Character: Nollun Beast... just finished modelling...

[muyyatin]

Looking very cool. Nice clean modeling. Maybe you want to make the front nails/claws whatever a little pointier, can't think of anything else. Nice job

[Da3X]

Thanks for your comment!

What about the other 140 viewers? Come on... let me know what YOU think!

I've started to setup all the material IDs last night and came to currently 13 different areas. My next session will start with unwrapping the first of them... hope I can manage this...

[Da3X]

It has been a while since the last update. So I should give you some new impressions. I've started unwrapping and working on the textures quite a while ago. It's the first time I really start unwrapping and texturing and so it's very hard for me to achieve the desired results. I'm still very unhappy with the current state and constantly try to improve the look of the beast.

The shells of the body and the head have been my first attempts and are the ones which are most finished. The bodyshell is nearly final for me... it has some stretchings left but the overall look won't change much in the future. The headshell needs much more details and will be continued as soon as I've found the proper texture for the body.

The body is my current work... it's about the 10th try with ever changing textures and it's the first one which I like at all. It needs to become much more shiny and slimy... but I think it's a good start at last. The animation link below will give you a much better feeling of the texture since you can only see the shiny effect while in motion.

Version231.avi (http://www.xfolio.de/Version231.avi) DivX PAL 9.6 MB

Please let me know what you think! I need much more comments and critics. I need motivation... this beast is very hard work for me and I don't want to loose the fun on my way.

http://www.xfolio.de/WIP23.jpg

[Da3X]

This thread has been very quiet... where are you? The board has so many users but only a few reply. Come on!

Maybe I should update this thread as often as the one at threedy... we'll see.

I've spent the last time trying different textures here and there but havn't found any time the last days. This day was a lucky one so I could manage to go something further.

I've finally concentrated on unwrapping the rest of the body except the legs. I've spent some more time on the slimy look and spread it all over the body.

The scaling of the texture is not the best in some areas but the diffuse, specular and bump will stay like this now. I don't want to throw away to much time with trying different textures. I'll now concentrate on the seams of the different areas and the scaling of the texture. At the end of this period I want a finished body and shell texture.

Afterwards I'll start unwrapping the legs which will be very complicated. I hope to get through this some time so I can start rigging this thing.

Any comments and critics are - as allways - very welcome! So please let me know what you think. That includes all others who didn't participate here yet - and good fellows too ;)

http://www.xfolio.de/WIP36.jpg

[Da3X]

Come on guys and gals... no comments? I'm disappointed! Tell me what you think about that - please!

I'Ve rendered a new turn-around animation this night for some more details of the textures. Please have a look:

Version310.avi (http://www.xfolio.de/Version310.avi) DivX PAL 11.1 MB

The animation above took 15 hours this night... I like to see this all in motion everytime but I'm not sure if I will stick to those animations for all the next updates... maybe I limit them to the more obvious changes.

Stay tuned for more... I hope to find some time soon!

[DiNKArt]

Does he have eyes or a mouth? I think you need to better define the head of your model. Looking at your purple model it looks like your mondter becomes to flat and square at the bottom of your character. If you post some more renders that show more of the model I could saw more. Show from different angles and close ups. All his hron things all bend the same way add some verity by changing how they bend.

Try not to get to upset that no one is responding. For some reason people feel that the only works they should respond to are the ones that are frontpage material. It is funny cause those are the ones that need the least amount of help and should get the less amount of responses. You gotta love all the fan boys on this site.

[Da3X]

I've started this thread later in the development cycle and therefor simply forgot about the concept art related to it. Here is a link:

http://www.visualart.ro/test/details.php?image_id=961

It's a sketch by Avatar from the board at Threedy.com which I am trying to realize. For a complete modelling timeline you should have a look at the thread linked in my signature:

http://www.threedy.com/site/forum/showthread.php?threadid=15798

As for the current status of the skin I can tell you that the face will experience some changes later. Normally the snail has a stone in its mouth and the eyes are very small spots near the shell at the head. They are hardly visible in the concept itself.

