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[dude]

I also like organic modelling. I didn't really like hard surfaces, especially because some people in my class are better than me at it due to prior experience with modelling, but years of drawing seem to have made me pretty good at organic modelling with relatively little effort. Yeah, I'm pretty vein like that

Anyway, yeah, I forgot to upload the wires, so here they are:

Some of the topography is problematic and there's a triangle in the eyelid that I don't know how to solve yet. I was mostly basing my topography on Max Kor's knight model, but since the famous picture only shows so much I had to work out many things on my own. I'm also not very good at placing junctions... (I especially don't like the two close five-way juctions in the cheek.) Anyway, I would appreciate any feedback!

 

[hookedonritalin]

Any folks here who've graduated/enrolled in the Computer Animation program at Sheridan? I applied and got accepted for the 2012-2013 session, but I decided to do an overseas internship instead. Any thoughts on the program? How're the job prospects?

 

[Mechanical Snowman]

Alright. Certainly look at other examples of face topology, but this is personally my fave way to flow the topo around the head and ears.

http://i.minus.com/ibk51SPXAp2L72.jpg

You should have more loops going around the cheeks, or else there won't be enough geometry to flow into the ear and you're left with a relatively high resolution ear that will be tacked on unnaturally to the side of the head.

Try get rid of those 5-poles in the cheek and replace with more uniform quads. Then you get more control over the shape of the cheek bone, it will deform and subdivide better, and will also give you more polygonal resolution to work with when it comes to attaching the ear.

 

[asa]

Here's some quick studies I did last spring:

 

[dude]

Alright. Certainly look at other examples of face topology, but this is personally my fave way to flow the topo around the head and ears.

http://i.minus.com/ibk51SPXAp2L72.jpg

You should have more loops going around the cheeks, or else there won't be enough geometry to flow into the ear and you're left with a relatively high resolution ear that will be tacked on unnaturally to the side of the head.

Try get rid of those 5-poles in the cheek and replace with more uniform quads. Then you get more control over the shape of the cheek bone, it will deform and subdivide better, and will also give you more polygonal resolution to work with when it comes to attaching the ear.

Thanks for the advice!
I'm currently working on having more loops around the cheeks actually, because of the high poly ear as you said. I'm still not sure how to do that but I think I'll ask about it in our practice lesson.
As for the 5-poles... The upper one I think I'm fine with? It's pretty good because I use it to define the cheekbone right now. The lower one I really should get rid of. Or maybe of both of them afterall? I don't know, I'll have to experiment with it.

Thanks for the reference picture! It's very nice, because most of the references I used were much more low poly (this is my first head, so I was very uneasy about so many polygons and looked for simpler references), but it's also very different than most of the ones I've seen. I'll have to study it a little.

Anyway! thanks a lot, I'll look into it and see how I can improve it. The ear is my biggest problem right now because of disparity in details...


And those are some very nice works, asa, I especially like the texture-work. Very nice.

 

[RichieS99]

I had asked in the Graphic design thread but you guys seem like you would know better. A friend of mine is wondering what 3D drawing books are the best and I figured who better than GAF to help me out.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Shin Johnpv]

What does he want to do in 3D?

If animation I'd recommend Richard William's Animators Survival Kit, The Illusion of Life, and Eric Goldberg's Character Animation Crash course.

I know a bunch of lighters/texture artists who swear by Digital Lighting and Rendering.

I'm sure others could recommend something for modeling, rigging and such.

 

[Kikarian]

I might sign up and pay for the videos on Gnomon Workshop.
Anyone using it, is it good?

 

[B.K.]

I might sign up and pay for the videos on Gnomon Workshop.
Anyone using it, is it good?

I've watched parts of a few Gnomon DVDs. They are horrible. Huge waste of money.

 

[Vano]

I might sign up and pay for the videos on Gnomon Workshop.
Anyone using it, is it good?

Don't know about Gnomon but if you want a cheap alternative you can subscribe to Digital Tutors. 45 USD a month and it have a good library of videos (Maya, 3d Max, zBrush, Photoshop and more). The quality is good imo and the approach is nice, step by step. I have used it for Maya and Real Flow and it helped me a lot.

 

[B.K.]

Why does EVERYONE use V-Ray? Every time I find a shader or rendering tutorial, it's for V-Ray. Why do people not use Mental Ray or the scanline renderer? Is V-Ray that much better or that much easier to use?

 

[arter_2]

I guess I'll dump some stuff. I have a lot of time to work on stuff since I've been jobless for a year. I just moved to LA to try the market out here.

