Comp 23 **(UnDead Rock Star)** Comp 23

[BiG ToE-3DT]

Low Poly Mini Contest #23

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g129/DJBiGToE/undeadRockStar1.jpg

Subject – UnDead Rock Star
ALL WIPS AND CONCEPTS ARE TO BE KEPT IN THIS THREAD.

IDEA:

There are many ways you can go about this one, some ideas are 1) You can look at it as a tribute to a fallen musician, by modeling a musician that has died 2) You could model your favorite musician that is alive and Zombiefy them. 3) You can skip the whole dead part and just create the ultimate Rock Star/Rap Star/County Music Star. 4) You can stick with the whole dead theme and create the ultimate UnDead Rock Star/Rap Star/Country Star.

The only requirement that will be set in stone is that your end product needs to represent music in some way shape or form.

Have Fun!

Judging: 3 categories of judging will apply. 10 points possible for each:

Concept - How well your idea fits the topic
Model – How well the geometry is structured, how well it looks like the subject.
Texture – How well the texture space has been used, and how well the texture is painted/applied.

DUE DATE: July 27th, 5 weeks and a few days from today! 11:59 pm GMT - SUNDAY

Idea:

Model an Undead Singer of some sort, they can be alive, or dead and they need to play an instrument. You have 8,000 Tris, use them as you see fit.

Poly limit:

8,000 Tris Total. You can do whatever you want with these, just don’t get carried away and don’t exceed the 8,000 Tri Limit. Remember, the limit tells you where to stop, there is no minimum, so use as much of the limit as you see fit.

Textures:
(2) 1024 x 1024 texture. This means (2) 1024 for color, (2) 1024 for bump, (2) 1024 for normal, (2) 1024 opacity, so on and so forth. You can chop it up into whatever you want, but you still need to go all out in your texture.

Textures can be hand-painted or you can use photographic sources. Do what you do.

Prizes:(only available with 6 or more final entries)

1st Place gets the following:
- 12-month subscription to the 2DCreative magazine
- 12-month subscription to the 3DCreative magazine

2nd Place gets the following:
- 12-month subscription to the 3DCreative magazine

3rd Place gets the following:
- 6-month subscription to the 3DCreative magazine

Final Pictures:

Required In The Final Post (1 post per entry):

- 1 x Winning pose shot. This image should consist of your character(s) in some sort of a pose.

- 1 x Beauty shot of your character(s). Feel free to put multiple angles of your character(s) or just one big version or your character(s) on this page. Even better, try to composite a nice art piece similar to the ones in the Winners' Gallery. Be careful how you do this though, simple is often better. It’s up to you.

- 1 x wire frame shot of your character(s). Feel free to put multiple wire frame shots or just one big wire frame shot on this page. It is up to you. Must have polycount included.

- 1 x texture sheet that includes all your used sheets squeezed into "one" sheet.

- Concept Sheet (What your Hero looked like)

A Final Entry Thread will be up and waiting around the end of the third week/beginning of fourth week. Don’t forget to submit your work by posting it in the final thread.

Good luck everyone!
BiG ToE.

[Krazy8]

I'm thinking about doing a tribute to Mr. Dimebag himself. I'm definately looking forward to this challenge. It will be my first one. I just hope I don't butcher it too bad and upset the metal gods.... :wall:

[TonyClifton]

\m/ SWEET! \m/

[DaddyDoom]

\m/ Dimebag \m/

Blackmetal fans could do a zombie Euronymous. That one really fits the subject, as his looks, beliefs and the circumstances of his death make him the perfect candidate. If you wanna know more about this guy, just google "Euronymous Mayhem". Funny dude...

DD

[DJdude]

could I just make a rap star thats not dead?

[defaultalias]

Might use this as an excuse to finally normal map something. Ideas I'm tossing around include a zombie bongo player and a gothed out cellist, which one is cooler?

[obibok]

ill go with something classic ....

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/2995/conceptdr5.th.png (http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=conceptdr5.png)

by the way does rob zombie counts as undead?

[Zerath]

by the way does rob zombie counts as undead?

I was just thinking the same. Or more like:
1. Rob Zombie
2. Zombification
3. ???
4. Profit!

I wonder what would happen.
As my real character, I'm planning a something trollish, as I like folk metal. (Finntroll \,,/)

[DaddyDoom]

Finntroll nice.
Finland has been a huge crest of amazing extreme metal bands. Do you know Shape Of Despair? Good D00M!

DD

[Mr.T]

could I just make a rap star thats not dead?

lol! :dance:

[lordpisang]

Hi: i join this comp!
My concept is: Zombified Elvis!
Send you an concept art today! good start all!

[TonyClifton]

Hi: i join this comp!
My concept is: Zombified Elvis!
Send you an concept art today! good start all!

Great idea!!! I was just thinking of a german band (MAD SIN), that has Hellvis as an opener for the show...:evil:...looking forward to see that one, lordpisang!:grr:

[defaultalias]

lol at Rob Zombie. kind of a paradox with him, heh.

quick crap before bed.
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i101/defaultalias/th_Soul-Drummer.jpg (http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i101/defaultalias/Soul-Drummer.jpg)

[TonyClifton]

DaddyDoom, are you going to model yourself as an undead?

[omnicypher]

im thinking of making a decayed beyond recognition zombie, so i dont think it will be anyone specifically, but i might change that as i go. i might end up making an undead slash. 8000 tris is enough to make a full skeleton so i might start there. as a bonus i also get a skeleton warrior out of this, which could prove usefull for other projects.

[Perversonality]

Hmmm 8,000 triangles eh? Hmmmm, not sure how much time I will have to put into this but I should really give it a go as my entry in the last contest wasn't really good enough... I think I will go for something that pushes the boundaries of the contest... Ideas forming... Brain warping...

Good modeling everyone!

[Gofthick]

I so want to partake in this, but whilst my modelling may just make the grade, my texturing ability, or lack thereof, would surely bring it down.

Still, if a good idea falls in my lap I may run with it. I need an excuse to practise my organic modelling, along with Zbrush.

[Perversonality]

I so want to partake in this, but whilst my modelling may just make the grade, my texturing ability, or lack thereof, would surely bring it down.

Then this is the perfect chance to help improve your skills. As with playing an instrument, the fastest way to improve is to play with other people (hur-hur-hur, smut!) as you get more advice on what you are doing when you are in the best position to heed and apply that advice

[Gofthick]

That's true I suppose.

What's the ruling on concept work? Can someone else draw up your idea or does it have to be your own concept drawing? One of my Uni house mates is an amazing concept artist, and I'd love to drop some ideas his way.

[funkdelic]

sweet, not sure if Ill take part on this, probably I will..

can I make Flea from Chili Peppers?

[Detachable Toe]

I would think that you'd be fine to use someone elses concept Gofthick, as this was allowed last time...best get the go ahead from someone who isn't me though.

Make sure you give this a go, I'm in the same boat model/texture wise, and the last comp was a big skill booster for me,not that my texturing is anything to gloat about now though :p

BTW, am I the only one who noticed that the challenge outline mirrors the Darkstalkers character Lord Raptor perfectly?

[Novian]

Greetings all.

I am just joining the Threedy Forums after months of being an avid fan. I must say I am very impressed with the level of cooperation, respect, and possitive reinforcement that comes from the members. I am looking foward to being a part of the community.

I would also like to take part in this challenge. My concept: a zombified drummer. I figure the drums will be a challenge to make them high quality but low poly.

Good luck to all.

Cheers~

[Daniela Blanco]

I'll try to enter this one too.............hope I have some time for it.......
But I have a doubt........can I make Axl Rose??? He doesn't play any instrument........but I'll give him a microphone....:P......

[Perversonality]

That's true I suppose.

What's the ruling on concept work? Can someone else draw up your idea or does it have to be your own concept drawing? One of my Uni house mates is an amazing concept artist, and I'd love to drop some ideas his way.

That's fine. You can use your own concept, someone else's or just make it up as you go along, in which case the concept scores are more for how your final model fits the theme

[Perversonality]

I'll try to enter this one too.............hope I have some time for it.......
But I have a doubt........can I make Axl Rose??? He doesn't play any instrument........but I'll give him a microphone....:P......

Yep, singers are fine according to the rules

[Gofthick]

I'll try to enter this one too.............hope I have some time for it.......
But I have a doubt........can I make Axl Rose??? He doesn't play any instrument........but I'll give him a microphone....:P......

He's a rock star isn't he? :p

I might actually throw the concept art together myself, was thinking of stylising the character first so it's slightly easier to achieve the likeness. :haha:

Was thinking of maybe doing Freddie Mercury, would make an interesting zombie.

[grindill]

Jerry Garcia, the Dead don't die. :D They even had a video at one point where they were all skeletons.

I'm going to try to get into this competition. But, I've had one day off in the last two month and the rest of the days have been long ones. So, I might need to just go sit under a tree for a while.

[omnicypher]

i threw about 1000 tris down on this WIP zombie so far. im budgeting 3000 tris for the skeleton, 3000 for the flesh/clothes, and 1000 for the guitar. but in the end i should have alot to spare from optimizing out most of the bones.

[Novian]

Omni,

That skull looks really nice for such low poly. Excellent work! Might I get a closer look at wires?

Cheers~

[omnicypher]

thanks, its still in a very early stage, and i doubt the topology will stay this way in the end.

[Novian]

Indeed well done. I have been working on a very high detail human skeleton for my girlfriend to use in her teachings (she is a high school anatomy teacher). I have found the transition from the "cheek bone" down/around to the front teeth very difficult.

Cheers~

[capitan_popo]

CANT WAIT TO SEE DIMEBAG DADDY DOOM, have never done low poly, so not sure if I will participate, but its an awesome subject, might even have to learn to participate

[Chung Wong]

Looking nice omnicyher. Probably enter this one in a week or so. Don't have an idea though.

[Warlock 279]

Awesome, zombie rockstars! A Rob Zombie Zombie, and proof that the 'King' isn't dead, or at least that he's undead; sounds like we're going to have the quite a music group assembled by the end of this.

DefaultAlias - That soul drummer is lookin' cool.

I'm thinking Zakk Wylde for this. Sorting out hair, and a real mop of it at that, will be something new for me.