The last days I've concentrated on the slimy look of the body. I'll now invest some time for the body's texture and the the shell itself. I'll improve the overall appearance as far as I can and fix all the seams between those two areas. Afterwards I've unwrap the legs and start texturing those. This will take quite some time I think... stay tuned! The current red texture is just to separate those from the textured parts - a leftover from some tries with different materials while working on the beast.

Thanks for your thought DiNK... I hope others will follow. Maybe it becomes frontpage stuff when it's finished ;-)

[Da3X]

I've found some time and made some tests with a stone in the mouth of the snail. I have to admit that all of them looked terrible. I think I should forget about that stone and keep the snails head as is... but with changes to the bumpmap! Some first improvements can allready be seen in the following image. I've also separated the eyes from the rest of the texture. Their color is only temporary for now.

http://www.xfolio.de/WIP37.jpg

[MainlineX]

Wicked looking bug!! Nice!!

[leonard-davi]

i painting the concept and make the beast to ; \
http://www.leonardodavi.com/wip/nollun_3d_5.jpg
http://www.leonardodavi.com/wip/nollun_3d_7.jpg
http://www.leonardodavi.com/wip/nollun_3d_6.jpg
really semelhant hugs cya ....

[Da3X]

@MainlineX: Thanks!

@leonard_davi: really similar indeed... inspired by the same concept? Or have you made this the same way just by chance.

[Da3X]

I've spent 2 more hours improving the textures today. The seams between the several areas are somewhat better now and I've also tweaked some bump- and diffusemaps. As far as now I'm mostly satisfied and will most propably start with the legs when I find time next. The current textures are nearly final and will only experience minor changes from now on. I need to progress with this project... otherwise it takes to long.

The JPEG is not the best quality... had to go down to 50% - so please have a look at the high-quality PNG renders:

WIP38a.png (http://www.xfolio.de/WIP38a.png), WIP38b.png (http://www.xfolio.de/WIP38b.png), WIP38c.png (http://www.xfolio.de/WIP38c.png), WIP38d.png (http://www.xfolio.de/WIP38d.png)

If you find any serious problems please let me know. All other comments and critics are welcome as usual - PLEASE tell me what YOU think!

http://www.xfolio.de/WIP38.jpg

[Da3X]

Years have past since the last update... at least it seems so... I've not found much time over the past 2 or 3 weeks and so this thread has been very quiet. Today I can give you another update!

Until the last update I used to have a single texture for every material ID... alltogether this summed up to 18 different IDs and textures - some not yet finished. At last I came to the point where I realized that this can't stay this way. Handling the textures (most 1024x1024) in PhotoShop and 3DSmax has been a pain and was no longer acceptable. So I took the time and rearranged all materials on a single texture which now meassures 2048x2048 pixels. This a much better approach which I should have used from the beginning. But thats the deal with the first real texture I guess. I've learned my thing!

The new texture has been rebuild from scratch - I only used some patterns from the old one and used the same techniques as for the old version. For now I'm satisfied with the outcome. Only the bumpmap might need some improvments here and there... we'll see.

I've also applied a simple map to the sidelegs and started the texture for them. I'm still very doubtful with their current state... suggestions are appreciated!

I've also redone the lightning and removed all those omni lights from the scene. I use only three area spotlights with the MentalRay renderer at this point. The shadows come out better and the bumpmap has got some more details through the lightning here and there. I hope you like it.

Have a look at all the HI-RES versions linked below. The preview image is of low quality. An animation won't follow until I start the rig for my beast... the rendertime has become far to high.

HI-RES : WIP39a.png (http://www.xfolio.de/WIP39a.png) WIP39b.png (http://www.xfolio.de/WIP39b.png) WIP39c.png (http://www.xfolio.de/WIP39c.png) WIP39d.png (http://www.xfolio.de/WIP39d.png)

http://www.xfolio.de/WIP39.jpg

[McSpirit]

I must say its awsome how real it looks.. I havent got any technical crits but i do miss does eyes from your concept.. any way great work :bounce: :-P

[Phb]

i think it could look better if you put some more light, it's too dark in some part... where is the eyes of the beast :P ?

