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demon beast wip

Submitted by pk on

Hi, this is something that im currently working on... obviously still needs to be textured. The two main things im doing with this is a high poly version of the beast which i will rig with the new skin morpher to get some cool muscle bulging action happening. Secondly, I am doing a medium poly version of the beast, which will be my first normal bump mapped character.

let me know if you think any changes are needed before I start unwrapping/texturing, I will probably get a chance to do this sometime in the next couple of weeks.

On the left of the normal map test, the medium poly beast is 6126 tris (about 7500 if you include gums/teeth/eyes). I wanted to learn how to use normal mapping so i did it on this demon beast, it seems to work pretty well. What do you think? Maybe a little bit of tweaking then on to unwrapping/texturing.

I might also do a low poly version too...

Insert Image: [img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/pk/2005122224123_beast-wip_pk.jp…]

Insert Image: [img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/pk/2005122224153_normal-map-test…]

Submitted by Kalescent on Mon, 24/01/05 - 2:11 AM Permalink

Nice work! I like most of the design - did you intend his face looking chimpanzee'ish ?

Submitted by pk on Mon, 24/01/05 - 3:24 AM Permalink

I was originally thinking of diablo or balrog (lotr) or even a bit of one of the creatures from the new WOW cinematic, when i started doing the head. i started moving away from what i had originally been thinking, i wasnt really thinking chimp, by now you say it i guess i can see that in it a little! Hazard you said you liked most of the design, what areas would you fix, cause i will probably tweak the model a little bit more before i unwrap etc.

Submitted by palantir on Mon, 24/01/05 - 3:32 AM Permalink

Cool, I love it.
I love the mass and feeling of weight to the tail. That whole bottom section looks like it could be off a dinosaur.

Submitted by Makk on Mon, 24/01/05 - 9:25 AM Permalink

Looking goood.
Not a big fan of the face though, the muscle under his eye/cheekbone area looks a little to sharp and strong.

Submitted by denz on Tue, 25/01/05 - 12:21 AM Permalink

cool :) nice work.

I agree with Makk.

Submitted by Blizzard on Tue, 25/01/05 - 2:49 AM Permalink

Hey MAn Nice Model, Love the veins, the only thing that i question is the tail, might look better without or smaller?

Submitted by MoonUnit on Tue, 25/01/05 - 5:28 AM Permalink

personally i like the tail, a heavy long tail is not nescarily a bad thing when working with a mythical creature, those demon things from warcraft 3 (there was one in the orc ending cinematic, got killed with the axe) come to mind.
cool model, keep it up

Submitted by palantir on Tue, 25/01/05 - 7:19 AM Permalink

Now that I look at it again, I get the impression that there is a balancing problem due to the size of the tail. Looking at the side view, it sort of looks like he might topple over backwards. I think it?s partly because of the massive tail and partly because his legs and feet are set is a position designed to make the creature lean forward. Imagining the exact hind section on a T-Rex type of creature, it?s upper body would extend forwards about the same length as the tail goes back, in order to have a balanced centre of mass. I think this guy needs that same balance. He seems to have the centre of gravity in a position that would not allow him to stand upright without toppling over.

I think he needs either a smaller tail, a much bulkier upper-body, or he should be hunched forward more to counter weight his tail.

Of course I may be wrong, but that?s just the impression I get. I imagine if I had a toy model of that sitting on my desk (apart from looking really cool) I don?t think it would stand on it?s own. [:)]

Submitted by pk on Mon, 21/02/05 - 12:59 AM Permalink

Insert Image: [img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/pk/2005219215310_beast_tex-pkx.j…]

hi, heres an update of the high poly model 'red demon beast'. I have tweaked the model slightly taking in account some of your suggestions, smaller tail, balance, relaxed muscles in facial area...
its now textured (still need to do teeth and gums properly), then onto rigging and morph targets for head and muscle flexing.

Submitted by J I Styles on Fri, 25/02/05 - 10:47 AM Permalink

demonic beasties - this one's in my area [:)]

in regards to the texturing, the main points I'd say to do some passes on before proceeding would be:

-sun bleaching: consider what this beasties skin properties are - is it thin skin layered over a structure of muscle, tendons, cartledge and sinew, or does it have a thicker leathery property? If it's more fleshy, sun spots and sun tanning where the sun would hit more prominently and whiter bleached areas where not much sun touches. Likewise, if it's more leathery, cracked, darker, and harder crusted leathery areas where the sun hits, and lighter smoother and more soft diffuse areas where it doesn't reach.

-translucent meaty reds: to give a greater impression of organic mass, add in some more saturated reds in areas where the skin is thinner and the blood layers more closely to the surface such as the nose, around the eyes, thin edged joints like elbows knuckles and knees, and progressively towards the hands and feet where the blood circulation fights more against congestion.

