Lies's project -Pose update

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the advice on the cloth and face. I haven't had the chance to look into it since I was on holiday.

In my last tutorial I got the remark that my model was a little bit too stiff. I had to follow my concept art more where she is leaning more forward. I have changed the pose and I was wondering if I could get some feedback on this. I think it is looking better than the old one, it suggests motion now.


Thanks!
Lies

Jamie's Project Pose Rethink.

Hi Dan,

Just thought I would post a quick one because it's been over a week.

Thanks for the comments on the pose earlier, it was clear form what a few people were saying that things were not quite working out (and a bit stiff overall) so I went back to the drawing board a bit and I think it has been worth stepping back from things.

Here is my latest 2 sketches of how I'm going to rework the forms. I have focussed on the overall structure a bit more and included a clearer 'line of action' throughout the 2 characters based on the direction of Bruce's axe swing:




I think the increased contrast between the triumphant Bruce and the fallen de Bohun works much better, I'm going to get to work trying to include some of this feeling in my 3d scene now.

I'll post some progress up soon.

Jamie

shriek update2

Hi Dan, here are some pictures of the shriek model im working on. One is of the sculpt and the other is a test of the pose im thinking of. I have another stupid question regarding the detail. If I sculpted the characters pores and wrinkles in a new layer at the highest level, is there a way I can create a bump map from this level. I can only find the option to create a displacement or normal map. Have a good week, Ric.

Leah - Update

Dan,

Thanks for the advise in your last post, it was really helpful. I've gone in and made changes to the hand and arm and I think they look better now. Having another pair of eyes is really helpful. Here's the changes I've made.




I have also modelled the feet. Something isn't working here and any input you have would be welcome. Keep in the mind that, again, I will be detailing the feet in Z-Brush and as such I want to have a good solid base much, but not many details at this point.



Overall, this is the statue that I've modelled this far. I've added many little pieces and at the moment I'm working on the cloth of the skirt and there will be a wrap around the torso. This is why there is a cone shape for the skirt at the moment.




Thanks again for mentoring all of us!

-Leah

Holly -the smiley face

Hi Dan

Jumped ahead and posed the face into the finished expression. Still happy to change the face that I posted previously if you think it needs it. Just wanted to see if it looked more like my model when I posed her into an expression...

I think the smile looks slightly inane - not sure about the teeth -let me know what you think

Thank you

Holly

chara-update

anatomy questions :)!!!!!!

I was wandering if it's better to spend the time modelling the muscles in xsi or sculpt them in Zbrush. I understand that as soon as I pose the model things will change but I was a bit confused at which stage i should put it in zbrush. in my case the arm and leg muscles are important ..any advise :)??
At the moment I'm defining the belly and rib cage and trying to simplify the topology

here are some of my screen captures:




thanks a lot :)!!
chara

Topolgy and retopology

Hi folks, I just got some great info on topolgy and retopo from a guy called Goldo on a forum site. He called me weoman instead of yeoman, but the links are great so I dont mind. Hope its of use, Ric. Weoman: Retopology tools by themself are very easy to learn. It's very exciting to retopo most of the time because you don't have to take care of the position of your vertices in space, since they automaticaly stick to your high-res model. The only thing you have to worry about is the mesh flow and how to keep everything in quads. Here are some links that might help you to learn how to do a good retopo: A very good and big thread about retopology in ZBrush: www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=44876 Another ZB3 tut, but in video this time: www.jcappelletti.com/z3tut03/ A very informative thread on Subdivisionmodeling forums, about the basics of mesh flow and topology, very interesting: www.subdivisionmodeling.com/forums/showthread.php?t=907 This is another app that let you a retopo really quickly: www.3dcoat.com/tutorials/Retopo/retopology.htm On this website, you'll see how you should retopo for animation. Their mesh is very dense, so most of the times you don't need that many loops: www.hippydrome.com/ www.hippydrome.com/ArmsShldrRot.html www.hippydrome.com/LShldrUDOnOffTargets.html And this one is just to see how dense the topology of Benjamin button's face is : artistpub.hu/content/miscimages/31/15231_l.jpg I hope that can help you. Cheers!

Goldo_O (User) Expert Boarder Posts: 118

Holly- Sweater and Belt

Hi Dan

Here's an update on how I'm approaching the sweater and the belt - I have had a go at producing a high res poly-mesh in Zbrush of both items, but feel that the polygon count is way too high. As regards to the collar detail on the sweater and the ripples of the cloth, is it best to do these once the model is posed using a displacement map, or shall I model them into the high-res Zbrush mesh whilst in T-pose? perhaps the catch of the belt could be achieved using a bump map, as it's so small? What do you think is best option for the buckle?

I ended up extracting the belt in XSI from the polygons of the sweater and extruding the edges.

I have altered the topology along the boobs, as I couldn't smooth out the nipple, I think this way works much better - is it okay what I have done by deleting the rest of the original torso (See in pic) or do I still need to keep this to animate with?

Thanks - look forward to your advice

Holly

Holly - face update

Hi Dan,

Here is the update on the face sculpt, I showed it to Saf, and he thinks it looks good, but that it looked 'Vanilla' - have tried to add more features to the sculpt, such as emphasising the bulge above the eye, and defining the creases that the cheeks make when they reach the mouth area. Are there any tips you can offer me to emphasise her features and make it look more like her, or will this will these details be achieved at the texturing stage? (ears,will not be seen)

Thanks Dan, look forward to hearing your thoughts

Holly

Richie--questions about hair

Hi, Dan

I moved the knuckles on the hand as well as the foot.

I modified the tri near the ear .

