Dominance War 5 - 3d - Mig Deva_God of Sight - mix_mash

[mix_mash]

I was getting ideas for DW 5 when it was 'supposed' to have started at the end of Feb. But I threw those ideas away when I found out that we were going to be making God characters, The first thing I thought of was the movie 'Summer Wars' and the digital character 'Love Machine'. I loved the whole Asura/Deva design of him and he inspired me to make my own style of Buddhist god.

Mig Deva (meaning 'Sight God') is something I've worked on for the last two days (because I'm slow). This is the general design I'll be going for but I'll be focusing on individual design of various parts separately. I'm not the greatest of artists (not at a good enough level for the game industry, in my opinion) as you can see but I hope my modeling will shine through. Plus, this is a friggin' challenge and what other way is there to push your skills.

Anyway, if anyone wants to see some of my other work, just click on my Youtube channel in my link and I've got a demo reel there.

Good luck to everyone in the comp!

Paul
(mix_mash)

[redonix76]

very cool design. Love the gold stuff and motifs. My only concern is the design on his back kinda look like a ships steering wheel. Maybe instead of those rods going all the way t the outer wheel, you can have it kinda float somewhere in between? Floating stuff is a cool way to show power.

[mix_mash]

very cool design. Love the gold stuff and motifs. My only concern is the design on his back kinda look like a ships steering wheel. Maybe instead of those rods going all the way t the outer wheel, you can have it kinda float somewhere in between? Floating stuff is a cool way to show power.

Thanks. The thing that hovers on his back is a Mandala. It's only a temporary design just like most of the other stuff. If I have run out of polygons to use then I will ditch the Mandala and find a cheap alternative like maybe glowing wings that I can use as a simple texture instead of a whole mesh.

I hope to have some new stuff up in the next few days.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[miclepickle]

I think the Mandala, as you called it, would look better without the bottom third.

[Warlock 279]

Interesting sketch. I'm especially liking mask, and I think his attire is appropriately godly.

No ditching the mandala! There's plenty of polygons for both. I don't mean this as a slight, but your character is pretty simple in terms of shape [its got a nice elegant godly look to it] you won't need anywhere near the poly limit to really make his shape nice and clean, so you'll have plenty of room for accessories. Also, the fact you don't have to waste triangles on a face, means you'll have all the more to work with. I do agree that the mandala needs to be less ship steering wheel tho.

He needs a staff...or a scepter or something of the like for smiting those who oppose him. Preferably a staff with an eye on the top of it, just sayin'.

[mix_mash]

Interesting sketch. I'm especially liking mask, and I think his attire is appropriately godly.

No ditching the mandala! There's plenty of polygons for both. I don't mean this as a slight, but your character is pretty simple in terms of shape [its got a nice elegant godly look to it] you won't need anywhere near the poly limit to really make his shape nice and clean, so you'll have plenty of room for accessories. Also, the fact you don't have to waste triangles on a face, means you'll have all the more to work with. I do agree that the mandala needs to be less ship steering wheel tho.

He needs a staff...or a scepter or something of the like for smiting those who oppose him. Preferably a staff with an eye on the top of it, just sayin'.

It's funny because 'simple' can often be deceiving when it comes to poly count. I've seen 'simple' designs before that have had an even higher poly count than the limit for this comp. The wireframes of the designs often show that the polygons aren't wasted, either.

Thanks for the sceptre idea. It did cross my mind before but I'll keep that something in the mind near the end if I have polys to spare. The actual floating 'wings' on the arms can form and eye shape and the floating globe becomes the iris with which he can shoot blasts of 'godly' light. I'll be illustrating this in further concepts.

Speaking of steering wheels, here's a good joke:

A man walks into the bar and notices a pirate at the counter. The odd thing about him is that the pirate has a small wooden boat steering wheel protruding out of his fly.
The man goes up to the pirate and says, 'Excuse me, but do you know that you have a steering wheel sticking out of your fly?'
'Aye,' replies the pirate. 'It's driving me nuts'

;P

Paul
(mix_mash)

[mix_mash]

OK, I've been working on various designs for the legs/feet.