[Novian]

Im thinking of doing a drummer based on Travis Barker. Not sure if I should do all the tats, might be a bit much. What do you all think?

http://www.aolcdn.com/aolr/travis-barker-400a052107.jpg

[katana]

I decided to start with the guitar body. I'm thinking it's made from ice. I had a nice shader going last night with ocean/fractal/noise and transparency, but unfortunately my comp blinked off during the storm. I'm thinking the best way to approach the strings is with a transparency map...anyway, it's just beginning...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/katana2665/IcegutPoly.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/katana2665/BodySubd.jpg

[Chung Wong]

Novian, it will look really boring without the tats. You should do them.

[Novian]

Yeah you are right, but I may do a more simplified version though.

[Detachable Toe]

Good stuff everybody, it's great to see some stuff coming together so early on in the comp.

I'm gonna give Eddie from the Rocky Horror Picture Show (as played by Meatloaf) a go.

[Perversonality]

If you are doing tatts, remember to give them that faded blue look for added aging effect :)

The more I think about this contest the harder I'm finding it to pick what I want... Still planning on starting at some point soon though if I can just pick a style

[goldirocks]

Oh, this looks awesome, definitely going to have to do something. I've been lurking for a long time, and it's about time I do something :wave: I could use the practice, too, my texture skills need a lot of work. I've got a couple of ideas, but I'll keep them secret for now until I get some concept art done. :smug:

[Novian]

Perversonality: Thank you for the suggestion, thats a great idea.

Now I'm off to find some close up shots of the tats. :)

[omnicypher]

im at about 2000 tris now and i realized i dont fully understand the shape of the pelvis or shoulder blades. it probably doesnt matter though, as those parts will probably be covered up. i think i might model the ribs individually, because i might have a few poking through body wounds. im still not sure who this will be yet, if anyone specific.

[Novian]

Omni,

Looks great so far but he feels like he is leaning backwards a bit. As for the pelvis this site may help ( http://www.bartleby.com/107/58.html ) Ive been using it alot to build the skeleton model for the miss. :)

Cheers~

[Perversonality]

Alternatively you could use a high poly skeleton model as a reference. There's a free one available here (http://artist-3d.com/free_3d_models/dnm/model_disp.php?uid=637&ad=02anatomy_design.php&count=count) that you could use to get the proportions and positions of your model correct

[omnicypher]

thats a helpfull link, thanks. in that image he is leaning back, but in the end, ill push his feet back and spread them apart and he should look well balanced. i will also put the arms at 45 degres for easier rigging. but for now im just making the major proportions check out. i still gotta make hands, feet, and a jaw before i can sculpt it. and as for building over the free skeleton model, that sounds a little too easy, especially in competition. i think ill build it from images and sculpt it myself.

[Novian]

Omni,

You mentioned sculpting, which sculpting program do you use? I have been trying to get Zbrush3 to play nicely with 3DMax 8 but thus far no luck. I would like to use ZBrush to bang out a nice normal map. Any thoughts on where I might find instructions to do so?

Cheers~

[omnicypher]

i use zbrush 3 for sculpting. if you have any specific questions or problems on zbrush 3 or max id be happy to help. i fixed some of the balance issue and started the jaw. 2528 tris so far.

[Novian]

Omni,

The pelvis is looking much better, and the model overall is comming along nicely. :)

As for ZBrush, the issue I am having is that once I export the normal map it doesnt seem right to work with my max model. I have a feeling it is not using the unwrap from max. Here is my process:

1.) Model in max, unwrap, export to ZBrush

3.) Detail and generate normal map, export

3.) Import normal map into max and I get only a part of the map, almost like a flat projection rather than the whole unwrap.

Tonight when I get back from work I should be able to give you a demonstration of what I mean.

Any thoughts would be greatly appriciated.

Cheers~

[omnicypher]

you have to flip the uvs vertically and flip the green channel in max's normal map slot for it to appear correct in the render, then you can select "DX display of material" to view it in the viewport as well.

also make sure in zbrush your projecting a tangent space normal map rather than a world space normal map. if it is correct it will be mostly blue.

[Novian]

Omni,

Thank you for the advice. I will attempt it when it comes time to detail Zombie Travis and let you know if I have any troubles. Also, I see you are a fellow Floridian. :) Been here long?

Cheers~

[ThEoNeAnDoNlY]

I can't wait to see how you unwrap the skeleton, please post a wip unwrap shot and your texture maps when you get to them!

[omnicypher]

ill unwrap it just like i do everything, the pelt mapper. i might speed unwrap it and see how long it takes me, but ill definitly post my uvs. i think ill use one map for the skeleton and flesh, and use the other for the guitar, which will probably be an axe guitar.
id love to see someone make a whole drum set for this comp.

[Chung Wong]

I was thinking that, but to be fair, a drum set is going to cane a lot of polys

[Novian]

My plan is to give Travis a whole set of drums, including foot pedal. Tough I know, but it will be good to push myself, see what I can do. :)

[Chung Wong]

Sweet, look at the low poly car challenge. People saved a lot of poly's on their wheels by just using a plain then alpha mapping it. Check it out, its a neat trick.

[omnicypher]

im aproaching 3000 tris. i still need hands and feet, and possibly ribs.

[Novian]

Chung Wong: Thank you thats a good idea. I have an idea for how to do the stands with just 8 tris. What are the rules on individual interescting tris?

Omni: Looking great man! Unwrapping that skull looks like a daunting task.

[omnicypher]

im trying to decide if i should model all the bones in the hands and feet individually. either way, they will probably not be shown in the end.

[Perversonality]

id love to see someone make a whole drum set for this comp.

That wouldn't really be a challenge mate... Standard drum with 8 sides (16 tris) and a quad as a top = 18 tris. Bass drum with front and back = 20 tri. Pedal would be around 30-50 tris, less for other kit items... Too easy!

[defaultalias]

Yeah, and with these specs, I wouldn't even think about using a quad top for a cylinder. 8000 polygons are a lot to play with.

[Chung Wong]

Tis true, but thats lazy, just because you have 8000 tris doesn't mean you should waste them. Thats shoddy worksmanship.


Please note that this was not aimed at anyone directly or indirectly. I think it's good to share tips and stuff. Look forwards to seeing all your work and hope to learn off of you guys and vise versa

[Novian]

Ok guys, heres my first WIP. Got the sneakers blocked in. What do you think?

http://www.mentallic.com/travis1.jpg

[lost_soul]

Interesting comp !! count me in. I never finish any comp before so this one maybe my first "must finished comp" in this forum. I choose Gene "Demon" Simons from Kiss Rock Band. I think i don't need to much change his appereance because Gene Simons already look a like zombie/demon :D

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/592/genesmallnw0.jpg

Concept will coming soon !!

[Nato_VanDookie]

concept time...trying new concept techniques... this is ok..but needs work.
Based on my Rock Band Character...
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/nato_vandookie/zombierocker-1.jpg

[DaddyDoom]

Baha Nato! Freakin cool :D

[Nato_VanDookie]

Thanks DaddyDoom! What are you up to now since the stylized challenge is gone?

[DaddyDoom]

Lots of client work fortunately/unfortunately. Yesterday I had a break and managed to do some stuff for the SMC's eheh. I missed that.
This LowPoly challenges are still a bit way up for me. Gotta lot to learn before I can join these without making a dumbarse outta myself :P

Tnx for asking :)

DD

[katana]

That's awesome Nato!

[omnicypher]

the alpha plane cylinder cap idea worked great for the very low specs of that vehicle comp, but here we have next gen specs,

tris can only be wasted if you unbalance the detail. at these specs, you could use 14 sided cylinders and model all the tuning keys and use 4000 tris on the drums and 4000 on the musician. plus drums are very similar, lots of radial symmetry and easily instanced parts. a great looking drum set could be made in minutes.

[omnicypher]

heres a drumset i just made in 30 minutes. 3680 tris including the floor.

[Perversonality]

As I said, easy :D For what I've got in my mind I think I will be alpha mapping a plane for the tops of mine, if I can get inspired on the overall style... Still struggling!

@Nato - nice :D

@Novian - looks fine. You could optimize it a bit, but there's probably no point with the 8000 tri limit

@lost soul - KISS are notorious for protecting their makeup designs and the like with lawyers, but a parody would be good to go.

[omnicypher]

at first i thought they would be difficult, complex, and waste alot of triangles, but now i realize its easier to make a drum set than a guitar. its all modular and symetrical. but i think my character will still use a guitar, so this was kinda a waste, but it did get me warmed up to start making some hand and feet bones.

[Perversonality]

Not sure if anyone would want it, but if I remember tonight I can post a low poly guitar neck and string model which I made based off the measurements of my Les Paul Florentine:

http://www.lowpoly.co.uk/images/florentine.jpg

Might be useful as a guide for those who want accuracy but don't have access to guitar measurements

[funkdelic]

wow some really cool stuff already ...

keep it going guys

[Novian]

Perversonality: Thanks, I built all the way up through the waist last night after I posted. I'll upload that on sat night. This is such a fun concept that I want to do more tonight but alas the miss and I are going furniture shopping... *sigh* :P

[-IdanI-]

cool idea I'm going with 2pac..... updates soon ;P

[TonyClifton]

well done, everyone!!! nice drum set, I have seen!!!

here is my concept: LEMMY from MOTÖRHEAD as an UNDEAD, of course:
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/6254/lemmyconceptmodelfu4.jpg

[DaddyDoom]

\m/ LEMMY \m/

[Perversonality]

Ok, as mentioned earlier, here's a properly measured out fret board and string hardware model for a Gibson. Please use it as reference only rather than just reusing the polys as they are if you want to use it.

http://www.lowpoly.co.uk/images/threedy/helpers/lp_guitar_001.jpg

3DS file:

http://www.lowpoly.co.uk/images/threedy/helpers/guitar.3DS

[Novian]

I would imagine that the strings would produce a high poly count. Perhaps making a flat plane that follows the contors of the strings and then alpha out the space inbetween?