I am going to make the hair now. I plan to extrude the top of the head to be a rough model of the hair and polish it in Zbrush.

Is it a proper way to make the hair?

Thank you

chara - synopsis

hi dan :)

I thought I should tell you a bit about my project and the pose of the model so if you have any suggestion on how to approach certain areas of the body please tell me :)


the pose im considering:

I do want to model the feet with out the point shoes so i will model the pointe an place them somewhere in the composition

The reason I wanted to have detail in the torso area is because i want to use it as a base to scult a detailed corset in z- brush.

That's basically my synopsis :)
I hope my project makes sense!

thanks :)
chara

chara

hi dan :) I m chara and i'm modelling a dancer ..im still working on my base mesh and i was wondering if you could give me some feedback on the topology and sculpting ..i think i am getting a bit lost.


here are some images of how it looks at the moment.

I have pointed out where i feel i have problems.

Please tell me what you think.



Thanks a lot :)
chara



thanks for your time :)

DM - Leah

Hi Leah,

You have made a good start, just a few things that I can see that need a bit of attention.

As you say this is a proportional problem. As you see I have overlaid your mesh with the reference and you can see that the armpit area is too long, or with the size of your rib cage, your arm is too long. It should be a reasonably quick thing to fix, just make sure you have your reference there to help you.



With the hands I think you need to just be a little more subtle. Adjust the proportions of the knuckle pads and soften the indents. Again, have look at your reference and identify the main features and how big they are in relation to one another.



As for the breastplate, this might take a bit of experimentation. I would go with trying to follow the muscle flow. However, if the plate is supposed to be decorative, then look at your design and work the topology around the decorations. After all, if it is a metal plate, it shouldn't bent anyway so all you have to worry about is that it is smooth. Treat it like a car panel. If you can post up the final design, then I might be able to help a bit more.



From the first post, you look like you are on the right track. Keep it going and good luck.

Cheers,

Dan

DM - Richie

Hi Richie,

You have made a good start to the model.

Generally topology looks fairly solid. My main comments are that the knuckles on the hands and the feet should be repositioned slightly. Here is a scribble to show you what I mean:



The foot is in the same situation as the hand.

The face is looking good, just try ans get rid of the tri next to the ear. I might smooth strangely and all quads is a good habit to get into.......... generally.

Also the hands look a little small.

Other than that alls looking good. I would suggest doing some pose test ASAP to test your topology as your pose is pretty extreme and might need some extra tweaks.

Good luck and look forward to seeing more.

Cheers,

Dan

DM - Lies

Hey Lies,

Wow, that is a big update!!

Firstly, the dress is looking great. Splitting it up into sections is a great idea and seems to have worked well.

On the bodice I would look at some reference for how the cloth would crease from the left breast to the left arm pit. I would imagine you may get one or two slightly stronger folds in that area. Maybe also add a little variety to the depth of the folds as well. Nothing drastic just a few slightly heavier folds.

My only other comment is that I think that her cheeks look a little strange. I am not sure but you might want to try and get the Nasolabial Fold to curl downwards as it passes the corner of the mouth. Also on this image I have scribbled areas to look at for wrinkle/fold direction, they are off the top of my head at the mo, so make sure you find some good ref.



Keep it up. All seems to be going well.

Dan

DM - Ric

Hey Ric,

The guy is starting to look great. Not sure how far you have gone with the sculpt but make sure that you do as Scott Eaton says and identify your boney landmarks. The front of the shin can be quite sharp, make sure you define the clavicles. Looks at defining the border between the neck muscles and the Sternocleidomastoid as they insert near the base of the skull. All in all the model is looking good. Just make sure in further passes you identify some of the muscle groups, I am sure your character is going to be fairly lean so the muscles will be obvious.

The bump map should work well, just make sure you have time to test it and work out which levels to use in creating your displacement map. I tend to use layers for the fine detail. It just means that if you want to go back in and make changes and smooth, you can turn these layers off and make your changes then bring them back after and you should still have the details intact.

Look forward to seeing more.

Dan

Shriek update

Hello, here are some pictures of the human character Ive been sculpting, who will eventually be fighting the creature. The first shot is of the level 2 mesh and the second is level three. After that Ive posted shots of the level 5 sculpt. Obviously I want to try and get all this info into the final shot using a displacement map, so ill try level two as the basemesh.
When I go to detail the character with skin pores, wrinkles etc, should I do this on a new layer? I will eventually try to export this detail as a bump map, but I dont want all this information to be displayed in the displacement map. I then plan to polypaint the man and make a texture map using the auv option in zbrush. Thanks for your help, Ric

Lies - Update

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the very useful link on Displacement map, it has helped me a lot when working on the bodice.

I've been working on the clothes in the last 1,5 weeks, starting with the bodice. I first posed the base mesh and then extracted the basic shape of the bodice from the T-pose. I made a jpg with my workflow:

















After this I tried to do some displacement tests based on the website you gave. It took some time before I found the right settings.






After the bodice was finished I did the skirt. I divided the skirt in different parts to tackle them independently. I made another jpg to show the workflow:






This is where I am now:















There is still a lot to be done on the dress (all the detailing) and the proportions are not right yet (arms/hands are too large, head looks a bit stiff in certain angles)

My concern at the moment is the lace. I've done some basic tests around the bodice with a transparency node in XSI. It does become see through and it shows the pattern, but the mesh loses its thickness. Do you have an idea on how I can make the lace?

Any suggestions or remarks on the pose and the general look of where I am now are greatly appreciated since I don't want to continue not being sure if I'm heading in the right direction.

Thanks!
Lies