-integration of elements: This is a bit harder to try and explain - think of it as a final checking step. blending the different elements more coherantly as one, to make the beastie read more as a whole and complete being -- what I mean by this, as an example, would be the seperation of the different elements like the claws and skin. Check out some photo referance of animals with similar attributes - how a thin skin layer merges and connects the claws (think similar to the cuticles on your fingernails), or where the wear and tear of chunks and scratches and deposits of dirt form around the horns of a bull, or how the cartledge from the bridge of a nose is visible through the skin layer. Another example would be the details of protruding veins you've put in, but they don't yet read "beneath" the surface as good as they could, it's reading more like protrusions tendons would make.

Well, that's a lot of notes [:D] I hope I've been of some use, I think you're doing very well, and I'd like to see him pushed as far as I know you can take him!

Submitted by Kalescent on Fri, 25/02/05 - 5:01 PM Permalink

I think hes come along really well [:)]

Theres a couple of things when I first look at this guy with fresh eyes - I see powerful legs, a powerful torso, a good solid jaw, big head and a thick neck.

When I look at his arms I cant help but feel they are a tad undersize in bulk (not length) - and lacking in the power department, in paticular his long slender fingers dont say "I am a demon and I will tear you apart with these hands"

I have to agree with all of JI's notes regards the texture - I think youve made a good solid base - now its time to start throwing some environment / substance detail passes onto the beast.

Keep going with this guy hes going to come up well! [:)]

Submitted by pk on Sun, 27/02/05 - 1:04 AM Permalink

hi all, thanks 4 the feedback...

Joel, cheers for the texturing tips, I will do a couple more passes on the texture keeping them in mind.

Hazard, I have been playing around with muscle flexing with morph targets, which makes the arms look more powerful. Do u have any pics/reference for powerful hands that i can check out?

Livewire, I used 3DsMax for the beast and starting to test out mental ray for rendering

Submitted by MoonUnit on Sun, 22/05/05 - 9:15 PM Permalink

that looks great! are those teeth supposed to look metallic though? also i wonder if in a more relaxed pose sort of thing (as apposed to posed so for ease of modelling etc) the fingers would be so spread out, on (his) right hand especially i get the feeling they would hang a bit closer together, thats just me though. congrats again on a great model

Submitted by Lechy on Sun, 22/05/05 - 11:09 PM Permalink

It looks great, but I still think the skin tone is to even throughout, I'll get back to you on this one.

Posted by pk on

Hi, this is something that im currently working on... obviously still needs to be textured. The two main things im doing with this is a high poly version of the beast which i will rig with the new skin morpher to get some cool muscle bulging action happening. Secondly, I am doing a medium poly version of the beast, which will be my first normal bump mapped character.

let me know if you think any changes are needed before I start unwrapping/texturing, I will probably get a chance to do this sometime in the next couple of weeks.

On the left of the normal map test, the medium poly beast is 6126 tris (about 7500 if you include gums/teeth/eyes). I wanted to learn how to use normal mapping so i did it on this demon beast, it seems to work pretty well. What do you think? Maybe a little bit of tweaking then on to unwrapping/texturing.

I might also do a low poly version too...

Insert Image: [img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/pk/2005122224123_beast-wip_pk.jp…]

Insert Image: [img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/pk/2005122224153_normal-map-test…]


Submitted by Kalescent on Mon, 24/01/05 - 2:11 AM Permalink

Nice work! I like most of the design - did you intend his face looking chimpanzee'ish ?

Submitted by pk on Mon, 24/01/05 - 3:24 AM Permalink

I was originally thinking of diablo or balrog (lotr) or even a bit of one of the creatures from the new WOW cinematic, when i started doing the head. i started moving away from what i had originally been thinking, i wasnt really thinking chimp, by now you say it i guess i can see that in it a little! Hazard you said you liked most of the design, what areas would you fix, cause i will probably tweak the model a little bit more before i unwrap etc.

Submitted by palantir on Mon, 24/01/05 - 3:32 AM Permalink

Cool, I love it.
I love the mass and feeling of weight to the tail. That whole bottom section looks like it could be off a dinosaur.

Submitted by Makk on Mon, 24/01/05 - 9:25 AM Permalink

Looking goood.
Not a big fan of the face though, the muscle under his eye/cheekbone area looks a little to sharp and strong.

Submitted by denz on Tue, 25/01/05 - 12:21 AM Permalink

cool :) nice work.

I agree with Makk.

Submitted by Blizzard on Tue, 25/01/05 - 2:49 AM Permalink

Hey MAn Nice Model, Love the veins, the only thing that i question is the tail, might look better without or smaller?