Concept 1: Feet have circuitry-like lines following the digits. The toes are tipped with curved metal end caps. The ankle brace is hexagonal and three-tier. This is my original design style for the leg/feet.

Concept 2: The feet are the same but the brace is more floral.

Concept 3: The feet have a more floral design. Dots are placed near the knuckles of the toes and the toenails are tipped in metal. The ankle brace is round and two tier. The larger brace ring has ornamental designs around it.

Concept 4: Same as above but the brace is a larger bulky ornamental one.

I don't know which one of these I will pick. I may even come up with a variation of any of the designs later. But, for now, I'm sticking with one of these.

I'll be making some concepts for the arm next. There will be similar versions to the leg concepts but with some minor differences such as brace style.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[Warlock 279]

Can I get a vote for the leaves/petals from #2 with the "fat" ring from #3. Somehow the top-of-the-foot-bit from 3/4 seems like it would work better with the leaves/petals of the 2nd anklet.

[mix_mash]

Yeah, the leaves/petals do bring a certain look but I don't want to have both the foot design and brace with petals. I'd like to have a visual contrast.

But thanks for the feedback.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[Puckducker]

Feet look nice. I actually like design #1, the pointy toes will stick out well.

[mix_mash]

Considering the designs so far I will probably avoid the leafy/petal designs. It doesn't seem to fit the flow of the character. I will also avoid bulky things like the ankle braces in concept 4.

Anyway, I managed to get some arm concepts done. I won't bother detailing them. Even though I wanted to avoid the leafy design, the last arm concept has it. I will stick with the more circuit-like look for the hand and feet.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[washka]

Mix 02/04 for the legs. Same for hand.
Nice concept stuff man!

[Whitewidow]

I think 2 (legs) & 1 (Arms) would be good. Would like to see a bit more face as well. Liking the body art too. Keep it up!

[mix_mash]

I still have a lot of different parts of him to concept like his belt, arm 'wings' and face so don't worry. But I think I need to do some more full body concepts first because just showing the body parts separately aren't a good representation of how he will look at the end. I still want to also incorporate more 'eye' symbols in his design as well. Not overkill, though, just a few more eyes.

Thanks to everyone for their feedback so far.

Ultimately, I will be making the final decision for the design myself even though it may not fit what anyone has suggested. The reason for this is that I need to reason why the design fits the character. The design needs to have purpose and fit his personality/essence.

I still like feedback, though, because you never know if things can change or not.

Thanks again.

I will be posting up something new in the next few days.

Cheers,
Paul
(mix_mash)

[mix_mash]

Sorry, for bumping up my own post but I thought I would give a small progress report.

Basically, I've been making a low polygon proxy version in 3d to concept more. Of course, knowing me, I have to go an extra length so he has minor texturing. At the moment, I'm just setting up a skeleton and weight maps so I can pose him. Also, I should add that I am slow when I work because I tend to fiddle with the details too much.

Once I have a posed version going, I can concept some of the designs in 3d giving a better idea of what the final version would look like. I should be done by the end of the week. I'll be setting up the skeleton today and then for the next few days I'll work on the various designs.

I'll keep you posted.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[wil_himura]

I really like this concept, reminds me of a character from Bleach, 'Tosen Kaname'. This character is blind so I don't really know why it came to my mind to begin with :P

I like leg concept No2, it's somehow different from the rest of the circuitery (what are those things for? have you got a conceptual meaning for them I might have missed in the past posts?)

For the arms, I'm not sure at first sight really :P I like both ;)

Good luck!

[mix_mash]

I just wanted metal flowing from the back of his hands to the tips of his fingers. I suppose instead of a glove I went for something else.

Anyway, Tousen in his arrancar form (not his released cricket form, though) is probably what you mean. I think he looked cool in his arrancar uniform.

Off Topic, Lightwave SUCKS when it comes to setting up bones and stuff. That program is so backwards sometimes. I have to seriously re-rig everything now.... grrrrr.

I hope that if I get this done I'll have a proper concept model to work with.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[mhordred1984]

nice design, I look forward to seeing the 3D evolution

[mix_mash]

Progress, as usual, is slooooooooowwwwww. I really need to work out a quicker way to work. I thought that a rougher low res 3d version would be quicker but reality kicked my in the butt and showed me that the stuff in my head was not real time.