Here is a newer Reel:

http://youtu.be/_aIiUpZ4pD8?hd=1

And a few Stills:

And a low res online 3D viewer of the last pic

froghead online (View in 3D)

 

[Cyport]

Haven't got time to read through all the previous posts if this question has been brought up so apologies if it has.

As part of a course at University we are using Unity. I want to import my own models into the game. I can get autodesk 3ds max for free as I am a student. I am tempted to start learning and creating models. I only need basic models to begin with.

I have the option to get any version of 3ds max and I am asking for your help which, is the latest the best or should I opt for an older version so that I could get a book tutorial for cheap to help me?

Otherwise shouldn't I bother and use Blender or a different program?

 

[ashrafazlan]

Haven't got time to read through all the previous posts if this question has been brought up so apologies if it has.

As part of a course at University we are using Unity. I want to import my own models into the game. I can get autodesk 3ds max for free as I am a student. I am tempted to start learning and creating models. I only need basic models to begin with.

I have the option to get any version of 3ds max and I am asking for your help which, is the latest the best or should I opt for an older version so that I could get a book tutorial for cheap to help me?

Otherwise shouldn't I bother and use Blender or a different program?

Just get the latest version, most tutorials even older ones should be compatible with Max.

 

[Cyport]

Just get the latest version, most tutorials even older ones should be compatible with Max.

Great thanks, looking forward to try it out

 

[Futureman]

any suggestions on blogs/websites to send an animated short to? I'll be done in a few days and was curious about promotion.

 

[B.K.]

Has anyone ever tried a MMO mouse with Max or Maya? I'd never seen any of those until today. I saw one that had almost 20 programmable buttons. Being able to set hotkeys on that would make working quite a bit faster.

 

[Mechanical Snowman]

Has anyone ever tried a MMO mouse with Max or Maya? I'd never seen any of those until today. I saw one that had almost 20 programmable buttons. Being able to set hotkeys on that would make working quite a bit faster.

I have always been sort of tempted, but I find if you're using the keyboard anyway you may as well have 2 or 3 major hotkeys on your mouse and just use the keyboard for the rest.

I used the MX Revolution and now the MX Performance with Maya and have set the thumb buttons to navigation shortcuts so I can navigate my scenes just with the mouse.

Plus those mice with a million trillion buttons look uncomfortable.

any suggestions on blogs/websites to send an animated short to? I'll be done in a few days and was curious about promotion.

I've never done anything like this, but I'd just post to Youtube and Vimeo with a link to whatever other online portfolios you have first. Then while you're looking for places to send it to at least it is getting hits.

 

[drunkendonuts]

Has anyone ever tried a MMO mouse with Max or Maya? I'd never seen any of those until today. I saw one that had almost 20 programmable buttons. Being able to set hotkeys on that would make working quite a bit faster.

i use my razer naga for maya work. i mapped hotkeys to the number keys on the side so i can do things like set initial states or make new fluid containers or particle emitters quickly. it works pretty nicely, in my opinion. not to mention the naga is incredbly comfortable in my hand.

in other news, here's a test render of something i'm working on. i'm doing a milk pour into a bowl with little cereal pieces. for particle/fluid sim, i used realflow, imported the mesh into maya, and using maxwell to render with. by weeks end, i should be done with all rendering, so i'll post when i'm done. in the mean time, i'm fiddling around with settings in maya and maxwell and here's one of my test renders thusfar:

 

[J2 Cool]

Made this last weekend with a friend.

"It's Not Your Fault, Charlie Brown"

 

[CyclopsRock]

Why does EVERYONE use V-Ray? Every time I find a shader or rendering tutorial, it's for V-Ray. Why do people not use Mental Ray or the scanline renderer? Is V-Ray that much better or that much easier to use?

Yes, it is.

 

[bkw]

Made this last weekend with a friend.

"It's Not Your Fault, Charlie Brown"

Hey that's pretty cool. I did some Peanuts animation stuff a few years back as well.

 

[Kikarian]

Made this last weekend with a friend.

"It's Not Your Fault, Charlie Brown"

I liked it a lot!

The beginning scene reminded me of a program, but I can't remember the name.

 

[J2 Cool]

Hey that's pretty cool. I did some Peanuts animation stuff a few years back as well.

Oh cool, I'd be interested to hear what? Commercials or otherwise?

I liked it a lot!

The beginning scene reminded me of a program, but I can't remember the name.

Thanks! It was drawn in Photoshop and animated/composited entirely in After Effects if that's what you meant.

