originally posted in:Art and Stuff
While the main leader has his responsibilities that he has to deal with. Dawson appointed two of his highly trusted soldiers to take command of his specialised divisions. Shadow leads the Reconnaissance Division and Gregory leads Heavy/Special Weapons Division. Both take the pressure off of Dawson but not by much.
While the Recon Division Leader is just known as Shadow, it doesn't change the fact that he is suited for the position. Both with sharp stealth, weaponry skills and ironclad leadership abilities.
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I'll just use this thread as a dump to show progress in the redesign of an earlier character. I feel that I've learned a lot since the first design. Some of it is retopologized and some of it is still highpoly. Some of it still has to be tweaked so if you point something out, chances are that it's something I've noticed too.
Old Design (circa 2014): [url]http://i.imgur.com/9RGgBrJ.jpg[/url]
First Draft : [url]http://i.imgur.com/4A3bjRl.jpg[/url]
Update 1: [url]http://i.imgur.com/CFFOlbR.jpg[/url]
Update 2: [url]http://i.imgur.com/NRqrOEk.jpg[/url]
Update 3: [url]http://i.imgur.com/MbWHkUB.jpg[/url]
When this is done, it will be shown in Unreal 4, since this is a character for that game project I've been shamelessly bragging to everyone about. Hopefully what I'll end up with is a fairly lowpoly but high detailed character optimised for game development. To the best of my abilities that is.
If you want to pick my brain a little or just give a little praise, you can do that. I highly appreciate it. :)
[b]Update 1:[/b]
[spoiler]I've only used a simple tileable texture to visualise what the end result might be, the stretching is only temporary. I've changed the boots and the knee armour, because the old ones were an eyesore and too simple for this design. The thighs have been changed to look more agile. Some textures that are close to completion are the Helmet and the Main Chestpiece.
I have made a secondary chestpiece for extra detail. Other than all that, I've just been tweaking the belts, packs and armour to better suit the character's design.[/spoiler]
[b]Update 2:[/b]
[spoiler]Most of the lowpoly models are complete. Some might need to be optimised a bit more. But they're pretty much done. You'll notice that some textures, mainly the secondary chestpiece have some scratching going on there.
I simulated the cloak for mainly the presentation, but it did affect the hood, where the neck is, it's not going to be like that. Soft packs have changed colour, if you've noticed. I was hoping to use a texture mask to define the metallic parts of the pack.
And yes, the presentation itself is a bit brighter than before, mainly because of the HDR image that lights up the scene. It also makes some surfaces reflect now, such as the visor. Oh and I got rid of the old Tacpad and replaced it, the spot on where it was placed before looked wrong.[/spoiler]
[b]Update 3:[/b]
[spoiler]All lowpoly objects are complete, some have been optimised more, but the overall poly count for this character is 40k. That cloak has to be fixed up. But all that's really left to do now is to rig, texture and import to Unreal 4. And the boots are changed too, along with the leg armour.
I have been thinking about trying out that APEX Clothing tool, before importing to Unreal 4, to further enhance the cloak. But I might need to double the vert count of the cloak though.[/spoiler]
[b]Possibly Last Update:[/b]
Firstly, PRAISE THE ALMIGHTY POWER OF UNREAL 4!!
*ahem* Secondly, the character is nearing completion. I just wanted to see what it looks like in Unreal 4 and to setup my Master material, actually two masters, one for the armour and one for the fabrics. Using alpha masks, channel specific masks to define what is Metallic, Specular and Emissive (in the case of the Tacpad).
There's still a lot of things I have to tweak and textures I still need to finish, I got rid of all that scratching on the secondary chestpiece and replaced it with edge wear. Alpha Mask Textures still needed to be tweaked to get rid of the apparent edging that's going on that I don't want.
You're probably wondering on what happened to the knife, well it's gone. But it will be back, the original knife was 5k. I have to go back and retopologize it. And I didn't really get to use the APEX Clothing tool. I might use it for the finished render (only in Unreal 4). And I might upload the finished model to Sketchfab.
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You are improving really well!
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Glad I followed this, great progress! You should post it in the art contest.
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This is looking pretty awesome man. Making me wish I could do stuff like this. I only have two very minor things that are bugging me, pertaining to the cloak. It looks like it's supposed to be cloth, but it looks too shiny, at least from the pic. Also, and again, not trying to be a dick here, 'Recon Leader' in text at the bottom of the cloak just seems a bit...bland? I just think it would be better to have some sort of rank insignia, and a unit emblem of sorts, or just have something noticeably different on the armor/uniform. (If this is military of course). Otherwise, looks amazing. Waaaaaay beyond anything I can do.
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In regards to your updated version: This is looking pretty badass man,it just keeps getting better! There is one issue that still bugs me though. The design of the leg armor, it looks a little...bulky. Specifically on the lower leg portion. All the pieces seem to fit well except for that. Perhaps you could streamline it a bit, and maybe stretch it vertically to cover more of the leg, giving it a lower profile. Also, the boots/ foot armor looked kind of like sandals. ( not trying to be a dick pls don't hurt me) With the feet, I was thinking of maybe increasing the armor surface area to cover more, or just having something like tall jungle or jump boots. IDK its up to you. On a positive note, that cape and hood is awesome, and that eagle design is sick, and the TacPad idea fits nicely. Fantastic work man!
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Edited by AlexHamilton: 6/16/2015 11:28:18 PMHey, I'm not an expert modeler, and I've never made characters before but looking at your presentation i thought i could help out with some tips, firstly you should try to put your renders in Photoshop and apply an unsharp mask as Max scanline renders (i'm presuming you used max or maya) seem to come out a little blurry always, i crushed the black levels and got a lot more detail out of your render, but if you'd used some 3 point lighting you would have been able to see between the legs and make out the lines better, and lastly you could try should PBR, and then that visor would look real nice and the armour would look nice and metally, unreal 4 and sketchfab are two free options you try if you wanted. but real cool work man, keep it up :)
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First, I would like to point out that I have no 3d skills at all. This is way better than anything I can make. Looking at this characters design, it's definitely a solid concept. The main thing I like when looking at armor, is that all the pieces have a similar design, or follow some sort of pattern. I suppose having matching pieces is the best way to put it. Another thing to keep in mind, is the purpose it's being designed for, like recon armor will have light, fewer components with a lower profile, and heavy assault would be more bulky/powered/shielded/armored. Looking at this, I like it. The things that bug me: The chest plate looks a lot more simple, compared to the arms and shoulders. Try adding more in the way of gear/plating, or make it more detailed. The thighs just don't seem to go with the rest of it. At least from the pic, the rest of the armor looks more contoured, and the thighs look...spiky? Definitely want to see more of this. Nice work.
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Can you make the background lighter so we can see more contour/details on the armor itself?