Cheers~

Edit: Excellent model there though! :)

[Perversonality]

It's a scale guide for people to use rather than detail, but it's "only" 540 triangles in total, most of which are actually in the tuning cylinders. The strings are simple three sided cylinders so aren't that heavy, but would possibly be overkill for most people's models

Edit: If you want the individual stats:

18 to 20 triangles per string (18 if you delete the ends!) total of 120 for 6 strings
20 triangles per tuning cylinder - again 120 triangles total
52 triangles for the neck
220 triangles for the frets... This can be cut down a lot as the frets are currently bottomless boxes (10 triangles each) which could be turned into bottomless three-sided cylinders instead (6 triangles each)
28 triangles for the string holder and bridge at the base

Additional polys needed for the body, head, tuning handles, pickups, cable input and various knobs. Even if you allowed around 2000 triangles for all of that then you would still have 5,500 triangles for your character prior to optimisation, which isn't bad!

[Novian]

Impressive, it looks like it is much more.

I did some math today at lunch and I think I can get away with 260 tris for all 5 drums. I'm going to work on those this weekend.

Does anyone know where I can get a good front image of Travis? Google seems to have failed me...never thought that could happen. lol

Cheers~

[Perversonality]

Try searching for Blink 182 instead as they appeared on the cover of a lot of music publications!

[Perversonality]

Just as a proof of concept, the physical guitar strings can be replaced with an alpha and normal mapped bitmap. This was a quick 128x256 map generated using ShaderMap CL

http://www.lowpoly.co.uk/images/threedy/helpers/guitar_strings_normal.jpg

[omnicypher]

i was originally going to use alpha maps for the ribs, but it wasnt looking as good as the rest, so i modelled them. now im at 3742 tris and im still procrastinating on the hands and feet. i might just make an undead skeleton, rather than a zombie, then i could use the drum set i made. i might make a whole band ( The SkaLeTones) and choose my favorite for the one i enter. hopefully i start making the hands and feet soon so i can start unwrapping.

[Novian]

Omni,

Looking great man! Very impressive. I know how you feel, delaying the inevitable, modeling of the hands. :P Good luck. Post some WIPs when you get a moment.

Cheers~

[Warlock 279]

Omnicyhper - Nice work on that mock up drum kit. I'd definitely get an alpha map on the cymbals as that's where the low-polyness shows the most, pretty sweet otherwise. Even if you're not going to use them. The skeleton's coming along pretty nicely as well. I think you could clear a load of tris outta the teeth tho, maybe half of what you have there now.

TonyClifton - Good choice, he should take nicely to the zombification process. [I'm probably making that word up, but I don't care cause I dig it. ;p]

Perversonality - I took a look at the neck you posted. Not bad. I notice you've got it level with the "ground" in the 3d space, aren't LP's necks actually kicked back a couple degrees in relation to the body? Just curious, because its one of the things I'll need to sort out. Strings look ace in your proof of concept image.

Nato - Nice concept drawing man, looks good.



First image from me on this. 5400ish tris right now, I do reckon I'll be needing to optimize that, getting rid of all the little bevels alone would probably put me in my target range or 2000-2500 for the guitar.

Theory question for those in the know more so than me...Lets say the "game" we're making these characters for allows some customization, during character setup, lets say you can pick different paint jobs for the guitar. Now from a texturing standpoint, would you unwrap just the body/headstock, i.e. the parts that change to their own say 512² map or would you still unwrap the whole guitar to one map even the parts that don't change, and up having some of the same textures on multiple maps in the game content.?

[Detachable Toe]

I've started drawing up an orthographic for Eddie. To anyone familiar with Rocky Horror, is his build looking okay? Just I'm finding it a bit iffy drawing references with only screen grabs as reference.

http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/5033/progressaq5.jpg


@Warlock 279:That guitar's looking great. Gonna give it Zach Wyldes bullseye paint work?

The majority of Les Paul necks are a few degrees back, though the angle can differ depending on the year and model of the guitar. A few were even made with fender-ish bolt-on necks and and hence no neck angle.

@Everyone else: Good job so far on the models and concepts, they're all looking ace.

[Perversonality]

Perversonality - I took a look at the neck you posted. Not bad. I notice you've got it level with the "ground" in the 3d space, aren't LP's necks actually kicked back a couple degrees in relation to the body? Just curious, because its one of the things I'll need to sort out. Strings look ace in your proof of concept image.


Yep - it's a scale guide, not a final model though. I would angle the neck slightly once the body is in place if I was going to enhance the model. The underside of the actual neck piece is incomplete as well as it doesn't have the extruded part at the body end that gives strength to the neck... It was only quickly done but for fret and hardware positioning accuracy :D


Theory question for those in the know more so than me...Lets say the "game" we're making these characters for allows some customization, during character setup, lets say you can pick different paint jobs for the guitar. Now from a texturing standpoint, would you unwrap just the body/headstock, i.e. the parts that change to their own say 512² map or would you still unwrap the whole guitar to one map even the parts that don't change, and up having some of the same textures on multiple maps in the game content.?

Either way would work. However, you might want to do different colour hardware to better fit in with the body texture and the necks often vary in colour based on the body style/colour, sometimes they simply use a different wood to give the different colour. Don't forget the strap as well...!

[Perversonality]

Actually, I've been thinking about my answer and there's a third option that would be supported by most modern game engines... Give each part of the model a single solid colour and add a reflection map to the body and head. Then all you need to do is use stencils to add stickers/designs/wood grain to the relevant parts and you can simply change the colour palette/diffuse colour to change the colour of the wood and body. Job done using the least amount of texture space, but it would require an engine that is capable of texture stencils :D You could even change the apparent base colour of the body by changing the ambient colour of the texture, which definitely works in Direct3D as I used to forget to set it to white in older versions of Max before exporting to .x and would end up with a different colour than expected!

[omnicypher]

warlock 279: that guitar looks great! i would keep the bevel around the edge of the body and headstock, but if you want to save some pollies, you could optimize the strap holders, tuning keys, switches, and knobs, all the little things that you cant see much from a distance (once you acctually get a strap on there, you will only see the end of the strap holders anyway). and as for texturing, if you include all the uvs on a single sheet, you have the option of customizing everything, like string color, fret board design, body paint, number of pickups, strap design... all on one sheet.

im thinking about using accesories for identification of my character. i might make a meriachi with a sombrero and a horn, or a guitarist with a top hat. or i might give them hair. because skeletons are very generic and unidentifiable.

[omnicypher]

i never paid much attention to the anatomy of feet before, they are very odd and complex. heres a 500 tri foot. now all i need is a hand, which should be a little simpler.

[Perversonality]

Feet and wrists have a lot of little bones in them which makes them a lot more complex than you would have thought. The foot looks ok, though perhaps some of the bones are a little out of scale? Hard to tell without the leg being there!

I still have no idea what I'm doing for this contest, so I'm just mucking about now, hoping for inspiration!

http://www.lowpoly.co.uk/images/threedy/skull_guitar_001.jpg

[TonyClifton]

Feet and wrists have a lot of little bones in them which makes them a lot more complex than you would have thought. The foot looks ok, though perhaps some of the bones are a little out of scale? Hard to tell without the leg being there!

I still have no idea what I'm doing for this contest, so I'm just mucking about now, hoping for inspiration!

http://www.lowpoly.co.uk/images/threedy/skull_guitar_001.jpg


looking great!!! have you heard of the band GWAR (http://www.gwar.net/)? may be you´ll find inspiration there...

[DaddyDoom]

Lordi look UnDead too: http://www.lordi.fi/

[Mr. Bluesummers-3DT]

http://roswell.fortunecity.com/king/382/zombie3.jpg
o_O Gotta find more images of this here.

[omnicypher]

im at 6094 triangles with my skeleton, and its almost done. i might experiment with adding skin, muscles, and organs

[Warlock 279]

@Warlock 279:That guitar's looking great. Gonna give it Zach Wyldes bullseye paint work?

Thanks, Most likely the b/w bullseye, tho I've kicked around the idea of using the orange buzzsaw paint instead because that might stand out nicely, we'll see, its something that's not hard to change when the time comes.

Your ortho looks decent. Feet seem pointed out to the side a bit much, but that could just be how you do it.


Perversonality - Thanks for the insights. I kinda figured either would work. I think the reflection method is a bit more high-tech than I was looking for, put I'll file it away for future knowledge, its a nice trick really.

I was mostly just pondering, if you had three paint schemes, two hardware options, a choice of pickups, and a choice between ebony and maple for the fretboard or something, if you had everything on one map, you'd need 24 maps I think to cover all the combinations, where-as broken up you'd only need 11, and they'd be smaller in size.

You made a good point tho, that I wasn't even thinking of, and that's that a lot of guitars have a set hardware color for each paint, and set neck fretboard etc, so I guess it might make the most sense to map the whole guitar to one map.


Omnicypher - Thanks, I thought it looked alright, even if it did use almost 3/4 of my budget on it. ;p

I think the feet for your skeleton look pretty good for the poly count, and I think the whole thing turned out rather well so far.

[Novian]

Hey guys, heres another WIP, be kind! lol Seriously any help would be greatly appriciated.

http://www.mentallic.com/travis2.jpg

Also I have a turntable on my site if you wish to see it. It's 6.9M.

http://www.mentallic.com/travisbarker_wip1.avi

[Perversonality]

Looks like a pretty good start Novian. The body size and shape certainly looks like an emaciated zombie to me!

@Warlock - again, you could unwrap the neck on one small texture, the hardware on another and the body on another, or you could use a single texture for all three, but have multiple texture channels on the guitar model such that a different map can be applied to each element/part of the model. Perhaps not the most efficient as three larger maps would need to be loaded into memory for the latter method, but it would be viable again :) Lots of different ways!

[aldryn]

Lordi look UnDead too: http://www.lordi.fi/

hmmm looks like a rip off of gwar

very excited about this comp :smug:

[Novian]

Omni: Nice work man, its really comming along! :)

Perversonality: Thank you very much. I am trying to finish the waist/****** area tonight or tommorow.

Cheers~

[omnicypher]

looking good novian, especially the ribs. from the side view it seems you could pull the shoulders and feet back some for balance. also the shoulders and elbows could use an extra edge loop for better deformation.

[Headbitey]

I 'spose I'm coming in. Will be working on creepifying Marilyn Manson (1996 Version), though he's most of the way there on his own.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/headbitey/mansonConcept.jpg
artist disclaimer: I've only been playing with 3D programs since March, so definitly in for the learning :)

[Daniela Blanco]

There are really great works coming in this challenge........