[Da3X]

I didn't care about the eyes with the new texture... but they will return as pitch black holes again... but first I want to concentrate on the legs... but I can shift the eyes in between... should not take much time ;)

Maybe I lower the shadows desity to avoid dark areas... global illumination might also bring some extra light in... we'll see - lightning is not so important for the moment I think.

[Da3X]

I said I won't do it... but I did it! I was so curious about the 360° turn that I made my notebook render one PNG image after another. It took quite long but now the animation has finished. Nothing has changed compared to the last preview!

Until the next time I plan to texture the front legs the simple way and to lower the shadows of the areaspotlights. Maybe I can manage to improve the legs texture too... we'll see...

Version358.avi (http://www.xfolio.de/Version358.avi) 360° DivX PAL 9.95 MB

[ILS]

i looked at your link where you had the original sketch, but i don't know how close you wanted to stay to that. the back legs to me seem a little thin and lack that muscle detailing, you simulated a bit of it in your model but its not the same kind of effect. the front paws or what have you, seem too flat and characterless, on your image there is so so much detail and i think by not putting that in it sort of downplays the whole model. its really hard to see on your last update, so i'm going with the one with red legs on it. but the texturing i think is amazing, but try not to have that overpower the model itself, you should still see the fine detials of the model, but maybe that will be better with final lighting.

[Da3X]

Thanks for your comments ILS! First I have to throw in that the modelling part is finally closed... so I won't change the mesh anymore.

I've tried to get as close to the concept as I could. But my skills are limited and it was a huge learning project for myself. In the beginning I've never thought that I'd be able to manage this beast - but I'm quite satisfied with the outcome.

And for the texture... it's my first UVW unwrapped handmade texture ever... and I love to hear such positive comments about it! Thanks!

[Da3X]

This thread has reached an impressive length over the last months! I want to thank all who took part for their comments and critics. I've decided to finally come to an end and this will be the final posting.

In the beginning and up to the very end I've planned to fully texture and animate this beast. But my time has been very limited and today I have to admit that I started to become tired of this model. I won't animate it in the near future... maybe I continue with the rig sometime later - but I can't promise that.

I've finally unwrapped the complete model and finished the texture. It's not perfect but should be good enough to avoid beeing flamed :) Please keep in mind that this was my first handpainted texture ever! I hope you like it. The next one will get better - I promise!

The pedestal I've used during the WIP session has been replaced by an older gras field I've modelled sometime in the past. It's not the best environment for an evil snail but it fits quite well. I've also changed the sky to something darker and tried to adjust the lightning to the new situation.

Here are the final renders:
FINALa.png (http://www.xfolio.de/FINALa.png),FINALb.png (http://www.xfolio.de/FINALb.png), FINALc.png (http://www.xfolio.de/FINALc.png), FINALd.png (http://www.xfolio.de/FINALd.png)

http://www.xfolio.de/FINAL.jpg

[pureprplaya]

he needs to be in a swamp... its more fitting for him... vines, mud, dirt,... an open field of grass makes him look... nice...

[TES]

nice work!! but its needs to bee in some swamp...it will be great when your beast will be attacking on some person-knight on something like that.....but much bigger than the person...

[shadowkeeper]

Originally posted by TES
nice work!! but its needs to bee in some swamp...it will be great when your beast will be attacking on some person-knight on something like that.....but much bigger than the person...
yyyyyyyyup! This bug needs to be on a swamp. It is really viscous,that's why the swamp is a place for this kind of bug.

Btw, Great Work!

[Da3X]

I'll have to make a note for later work on that beast: "put it in a swamp" :) Everybody wants a swamp... I'll consider it for later... whenever this will be. The grasfield was at hand today and I didn't want to invest much more time...

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