Anyway, I still have a lot of parts to make for him. I'm struggling to make gold look like gold or, at least, old gold (You know, that rich yellow looking stuff).

Here's what I still need to model:

- Belt
- Mask
- Arm + hand gold ornaments
- Arm wings + Globe
- Mandala
- Robe 'tails'
- patterns for pants + etc...

I hope to get all the rough modelling and extra variations done by next Friday so that I spend the rest of the final month working on the proper 3d modelling, texturing, posing, lighting, wallpapering, fingernail cleaning, girly screaming, etc......

Paul
(mix_mash)

PS: I SERIOUSLY need to work out a way of working faster.

[washka]

Hey it's coming along nicely, how to work faster?
Methodology/Organisation/Motivation/Time

[Kaiune3D]

Id just work on the low rez first get your base mesh in and your forms defined. Then your high rez I wouldn't even think about texture and pose at all till the end. Your forms are looking good though. Id probably do the gold bits on his chest, arms and feet in your high rez instead of modeling them out. Aside the ones that affect your silhouette.

But its looking good.

What software do you use for modeling? Ill try and find some quick work flows for you.

I generally try and rough out the model about 1 subdivision lower than I plan on the finished product being then I subdivide it. From there I add any necessary details. Once your where you want to be detail wise see how far your are from your budget and take out edge loops that aren't necessary to your silhouette or to your major details.

[Puckducker]

Hey, digging your update for sure. I really enjoy the energy in your pose, but I think with the 1 finger extended he looks more like he's going to start a dance battle. I think if you just made that a fist it'd help him look a little more aggressive.

[mix_mash]

Hey, digging your update for sure. I really enjoy the energy in your pose, but I think with the 1 finger extended he looks more like he's going to start a dance battle. I think if you just made that a fist it'd help him look a little more aggressive.

I didn't want him to go the aggressive route. Not all gods have to be monsters. I kind of wanted him to have a 'flow' to him rather than a 'punch' if you know what I mean. Anyway, the pose is temporary.

Kaiune3D,
He actually is low poly with sub-divs turned on. That's why he looks so segmented. The final version will look like a proper solid model.

Also, I use Lightwave. It has its good and bad points. I wish I could mix some of the Zbrush tools with it so that I could work faster. Still, it's the 3d program I'm most comfortable using. I think that it is not that I work slow, I think that it's just that I tweak too much at the wrong times and over-think stuff.

Anyway, I'll have an updated version in a day or two.

Cheers everyone.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[mix_mash]

OK, I have been working on more pieces. I actually have alternate versions of nearly all the pieces so far (except the mask) but I might post them later.

Please note that all the gold pieces will have ornamental designs on them when I work on the full version so that they won't look so plain.

So, far now, here is the current version.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[mix_mash]

OK, I've been working on more pieces and I'm pretty much done with the rough low poly version. I'll be working on a final paint over with the parts I've chosen then I'll start working on the high res sculpting/modeling.

But before I start with the paint over, here are some various parts I worked on.

Note: The belt design is still undecided for me and I'll change it later once I've done the rest. The mask design is what I'll stick with.

This version:

All Parts = V.1

Paul
(mix_mash)

[mix_mash]

These parts are:

Feet = V2
Ankle Brace = V2
Chest Design = V2
Hand = V2
Armband = V2
Wristband = V2

Paul
(mix_mash)

[mix_mash]

These parts are:

Feet = V1
Ankle Brace = V3
Chest Design = V1
Hand = V1
Armband = V3
Wristband = V3

Paul
(mix_mash)

[mix_mash]

These parts are:

Feet = V2
Ankle Brace = V4
Chest Design = V2
Hand = V2
Armband = V1
Wristband = V4

Paul
(mix_mash)

[mix_mash]

Just a quick note: The final paint over will have his coat tails like in the original design, a rough ornamental workover on the pants and metal pieces, and extra eyes on the body (human ones). The mandala will be extra at the end if I have extra polygons or not.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[DeadlyFreeze]

What you did for the ankle bracelet on v2 and the wrist band on v1 are the most interesting (shape wise) out of all of them imo. Everything else is kind of just a generic primitive shape.