 

[Xun]

I decided to work on an older piece of mine, but before I continue with the animation I thought It'd be best to angle the camera differently:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/94528/shotedit_2511.mov

For comparison, here's how it used to look (first piece):

http://vimeo.com/43667906

Better or worse?

 

[Shin Johnpv]

Definitely a better camera angle. I think you could possibly push him slightly more screen right a little bit more. You know I'm half way tempted to say you could drop the camera a little and rotate it up so that we're looking up slightly towards him. Since in the dialog he's kind of taking a stand against some one he's looked up to, so if we as the viewer are looking up at him slightly, it kind of makes him feel a little bit more empowered.

Though you could also play it the opposite, raise the camera a bit and look down at him slightly making us be the view from the person he's looked up to. Then he's coming into strength/power from this position of submission, and could kind of help towards the character arc.

Depends on how you want to play it though, maybe see what others on here say. Just two suggestions for you.

 

[Xun]

Definitely a better camera angle. I think you could possibly push him slightly more screen right a little bit more. You know I'm half way tempted to say you could drop the camera a little and rotate it up so that we're looking up slightly towards him. Since in the dialog he's kind of taking a stand against some one he's looked up to, so if we as the viewer are looking up at him slightly, it kind of makes him feel a little bit more empowered.

Though you could also play it the opposite, raise the camera a bit and look down at him slightly making us be the view from the person he's looked up to. Then he's coming into strength/power from this position of submission, and could kind of help towards the character arc.

Depends on how you want to play it though, maybe see what others on here say. Just two suggestions for you.

Some good points. Thanks very much man!

 

[Kikarian]

Thanks! It was drawn in Photoshop and animated/composited entirely in After Effects if that's what you meant.

Oh no I meant a TV program. I should of phrased it better.

 

[Dabookerman]

"Finished" this finally. I'm not 100% happy with the pose, and I will be doing a new one. Comments/crits would be much appreciated, especially for anything that looks VERY WRONG. I've stared at this for FAR TOO LONG!

 

[Xun]

"Finished" this finally. I'm not 100% happy with the pose, and I will be doing a new one. Comments/crits would be much appreciated, especially for anything that looks VERY WRONG. I've stared at this for FAR TOO LONG!

Looking good dude!

I'm really not sure what to say about it, but I'm sure people will be able to be much more helpful in that respect.

Also I'm still continuing with the same piece of animation, but I'm focusing on each section at a time.

This doesn't look right to me at all, so it would be great to get some opinions on it:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/94528/playblast27december.mov

I've not yet focused on the lip sync again, so I'm just trying to make sure the poses all work for this particular bit first.

 

[Kikarian]

"Finished" this finally. I'm not 100% happy with the pose, and I will be doing a new one. Comments/crits would be much appreciated, especially for anything that looks VERY WRONG. I've stared at this for FAR TOO LONG!

It's looking good!

Reminds me of a borderlands characters. The only criticism I have is the mouth, it doesn't seem to fit the face of the character.

 

[Dabookerman]

Looking good dude!

I'm really not sure what to say about it, but I'm sure people will be able to be much more helpful in that respect.

Also I'm still continuing with the same piece of animation, but I'm focusing on each section at a time.

This doesn't look right to me at all, so it would be great to get some opinions on it:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/94528/playblast27december.mov

I've not yet focused on the lip sync again, so I'm just trying to make sure the poses all work for this particular bit first.

Yeah, show us again with the lip syncing, because it's not looking too shabby so far. Maybe have some more subtle movements in the fingers?

It's looking good!

Reminds me of a borderlands characters. The only criticism I have is the mouth, it doesn't seem to fit the face of the character.

Cheers guys.. I actually did make a few adjustments last week.. just totally didn't update this thread >.<

Oh.. and other views -

I'll be starting a new one tomorrow

 

[Kikarian]

Yeah, show us again with the lip syncing, because it's not looking too shabby so far. Maybe have some more subtle movements in the fingers?



Cheers guys.. I actually did make a few adjustments last week.. just totally didn't update this thread >.<

Oh.. and other views -

I'll be starting a new one tomorrow

Much better. I really like this model.

Keep up the great work!

 

[B.K.]

When modeling characters, do you need to model the entire body and then the clothes or do you delete the parts of the mesh under the clothes?

 

[XiaNaphryz]

We've posted some recent VFX breakdowns for those who missed them:

Battleship Siggraph reel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA8cYEn7Mfg&hd=1

Avengers shot breakdown:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZsEwUuBjio&hd=1

 

[duracell017]

Yeah, show us again with the lip syncing, because it's not looking too shabby so far. Maybe have some more subtle movements in the fingers?