Here goes my concept............also startde to model.......I'll post it here later....

Axl Rose zombified.....

[TonyClifton]

There are really great works coming in this challenge........

Here goes my concept............also startde to model.......I'll post it here later....

Axl Rose zombified.....

hehehehe...AWESOME!!!

[defaultalias]

I'm not getting much done on this... learning zbrush and anatomy at the same time is pretty hard :hmm:
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i101/defaultalias/SouldDrummer.jpg

[Warlock 279]

Novian - Ya, looking pretty good, hands might be a little small, at least for my taste, maybe give them a look.

Perversonality - Ya, guess I'll decide the theoretical route I want to go when I get it all modeled and unwrapped. Thanks for the input.

Headbitey - With a name like that, you sure you're not a zombie?!?! Anyway, welcome aboard, and good call, MM is quite a bit towards the undead already.

Daniela Blanco - Should be fun to see what you do with him. I think you can really make the final thing shine with tattoos and a healthy dose of decaying flesh.

DefaultAlias - That's looking really cool.

[defaultalias]

Anyone have any tips for sculpting hands?

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i101/defaultalias/SoulDrummer_Sculpt002.jpg

[omnicypher]

defaultalias: nice work, i really like those proportions. as for hand zbrushing tips, make sure you turn on local transformation so the camera follows better, and if you brought the thumbs up or the knuckles down, it might make the hand easier to sculpt. once you make the fingernails, it will look more complete. so far it has really cool muscle detail, almost like an encorche sculpt.

ive been working on the skin of the torso for my zombie and i thought i would record the progress. heres what ive got so far.

[DaddyDoom]

hmmm looks like a rip off of gwar

Probably. But they took the concept further, with better make-up fx and wardrobe. Even won the EuroMusic Festival two or three years ago aha.

Anyway, I'm not claiming they're "better" or "worse" then Gwar. Just that they could serve as inspiration, mainly due to their looks.

[poopipe]

Anyone have any tips for sculpting hands?




yeah - give him gloves ;)


that's looking really good - as always.

your style is strong

[Detachable Toe]

Here's my finished(?) references, again if anyone has any qualms with Eddie's build speak up :) Any crits welcome.

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1244/orthosdy5.jpg

@omnicypher: That little step-by-step is quite nice :) Both the torso and the skeleton are going great.

defaultalias: I know crap all about sculpting, but just keep doing what your doing :p It's working out great.

@Novian: Looking good so far. No modelling flaws as such, but from the video turnaround it seems like he may be falling back a bit, though it's still early stages.

[Novian]

Warlock 279: Thank you, I will have a look at them tonight. I think I want to make actual fingers even though he will be holding drum sticks.

Detachable Toe: Thank you. He does appear to be leaning a bit doesn't he? I can lean him back foward after I get the hips in place. Good eye!

Omni: Great skin so far guy! I've learned quite a bit from staring at that thinking "How did he do it!" :) hehe

More from me tonight after I get out of the office...

Cheers~

[Klash120]

DaddyDoom: Lordi > All lols. They were first that came to mind when I saw this thread/topic :p May (That's a big may) jump on this bandwagon.... The big 'may' is due to I kinda killed both my pcs over the weekend X3

[0sharp0]

Hehe looks excellent :)

[Daniela Blanco]

TonyClifton: Glad you liked it........

Warlock 279: Thanks for the tips.........I'll try it out whem it's time........but I don't garantee anything.....:roll:.....as I'm new at it.....just trying to learn an practice.......

Good work guys........there are scary zombified people here.....:drool:

And here is my wip......I have 2278 tris already......I think it's too much.....

[DaddyDoom]

This is Axl Rose circa 90's right Daniela? Axl Rose in the XXI Century is swollen and bloated like a dead cow :D

[Novian]

Daniela: Thats a great start thus far. I don't feel like you are using too many polys/tris yet. Something feels a little off with the proportions around the chest and waist.

Unless that is a design choice in which case feel free to ignore me. :) I am by no means an expert.

Overall an excellent start, I especially like the hands. They are well constructed and flow into the hand and forearm well. (something I offten have troubles with).

Omni: I wanted to ask you if you had any advice on how you achieve such great flow. Is there some secret I am missing or is it all great references and lots and lots of practice? :P

Cheers~

[Headbitey]

Just an update before I run away from the computer for awhile. I'm really enjoying the concepts you all are starting to flesh out :)

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/headbitey/6_23_WIPa.jpg

[aldryn]

heres my concept

118652

[defaultalias]

Detachable Toe- +2 points for doing Eddie. That's awesome.
Poopipe- I originaly though I'd just leave some skin still attached to his hands to make it easier, but then I though why leave it at that? So viola, gloves, made out of someone else's skin. Boots too.

The stiches, skull, and floating jaw parts are all temporary.
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i101/defaultalias/SoulDrummer_Sculpt004.jpg

[omnicypher]

novian: there are many secrets to good topology specific to certain areas. heres a method i came up with for making a head out of extruding from the neck to the eyes. basically the mesh should flow in a grid from points of stress, and these points should be hidden as well as posibble, and all triangles should be moved towards these points. in a head, the mesh should flow to the eyes, nose, mouth, or ears, and everywhere else should be quads. usually the mesh should flow with the muscles, or wrinkles, and theres a special way to handle one way bending joints like knees, elbows, and fingers by making the side that streatches have an extra loop that doesnt reach the side that contracts. also, ******es should not have a middle edge, they should be a strip of quads that crosses the line of symmetry, so it doesnt deform wierd.

note: this is a bad example of a ******, but its like that because i still have the symmetry modifier on, in the end, there wont be a center edge. the center edge usually causes camel toe and doesnt deform well with running.

the skin on its own is 1476 triangles

[omnicypher]

one has a proper ******, the other has a camel toe, lol

[Daniela Blanco]

DaddyDoom: it's really the 90's Axl........otherwise, his paunch wouldn't fit in this page......:P

Novian: I agree there is something wrong with the proportions in the chest......but I decided to let it this way until I finish the head.........to see if it can fits better......but thanks for the advice....

Headbitey: really nice work............continue what your doing......

omnicypher: it's getting each time better.......really good modeling......and concept until now.....

[-IdanI-]

WOW great progress everyone
@omnicypher
really nice keep up the good work
@Detachable Toe
love the concept cant wait to see the 3d model

here is the update on tupac Shakur got the first sculpting pass and topological meshes done. C&C please :dance:

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll312/Idan_08/2pac_Sculpt.jpg

[BlueGuardian]

I'm going to try this as my first competition - Im new to modeling but really want to give it a try ... Is it okay if I do Bob Marley or Jimmy Hendrix?

[koimizu]

thought i might enter this contest too. didnt do too hot in the last one lol. this is going to be a learning experience. doing low-poly hair is new to me and the model i chose has a lot of it lol.

im gonna give joey ramone (Jeffry Ross Hyman) a try. here's a sketch i drew and quickly colored in photoshop at work

118718

[lordpisang]

Hi! Everyone!
Send you my concept art, it's zombified Elvis, i called him : "El- Vice" because he want eat some cheese burger , like zombie with brain.
Hope you like it.

118746

Good start all!

[DaddyDoom]

lordpisang... you really gotta start taking medication... lol
CHEEESEEE!

[pables]

ive been working on the skin of the torso for my zombie and i thought i would record the progress. heres what ive got so far.

Thanks! Really useful for me to see that way of modelling.

Great ideas here!

[Novian]

Omni: Thanks again for your advice and for the great process images! Very helpfull to see a new way of thinking. :)

Agreed, we have some great concepts here, I can't wait to see the finished works!

Cheers~

[TonyClifton]

whole lotta shakin´goin on, lordpisang!!! \m/

[Chung Wong]

Wow, there's some really good stuff going on in here. Really nice sculpt defaultalias, nice to see a original approach to this comp.

lordspisang. Nice idea, I'd like to see a massive gut on him with burger juice dripping from his mouth lol.

IdanI, great start. Would like to see him zombied up, but interested in what direction you'll take this.

Omnicyher, that is looking well gruesome. Ace. Looking forward to this one a lot.

Komizu, nice start, like the way he has only got one hand, and that hand seems dislocated. That's a nice idea and fits the topic nicely.

Headbitey. Nice base mesh. That face looks really nicely modeled.

[-IdanI-]

Chung Wong
thanks for the kind words, I'm not going to zombiefy him, I'm going for a realistic tupac 3d model. A memorial for the poet/rapper/screen writer, tupac Shakur :evil:

[omnicypher]

at first i wasnt sure wether to model the palms up or palms down, but now i realize forearms might be easier if the hands are in between, or palms foward. when i started adding flesh to my forearms i realized i was missing some of the complex curvature of the radius and ulna. i think i will redo the arms from the shoulder down, and i might model each individual muscle in the forearm for accuracy. if i modeled every musclle from a plane and welded them together, it would probably give me great topology. sometime soon, i wil model every muscle in the body individually from subdivided cubes or zspheres. but the poly count would be too high to use in this comp, so i might wait till after. as for my concept, i will probably ditch the skeleton, sculpt the flesh like an encorche, and i will try to dirty things up and make parts look infected, spewing green puss and finally adding ripped up clothing. i think i might take a chunk out of the head, because to become a zombie, you have to have your brain bitten by a zombie. i might lighten the mood by leaving a spoon stuck in the head wound, or adding a top hat or somthing comical, or i might just go for disgusting realism. not sure yet.

[Novian]

Omni: Great ideas there. Instead of a spoon go for an ice cream scooper. lol

I was thinking of making Travis' mohawk with a hatchet stuck in his head and then splinter the handle. Any thoughts anyone on that as opposed to a regular mohawk?

Cheers~

[BiG ToE-3DT]

symblos, have a set of symbols stuck in his head that represent the mohawk.

[Novian]

Big Toe: lol nice. I like it. Should I still put some splits in them , like cracks to simulate the individual clumps?

Cheers~

[BiG ToE-3DT]

maybe not a bunch, but a few cracks, or even chunks that broke off, to show they are old.

