character: caesar

[mat]

improving, doing what feels right, working just with an image in my head. now to tweak.

very much a work in progress



mat

[mat]

perhaps i should attach an image so you all know what i am talking about

[CountZero]

It looks nice seen from the front, but you really need to work on the sides overall, and especially the eyebrows looks strange.

[FrodoBaggins]

Nice!

But your avatar / icon frightens me... I made such a beetle a year ago, well at least it has quite a lot similarities:

http://ansuz.nl/zut/beetle.gif

Never mind the color, but the beetle...
It's so weird.. :ufo:

[secobb]

I think CountZero is right the profile needs work and the browline is very neandertalish (i dont think thats a word) The brow is a bit heavy. The tip of the nose could be brought downa bit. I hope you dont mind i made a couple of notes


:dance:

Also i photoshoped the profile to what i think it should look like

[secobb]

:dance:

[mat]

an update, i fixed the join between the nose and the upper lip, i also rounded out his chin. i didnt touch the cheek bones cause i like the way they look. now if someone can point me in the direction of a good hair tute i get started on that.

comments welcome, WIP


mat

[mat]

just fleshing out a body with primitives and a few modifiers (and my stock hands and feet). i think i am happy with it but i am looking at it with tired eyes, some fresh winsight would be great.

WIP

mat

[mat]

some people get all the attention, the rest of us put our work up for no-one but ourselves ( i think i am in the latter catagory)

hears an update mat, hope you like it

WIP

[mat]

and a wire frame screen shot as well, will add the arms and legs tonight

very much a WIP

[Cracadoo]

Lookig good so far... But i would make his neck thinner.

[secobb]

hey mat sorry i havent been posting i do think your model is interesting its just that i spent time and effort making a whole bunch of points and even photoshoping the image a little bit, and you diddnt even recognize my effort. Maybe if you had more of a dialogue with the people who post people would start posting more.

[rubberduck]

I like your character, but here's what I would change, look at attached image ;)

About the feet, right now he looks like he's wearing ninja shoes/socks, make him some real shoes;)

[mat]

secobb: the very next post after your last one with the photoshopped changes is the head with the changes you suggested (well everything but the cheekbones). I am sorry if i didnt refer to your post explicity, its just that i am used to having only one or two people commenting on my work so the comments i make become directed to them.

cracadoo: i will play with a thinner neck and post the results, the arms and legs are done also so i will put that up as well

rubberduck: i'm not sure about the squat no neck henchman look, but i will give it a crack and let the people make there own minds up

the body is half finished, that is to say it is one mesh, now time to move onto getting elbow shoulders and knees deforming properly

here's some screen shots, thanks for the comments guys, and sorry about before, just blowing off some steam i guess

WIP


mat

[mat]

and a wire frame while i'm at it

[mat]

PS

Rubberduck: he sill get a full suit and tie eventually, i just like to work from the ground up so things have the right form


thanks again to those posting, it really helps to keep me motivated


mat

[secobb]

I agree with Ducky he needs a shorter neck

[sarN]

the one that rubberduck posted reall;y isnt a no neck, but right now its a giraffe neck. Anywaysy cool character

[mat]

in reply to all the comments about his goofy neck i have taken a few pics of the concept sketches i was working from. the head of caesar came about from seeing someone model really quickly with poly edit and i wanted to try and model with the same sort of freedom. I ended up being really happy with the head so i figured he deserved a body, looking for inspiration i went to a sketch book of last year and found the pics attached below, for some reason the long neck stood out to me and i wanted to put a simliar body on my new head.

all that being said i will admit that the neck area needs a lot of work, i'm just not sure that shortening it is the way i want to go. that isnt to say i dont value and appreciate the crits, it is the comments that keep me keen to keep working (hence the little tantrum a few posts ago) i will play with a shorter neck and post the results

very much a WIP

mat

[mat]

ok front and side comparison charts, time for brutal honesty ladies and gentlemen, dont view without posting a vote either way

thanks guys


mat

[mat]

a few little updates, first i have kept the neck long and i think i will prove my point with my next post but below are two different versions of the long neck, three-quater view, one thick, one thin

becuase i like the thicker neck i have kept that for my second update for today i really like it but that is next, this is now, what do we think people thin or thick or does rubberduck and secobb still have a point about the no neck style

a work in progress

mat

[mat]

and the other update, and yes i know he looks like a stripper but i think with the collar there the neck doesnt look as long and everything flows a little better, but hey i have been wrong before.

crits and comments appreciated and required to keep the enthusiam going, WIP

mat

[secobb]

I have to say that the neck look sbetter short, but now i see that he needs some definition in the legs. I would like to see knee caps and leg muscles

[mat]

secobb: we may just have to agree to disagree on the neck situation my friend, but your right about the legs. will get started on that today (its amazing how much work you can get done when the girlfriend goes home for the weekend :) )

thanks man

mat

[Jason-Lavoie]

How long have you been modeling mat?

