[Art/Writting] 3D Modeling

[Dekari]

Seeing as my writing thread is now one year dead, instead of bothering a mod to unlock it, I figured it would be better if I just left it as is and stated a new one seeing as I now have some new found skills in PhotoShop and AutoDesk Maya and attempting to do art....with much emphasis on attempting.  Let see if I can keep this thread from dieing as well.


So, lets get this train wreck started, shall we?



AutoDesk Maya Model:

Kedered Aldoraethar ver. 1 (character owner, Corgatha Taldorthar)

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Ked1.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Ked2.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Ked3.jpg

Back in mid-late November I made this face model for Corgatha during the CCC.  It was an ok start of a model, but lets face it, I had basically no knoweldge of the program I was using to make it (to give an idea, I didn't know where to setup the unit scale.  the model is actually 6cm X 6cm ^^; )



Kedered Aldoraethar ver. 2 (character owner, Corgatha Taldorthar)

Low res polygon views:
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedfront.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedside.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kediso.jpg

Subdivision surface model (final stage preview):
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedfrontfinalisedprev.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedsidefinalisedprev.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedisofinalisedprev.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedpesrpfinalisedprev.jpg

After about a month of learning the software through some very extensive tutorial videos (as well as dealing numerous real life distractions >< ), I think I might actually be getting better at this.

[Dekari]

Really?  Two weeks went by since opening this thread?  I really need to find some way to stop being distracted, cut back on WoW, and stop being such a perfectionist slacker with my work.


Anyway, here's a little bit of an update on my sub-beginners modeling work.


Ked v2 (more face detail and legs added.  starting on shoulder and arm)

Low polygon full view:
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedfront-1.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kediso-1.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedside-1.jpg

Low polygon bust view:
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedfrontbust.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedisobust.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedisobust.jpg


Also, I kind of made a mistake in saying that subdivision surfaces is the final stage model view.  After looking into it more I learned that I might be able to go an extra step and finish it out as a NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline) object for a more organic look, but I will have to see how that works out way down the line with rigging and animation.  But that won't stop me from letting you all see how it looks in that setup  .

NURBS full view:
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedfrontnurbs.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedisonurbs.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedsidenurbs.jpg


NURBS bust view:
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedfrontbustnurbs.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedisobustnurbs.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/drakedekari/Kedsidebustnurbs.jpg




From where I'm sitting, it looks ok.  I'm not really happy with the face due to it not really looking correct in the front view, but I can't seem to figure out where to adjust it to make it look better (I'm thinking ears and nose, but I can't really tell).  There's that and the mouth.  That was more of a "I need to make it, but I know it's going to look bad no matter how I make it so I might as well go with it" kind of thing.   I need to figure out a way to make that look better before I get too ahead of myself.

[WhiteFox]

Ooh, cool.

The whole torso looks pretty well shaped, particularly around the hips and legs. (Modeling isn't one of my strong points, though, so I may not be the best source of advice. But I still think it looks pretty good.)

I'm not really happy with the face due to it not really looking correct in the front view, but I can't seem to figure out where to adjust it to make it look better (I'm thinking ears and nose, but I can't really tell).

The bridge of the nose looks very wedge-like. Most felines have fairly flat, broad, nose bridges.

The hollows around the eyes look large and deep.

I think, and this is just a WAG, that the mouth looks odd because you've got a canine jaw and muzzle with a human mouth on it. The structure of the lips and the jaw don't really match up. Widening the corners of the jaw might help.

I like the shape of the ears, and how they're positioned on the head, though.

Might I ask; what kind of animal in particular is this character? The shape of, say, a panthers face is fairly different from a house cats, after all.

[Dekari]

Ooh, cool.

The whole torso looks pretty well shaped, particularly around the hips and legs. (Modeling isn't one of my strong points, though, so I may not be the best source of advice. But I still think it looks pretty good.)

Hey, at this point and skill level I'm at, any advise is good advise. 

Might I ask; what kind of animal in particular is this character? The shape of, say, a panthers face is fairly different from a house cats, after all.

According to Corgatha, Kedered is a Jaguar.  The best side and front reference images I could find I had to "steal" from a youtube video.  Not the best quality, but they were workable to get to this point.

[WhiteFox]

Hey, at this point and skill level I'm at, any advise is good advise. 

That's "advice".

The best side and front reference images I could find I had to "steal" from a youtube video.  Not the best quality, but they were workable to get to this point.

Google Image Search is your friend. Getting perfect front or side shots can be a pain.

Jaguars have fairly rounded muzzles and cheeks, and pretty strong chins (most large cats do). Of course, that might be a minor point depending on how animalistic, human, or cartoonish, the final design is going to be.

[Dekari]

Wow, do I suck at keeping updates or do I suck at keeping updates.


Anyway, ended up going a bit backwards on the Ked model due having to change reference images (the one I was using I didn't notice the guy moved his arm to a different position from the front view to the side view until I was already working on the arm and ended up having to remove what I had done of the shoulder and redo a starting point for it >< ), but I managed to get some more work on the head and got it to a point I actually like...eyes are still a little off I think though.

Ked front low poly
Ked iso low poly
Ked side low poly


Sadly after I got to that point I had to walk away from it for a while because I ended up going around in circles trying to get the geometry setup to match the new reference to do the shoulder.  But instead of doing nothing (like I normally do  ), I decided to take a crack at a different bit of modeling...one I have actually don't some work in. 

Guitar poly
Guitar nurbs

I grabbed my camera, took a few shots of one of my guitars (god I need to start using them again >< ), and went to work.  So far I have about 5 hours of work into the model.  Still need to model the bridge, tuning machine heads, back plates, and the strings.  The body, pick guard, knobs and switch, neck, nut, the three pickups, and all the frets are separate objects.

And for those who want to know the real one is a Charvel by Jackson/Charvel.
My guitar