Cheers guys.. I actually did make a few adjustments last week.. just totally didn't update this thread >.<

Oh.. and other views -

I'll be starting a new one tomorrow

wow this looks great! where did you get your textures from? did you use a uv unwrapper program? I was taught doing the manual way in maya from my courses. time consuming process. any help on a good uv unwrapper would be awesome.

 

[duracell017]

Figured I'd pass this podcast episode along:

https://animationfascination.wordpr...ode-27-hal-hickel-industrial-light-and-magic/

Thanks Xia for the podcast. I will definitely sub to this podcast.

 

[Dabookerman]

wow this looks great! where did you get your textures from? did you use a uv unwrapper program? I was taught doing the manual way in maya from my courses. time consuming process. any help on a good uv unwrapper would be awesome.

Thanks

For UV unwrapping I used Maya, Zbrush (UV Master) and roadkill. Roadkill is a UV unwrapping tool. I only use it in extreme cases, however, Zbrush is superb for unwrapping now. Maya is pretty easy for unwrapping non organic shapes, but stuff like the body etc, I use zbrush.

Textures, I used a combination of photographic reference, and parts I handpainted myself. Her body for instance, I used 3D SK pics and then polypainted them in zbrush using spotlight, then I blended them together.
But her face is completely handpainted.

It's not how I'd prefer to do things, but it's a decent enough starting point when it comes to texturing.

 

[duracell017]

Thanks

For UV unwrapping I used Maya, Zbrush (UV Master) and roadkill. Roadkill is a UV unwrapping tool. I only use it in extreme cases, however, Zbrush is superb for unwrapping now. Maya is pretty easy for unwrapping non organic shapes, but stuff like the body etc, I use zbrush.

Textures, I used a combination of photographic reference, and parts I handpainted myself. Her body for instance, I used 3D SK pics and then polypainted them in zbrush using spotlight, then I blended them together.
But her face is completely handpainted.

It's not how I'd prefer to do things, but it's a decent enough starting point when it comes to texturing.

ahh okay. So did you end up doing the model blocking in maya > sculpt in Zbrush > export textures from Zbrush to maya and use Mia materials for fast skin sss? I bought ZBrush 4 last year. I wonder if uv master is free with Zbrush purchase. okay I will have to learn these features: spotlight and polypaint. I think I have lecture notes on those.

I am trying to figure out a pipeline to texture organic models.

 

[Dabookerman]

ahh okay. So did you end up doing the model blocking in maya > sculpt in Zbrush > export textures from Zbrush to maya and use Mia materials for fast skin sss? I bought ZBrush 4 last year. I wonder if uv master is free with Zbrush purchase. okay I will have to learn these features: spotlight and polypaint. I think I have lecture notes on those.

I am trying to figure out a pipeline to texture organic models.

The problem with texturing in polypaint is that it's paints a colour per poly in zbrush. So the model would need to be VERY hi res for it to be able to capture all the detail. I'm still working on a texturing pipeline that works for me, but the way I did, say the body, was this way -
-Spotlight paint a block out of the texture.
-Do a quick UV map of the body
-Export out the paint, and correct it
-Import the tweaked texture and apply it back to the model via polypaint.

Zbrush is an awesome program. Since you've bought yourself a license, any new version they release is a free upgrade for you. I actually just upgraded mine to 4R5. Definitely worth the price What's also great is that all their plugins are free. Most should already be part of the package, but you can find more here - http://www.pixologic.com/zbrush/downloadcenter/zplugins/

As for the render, I used Marmoset Toolbag. It's about $50, but it's a real time renderer and is a perfect way to showcase game assets. They have a SSS shader that I actually used on the skin of my character.

I try not to block out the model in Maya, since Zbrush has made it so easy to block out and sculpt using Dynamesh. Dynamesh is amazing, use it!

 

[duracell017]

The problem with texturing in polypaint is that it's paints a colour per poly in zbrush. So the model would need to be VERY hi res for it to be able to capture all the detail. I'm still working on a texturing pipeline that works for me, but the way I did, say the body, was this way -
-Spotlight paint a block out of the texture.
-Do a quick UV map of the body
-Export out the paint, and correct it
-Import the tweaked texture and apply it back to the model via polypaint.