This model is... ok... its definatly not the best i have seen, i actually think your rushing things a bit...

but thats my opinion :)

[mat]

jason: thanks for the vote of confidence man, i have had max for a few years now, so i have been modelling for about 3 years now on and off. Its a shame the model is not the greatest thing you have ever seen but then i like it so i guess that is all that matters. If you were modelling this guy how would you improve it? what changes should i be making?

in fact, **** it. Criticism without solution is just whinging, so when you have something constructive to say, i will listen.

to all those who have offered solutions (secobb, rubberduck, sarN and Cracadoo), thanks for your criticism, i have taken all of it into consideration.


mat

[mat]

and an update with hair, hope you love it jason

[secobb]

Mat : I dont know about the blue hair. Maybe a lighter shade? I dont know what color you are going to make his clothes so that would make a difference on his hair color. But i think it needs transp maps. And maybe vary the size of the clumps.

[mat]

secobb: yeah i reckon your right about the hair, the way i want the hair to look is still spiky but executed the same as karmann's model from the Quake/unreal comp. i gave him arm muscles lat night and will do the legs today some time, i'll hopefully update after work.

and just a little side story for everyone involved with this thread, i thought i had myself confinced that you guys were just wrong on the neck issue, but my mother was over yesterday and she agreed with everyone else so i have made the neck shorter, he still has a neck it just aint as long


very much a work in prgress

[mat]

secobb: knee caps and calf muscles added, and i fixed his hands, not a noticable change but a much tidier mesh is the result. i also got rid of the hair, i think i will come back to that when the body is right

secobb, sarN, rubberduck, Cracadoo, Jason-Lavoie:
The neck has been changed, it is not as short as rubberducks idea and it isnt any thinner cracadoo but i think it is growing on me


still a WIP

mat

[Jason-Lavoie]

Ha ha

Lol anyways here are my crits:

Forehead is messed dude, its way to far out, i see that you wnat him to have a strong "brow" or whatver, but you can do that without making his forehead touch his nose... second (goes with head) the back of his head is way to... not sticking out enough, you shoudl reverse the front and the back... and 3rd (with the head again) eyes are to beedy (is that how you spell it) they just look big, make his eyle lids cover it a bit more...

And can you please remove that tie so i can see his chest, because some views i have seen look like it all scrunched up, not finished... so if you could, can you like move it to on side (the tie) thanks dude...

As you would say... **** it ... HAZAA

[mat]

sorry about the lack of updates everyone, the phone got disconnected and blah blah blah, i mean there have been obstacles to me posting the few changes i have made, but to those that are reading this i give to you a selection of four heads, each slightly different to the others, i have my favourite but i was wrong about the neck so i would like the forums ideas before i go declaring my favoured one

still a work in progress


thank you for your time


mat

[JHarford]

c

[Stuh505]

c with mouth from d

[mat]

thanks for the replys stuh and cgstripe, i reckon c looks the best too. taking the head from c (without the changes, but i think i will go back to the d mouth) i gave him a pair of shorts, more to see if i could than anything else, i still think i want him in a suit and briefcase.


a WIP, comments and crits welcome

[mat]

i have tried doing it myself but just cant see where to start, the chest. i dont like the chest and shoulder regions, havent liked them since jason pointed the problem out, but i am unsure how to fix it, can anyone help me with ideas for getting started

front and side screen shots below, WIP

mat

[hiero]

Hey your character is coming along nicely. Are u from canberra, Australia, -> if u are cool, canberra's my home town, though now i live in qld.... anyways keep going with your character, its looking cool.