[Novian]

Big Toe: Ok, thank you for the suggestion. :)

Cheers~

[omnicypher]

im at 1784 triangles and im currently defining the arms. next ill work the legs until thier up to a similar density. then ill probably procrastinate for a day before making the feet and hands. the head still needs ears and possibly a nose. i have to be carefull with the details that i add, because sculpting usually works best on simpler topology. i think 3000 tris will be sufficient for this skin.

[BlueGuardian]

Here' is my base mesh, with most of the facial features worked in - Ill play around with it some more after I get a few more reference pics. Still thinking about how I want to present him. any crit/comments would be appreciated.

PS> Don't know what i'm going to do for the hair just yet ...

[Novian]

Ok so bad news is my computer crashed in the middle of a freak storm here this afternoon and my file got corrupted :( Good news is it forced me to restart him and really focus on good flow. I found a great tut online and started going. Heres the results thus far. C&C welcome:

http://www.mentallic.com/wip1.jpg

http://www.mentallic.com/travisturn2.avi

Cheers~

[omnicypher]

novian: those legs look great! i was worried about that storm myself, but my power stayed on. when it comes to art, restarting always helps, youll always do better the next time around.

[Novian]

Omni: Thank you for your kind words. Yes restarting I found myself at a slower pace but I was able to plan ahead better. Thanks again! :)

Cheers~

[ianchaos]

Well...I'm going to attempt to do a tribute to Jim Croce ( famous for the songs "Time in a bottle", and "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" among others). No zombification...unless my model looks so little like him I have no choice :)

Still trying to figure out what to do with his hair.

I'm at 3629 tris so far with guitar

REF shots:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ianchaos/profileCropS.jpghttp://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ianchaos/frontCropS.jpg
LowPoly Base:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ianchaos/croceWires1.jpg

His Guitar Reference Shot:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ianchaos/croce.jpg
Low Poly:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ianchaos/croceGuitar.jpg

[Perversonality]

@ianchaos - The guitar looks promising, but why do you have so many polys on the back of the body? They don't appear to add anything so you could optimize thing there

@Novian - nice progress. I'm assuming you are going to up the poly count though to get rid of some of the sharper edges...

@BlueGuardian - the proportions aren't looking great at the moment. The poly flow looks ok, but there is stuff you can do around all the joints to improve the deformation of the mesh

[Novian]

Perversonality: Yeah right now I've got just the bare bones in. I will add more detail after I get everything in place.

Cheers~

[Novian]

I think I will add a few more loops around the waist to really seperate his body from the boxers, from the pants. In all my reference images he is doing that hip-hop thing where they let them sag. I think it's stupid but it's accurate to the character lol.

Cheers~

[DaddyDoom]

Jim Croce looks like an hybrid spawn of John Holmes and Frank Zappa. Creepy brrr...

[Novian]

"Jim Croce looks like an hybrid spawn of John Holmes and Frank Zappa. Creepy brrr..." lol yeah but I bet he would then make an interesting dinner guest :)

[Warlock 279]

Defaultalias - That sculpt is looking awesome, I can't wait to see what you do with it once you get to the texturing phase.

Omnicypher - Your zombie's coming along really well. The break downs of your modeling process were cool to see. I can't box model to save someones life. The calf muscle looks a little thick on the outside of the leg.

Detachable Toe - Concept looks good, lets see some polys now.

Daniela Blanco - I agree, it looks like a solid start, getting the head on there, or at least a mock up of it, will help when you address the proportions, since some many things are measured in "x heads", and you haven't used too many polys until you run out.

Idani - Looks good, the pinkish color for the bandanna made me think it was rabbit ears at first glance.

BlueGaudian - Looks like a nice start, looks like it'd be a nice base for sculpting. Torso does look a little long. Did you decide who you're making?

Koimizu - Concept looks pretty good. Nice pick.

Lordpisang - Haha, that's just...weird, but go with it, should turn out pretty awesome.

Novian - Sorry you lost your file, looks like it might have been for the better tho in the long run, I think this is turning out better so far.

IanChaos - Not a bad start, but he looks a little thick. Jim Croce appears to be a pretty skinny dude. Show that guitar some love. Its your character's "weapon," you certainly don't need to be quite as liberal with your use of polys as I've been in my guitar, but at least push it up to 1k, a few more details would help it a bit I think. Round it out some more, maybe model the sound hole, raise the neck above the body, get a plane on there to map the strings to, stuff like that. At 1k that'd still leave you 7k for Jim which should be plenty.


Update - Worked on the guitar some, its now sitting just a shade under 3k, which, is still higher than I'd like, but its better than it was. I'd like to ultimately get it down to 2500, but I'll leave that for later.

[Novian]

Warlock: That's a beautiful gutair so far. Also, if you use it, any tips on rendering the wires with Max?

Cheers~

[Warlock 279]

Thanks Novian.

Sorry, I'm not a Max user so I don't know if I can really be much help to ya. But...

What I used for mine was a dark grey material, something between RGB 75,75,75 and 80,80,80 and a real low spec and gloss [specular hardness] value, something between 10 and 15 for those two values. Lit with an area light. Those settings give a nice soft broad highlight that I like on wires.

[omnicypher]

i have a problem. im using max 9 and im not sure what hotkey i pressed, but my vertex movement is restricted to moving along edges. it seems like it could be a usefull feature if i could figure out what its called or how to toggle it at will.

[Headbitey]

Not sure of the hotkey, but on the side under Edit Geometry one of the first things should be a window next to "Constraints:" choices are none, edge and face. Make sure that is on 'none' for free range vert goodness

[omnicypher]

thanks, i guess i clicked it trying to scroll on the menu. it might come in handy one day.

[funkdelic]

holy cow! amazing work guys!
warlock, such great work on this guitar man! filled my eyes =] , btw congratulations on getting 1st place at the previous comp! nice job dude!

[Novian]

Alight all more WIP. This tut has been great. It's all in French though lol. I will attempt to translate and turn it into a PDF should anyone else be interested.

Here goes, C&C welcome, I want to do the best job I can.

First up, front, side, and 3/4 views. I know he looks a little buff at the moment. Working from multiple references. I want the muscles to be present and then scale them back to a thinner body type:

http://www.mentallic.com/wip2.jpg

Next is a detail of the pants/boxer shorts and the cymbol-hawk. What do you think?

http://www.mentallic.com/wip3.jpg

Cheers~

[Detachable Toe]

@Novian: It looks pretty good to me, nice job. Only thing is perhaps the area around his neck, on his collarbone, from the front there seems to be some odd polys.

I like the idea of the cymbal mohawk, perhaps try giving it some jagged edges where it's been snapped apart.

@Warlock 279: Sorry for my tardiness :p I hope to get things moving faster soon, but I've been a bit under the weather. Guitar is looking awesome, great stuff.

@ianchaos: Nice selection. Looking pretty good so far, though he is looking a bit too bulky.

Anyway, heres the little I've done for the high-poly.

http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/8036/003vn0.jpg

[Novian]

Detachable Toe: Yes I think you are right, thank you. I still need to optomize a bit. I think I see a few areas I can clean it up a little and I want to add extra loops to smooth some areas out. Also I need to slim down most of his body, to make him "Travis" skinny.

As for the symbols you are absolutely right. My intention is to give them some cracks, dings, scratches, etc. It was just 1:30am already and I wanted more of a proof of concept.

Do you guys like it? (the cymbolhawk).

Cheers~

[Headbitey]

Omnicipher- re: Constraints: I spent quite awhile looking for this little doodad... it's incredibly useful when you have a form fleshed out and want to alter or add to your existing flow, select 'face' and you can move verts and edges along the surface of your existing form so you can change things without a lot of tweaking getting everything back into it's original shape.

I've got my base model done an UV's unwrapped but don't have anything to really post as a WIP to show an update as I am wrestling with displacement/normal mapping ATM... one of the main reasons I hopped in this challenge was to drive the need to really dig in and figure some of these things out. Vicious stuff!

Oop... I lied about no WIP... just had a tiny breakthrough... starting to see the light about how this works... now to work on getting cleaner/less jaggy normals
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/headbitey/6_26_WIPa.jpg

[Novian]

Headbitey: Hows the weather in Tampa? I'll be heading out there for the weekend tommorow. Also, what program are you using to build the normals? (i.e what do you model in and what are you using to make the normals)

Cheers~

[omnicypher]

headbitey: your highpoly arm looks cool. the problem with the jaggies might just be that your not using enough texture space. or it might be a problem with the zbrush bake.

novian: looking good, that pelvis might be a little small. for such baggy pants, the ****** seems uncomfortably tight. are you going to make the mohawk shiny and yellow? maybe you could throw a "zildjian" symbol on there to keep people from thinking you just gave him shiny hair.

detachablejoe: nice pants! do you have a specific brush or technique for those wrinkles? they look great.

ive never seen so many floridians in one comp. ive been living here for almost 18 years now.

[TonyClifton]

I finally have started to model the base mesh for LEMMY, and I am looking forward to learn a lot about Low Poly Modeling here (never really did this before). I have seen awesome guitars (with textures already) and really nice stuff, I will try to comment later in more detail...greetings to Florida, Australia and Brazil!!!

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/8879/basestartdn5.jpg

[Novian]

Omni: Yeah the cymbols will be painted correctly in the end. I will have a look at the hips and ****** again, thnx for finding that for me.

Cheers~

[Novian]

Omni: Im a new floridian myself, second year. I spent a good 20 some years in VA first. :)

Cheers~

[Headbitey]

Novian: Currently creating base mesh in 3DS Max, Attempting to integrate Z-Brush to generate HI-Res model then spit out normals, though I'm also experimenting with xNormal.
Tampa is hot and muggy, with rain starting everyday around 4-5pm. Wheeee!

[Novian]

Headbitey: Yeah thats all of Florida though lol. If you would please send me a short tut on how you get the normal map out of zBrush and into Max. I have tried many a times with no success to speak of. :(

Cheers~

[defaultalias]

Novian, check out XNormal. Not only does it bake the normals for you, it also creates AO and cavity maps, and has a built in viewer. So far, it's worked great for me.