Zbrush is an awesome program. Since you've bought yourself a license, any new version they release is a free upgrade for you. I actually just upgraded mine to 4R5. Definitely worth the price What's also great is that all their plugins are free. Most should already be part of the package, but you can find more here - http://www.pixologic.com/zbrush/downloadcenter/zplugins/

As for the render, I used Marmoset Toolbag. It's about $50, but it's a real time renderer and is a perfect way to showcase game assets. They have a SSS shader that I actually used on the skin of my character.

I try not to block out the model in Maya, since Zbrush has made it so easy to block out and sculpt using Dynamesh. Dynamesh is amazing, use it!

wow thank you for your workflow. I will def look up Zbrush upgrades and plugins. that marmoset toolset looks great to use. you mentioned it's great for game assets. how about short films that may need more realistic rendering like animated feature films vfx composite?

I will look up on using dynamesh on digital tutors. Zbrush is intimidating to use lol. I barely got used to using the basic brushes when sculpting lol.

 

[Dabookerman]

wow thank you for your workflow. I will def look up Zbrush upgrades and plugins. that marmoset toolset looks great to use. you mentioned it's great for game assets. how about short films that may need more realistic rendering like animated feature films vfx composite?

I will look up on using dynamesh on digital tutors. Zbrush is intimidating to use lol. I barely got used to using the basic brushes when sculpting lol.

I wouldn't use Toolbag for feature films. It's really used to take screengrabs in a in game situation. I think you can animate lights, maybe an anim or a turntable, but that's about it.

 

[duracell017]

I wouldn't use Toolbag for feature films. It's really used to take screengrabs in a in game situation. I think you can animate lights, maybe an anim or a turntable, but that's about it.

ahh okay. thank you.

 

[Dabookerman]

Started on something new. It's good to be sculpting again..

Aiming to get this done in less than a month.

 

[Mechanical Snowman]

Started on something new. It's good to be sculpting again..

Aiming to get this done in less than a month.

From scratch or using a base mesh?

Would be nice to see wires of the body if it's polygonal.

 

[Dabookerman]

From scratch or using a base mesh?

Would be nice to see wires of the body if it's polygonal.

I used an existing low poly base mesh that I did for my Pokemon Trainer. I don't intend to keep it though. I want to sculpt the whole thing first, then go through and retopologise it.

For reference, this is my "generic" female base mesh that I started off with.

The topology isn't something i'm happy with it, and in the future, I won't start off with a base mesh. I'll do everything using dynamesh.

 

[duracell017]

That female sculpt looks great! I need to work on creating characters. I was told to be competitive to have 5-6 hq poseable characters along with 10 hard surface projects since my field is 3d modeling. does this still hold true for entry level today?

I looked up vray of was thinking to get it, but dang that's expensive. I guess the next best thing to render is mental ray using Mia materials? I only have maya and Zbrush and cs6 for now.

 

[Dabookerman]

That female sculpt looks great! I need to work on creating characters. I was told to be competitive to have 5-6 hq poseable characters along with 10 hard surface projects since my field is 3d modeling. does this still hold true for entry level today?

I looked up vray of was thinking to get it, but dang that's expensive. I guess the next best thing to render is mental ray using Mia materials? I only have maya and Zbrush and cs6 for now.

Um. Who told you that?

What exactly do you want to do?

Advice for whatever specific job role can be different depending on what kind of job you're seeking. The number one important thing to do is pick a specific job role that you'll pursue. Even though I wanted to be a character artist, I went for environment/asset roles because they weren't as competitive, and I had virtually no knowledge of anatomy and was no where near as good at organic modelling.

 

[duracell017]

my senior portfolio instructor noted it in my demo reel assignment. I'll post my demo reel most likely tmr here.

actually im not sure what role I want to do lol. my study is 3d modeling, but I have dabbed in particle dynamics, visual effects, and texturing and lighting as well during my studies. plus I have an engineering background and do I can dab into the tech art side as well such expressions and programming.

I was planning on making a short film that used particles, hard surface models, animation, and texturing in hopes that would land me an internship, job, or admittance into a training program at Disney. I know all eggs in one basket. but really any opportunity would be great. I'm currently working on small projects to finesse my hard surface modeling and redo some old projects after learning anatomy through ecorche that involves characters.

 

[duracell017]

Um. Who told you that?

What exactly do you want to do?

Advice for whatever specific job role can be different depending on what kind of job you're seeking. The number one important thing to do is pick a specific job role that you'll pursue. Even though I wanted to be a character artist, I went for environment/asset roles because they weren't as competitive, and I had virtually no knowledge of anatomy and was no where near as good at organic modelling.

I'll say though you're work looks great!