Batman Model v2

Daniel Arya's Concept

So like I said in my year view I need to do more styles and redo some of my past models.This is the original concept art by Daniel Arya; awesome artist and really nice considering how terrible the first model I made was; and I just about stroked out looking at the old model and HOW HORRIBLE it was.

Texture Maps for Body

So I re-modeled everything, did not keep a thing. I actually started this one with my alpha mesh and did the arms and large details before I went into Zbrush. I used Zbrush to get the tiny details and large poly painting done.

Texture Maps for Cape/Belt

WIP Scene

So I have him textured and I thought since I need to work on my environments I would try and give me one. This is still a big WIP I sculpted the gargoyles in like 10 minutes and rendered this in Softimage and I used the simple make smoke for the clouds using ICE. I am still trying to find that nice medium for the buildings; I don't want too much detail to take away from the Batman model but I really like the old metropolis feel and the new building growing around it. I think I will sit and really look at Bioshock and Rapture. It has detail but not the kind that is a slap in the face and I think it would work well with this style and the kind of feel I want. Watching ICE tutorials and video to play with particles and get some more effects in the scene. Just something I would like to know more and kind of improve. Did a little bit of particle work in Maya but haven't really worked in ICE.

Mech Character / Steam Pirate / Pose

I have gotten a lot done and have some characters to show and some updates as well. So this is a big one.

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My hardsurface/Metal Gear Character is done. I wanted to do something with hardsurface and I really haven't done any before. I looked at the Metal Gear Series for an idea. Its not purely hardsurface, more that it has hardsurface componets and a tech style body.

Ref sheet

I found everything thing I could (toys, art, screenshots) and some more concepts and art from the previous games at http://www.creativeuncut.com/


Concept

I roughed out an idea of the character nothing amazing just need to have a blueprint
I started in Zbrush with this model and then I used Softimage for retopologizing. I find that Softimage has the most effective tools for modeling and polygon sculpting. I save so much time on retopologizing in Softimage compared to working in Maya.

WIP

I used Fibermesh to make the hair and I was able to then double it for textures on the face and the low polygon hair.

Final Zbrush model
 

Low Texture version

Low wireframe

I used the tech blades made by z-design and turned them into 3D models. I did have them as a texture and used alphas and so on but my little computer had a heart attack trying to do all that so I just made things easier and rendered them out in layers.

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This other character was done for multiple reasons.
1. I wanted to work on my lower edge flow and perfect some of my lower modeling
2. I wanted to try some clothing
3 and finally I wanted to do an older character with wounds.

So I started find some reference and did some sketches. I wanted to do a Steam punk kind of Pirate woman but it turned into more of a Victorian bad ass/angry woman.


Concept

Ref

I started modeling her in Maya, got the jacket and frills on the shirt done in Softimage and jumped to Zbrush. At this Point I was jumping from the low Zbrush and the low model. I had the UV's set before going into Zbrush to save me some possible pain.

WIP 1

WIP 2

I wanted her wounds to be on her face and look like an Octopus attack and have some cuts and so on. I had a hell of a time trying to find fresh squid/octopus attacks. I found some but than I looked at the marks Leeches leave, similar circle mouth marks I had in mind, and found some great references.

 

Zbrush Polypaint

The Pocket and belts are 50% from the Zbursh tool and 50 what I had modeled before hand. I have her posed, lit and rendered.

Low Model Textured

Low Wireframe

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I am really close to having my newest reel done Just a few more things to render and pose the pirate woman and I will be golden.

 

I finished the PolySculpt class at CG Society and was glad I did. I had only used Maya to animate and do particle effects in and only a little bit of modeling. So that was a great help. I am now taking a Hardsurface modeling class and getting some more modeling tips in Maya and Zbrush.

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 Looking at my Reel I have about 7 characters and everything is looking good but I had to change the pose of Rosa or Hester

They basically have the same pose, So I wanted to change one of them. I have Rosa re-posed and I have an idea for Hester. I will pose Hester and see how the two look.

This is Rosa's new pose I used a stock image from http://faestock.deviantart.com/  as a base pose. I like it but I am not going to say 'yeah' yet till I see how Hester's re-pose comes out; might keep both will see.

http://faestock.deviantart.com/art/Valentine19-367363261

 

Hester still got it; granted it died along the road ages ago. I might keep this pose; I seem to have this sexy pose thing going on today. Rosa looks like a gypsy and Hester is out man hunting(scaring) 

Animating and Retopologizing

 

I haven't update in awhile and it's not that I am not working, I am just working on things that take time to do well.

 

So I have a low version of Rosa made. I rigged and animated her in Maya. I used Softimage's tail bones in the dress and the hair.I rendered this is Softimage XSI, I used an .FBX file to jump from one program to another. I still need to render the low version of Rosa with wireframes, I will use her tpose and render her in Maya. I haven't really done a lot of animation since I left school so this was a good refresher. Nothing amazing but its good practice and I show I can make a model that can be easily rigged.

I am currently working on a lower version of the Djinn model in Zbrush, curse my asymmetry. Trying the zsphere method and drawing out the topology is kind of working, though I might just use the zsphere and just remake the whole body to get a better result. Its that trial and see what looks better kind of project. For rigging, to save time I may use the biped rig in Softimage and animate him with that rig. I found some videos on YouTube for reference animation for the Djinn. Kwonkicker Shadow Boxing. So its going to be a lot of graph editing and matching the reference.