[omnicypher]

im at 2524 tris so far. ive been spending alot of time trying to fix the flow of the forearm. there are still 2 triangles left in there, and i moved on to other parts to keep my eyes fresh. i added more density to the body and legs, but that trapezius muscle is still messing up my spinal flow. i think i will chamfer the sharp calf muscle as well. at this point, i think im going to have to model all of the toes individually.

once i model a human, i will kill him, revive him, clothe him, hand him an instrument, and throw him on stage. im thinking asymetrically ripped leather pants, an torn open jacket (or shirt), big boots, chains, possibly hair, and maybe arm bands, but i might make the arms pretty gruesome, so im not sure yet on the bands. any comments, crits, or ideas for improvment?

[Warlock 279]

warlock, such great work on this guitar man! filled my eyes =] , btw congratulations on getting 1st place at the previous comp! nice job dude!

Thanks! :-) I don't think you were far behind me in the voting. Lots of good entries last time, and I'm sure there will be again in this one from the looks of things so far.

Novian - Looking good. I'm liking the cymbal mohawk, I think that really adds to the character, and the zombie-ness of it all.

You got a link to that tut? I'd be interested in taking a look, even if it is in french. Its not the Joan of Arc one by chance is it?

Detachable Toe - Looks like a good start, I like the pants/boots.

Headbitey - The high poly looks great. I'd guess the same as Omni that your arm just needs more texture space.

TonyClifton - Great start so far.

Omnicypher - Looks good. Certainly a lot of potential for gruesome it would seem.

[Headbitey]

This just rotated up on my iPod and I found it inspirational while working...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjMiDZIY1bM

Jaggies are coming from the HiRes... just wasn't looking close enough... I'd have to actually model flow along the directions of detail to avoid it even at 6+ mil poly on just that arm section. I'll look at cleaning up the normal map by hand in PS after outputting, channel by channel... wheeeee!

[omnicypher]

i love jonathan coulton! code monkey, portal ending song, creepy doll, and betty and me, big bad world one, and the future soon are my favorites.

http://www.myspace.com/jonathancoulton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zidiWe9yq88&eurl=http://www.jonathancoulton.com/songdetails/I%20Feel%20Fantastic

[Detachable Toe]

@Warlock 279: Hey congratulation on winning the last competition, I didn't realise it was all tallied up

@TonyClifton: Nice job it looks great. Clean and well modelled, keep it up.

@omnicypher: Well they're modelled not sculpted I'm afraid, so no special brushes etc. I'll likely try sculpting in more detail later though. Here's some wires if they interest you.

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/8540/007bwe8.jpg

[yoyomon]

Nice sculpt Defaultalias.

[TonyClifton]

Headbitey, hehehehe, thanks for the input...

Warlock 279, thanks, man, the guitar is awesome!

Detachable Toe, straight forward! I am gonna model a belt as well...

omnicypher, constant work, I liked the first development sheets you have done!

defaultalias, excellent style! may be you could shorten the fingers a little...

novian, looking good!!!

[Headbitey]

Update of current status... readjusted base mesh on sleeves so re Z'd the Hi Res for them (not included in this update) ...

my apologies for being so selfish... I just dive in to dump a WIP now and then and go right back to work... I'll try to take the time to review the other posts in here and give crits and cheers soon. I've not been doing this long so I don't feel completely comfortable suggesting to mah betters =p

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/headbitey/6_27_WIPa.jpg

Hmm.. knees seem turned in a bit, will see if it's best to adjust on sculpt/maps or mesh... or look at more reference... maybe Brian is pigeon-kneed!

-after edit-

Well.. there you go... took an hour to go through and post first thoughts on models... (only cheers =p) VERY sorry if I missed you!

Detachable Toe: Whoa! I'm sincerely loving your mesh built Hi Res! I can really see how having total control over your mesh at all levels is a big benifit. Too many years of doing Rocky Horror, here. I think the build and mass of Eddie is coming through really well.

Omnicypher: I like the fact that you built straight over your skeleton, best in window referece ever. And the fact that you can play peek-a-boo with your flesh at any point that strikes your fancy to reveal the sub-structure within gives unlimited latatude for 'fleshing' this guy out. The "Step-by-Step" you've been sharing of your build up and flow adjustment is killer. I feel like I'm looking over your shoulder!... (from under the bed.. don't look... DON'T LOOK!")

TonyClifton: I've always found Lemmy creepy ever since seeing Motorhead on "The Young Ones"... I think he was a great choice! ("Mo...Mo....Moooole")

Warlock: That gutar is clean and smoking. Looking forward to the player.

Novian: Barker's drums, especially at the end of "Lost without You" are a big part of why I like Blink 182. Worthy choice to spend time and energy on. God I'm slow sometimes... CYMBOL-hawk.... I kept reading it as "Symbol" and I was all, "WTF are they talking about?!?" Brilliant ad to his undead goodness while maintaining his signature style. Interesting call on going for a reductive sculpt... starting bigger then working the valleys to pull it back in, I get a little adative focused and will try to keep that more in mind in my work. Sorry I haven't kicked anything to you re: normal mapping, but I'm still wandering, though I found some of the tut's on the xNormal site to be helpful.
Oh... and re: Travis's tats, just grab what you can directly from photos to put in the texture map. On the parts you can't find a clean reference, tear and corrupt the skin with decay and discoloration. FTW!

BlueGuardian: Nice start on your sculpt, I'm guessing you went Marley?

-IdanI-: UNDEAD Tupac.... that explains so much! I could never figure out where they kept getting material from to keep releasing albums... I just assumed they'd been taping him since birth and just splicing together different phrases and words. Really smooth surface on the head sculpt. The planes are moving around especially nicely around the mouth.

defaultalias: Developed a great concept to learn both anatomy and z-brush on. All of the forms so oversized and pronounced... (well.. from the knees up...increasingly =p) you really get to pick almost every one out for full exploration! Looking forward to seeing the finished sculpt. I just can't look at this guy without imagining him animated.

Daniela Blanco: I like the stylized concept for Axl and how that is carrying through to your base mesh. It gives alot of latatude toward really bringing out the true essence of a piece that often gets lost in a rigid adherance to "reality"

[omnicypher]

headbitey: thanks, thats kinda creepy because my bed is right behind me, and would be a great spot to look over my shoulder. my monitor is 2 feet off of the ground, and my chair is one of those video rocker deals, i could sit in those all day without hurting my back, and i usually do. im gonna miss this low rider setup when i leave for college.

[ianchaos]

Alright...I took Warlock's advice and showed the guitar a little love (completely rebuilt it) and I put Jim on a bit of diet. I'm sitting pretty close to the tri limit at 7964.

I've started working on the high poly and I should have the guitar re-textured this weekend.

Thanks for the advice so far...any comments/crits welcome.

Here's a wire shot
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ianchaos/Crocebase1.jpg

Render
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ianchaos/CroceRender1.jpg

New Guitar
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ianchaos/newGuitar1.jpg

High Poly Head
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ianchaos/croceHeadZ1.jpg

[TonyClifton]

ianchaos, the face is perfect, well done!!! but I think the shoulders are too big.

[yoyomon]

I agree with TonyClifton, the shoulders and bicep area are too big, even if he is wearing a jacket. Plus I think his torso is too narrow.

I'm not sure if I'll have time to enter but I wipped up a concept anyways. I think I'll lean towards the guitar hero character theme and stray from the zombie. I haven't settled with a name yet, but I think I'll call her Nissan for the moment being ;)

[ianchaos]

Thanks TonyClifton and yoyomon for the advice. I scaled back the shoulde/biceps region and widened his torso a bit. I don't dare widen his torso too much or people will think he looks fat again :)

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ianchaos/CroceRender2.jpg

[yoyomon]

It still looks a bit too thick in my opinion. The hands need to be bigger too, I think that's what's throwing it off too.

inked and color pass

[yoyomon]

Ianchaos, hope you don't mind but I took your image and photoshop-ed it to give a sense of what I think you can do to your model to make it better. It's nothing more than a enlongating and enlarging.

[ianchaos]

Thanks yoyomon...incredibly helpful.

I was already working on the high poly version of his jacket so I used your photoshop work to try to get the jacket as close to your shape as possible. I'll definitely elongate the legs and enlarge his hands as well.

I really appreciate the help, and that 7 heads high thing is great advice.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ianchaos/highPolyJacket.jpg

[defaultalias]

ianchaos- Looks like the sculpt has way too much high frequency detail and not enough mid to low level sculpting going on. I'd save that kind of stuff for a normal overlay later or as the last stage of sculpting. the head looks pretty cool though.

yoyomon- Looking ace dude.

[Warlock 279]

Detachable Toe - Thanks. Your high poly is looking really good so far, nice to see some modeling rather than just sculpting it all.

Headbitey - Looks good. The knees definitely seem a little too far in as you suggested, but that shouldn't be anything head to fix. Nice work so far.

IanChaos - Coming along nicely, I think the guitar looks much better now. The head looks great. Yoyoman is right on about the proportions, you get those squared away and this is gonna be really solid I think.

Yoyoman - That concept sketch is awesome, kinda makes me wish I'd have gone that route, instead of doing a real rock star. I love that amp, I want one.

[omnicypher]

ianchaos: that face looks great! you might be able to move the seams of the jacket inwards, as his shoulders still seem a bit wide, and the ****** of his pants seem tighter than the legs, so that could hang down a bit more. you could also put a slight arch on the lower back and puff out the chest a bit, as shoulders are usually closer to the back than the chest.

yoyomon: wow, great style! that little amp is awsome!

headbitey nice threads and boots. very disturbing so far, keep it up!

[yoyomon]

Thanks guys. I think I'm done tweaking the concept to my liking. I also made some guitar silhouettes that I might use. I'm probably going to start the turnaround today and hopefully start modeling tonight.

[DaddyDoom]

Wow! Awsome sketches there yoyomom! Love those guitar silhouettes :D

[L3XICON]

hey guys and gals :D

really awesome work so far everyone! hopefully I ll have a moment to be able to post comments on each later on.

May not have time to complete on this, but thought would be fun to play with some ideas. so here's a quick concept of one of my rock heroes. - a zombified Jimi :D

[DaddyDoom]

Long time no see L3X!
Nice subject :D Jimi was already a zombie before dying behehe

[funkdelic]

Nice concepts guys...
nice to see you again lex! =]

[-IdanI-]

awesome work everyone :drool:. yoyomon very nice concept love the style it has.
nice concept Lex ;P

long time with out an update so here is the point I'm at with the character, hope you like it and as always C&C please.

