The Serpent

[Buzzy]

Ok, so here's the start to my next character to go along with the Barbarian.
(which you can view here)http://forums.3dtotal.com/showthread.php?t=59623

For now it's based on the Burmese Python...a gigantic one naturally. I've been doing TONS of research on snakes and decided on a python because 1.) I think a giant constrictor would be scarier than a giant venomous snake like a viper and 2.) I think pythons have the most interesting mouth and snout (2 rows of teeth and deep heat-sensing pits). And since snakes consist of a head, and thats about it, I thought an interesting head would be very important.

I think a snake, while it may seem simple, will provide some very good technical problems to solve.

http://duocartoons.com/David/threedy/snake01.jpg

the toothy maw
http://duocartoons.com/David/threedy/snake02.jpg


Why a barbarian versus a giant snake?
Because Frazetta is god.
http://duocartoons.com/David/threedy/Frazetta_Conan.jpg

[Buzzy]

Yeah so its not too exciting yet. But here are some zbrush updates.

http://duocartoons.com/David/threedy/snake09a.jpg

http://duocartoons.com/David/threedy/snake09b.jpg

[netflow]

coming along really well. The Frazetta reference makes all that much more uber.. well done

[Buzzy]

Ok, been a while since I've updated. But I'm more or less done with the snake.

http://duocartoons.com/David/threedy/Coil01.jpg

[Buzzy]

And as a special bonus....here's a preview of things to come
http://duocartoons.com/David/threedy/Battle01.jpg

[pogimonz]

very nice, I really like your work... hope to see more soon.

[BiG ToE-3DT]

so what kind of rigg do you got going on inside that beast.

[Buzzy]

The snake is on a splineIK....but to make it smooth I had to make it a 200-bone chain(real pythons can have upwards of 500 vertebra). This is pretty heavy for a game character. A fully rigged human with a full facial setup usually runs 100-120 bones. So, 220 is not completely ridiculous but should probably only be used as a boss or something. Also the majority of the bones are rigid-weighted, so that would help with the cpu time required to process the skinning of all those bones.

EDIT: actually, most platforms do GPU skinning rather than CPU skinning (the Wii is the notable exception)...so rigid weighting would save GPU time, not CPU time.

The length of the chain causes some other problems too. Mainly, splineIK in max doesn't seem to have an adjustable "iterations" setting like regular IK does. Or if it does, I can't find it. Therefore, as max tries to solve the IK, it slowly loses accuracy the farther down the chain you get. So by the time you get to the end of the tail, its usually pretty far off the spline. This makes posing him a little inconsistent.

On a side note, the snake weighs in at about 14k triangles, the majority of which is in the tail to get the smooth deformations (there is one loop for each bone).

[pogimonz]

how bout some wires buzzy, I'm interested to see the rig as well

[poopipe]

yeah!

I think Frank would be proud but I never met him so it would be presumptuous of me to say he would be

lets see some hair on that barbarian :)

[ryvick]

sick that soo looks like conan the barbarian. great work Buzzy

[Reb0rn]

sick that soo looks like conan the barbarian. great work Buzzy

Frank frazetta used to paint conan the barbarian, i guess it actually is conan in your reference image buzzy?

btw, shouldnt the snake have a brighter colour on his belly?

[Buzzy]

I wouldn't so much call it "reference" as much as "inspiration." Yeah, that painting is Frazetta's famous cover to Conan the Usurper (I think that's the title).

And the snake does have a white belly, it just doesn't come up on the sides very high....you can see it on his chin though. That is something I've since fixed and you'll be able to see in my next update. I've also changed his overall color pattern.

[Reb0rn]

yeah, i meant inspiration, soz for the misunderstanding. and now when you mention it, i see the brighter colour on its chin.

Very well done! The character is also superb!

[Dunric]

Great work ! Just amazing ! Which software did you used for that scaly skin patterns ? It is done in 2d and then applied as a normal map ?

[Makaveli]

The texture on the snake is dead on. The only suggestion is in your render, I would have the snakes tail trail off the camera just like in the inspiration piece you showed in the first post. Makes the viewer wonder..."how huge is this snake!?" lol

[Buzzy]

Dunric - The scales on the head were sculped in z-Brush but the scales on the rest of the body were just painted in PS and then nVidia-filtered.

Mak - That is a great idea, I think I'll do that. I've been working on trying to make the snake feel bigger, and I think that'll help. Thanks!

[ransomInK]

yeah, this is a great combination of two works. my next thought is a short animation or test for us viewers, right?