CGTalk - Rugged future soldier cliche

SneakyBiscuit

12-09-2004, 10:38 PM

Hey Tim,
This looks pretty cool. I dig the texturing in those boots as well.

Whats throwing me off a bit in the design are the thigh pads. It makes him look like more of a samurai pilot. Maybe nixing those, and replacing it with a cool utility belt that matches his chest piece.

The boots and armor seem to indicate that this guy will not only be flying, but also engaging in some ground combat. Less armor in the boots, or maybe even leather ones with plated armor would fit the theme better.

A crotch/thigh harness could be cool. I guess if hes gotta bail the plane during mid-flight he doesnt want his junk flapping around.

Making a pilot helmet might seem like your trying to push the theme too much, but I could see more structure between the face mask and chest piece happening.

Anyhow, just some ideas floating around.

Later,
SneakyB

Runefall

12-09-2004, 10:48 PM

Unlike Sneaky, i actually like the thighpads. They're not something you'd normally see on a futuristic pilot or soldier, so that's a good enough reason to keep them right there. It does give him a bit of a japanese warrior feel, but i think that's a good thing; to mix a bit of cultural dynamics into the design. And the boots, while not fitting in with the pilot theme, just look damn cool.

I think the thing i like the least about him is the hair. It looks kinda boring and uninspired. Give him some kind of hairstyle! He doesn't have to be a GQ covermodel or anything, but it would give him some personality. With the exception of the boots, the textures look half finished, so I won't comment on them. It sux that you've lost motivation (i've been in the same boat before), cause i'd love to see more progress on this. Take a break and check out other peoples artwork, that's what usually helps me.

Good luck!

ArcticWolf

12-09-2004, 11:29 PM

Unlike Sneaky, i actually like the thighpads. They're not something you'd normally see on a futuristic pilot or soldier, so that's a good enough reason to keep them right there. It does give him a bit of a japanese warrior feel, but i think that's a good thing; to mix a bit of cultural dynamics into the design. And the boots, while not fitting in with the pilot theme, just look damn cool.

Yeah, I have to agree. They're a cool little detail that is not generic so it adds some spice, and also mixes up the cultural theme a little.

All in all a very cool piece for what you've got done. I must admit, I didn't notice the gas mask until it was mentioned, but it could do with some shining up. Okay, it doesn't look near finished, so I shouldn't really crit it, but facial clothing is always the hardest thing to do in my view. I'm quite a weak character designer, but I always find that face-masks make your characters lose personality if they don't have a lot of cool detail. Of course, if you're going for generic on purpose perhaps you don't want a lot of personality to shine through?

marc001

12-10-2004, 02:19 AM

Armor and clothing are too clean and could use some wear and tear. Also the magazine pouches on his chest could be upside down and tilted at an angle, so if he opens the flap the magazine will fall out into his hand. There's some tactical vests like that.

nattnewman

12-10-2004, 07:57 PM

Hey Tim,

Hows it going?

No real crits as its looking great! Just wanting to encourage you to stick it out and finish this one off: its looking sumptious so far!

Just out of curiosity...how long did it take you to get this good!?

Keep up the good work,

Nathan.

TimAppleby

12-12-2004, 05:40 PM

http://img45.exs.cx/img45/444/sl15gc.jpg
http://img45.exs.cx/img45/7590/pilotsl0oi.jpg

Thanks for the encouragement I have made some slight progress.
Some parts of the texture are just experiments that I intend to fix and its not at all finished yet.

johnyII, thanks I am going to get to the symbols part - but Id like to have most of the texture fleshed out before I decide what and where to put them.

SneakyBiscuit, they are not so much thigh pads - as they are thick clothing folded other and hanging from him. (Think some deep space flight suit half unzipped)

Runefall, I thought about starting off with a more original hairstyle but decided it would be too much trouble. Heh, I often look at other peoples art work when I loose my motivation -but often I find it distracts me and gets me thinking about starting a new creation.. :(

ArcticWolf, theres a reason he's not wearing the mask ;) I agree mask's can kill a characters personality but they can also define it if done right. For this character I just felt it would be usefull to demonstrate his pilot influence.

marc001, interesting idea about the ammo clips.. but I think it would look wrong.

nattnewman, Hi and thanks. I was born this good baby! :D
Heh, I have been working in the games industry for almost 2years now so that and my year of learning 3d = 3years.