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll312/Idan_08/WIPtest_002.jpg

BTW: please ignore the double sided poly's I didnt finish modelling the upper body for him. :hmm:

[omnicypher]

now im at 3572 triangles and im still not ready to sculpt it. i still need ears, more defined lips, to fix some topology on the feet and arms, and i might add another loop or 2 on the thighs/ass. also before sculpting i will fix the camel toe and angle the arms outwards so i can sculpt the under arm easier. at first i dont think ill sculpt a zombie, ill just sculpt an average man, then i will zombifie him.

lexicon nice jimi sketch, i really like the hair and the skin tones.

[Detachable Toe]

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/6309/010brh4.jpg

I'm calling that pretty much done for the modelling side of the highpoly, just some tweaking before I start sculpting. I know there isn't much of a likeness in his face, but I guess it'll do.

[BiG ToE-3DT]

Detachable Toe: his hands seem small. They should be around the overall size of his face.

[TonyClifton]

yoyoman, you have got a strong style, it is looking great!

-IdanI-, keep it up!

L3EXICON, I am looking forward to see the model, the concept is awesome!

omnicypher, I think the thumb is too big, especially in comparison to the 5th finger

Detachable Toe, the face expression turned out really good!

[lordpisang]

Detachable Toe Very nice modeling! im jealous

[omnicypher]

thanks Tonyclifton, i didnt notice the thumb problem before, i think i will model a new hand separately and attach it, rather than extruding it from the wrist like i did. i was modelling over the bones underneath, and the thumb bones were dislocated. now i will make the skin first, then force the hand bones to conform to it instead.

[TonyClifton]

updating, I am still working on the base mesh for the body.
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/3262/basemeshqr6.jpg

[L3XICON]

hey guys :) thanks for the kind welcome back, and glad you like the concept.

IdanI awesome work mate, the head is really nicely done. only suggestion I can make is to define the pocket on the shirt a bit, looks a little faded. keep it up :D

omnicypher nice anatomy work mate :) looking great, is this a particular rock star? you may want to watch those tri's on the side of the head.

Detatchable Toe really great work :D looking forward to seeing the low poly, and textures

Almost done with my base mesh to take into ZB, the hands are placeholders from a previous project and need to be done, and a few bits of refinement to be added, smoothing off some harsh edges etc.

[bb0x]

Lexicon!...Go get yourself a damn tablet lol.

The model looks nice..i'm looking forward to the high poly and normal maps ;)

[Novian]

Thank you all for your comments. I'm back from a long weekend with the future inlaws. They seem to really like me so thats good I guess :)

Update tonight when I get out of this monkey suit. This week I will be starting on the drums. Anyone know the brand that he uses? I can't seem to find it anywhere.

Cheers~

[ianchaos]

Detatchable Toe - he's looking really great...love it.
L3X - Glad to see you joined in. Love the style so far. I'm sure you'll pull off another amazing piece.

I think I've got Jim up to scale now. He's 7 heads high...and 7 wide.

On my wife's insistence I completely rebuilt his jacket and I gave him bell bottom pants to better match the clothing of his era, which I think turned out better than it was anyway. I also threw in one of his always present Cigarillos.

I'm sitting at 7978 tris
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ianchaos/NewScale.jpg

[Daniela Blanco]

wow............long time I don't update...............you guys are making a really awesome work.....

L3XICON: this stylized Jimi is really fun........great modelling and great concept......
Detachable Toe: I don't have what to say about yours........cause it's just perfect.........really liked this one....(not that I'm an expert....:P)
TonyClifton: good work..........continue what you'r doing..........nice clean mesh....

And thanks guys for the coments on mine................I'll try to do an update tonight.......

[CleT0]

Hey!! I'm in!! I like it!!

[Daniela Blanco]

Ok.......I'll can finally make an update on mine.......
I already used 5972 tris..........and still need to do the microphone and hair......(don't have any idea of how to do the hair in low poly yet).......

Hope you guys like it.....

[omnicypher]

lexicon: looking great so far! his eyes look really stoned. if you connected the shirt to the neck, the shirt line might flow a little better, and those shoes could use some more pollies.

tonyclifton: that mesh is looking very clean, it should be great for sculpting. is it anyone specific? you could move the armpits down slightly, t-shirt sleave seams are usually around the hieght of the nipple or slightly above.

ianchaos: bell bottoms seem like the way to go. proportions are looking great now. somthing about the jacket shoulders still look puffy and the sides still look a little tight. if you modeled the seams of the sleaves and googled a few more references, it might help the jacket look as good as the rest of the model. the pants, face, shoes, and guitar all look great.

danielablanco: those eyes look good, almost hypnotizing, but it seems like they take up half of your poly count, and those shoulders could use an extra loop.

as for myself, when i model heads, i move the all triangles to the ears and keep that area a mess while i decide how many loops i want around the skull. in the end, when i add the ears, there should be no triangles left. im not sure who im making yet, but im modelling the full body of the zombie, and if its grousome enough, i might keep him naked, so it might end up being someone from blink 182, or chilli peppers, or any band that got naked on stage or streaked through town. probably mark hoppus or tom delonge.

[-IdanI-]

thanks for the kind words lexicon, tonyclifton.
@lexicon
thanks for the C&C i detailed it a little further and made it a little more sharp than it was hope it looks better now. :shy:
BTW: your basemesh looks very good cant wait to see it zbrushed.

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll312/Idan_08/WIPtest_003.jpg

[Novian]

Hey guys, a quick update before I pass out for tonight. I'm thinking that unless there are major c&c changes the base mesh of travis is just about finished. Here is another pass, shoes have been added, and the cymbolhawk is in place. C&C welcome! :)

http://www.mentallic.com/traviswip3.jpg



http://www.mentallic.com/cymbolhawk1.jpg


http://www.mentallic.com/cymbolhawkwip1.jpg




Cheers~

[TonyClifton]

Novian, your model is looking great, and the idea of the cymbolhawk works fine!

-IdanI-, looking awesome, I just thought that the shirt collar looks less thin and less flowing than the rest of the shirt, what do you think?

omnicypher, thanks, man, I will have a look at the armpits today, and, yes, it´ll be Lemmy from MOTÖRHEAD!

daniela blanco, straight forward! great! you might model the hair directly from the head, and use textures to define it, instead of using extra, attached, geometry...

[Novian]

TonyClifton: Thanks very much! I also reduced the chest size a bit and pulled in some places to make the overall chest more compact. Tonight I will try to get the cymbolhawk unwrapped and painted, if there is no client work to be done...

Cheers~

[Detachable Toe]

Good stuff everyone. Not much more done on my end, just the sculpt on Eddie's face. I can't sculpt in pores and such as I don't own Zbrush/Mudbox, and sadly Blenders sculpting starts to chug at too high a face count.

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/4711/002lj7.jpg

@Novian: It's looking great :) Nice progress, I've no substantial critique, only perhaps make the straight edge of the cymbal cracked and beat up too.

@-IdanI-: I'm not too familiar with Tupac, but from what little I do, it looks like you're getting an alright likeness going. Nice job with the shirt so far as well, but I'd say the breast pocket is looking a tad 'blobbly' at the moment.

@Daniela Blanco: Thanks for the kind words, I'm not too sure how I'm going to go about my characters hair either :p
Nice job so far. As omnicypher mentioned, the eyes are looking fairly high a polycount in contrast to the rest of your mesh. Also, the polygons around the nose seem to me like they could flow a bit better. Keep it up.

@ianchaos: Jim's looking pretty good, I especially like his head/face and guitar.

I'm not sure, but his ****** is looking fairly low, though I've never seen Jim standing, so take that with a grain of salt. He's also comming across a tad bowlegged.

@L3XICON: Thanks, but my textures are bound to disappoint :(
Jimmy is looking good, the concept is very nice. By the looks of it, your textures should look ace.

@TonyClifton: Your mesh is looking nice and clean, good job. My only qualm at the moment is his shoulders. They are comming across a bit 'Gumby' like, though perhaps it is just me.

@lordpisang: :o I'm fairly surprised myself with how it has came out. My modelling 'skills' are hardly reliable :( Any progress on El-Vice?

@BiG ToE-3DT: Thanks for the heads-up, I've tweaked em a bit now, and they should be fine. Hopefully I'll show em soonish.

[funkdelic]

detachable toe: man you got some serious High poly modeling skills mate! =]

[Detachable Toe]

Thanks for the compliment funkdelic :) Not really deserved though, but thanks all the same. Checked out your site, your stuff kicks arse in comparison, very impressive.

Anyway, here's what I've done so far with the jacket sculpt, I'm pretty pleased with it so far.

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/4852/003eo0.jpg

[CleT0]

Here is my first post of my entry:

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/5102/1render8og9.jpghttp://img384.imageshack.us/img384/5165/1render6ll5.jpghttp://img384.imageshack.us/img384/7703/1render7fb7.jpg
Vampire Girl - Punk Rock Star



Critics r more than welcome!!

CYA lots to do!:dance:

.

[TonyClifton]

Detachable Toe, sweet mate! well done! I will work on that shoulders, man, could be the collar, which is still missing, I will post an update later...thanks for the comment!

CleT0, that´s stylish! isn´t there a navel missing?

[TonyClifton]

allright then, I have started the head and added the shirt collar, too:

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/6457/headcollarup1.jpg

[funkdelic]

very nice tony! you could use zbrush after to give it a assymetrical look!

[Novian]

Indeed excellent work! Well done.

Cheers~

[obibok]

so finally i have something thats worth showing...

http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/8057/rockstar01nu5.png

comments and critic are welcomed....

[L3XICON]

obibok looking good there :) the hands maybe a little small.. though hard to tell from the angles :D

TonyClifton great work :) really come along nice. definatly want to see this finished!

CleT0 great style :) loving the little skull motif's :P

Detachable Toe looking better with each update, keep it up!

a quick update from myself, have taken Jimi into zbrush and given him a bit of a sculpt. also thought I would try out creating the textures directly in zbrush too!

[DaddyDoom]

Gothdamnit L3X :D :D :D
That work on the face is simply K I L L E R! Very very good expression dude!