 

Clockwork Man, Rosa, HDR work

I have done a TON of things and they have all turned out really well so far.

First: I finished my submission for the Train your Brain Contest and my Clockwork Man turned out really well. I have been work on this concept for so long and I feel that I have final gotten it down.

"Where does this piece go?" The Clockwork Man does not know where the turn key goes, the head or the heart. 2 of the most important pieces to the being a person are both missing one piece. So, where does the last piece go?



 

So I built him in Zbrush and Softimage, rigged and posed in Soft. Lighting, texture and color were done in Zbrush. I like him and I am really glad it turned out well. Even better than I had thought it would. I was planning on this one being a Hardsurafe study but it turned into more of an anatomy study. 

Second: I have revisited Rosa. I look back at my old model and really, really hate myself for it but this time I got her down.

 

I still have a few odds and ends to add, but so far so good. I am work with Spotlight to texture and paint and I do not know how I lived without it. I want to make her "wet" so I am messing with modeling water on her skin. I want that out of the shower kind of wet and I really haven't tried anything like that in Zbrush before so I think it will be fun.



 

Third: I am trying more HDR work and what not. I want to do something with Faeris and I haven't found images online that I could use for good lighting that I like.

This isn't great, so I need to go hunting for some free HDR images and panoramas which isn't as easy as it sounds.

 

 

 

 

Train Your Brain Contest: Clockwork Man WIP

I working on a model for the Train your Brain contest on DeviantArt. I am going to submit for the Entertainment 3D category. 

I am working on an old concept I did; a clockwork person/angel. In high school for my AP art class we had to come up with a concept and use that 1 concept in 6 different pieces of art. If I remember correctly I was planning on redoing old paintings of angels and doing them with this robotic theme. I did not do this concept instead I did a Tarot Card Circus theme with oil paints.

Anyway; I am at that stage in the sculpt where I haven't really dedicated myself to the work yet. Its at that starting point and I need to sit down and concept the body. I am studying a lot of machinery, clocks, old windup dolls and am working on a Clockwork skeleton that will be seen through out the body, like the neck area and the eyes.   This will be a project where I am going to jump from program to program. I am modeling the outer shell in Zbrush and the cogs and inner workings in Softimage.

The due date is Dec 3rd for the contest, so I really want to make this piece look as good as I can. I sculpted the head to see if I could match my concept and I think its okay. If the sculpt didn't turn out well then I wasn't going to bother. I am glad my skills have improved to the point where I can feel confident I can make this piece look really well.

So I will be working on this with all the spare time I have.

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With this Clockwork man I have a robotic/hard surface character. So I was thinking about doing an anime style character to model or a really cartoony character. I think I need to do both;do something outside my comfort zone and muddle through it. I mean Batman was a great stylized character but I would not call him cartoony.
 

Batman Model

So I have a semi finished model of Batman.
I figured out a great way to use the UV master plug-in in Zbrush. Mask out the chunks of the model and turn them into there own groups.

For Example: I divide Batman's Chest, Back and Padding into different groups and different Subtools in Zbrush and then used the UV master on each one.



Body and Cape Diffuse Texture Map

So my UV's were made and then I exported the Subtools out and rearranged the UVs in Softimage XSI to get a better layout so I could easily edit them when I baked them in XNormal.

Left: Lower Model Right: DanielAraya's Concept

I reduced the amount of polygons from the Zbrush model and used the Softimage Biped Rig to do some quick poses. I need to go back over the model and fix some of the Weight Painting on the hips, they seem to follow the bone more than I want and it made the hips wider. When I posed it, it looks great but if I do more poses then I am defiantly going to have to fix the weighting.

I Googled "Batman Throwing a Batarang" and I saw the screencap from the Gotham Knight: Deadshot and it caught my eye right away. I was looking at the ones from Arkham City and from the animated version of Batman all the way to The Batman; but I wanted to do something more dynamic.  

Images from Google search

From: http://buildingbatman.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html

So I went with this one. I believe this particular animation was done by madhouse and they also worked on Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (great movie and really good books).

I model a quick batarang based on the Arkham City designs. Batman's design is from http://danielaraya.deviantart.com/art/JLA-CG-Concepts-Batman-180836600.

 

I can see a future CGI JLA movie, especially if Beware the Batman and the Green Lantern show stay a hit. The style for Beware the Batman is done like the Green Lantern show so they would be the over all style. I kind of wish they would do a female show like the Birds of Prey for something different.

Last I heard the writers for Beware the Bat were focusing on the Batman's detective skills and using lesser know villains. I wonder if they will do Hush, I have only seen Hush in the DC universe online and in Arkham City; though I am sure the whole man cutting his face up and making himself into someone else thing may be a little to much for some. At least The Batman had a really really creepy Joker in Batman vs Dracula: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIzcIKEAB9w 

Left: Batman from Beware the Batman Right: Hal Jordan from Green Lantern the Animated Series

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I mention Arkham City a lot because it was one of the last video games I have played and it was really good, wished it was longer though. But I just got Zero's Escape Virtues Last Reward for the Vita; amazing puzzle game, I loved the first one 9hours 9doors 9persons. If you really want to get your brain working and learn some interesting things get it.