Character - "Grield"

[sammael]

Hi everyone, im new here, so heres a brief background... I started using lightwave about 18 months ago, because thats the program i use at school. I thouroughly enjoy working in 3d and iv been admiring the work on this forum for some time.

Anyway i have finally built up the courage to post some of my own work. Im hoping to get some crits on the modelling of this character that im working on, he's called a "Grield", but thats a long story.
I have only applied some dodgy procedurals to him at this time, so im not realy after any feedback on the surfacing, but i would appreciate any crits on the modelling.
Im currently working on his uv mapping and bone setup and ill post another pic when iv made some progress...

until then any comments are welcome, thanks!

[hrgiger]

Looks like excellent modeling to me.

The only thing I don't really care for are the top of the hands. I think the bones of the hand are a little too pronounced and they end sort of abruptly at the wrists. I might try to blend the transition a little more.

[Dave3D]

Wow, looks great the model is very well put together, i agree with hrgiger as the hands do seem a little out of context. Still great would you plz let use have a look at the wireframe??

Thanks Dave ;)

[riki]

The ears look a bit Pointy :) Just joking, great work. What's happening with his nostrils? maybe part of the effect??

[Hiraghm]

I saw it and thought "monster from the black lagoon".

Cept yours looks more real.

[pixelranger]

Very nice model. I love your attention to details.
But I agree on the transition from the hand to his wrist and something seems off with the wrinkles under his eyes. His nose is also a bit deformed.
But looking at it as a whole and judging by your design he is meant to look this way, and if you make som nice dirty texture maps for him I think he'll look awful. And I mean that in a good way :)
Seriously, you've done a great job!! Keep us updated!

[sammael]

WOW!, Thanks everyone for your replies.

hrgiger - thanks for your input, now that you've mentioned it, I agree with what you say bout the hands. I'll work on that.
Its good to get some other peoples opinions, i wouldnt notice things like that if people didnt point them out.

Dave3D - thanks for your comments, ill add a wirefrme to this post

riki - Yea im not too sure about the nostrils myself but im at loss of what to do. I was going for snoutish, noseish sort of look but it looks a bit pronounced or something at the moment. Ill have muck around with it but any suggestions would help.

hiraghm - thx :)

pixelranger - Yep i guess i was going for that sort of deformed, demented look. He'll definently have dirty looking texture map, and im thinking of adding displcement to the uv map for even more detail, wrinkles etc, mabe some scars. Ill be going for a sort of dead skin, semi transprent look so that you can see all his veins and stuff.

thanks everyone for the positive reinforcement, it gives me bit of motivation to keep going.

heres a look at the wireframe

keep the comments coming

[sammael]

1st UV test

[sammael]

Ok im at the stage of the head surfacing where i would appreciate some feedback - crits, ideas to make it better.
Been working on it all day and now im at a loss.
Complex surfcing is new to me so dont be afraid to crit strongly. I would appreciate it and any sort of tecincal info would help.

does it look too plastic?
do the eyes look ok?

[Hiraghm]

Wow. Are the wrinkles a combination of procedurals, or an image map?

[sparky]

I would add more of a specular map under the eyes, the spec and gloss look kind of uniform over the wrinkles under the eye.

I've been using LW for 18 months too, but I can't make anything like that. Nice modeling. I would make the wrinkles around the eyes a bit less symmetric, but I guess you can do that in animation.

[uberslayer™]

No worries about poly counts eh? lol. Looks good, but the nostrils bug me a bit, I suppose that's just how this guy looks.

[marvin]

That's very nice so far. I think he needs a diffuse map. That and maybe a spec map also. They would help with the plasticky look i believe. That's awesome work so far though. UV maps always scared the hell out of me. To be honest, they still confuse me when they don't come out right the first time. Great work so far though.

marvin

[Bionic Antboy]

He's looking pretty cool! I agree about doing additional mapping,
such as diffuse and spec.

I'd also like to see him(?) with some slightly less human eyes,
or maybe human style like you have, but maybe in the yellow-red
range.

[sammael]

ok thx again for the replies people

Hiraghm - the wrinkles and details are a combination of procedurals and image maps.

sparky - thx for the tip... I have attempted to fix that a bit in this next image

uberslayer™ - the reason for the excessive pollys it that i was planning to try to make a super detailed character using displacment (hence i tried to space pollys prety evenly), cant seem to get the displacement working on my uv maps tho :(

marvin - thx. He already has diffuse and spec maps so ill crank up the contrast a bit to try and get more of an effect. Yea UV mapping is a pain, this one took a few days (including the body), i think ill make my next char with less pollys hehe

Bionic Antboy - thx. working on the maps atm.
heres a couple of eye tests.

Im not going to post another pic now until i have made some real progress, but please keep the replies coming. I appreciate the tips and suggestions.

[marvin]

I personally like the eyes on the inset image better. They give hime more of an alien feel. More creepy.

marvin

[uberslayer™]

I like the black eyed version, reminds me of "Krull"

[borjalopez]

I love this model, i send you a image of the eye made in photoshop, do you like it? it´s only an idea.

[sparky]

I love the black eyes.

[pixelranger]

wow. He's really coming along! Nice job on the texture so far.

I'd make the iris/pupil a bit bigger. And then position the eyeball or eyelids so that the upper eyelids "rest" on top of the pupil. You shouldn't see much, or any iris above the pupil when he looks straight forward..

[sammael]

marvin, sparky, uberslayer™- i like them too but iv rulled them out becuse they lack expression. The would not suit the character in the context of my planned animation.

borjalopez - Great idea, ill do some tests. Not working on the eye textures atm but as soon as i do ill post a pic.

pixelranger - thanks for the tip man, that realy helps me out... makes sense too, when i look in the mirror. Im working on it.

heres a quick pic of his hand, iv tweaked it a bit to look more creature like.

[BohrMe]

I really like the black eyes in your last post. Very creepy looking.

[sammael]

Im headed in a bit of a new direction, let me know what you think.

[BohrMe]

Wow! That's really looking good! The texturing is very nice.