  • Di$array
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    Di$array polycounter lvl 5
    Damn it Praetor you are rocking the sh*t out of you character models of late and I'm loving every update.
  • gyarados
    Great work with the clothes of the two women. I was just wondering if you could post up a the wireframe of your latest work? I am curious as to how you laid out your polygons for the pieces that make up the skirt thing.
  • slosh
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    slosh hero character
    These are great man. Overall very nicely done. I have a couple crits. I think all of your heads need some work. Maybe tweak the underlying structure a bit. The latest warrior female's head looks the best. Also your AO looks too strong in your textures IMO. The texturing is solid but the shadowing is too dark. Most engines are leaning more and more towards engine driven AO and shadows and shaders that do a lot of the work so diffuse tends to be less contrasty. Great work and good luck! Character artist is a tough gig to get into.
  • Fnitrox
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    Fnitrox polycounter lvl 6
    Man this are really good. I'm really enjoying your progress as i'm trying to get better too...

    I've got a minor crit too though. In your cleopatra's and soldier models the cloth was really well done, while some of it on the female warrior isn't up to par imho.
    I've noticed this on the sleeves. The cloth there doesn't seem to have the width it should have and some of it's fold just don't make sense to me.

    Where the stripe of cloth is tied to the sleve (mostly on the right arm), folds should reflect that and be tighter. The strip should probably be really tight to the arm, because as it is now, it looks like it's going to fall.

    The lack of weight in cloth is made more evident by the fact that its paper thin and doesn't really look like having thickness even in the sculpt...

    Just my 2 cents, again, but i think your models will really gain a lot from having more weight in clothing
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Di$array - Hey thanks man im glad your liking the updates.

    gyarados - Thanks for the compliment on the clothing, i'll probably post wires later on this week. :)

    slosh - I agree about my faces on my models they definetely need some more work, looks like some dynamesh face sculpt studies are in order :) and getting my AO right has always been an issue for me, but im trying to get better about it, im starting to get in the habit of coloring my AO maps and making the shadows feel a little more natural and trying to stray away from straight black AO maps. But im glad you like the work so far means a lot. And thanks for the good luck i'll need it for sure :)

    Fnitrox - Dont worry man your 2 cents are valuable for sure, I agree about my cloth and you bring up some really nice points I usually just model with planes when I do the the clothing for my characters its makes it easy when baking everything down but it definitely sacrifices thickness for he clothing and weight to good extent. i'll be sure to start paying more attention to weight of my clothing and give it some more thickness.

    Thanks for the comments guys, they are really helpful, its nice to know what I need to work on for my modeling. keep it coming guys its all helpful stuff
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hey Everyone its been a little bit, finally have a chance to post my current progress for my model. been working on the skin, and some of the armor lately. here is some of the progress and a wireframe shot like I promised. Let me know what you guys think.:)

    Oh and dont pay attention to her bald spot that will be taken care of soon enough. :poly136:

    55yBc4S.jpg

    dspXWHa.jpg
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hello everyone :) its been ages since I updated this thread, but its not forgotten. I have been working on my warrior model lately and just had the time finally to finish her up. Here she is hope you guys like :)
    c8uCSsS.jpg
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    just a attitude shot I took that I thought was pretty cool
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    and a construction shot
    y03wD9e.jpg
  • garriola83
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    garriola83 greentooth
    Hey man looking good, but i can't help but notice the texel density on the cuirass is much lower compared to the detail on the belts. It could also use some finer detail like hammering (not too much just small fine detailing).
    Also the detail on the cuirass, decor or symbols, should be modeled out separate in the high poly rather than sculpted on so it pops out because right now it blends and it doesnt really have that decorative armor looks.

    34903.jpg
    11537174_1.jpg
    05-Napoleon's-Cuirass.gif
    display_1010_FRENCH_CARABINIERS_DE_LA_GARDE_IMPERIALE_CUIRASS_633930426828926252.jpg
    currise.jpg
    I put some examples for you to look at and see maybe these could help. Good luck!
  • alvordr
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    alvordr polycounter lvl 6
    Awesome work! I love the characters, the lighting and the texture work! You've got a fan here.
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hey Garriola83 Thanks for the references man, i'll be sure to use them for my next armored character I do,

    Alvordr - thanks man im glad you like the work. :)

    Just dropping by with a new update. A head im currently working on. Needed to make sure I still know how to model a head after my last project. Im not sure what i'll do with it. but I do like it enough that I know I want to go somewhere with it. Any crits or suggestions are always appreciated (and probably needed :))

    jRSeqLN.jpg
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  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hey everyone, Just dropping by to show what I have recently been working on. Refined the head im working on and figured I would share it :) Hope you all like! crits and suggestions always welcome!
    Oh5yAhL.jpg
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hey Everyone I Just wanted to drop a new small update for the bust I am working on. Next time I post it should be with textures :) I added some more detail into the face for the bust. Felt like the face was missing some character and history to it. Hope you guys like the changes. :D
    71ZlwRF.jpg
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hello everyone, just dropping in the final head with the texture rendered from zbrush. a mixture of polypaint and the awesome zbro skin matcap with some wax preview to make the skin feel more fleshy. think im going to call this done and keep up the momentum and move on to the next piece of my going back to basics project the classic male anatomy sculpt. :D hope you guys like the new piece any suggestions or crits are always wanted and needed :)