-KDX-

12-12-2004, 05:57 PM

nice stuff man!!

I'd rethink the name tho, I understand it's either temporary or it's an "everyman" type of name...but the only thing that name does for me is make me crave chicken quesadillas.

I too like the thighpads, but have to admite they look out of place when shown in conjunction with the massive amounts of metal body armor on his torso. Still a cool idea tho imho...

-KDX-

TimAppleby

12-14-2004, 08:29 PM

KDX ? I am havent named him yet.. ? :scream:

TimAppleby

12-19-2004, 11:19 AM

Getting closer, I still have little jobs to do on him aswell as break of the symetry in the face and also finish the armoured arm.
http://img139.exs.cx/img139/6359/pilotgettin6nc.jpg
I intend on rigging him and posing him fairly soon too,

Johny

12-19-2004, 12:34 PM

looks great tim ! i just dont like the simmetry :( cause it could have some details in the right part of the face ( like a bio mecanic eye ) , appart from that i aynt got any more critics ;) , well, i would put the arm tissue color the same as the pants :)

keep it up !!

nattnewman

12-19-2004, 01:32 PM

Still looking great Tim!

Keep up the good work and be sure to keep us updated!

Cheers,

Nathan.

MFTituS

12-19-2004, 02:55 PM

uha, looks really good. i like the painted face very well.

but with your last update it becomes more realistic, cause you have saturated the redish look and give the face some variations. now he looks a bit ill, cause of the redish circles around his eyes.
you should keep in mind, what you want to achieve. if more painted and cartoony, than would be good to go back to your first face and just make the red a bit more orange.
if realistic than desatured his eyerings and give him a bit blue on his beared region and some reds on his nose and cheek.

although i would add a bit preshading on his parts to make it all more plastically.
some mainfolds could be more visible by giving them more contrast, so not everything has the same depth.
some variations on the metaledges would be fine. some cracks and bulges to interrupt the highlighted edges.

i dont like his hairstrains in his face. they are too equally and too long. his hair is very short, so why are his ponystrains so long....

keep going, if it will be finished you will have a great character in your portfolio!

TimAppleby

12-30-2004, 08:04 PM

MFtitus, thanks for the criticism all good suggestions on techniques, which is the best type of crits :)

I hadnt checked this thread for a long time but allot of your suggestions I agree with. :D

TimAppleby

12-31-2004, 03:26 PM

http://img47.exs.cx/img47/9727/pilotposeflats4oz.jpg
had some requests on other forums to see some extra stuff so...
ignore the bad deformation as the model was only rigged quick for the render. :/

Soulcialism

12-31-2004, 04:51 PM

amazing how much difference posing makes, isn't it?

i don't have any crit's per say but a couple comments comparing the last 2 posts that you put up.

i like him without the oxygen mask, it made things look really busy, and i think he's got plenty enough character without it.

i was curious to see what you'd do with the armored arm, and i think the end result came out really good. it compliments the shoulderpad really welll.

he still looks tired, with the bagginess under his eyes, but i think it adds to his character. the way you painted his hair makes it look clumpy and sweaty, and with the bags under his eyes it made me think that he is just returning from a battle or something, he looks wartorn. i didn't get that feeling from the previous post, but i think maybe with him rigged and posed it relays that a lot better.

all in all, classy work. now you have to put him in halo =D

djkaneda

12-31-2004, 06:58 PM

i would love to see a wire of this character. :)

Ceccotti

12-31-2004, 07:30 PM

You are a god looks very awesome I am in awe of your powers.

allenatl

12-31-2004, 07:38 PM

Great work, Tim, especially that last post with the textures. Like the detailing in the arm's armor.