Submitted by MoonUnit on Tue, 25/01/05 - 5:28 AM Permalink

personally i like the tail, a heavy long tail is not nescarily a bad thing when working with a mythical creature, those demon things from warcraft 3 (there was one in the orc ending cinematic, got killed with the axe) come to mind.
cool model, keep it up

Submitted by palantir on Tue, 25/01/05 - 7:19 AM Permalink

Now that I look at it again, I get the impression that there is a balancing problem due to the size of the tail. Looking at the side view, it sort of looks like he might topple over backwards. I think it?s partly because of the massive tail and partly because his legs and feet are set is a position designed to make the creature lean forward. Imagining the exact hind section on a T-Rex type of creature, it?s upper body would extend forwards about the same length as the tail goes back, in order to have a balanced centre of mass. I think this guy needs that same balance. He seems to have the centre of gravity in a position that would not allow him to stand upright without toppling over.

I think he needs either a smaller tail, a much bulkier upper-body, or he should be hunched forward more to counter weight his tail.

Of course I may be wrong, but that?s just the impression I get. I imagine if I had a toy model of that sitting on my desk (apart from looking really cool) I don?t think it would stand on it?s own. [:)]

Submitted by pk on Mon, 21/02/05 - 12:59 AM Permalink

Insert Image: [img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/pk/2005219215310_beast_tex-pkx.j…]

hi, heres an update of the high poly model 'red demon beast'. I have tweaked the model slightly taking in account some of your suggestions, smaller tail, balance, relaxed muscles in facial area...
its now textured (still need to do teeth and gums properly), then onto rigging and morph targets for head and muscle flexing.

Submitted by J I Styles on Fri, 25/02/05 - 10:47 AM Permalink

demonic beasties - this one's in my area [:)]

in regards to the texturing, the main points I'd say to do some passes on before proceeding would be:

-sun bleaching: consider what this beasties skin properties are - is it thin skin layered over a structure of muscle, tendons, cartledge and sinew, or does it have a thicker leathery property? If it's more fleshy, sun spots and sun tanning where the sun would hit more prominently and whiter bleached areas where not much sun touches. Likewise, if it's more leathery, cracked, darker, and harder crusted leathery areas where the sun hits, and lighter smoother and more soft diffuse areas where it doesn't reach.

-translucent meaty reds: to give a greater impression of organic mass, add in some more saturated reds in areas where the skin is thinner and the blood layers more closely to the surface such as the nose, around the eyes, thin edged joints like elbows knuckles and knees, and progressively towards the hands and feet where the blood circulation fights more against congestion.

-integration of elements: This is a bit harder to try and explain - think of it as a final checking step. blending the different elements more coherantly as one, to make the beastie read more as a whole and complete being -- what I mean by this, as an example, would be the seperation of the different elements like the claws and skin. Check out some photo referance of animals with similar attributes - how a thin skin layer merges and connects the claws (think similar to the cuticles on your fingernails), or where the wear and tear of chunks and scratches and deposits of dirt form around the horns of a bull, or how the cartledge from the bridge of a nose is visible through the skin layer. Another example would be the details of protruding veins you've put in, but they don't yet read "beneath" the surface as good as they could, it's reading more like protrusions tendons would make.

Well, that's a lot of notes [:D] I hope I've been of some use, I think you're doing very well, and I'd like to see him pushed as far as I know you can take him!

Submitted by Kalescent on Fri, 25/02/05 - 5:01 PM Permalink

I think hes come along really well [:)]

Theres a couple of things when I first look at this guy with fresh eyes - I see powerful legs, a powerful torso, a good solid jaw, big head and a thick neck.

When I look at his arms I cant help but feel they are a tad undersize in bulk (not length) - and lacking in the power department, in paticular his long slender fingers dont say "I am a demon and I will tear you apart with these hands"

I have to agree with all of JI's notes regards the texture - I think youve made a good solid base - now its time to start throwing some environment / substance detail passes onto the beast.

Keep going with this guy hes going to come up well! [:)]

Submitted by pk on Sun, 27/02/05 - 1:04 AM Permalink

hi all, thanks 4 the feedback...

Joel, cheers for the texturing tips, I will do a couple more passes on the texture keeping them in mind.

Hazard, I have been playing around with muscle flexing with morph targets, which makes the arms look more powerful. Do u have any pics/reference for powerful hands that i can check out?

Livewire, I used 3DsMax for the beast and starting to test out mental ray for rendering

Submitted by MoonUnit on Sun, 22/05/05 - 9:15 PM Permalink

that looks great! are those teeth supposed to look metallic though? also i wonder if in a more relaxed pose sort of thing (as apposed to posed so for ease of modelling etc) the fingers would be so spread out, on (his) right hand especially i get the feeling they would hang a bit closer together, thats just me though. congrats again on a great model

Submitted by Lechy on Sun, 22/05/05 - 11:09 PM Permalink

It looks great, but I still think the skin tone is to even throughout, I'll get back to you on this one.