[mat]

hey hiero, thanks for the words of support man, i'm not from canberra, i moved here to study at the aie,

and hello to all those that have helped me with caesar, i am going to leave his mesh alone now, as is, i fixed the arms and everything else is satisfactory, i am going to move onto texturing now.

the mesh isnt perfect but if i wait untill it is then i will never get it done, i want to finish this project so i can move onto something new

here is is final mesh, screen capture, untextured

from here on in the post will be about unwrapping and texturing

still a WIP



mat

[mat]

before we all throw stones, i would like to be the first to admit i do not know how to unwrap very well. that said, here is an update of how the unwrap is progressing, this is the how it is suppose to look, even sized square all over the mesh?

thanks for your time

WIP


mat

[secobb]

Hey Mat, sorry about nbot posting and crit latley i have been trying to get my dvd ready to ship. I posted some good tutorials on my site. One is a uv unwraping tutorial.

http://seth3d.com/files.html

[Avatar-3DT]

Nice character. You did progessed a lot since the begining and now I think it has the right shape and posture to be a cartoon character. Good luck with the mapping and don't worry, nobody is throwing stone because we all know how hard is to unwrap and rigg right.

[mat]

secobb: what is your dvd of? is it stuff you have done all yourself or is it a comined effort with others? and the tutes look great, i am slowly getting a good little resource of tutes that focus on the areas i struggle with, so they will make a great addition

avatar: i'm glad you like the character, i havent been back and looked at the originals, that might be someting cool to do

i'm planing a big night on unwrapping so hopefully i will have something for you guys by the end of it


WIP


mat

[secobb]

Mat - I put together my own DVD (my demo reel) then after someone saw my work they wanted me to build the interface of there DVD. Its a flytying / salt water fly fishing DVD by Purple Isle Productions in the Florida Keys. Its a cool DVD Tim Borski and Mitch Milchman are the hosts. I think its about to go on sale, if you want to check it out Bass Pro (huge fishing chain) is going to carry the DVD.

[mat]

secobb: congrats on the dvd man, and bonus points if you earned some cash money for doing it, dont have that fishing chain in australia so i doubt i will see the dvd, but nice work all the same

a small update on the unwrapping front, it is coming along slowly cause of a big weekend at work, anywho, here it is as it stands,

WIP


mat

[mat]

and an update before bed

WIP, goodnight all


mat

[secobb]

i see a little distortion in the butt area. Keep at it. It so boring and tedious. but its worth it

[mat]

secobb: butt distortion noticed (and hopefully fixed in this little update)

back and front of the body and legs done, i am feeeling pretty good about it so far so i am going to try and tackle the head tonight, should be pretty straight forward though i think

here is the update, a WIP (please be gentle)



mat

[mat]

Originally posted by mat
back and front of the body and legs done, i am feeeling pretty good about it so far so i am going to try and tackle the head tonight, should be pretty straight forward though i think


what a dickhead, to think he could unwrap a head, just got too cocky i think

i am trying to unwrap the head a mutiple of ways but none of them are giving me the nice straight lines i was getting on the body (i have even tried your way secobb). does anyone have some unwrapped heads with the checker board pattern on them so i can see what the pattern should look like, mine just stretch

got my brothers engagement party this weekend so wont be back till monday night, i hope you guys can continue to be the great help you have already been


thanks,

mat

[secobb]

Hey mat check your Private Messages i have an offer for you.

[mat]

i think there may be some slight confusion with my last post, i dont want peoples models they have worked so hard on, i just wanted to see a render of the face with the checker board pattern on it, just so i could see what the end result should look like

thanks


mat

[secobb]

That’s fine here is a side by side of the uv map and the head of my sniper character. Its not essential that you have perfect squares, you have to take into account where your texture seams are going to be, exactly where you need the most pixel information and where you can stretch it so it makes the map easier to paint. You just have to unwrap things over and over again until you get a technique that goes quickly and gives you decent results. Also i would use the graph texture i use rather then the one with the colored squares. The noise in my black and white texture gives you a better idea of exactly where your textures are stretching. With the graph that you are using (with the solid squares) it makes it harder to tell where the textures are stretching.

Hope you get it all worked out.

[mat]

secobb: thanks for the post man, your sniper is looking real cool by the way, and being able to see the squares on a humanesqe head just helped me see ways round it a little easier

the head is nearing completion, i think i have finally got it right, just heaps of tweaking left to do. . as you can see it is only really the face that has been done but the rest should start to get easier

WIP, crits and comments welcome




mat

[mat]

house to myself, an empty bed that doesnt seem the least bit inviting without my girlfriend and now it is 3.30am. Irish coffee at 1am and i got the bright idea to begin the face unwrap again. i think i have almost got this worked out now, i'm not saying it is perfect but i am happy with it (and the coloured squares so i think they are staying)

WIP, feedback would be nice


thank you for your time




mat

[secobb]

looking good mat but where are the ears? Make sure you make them attached to the same uv section. Not unwraped seperatly. Because dealing with seems is a a pain.