[mix_mash]

For the Ankle bracelet I may go for V2 but I've decided to go a different way for the wrists. Actually, last night I had an idea may alter the look of the upper torso and arms. Still with the gold stuff but more organic.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[mix_mash]

Hey, everyone!

Sorry for the long time between updates but I didn't want to update you with tiny things (Hey, I just modeled an eyelash, guys!). Well, I spent days on this. I really thought I could do this quicker but I was wrong. OK, so this is a repaint of my 3d stuff and it is the final version of the design I'll be modeling. From now, the only changes I will be making are for the ornamental designs etched into the metal and maybe some colour changes and tiny superficial design changes when I get started on the 3d.

Now, the image looks weird in regards to dark and light but I was using an older tablet PC and the glare was terrible so it was hard to really know how bright things really were. I had to make a quick curves correction a few minutes ago because the whole thing was too dark to see.

Anyway, I won't be doing any more concepting. I've got to get down to the serious 3d stuff now. My greatest hurdle will be the pants because I hate modeling and sculpting clothes. It's the whole gravity and wrinkles bit that always gets me. I suppose I'll have to pay major attention to references when I'm doing them. Yeah, I know the pants look simple but getting things looking right is a pain sometimes.

OK, It's late and I'm getting a headache so here's the final 2d concept.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[washka]

Nice design man, try make some more clear blue for torso part, too much dark'll stiffle the whole thing, have fun with modeling!

[Kaiune3D]

Loving where this is headed GL man keep it up.

[mix_mash]

Nice design man, try make some more clear blue for torso part, too much dark'll stiffle the whole thing, have fun with modeling!
Oh, do you mean the tattoo for the overall torso or just the dark blue shading for this image?

If you mean the tattoo then we'll see how it looks in the texturing but you may be right. Everything looks different when it comes to the 3d version, anyway.

Thanks for the tip.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[TMNI VISION]

looks nice man. just avoid the eye on the bicep if you can cause it might hurt if he bend his arm :). I m waiting for its final 3d version.

[washka]

Basic blue skin tone, but I think it's the dark effect you put on your top layer all around the body/torso that erase a lot of interesting details, just balance better this effect if you use it, KIU!

[mix_mash]

Well, considering the rate that I'm working at and my struggle with getting things to look right (Oh, and laziness (my own fault)), I don't think I'm gonna be able to finish by the due date. I'm still going to work on him because I need to finish this for my sake but it won't make it for Dom War. This sucks because two months is actually plenty of time to create a model such as this and in the industry something like this could be done in about two weeks. I need to search for a way to work faster and more efficiently to get my ideas out and into reality.

Anyway, I may still post things up occasionally as I progress but don't expect any masterpieces. I know my art skills are kind of sucky.

Well, good luck to all those who get into the comp. I'll be cheering the 3dTotal team on.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[Kaiune3D]

Espresso helps. Joking aside, finishing projects and timing your self are two things that help a lot with speed. I have found that trying to beat a clock helps me work faster.

Getting a better job has really helped my motivation a lot.

Most of all you gotta have fun with it. Ive been there before I have folders of 80% completed projects to prove that. I hope your able to get it done in time. GL man!

[mix_mash]

Espresso helps. Joking aside, finishing projects and timing your self are two things that help a lot with speed. I have found that trying to beat a clock helps me work faster.

Getting a better job has really helped my motivation a lot.

Most of all you gotta have fun with it. Ive been there before I have folders of 80% completed projects to prove that. I hope your able to get it done in time. GL man!

I don't drink caffeine. Maybe that's why I can't do long shifts on the computer like most cg artists.

Well, I'll post up stuff when I get the chance. Thanks for the words of encouragement. I also like it when you refer to me as 'Green Lantern' (That's what 'GL' means, doesn't it? It couldn't be something obvious like 'good luck'.... ;P ).

All the best with your entry.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[Kaiune3D]

Thanks man. I totally thought you were Hal Jordan.

Totally try setting a timer when your modelling though it really helps you with speed. It does for me at least. Just don't forget the cleanup phase.