[omnicypher]

L3XICON: those skin tones are perfect! im just wondering how he will hold a guitar with hands as long as his arms. you might have to make the guitar smaller or lower than usual. i cant wait to see how this one turns out.

obibok: very nice female model! if you added another loop around the ear, it might get rid of the shading problem. and for that size of breasts, the bottoms of the boobs usually hang down a bit more.

tonyclifton: wow, you dont even need textures, it already looks disgusting. great job!

cleto: nice style, it seems like it would fit in with guitar hero very well. if you point the nipples at 90 degree angles from each other (45 degrees from the center line) they will look more natural. and somthing about the knees seem upside down. maybe if you pulled the kneecap down slightly it would fix this.

detachabletoe: that has to be the best high poly work ive seen out of blender! you should try zbrush or mudbox, it will change your world!

IDANI: nice shirt, if you threw some stitching on the pocket, and gave it its own wrinkles to show that its loose enough to fit a deck of cards, it might help the pocket stand out more. or you could mask the area and make the pocket as a separate sub tool.

novian: looking good, but that cymbol might be a little thick.

i remodeled the arms for a simpler topology. i ditched the muscle flow idea for a simple 10 sided cylinder, which should sculpt alot better. i also ditched the naval for the same reason. that kind of detail will look better in a normal map than if it was modeled. i also refined the head some more, but the nose still needs a little work and im saving the ears for last. hands and feet are still temporary placeholders. im currently at 3668 tris, shooting for around 4000.

[L3XICON]

thanks DD and omni :) anatomy work coming along nicely omni!

Almost done on the jimi part of the model, a few tweaks of the normal, diffuse and spec maps. then I will move onto the guitar and other details :D

2 updates: one with all maps, other with just normal and AO...

[DaddyDoom]

Perfect!

[Detachable Toe]

@L3XICON:Wow, speedy and great work right there! Top stuff.

@omnicypher:Thanks, that's a big compliment. I'd love to have Zbrush or Mudbox one day. Perhaps when I'm not so cheap :p
Anyway, the anatomy on your model looks great, especially considering the polycount. Seems very efficient and clean, great stuff so far.

@obibok: Looks great nice job. Got nothing to critique, is it anybody in particular?

@TonyClifton: That head is looking wonderful :) Love the stunted zombie nose :p

@CleT0: Nice style, looking forward to see it textured.

[funkdelic]

Lex: thats absolutely killer mate! ;]

[TonyClifton]

L3XICON, thanks, mate! your model is looking f$#&king great!!! holy smoke!!! the textures are looking great, I think you could even emphasize the scares a little more, with a different color...a little more fleshy for the stitches? because the dead skin is looking great! what do you think?

omnicypher, your model turned out really clean and flowing, perfect, unique! thanks, and great job as well!

hey, how do you guys suggest I should work on right now? I have got all the pieces: boots, pants, shirt, arms and head separately, and would like to sculpt details in zbrush. should I attach all the pieces first, or can I model with them as they are? L3XICON, I think you modeled the Jimizombie in separate parts, right? and how can I then join the normal maps...?

will post the update in a second.

[TonyClifton]

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/6117/objsheetii3.jpg

[yoyomon]

Hey lex, that zbrush texture of the bust looks great, but I don't see the same in style your nearly finished model. Definitely take another look at the spec map. At the moment, it looks too clay-like.

TonyClifton, nice mesh on the head. The only thing that looks kind of odd is how the neck transitions back to the hair. It looks like they're all one piece.

Here's a pic of where I'm at. Very early stages in zbrush.

[TonyClifton]

thanks for the comment yoyomon! yeak, I will define that part in zbrush. his hair will be more wet looking in that area, so it is sort of glueed to the neck.

[TonyClifton]

... Very early stages in zbrush.

your concept is really strong, I am looking forward to see it finished, the model is coming out very good already!!!

[L3XICON]

thanks for the comments guys :) glad you are liking it so far, still have a few bits to do. spec map does indeed need some attention :D

TonyClifton for sculpting in seperate parts. basically I split up the model in max, then re - attatched it into a single object but not welding the vertexes. In Zbrush I used auto group split to seperate the sections into sub objects. to create the Normal Maps and the AO map - after sculpting I exported from zbrush the highest sub div, and the lowest sub div for each section. In max I imported all of the lowest sub div meshes, and re-attatched them all. welding vertexes and tweaking were needed. I then used XNormal to bake out the normals and the AO. - so I re-exported the full low poly mesh from max, and then used that as my low poly base, and then imported all my high sub div meshes I exported from ZB as my high poly mesh and baked out a single Normal and AO maps. For exporting the diffuse, I Had to export from zbrush the colour map for each section, invert and composite each together in photoshop to make the full diffuse. I then used the AO map on mulitply layer to add depth detail. I think your right on the stitching and scars, there are a few tweaks here and there that I want to do to bring out some detail.

yoyomon yeah the Zbrush render came out nice, I was using a madcap base (one with a nice spec and shine, and lighting) with the colour map on top. I did this so I could get a feel for what it would be like lit and 'spec'd' - however I havnt been able to get it looking quite as good in max yet!

[TonyClifton]

I think your right on the stitching and scars, there are a few tweaks here and there that I want to do to bring out some detail.



thanks, L3XICON!!! I will try that way, seems to be straight forward and simple. and I was just talking about the texture in relation to the stiches, not the geometry!

[Novian]

@Omni: Thank you for the suggestion. I will look at it tonight. I would have posted my first WIPs for the texture but I wasn't feeling well yesterday so I came home and slept all day. Your model is looking great as well. I think the head looks much better. I admire your character's back. I think I need to give Travis more "independant" shoulderblades.

@L3XICON: just simply, wow.. VERY impressive. I will certainly be no match to your texturing skills *bows before L3XICON* lol :)

Cheers~

[TonyClifton]

well, I attached all the separate parts to one mesh, like you said before, L3XICON, but I got a question:
as you can see in the picture, the shirt collar is actually under the hair geometry, would you do it like this, too, or would you model the hair as part of the shirt geometry, and vice versa?
did I make myself clear?!

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/3069/sheetquestionforumgi5.jpg

[Novian]

Tony: If I understand you are meaning that the shirt polys and the hair polys are intersecting and you are wondering if that is how L3X would do it, or would he model the shirt flowing into the hair as one congruent mesh, correct?

Sorry, just trying to help :)

Cheers~

[TonyClifton]

Tony: If I understand you are meaning that the shirt polys and the hair polys are intersecting and you are wondering if that is how L3X would do it, or would he model the shirt flowing into the hair as one congruent mesh, correct?

Sorry, just trying to help :)

Cheers~

thanks, Novian! no worries! yeah, that was exactly my doubt. should I model the shirt and hair as one mesh or leave it as it is right now (actually it is not intersecting right now, so he could be animated moshing the hair.)?

[TonyClifton]

thanks, Novian! no worries! yeah, that was exactly my doubt. should I model the shirt and hair as one mesh or leave it as it is right now (actually it is not intersecting right now, so he could be animated moshing the hair.)?

what I meant is, like I did with the head and hair, where the hair is "coming out" of the head.

[BiG ToE-3DT]

TonyClifton: to be honest, I would model the hair, or at least the back part of the hair, seperate from the head. Reason is, it looks funny. But then after the texture is applied, it could change. For your question, the head/hair doesn't need to flow into the shirt. Its fine the way it is.

[Chung Wong]

Nice entry tony. I'm going for Sid vicious, so I'll have to tackle the hair problem. I think I would model the hair seperately from the head it's self. I'd probably use plains or something and alpha map it on.

[Warlock 279]

Yoyoman - I get the impression she might be using her guitar as a weapon, in which case some of those are looking a little fragile. You need a good sturdy hittin' design. Looks like you've got a good start on the model so far.

L3X - Good to see you joining in and glad to see someone doing Jimi. THe concept looks great, the sculpt looks great, the face is awesome. Excellent stuff so far.

Idani - Coming along nicely. I think the shirt looks good.

Omnicypher - Looking good, I think you made the right call in switching to the simplified flow for the arms. I tried a muscle oriented flow there once and it was nothing but trouble.

Detachable Toe - Looking good. I agree the hands might be a bit small. The jacket sculpt looks great so far as does the head.

Tony Clifton - Not bad. I think I'd do the hair separately personally that way you can "thin it out" if you want for the more zombified look. He's looking maybe just a look thick as well, I always think of Lemmy as kinda skinny, could just be my misconception tho.

IanChaos - Arms and overall proportions are looking much better. I think the ****** is a bit low yet tho.

Daniela Blanco - Not bad, but I think you could take another look at the edgeflow in the face. Check out this link (http://www.subdivisionmodeling.com/forums/showthread.php?t=538&highlight=edge+loops) for a nice example of a decent basic face flow.

Novian - Coming along great. The cymbal hawk is looking good.

Cleto - Not bad, nice style to it. Those are some BIG feet.

Obibok - Looks like a good start, proportions look pretty good, kinda hard to tell from 3/4 tho. Ear seems a bit too far back.

[omnicypher]

im trying to find the fastest way to make a human with good topology. once i get it to an hour ill probably post a video or a tutorial. im not really sure how to speed model hands and feet yet. they are 1288 tris and 5204 tris. and i didnt use any references, as that would slow me down. im also trying to figure out which details would be faster to fix in zbrush or in max so i use each program to thier advantage.

[-IdanI-]

thanks for all the crits guys .
TonyClifton
I think you should model the hair with planes and alphas, you will get a much better result. because right now the transition between the neck and the hair looks kind of wierd, other than that face is looking really good. :evil:
L3XICON
Man you'r fast. the model and textures are looking fantastic cant wait for more :smug:
Yoyoman
looking good. looks more like a street fighter with a guitar than a rockstar :evil: cant wait for more.

an update of the low poly version hands are coming soon plus the jeans and the sneakers

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll312/Idan_08/WIPtest_004.jpg

[yoyomon]

TonyClifton: I agree with bigToe, you don't have to model the hair into the shirt. With that said, you can probably cut some tris from the back of the shirt since it's going to be covered up by the hair. However...if you where to do this, then it'll probably be best to model the hair into the shirt just to make a nicer mesh.

Warlock: No the guitars aren't going to be weapons. It's just going to be for bashing in a guitar hero clone.

Here's an update on the sculpt. I'll probably finish it tomorrow evening or so.