    Hs3XzCw.jpg

    quick shot without texture
    CoHWcID.jpg
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hey all just thought I would do a quick share of what I have been working on as of late. Just a female bust I have been tinkering with the last few days. Havent moved on to the detailing yet, that comes tonight. Then i'll probably move on to texturing, any and all crits and comments are of course welcome. Let me know what you think :)
    R9EWpJt.jpg
  • garriola83
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    garriola83 greentooth
    very cool busts, but on the female one, the sterno-mastoid muscle is off. it shouldnt curve like that when it meets the clavicle and then the sternum. the mandidible might be a tad too angular, i suggest rounding it a little to really keep it feminine but at the same time athletic. keep it up!
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hey Everyone, just popping in to show what Ive been up to, took some nice feedback I got on my female piece, tried to soften those forms to bring back her femininity. I think im going to move on from this one and on to the next project. Keep those eyes peeled and of course let me know what you think!
    JLHEly4.jpg
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  • wizo
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    wizo polycounter lvl 17
    a few pointers here :

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/271tf1lo9qulj9y/Sans-titre-1.png

    hope it helps.

    Very nice work all around, I think the head anatomy still needs some work, the details are very good, but try focusing on the basic structure just a bit more.

    cheers
  • garriola83
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    garriola83 greentooth
    Nice love the strong roman nose and the jawline, its just right! but I think the philtrum is a little too strong on the last bust. Also I know this sounds strange.....makeup artist will tell you but there is a relationship on eyebrow shape and head shape; it can enhance the face according to the right eyebrow shape. Look it up, i know theres a jpeg of it somewhere. If not, I know I have it haha. great stuff!
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    @ Garriola83 Thanks man ill need to look that up sometime for sure anything to help make stronger characters helps.

    @ Wizo, thanks for the pointers, i'll be sure to apply it to the high poly before calling him done :)

    Its been a stupid long time since I posted anything, but i havnt fallen off the face of the earth (not yet anyway). Thought I would share some of my progress on my new model I have been working on, a praetorian guard character. the high base is mostly done at this point for the character anyway. Need to start on the patterns and details and work on the weapons, as always let me know what you guys think im always interested in hearing them out. :)
    YNqno19.jpg
  • Di$array
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    Di$array polycounter lvl 5
    Hey Praetor

    Looking at your head/Bust pieces above, I feel that by dropping the eyes and brow area down a little on the face the whole facial structure will read alot better. At the moment they seem to be riding a little high.

    Besides that they are great with the detail and all but you may find the features could appear too strong if you decide to go down the low poly route. So to counter act this problem you could benefit from smoothing them out alittle bit.

    As for your latest piece, the praetorian guard character, it is shaping up great. I know its still in the WIP phase but I feel the cloak could do with another pass when it comes to the fold and creases and the same can be said for the eye placement too as I said above. What i relly do like is the helmet detail and fabric tassles. I'm also really looking forward to seeing the engraved details I imagine you'll be doing for the armour. Good luck.
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hey everybody, just wanted to drop in and show off the latest for the praetorian guard ive been working on. Tried to implement some of the crits that Di$arry gave me going back to the cape and making some adjustments to the face. Im pretty much done with the high poly, now its time to take it to low. As always C&C are welcome hope you like it :)
    PZm4dZS.jpg
  • Emil Mujanovic
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    Emil Mujanovic polycounter lvl 18
    Epic level up, James! You're really starting to hit your stride and your facial anatomy is getting a tonne better. Still a few issues here and there (as wizo above pointed out - he saved me a paintover :P), but I think you'll work through those kinks.

    Keep it up, mate!
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hey Emil thanks im glad you like it! I'll be making another pass on the face for the character making the last adjustments, I saved wizo's paintover he did just in case I wouldnt be able to pull it off this thread so ill be sure to hit on those last things he was talking about.
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Well Hello everyone! After being abducted by crazy space ninja monkeys and being forced to be king of their planet for a few months im back! Anyway just wanted to drop by and show some progress almost done texturing the Praetorian model hopefully he'll be done this weekend. But as always comments and crits are welcome. :) thanks guys!
    EoqYZTN.jpg
    reG4Rxt.jpg
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hey Everyone, just dropping by to show off my completed praetorian model. he only took from here to kingdom come but hes finally done. Im happy overall with the final result but of course any feedback you guys can give me is always appreciated hope you guys like it and cant wait to start my next project going back to basics for the next one!
    sH2AJdK.jpg
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  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Hey Everyone whats up! Just stopping by the old thread show a WIP im into
    right now. I want to do a bust of a man and woman from every major racial
    group this year as practice and also to beef up that Bust study section of my portfolio with good looking stuff should be fun so heres the first one figure I'll start in
    familiar territory. Let me know what you think comments and crits always
    welcome :)
    0dhjSWH.jpg
  • praetor187
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    praetor187 polycounter lvl 11
    Well here is the first of the series I want to finish pretty happy with the final result, on to the next!
    ihs5bZV.jpg
    wIcr8rf.jpg
  • butt_sahib
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    butt_sahib polycounter lvl 11
    Lovely work man

    Enjoying the updates! Keep posting :)
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