Cyborgguineapig

01-01-2005, 01:42 AM

I think its slightly too clean like someone else mentioned, maybe the slightest bit of wear on the white parts of the armor would do it well, some tiny nicks and scratches, not highly noticable but subtle.

CrossFire

01-01-2005, 07:52 AM

awsome!, I also would like to see a wire and if you could also a flat shaded.

TimAppleby

01-02-2005, 02:14 PM

Legs included!
heh

Soulcialism, I agree posing a character is a very good way of putting life into a character.

Cyborgguineapig, there are some on the white armour, perhaps I need to show a closer shot to show them well as I intended them to be subtle.

http://img119.exs.cx/img119/8808/pilotfar3pm.jpg

http://img19.exs.cx/img19/3917/pilotwire8ik.jpg

Mit Gas

01-02-2005, 02:25 PM

hey spacemonkey, you might want to get rid of the pinkness of his face - it's a bit too much IMHO. The clothes are done nicely too - I love the folds although some aren't really true to reality but who cares!

Your CV pal Wesker :)

btw.: you've improved your skinning A LOT.

franklyn

01-02-2005, 04:55 PM

can we see close ups of the hair on the model ?
im just curious as to how u did it .
also are u doing this for a particular project or just for fun ?
i love the texture work uve kept it quite clean so that there isnt too much shading sugested in the skin so that it will work well in a realtime system ....

LordDubu

01-03-2005, 09:21 PM

That's great. I like it, even if the armor looks a little too "out of the box" for my taste. Throw some grunge on there.

CrossFire

01-03-2005, 11:49 PM

Yeah, throw some dirt on him :)
I also would like to see some close-ups of the head and like to know what method u used to make the hair ^_^?

Jason-Lavoie

01-04-2005, 01:16 AM

I have to say that that is a BEAUTIFUL mesh dude, simply amazing. I thought this character was like a higher poly model, when I look at the mesh, I can't belive how low poly it really is.

Beautiful job :)

TimAppleby

01-04-2005, 07:35 PM

Hey Mitgas ;) I am going to have a final look at the face texture, it does have a bit too much pink/peach but I think I get away with it in renders. As for the folds heh yeah I just wanted it to look sweet, to hell with reality :D

franklyn, The hair is just some rows of polies with a mask (opacity) to break things up. I only did it pretty rough tbh, I also used some strings of polies to create the hair affect from the front perspective - which I could have used strips of polies with opacity again but decided to be lazy. I'll take a screenshot to show you what I mean soon.

Lord Dubu, theres a bunch of dirt/wear on the armour - I have added some extra wear to the boots and arm but I'll have to take a new render to show them. I'll grab a close up of the armour to show the wear also. :)

cheers guys

monkeywrench

01-05-2005, 05:29 AM

interesting wires. looks like a highres UVmap used as the texture :D

TimAppleby

01-05-2005, 09:09 PM

thanks monkey wrench but no, I didnt use a high res uvwmap? - which I guess you refer to a displacement or normal map.

;D

I decided to put the work up in the gallery - which you can find here;

http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=199648

http://www.cgnetworks.com/gallerycrits/20090/20090_1104959226.jpg

http://img84.exs.cx/img84/5244/pilotfrntbck8vc.jpg

gaiXyn

01-12-2005, 04:32 PM

I like this model, very neat/clean, and the textures are great too. Excellent job!!

peaCe//

DanGrover

01-12-2005, 06:58 PM

It all looks phenomical, from the mesh to the skin!

Haha, but one thing that makes me laugh is what look like oven mitts drapped from his belt.

gaiXyn

01-12-2005, 07:03 PM

Haha, but one thing that makes me laugh is what look like oven mitts drapped from his belt.

hhahaahe, yep, I thought the same thing, but then I figured "well at least he has some good padding in case of fights, falls and what have you"

awsome job man!!

peaCe//

BobbyKarate

01-12-2005, 10:38 PM

only thing i noticed is the resolution of the shoulder pads opposed to the face is extremely different, at a close view you can really see rasterization on the shoudler pads the face is very crisp. not that anyone would ever notice it anyway. Great job!