Archaeon

#1

So I missed out on the other DW competitions, and I decided to get myself involved with this one. Currently I have been working with an idea for a character and playing with some shapes and forms. I have decide to make a Demon because it just seemed to be the best path for me. I am going with the name Archaeon which means “Ancient One” in Greek I believe. As soon as I get some images together, I’ll post more about the concept.

It’s great to be involved, and good luck to everyone. :slight_smile:

#2

So these are the first conceptual images I’ve come up with.
I have been working on the mythology and background a bit more,
to help establish the character a little better.

                At first I was going with your standard Demon Overlord, which could be compared to ones like Diablo or the Balrog from "LOTR". (Wings, Horns, ect.)
             
                Now I'm thinking of going a little more abstract.
               
                I'm considering making the Demon formless like fire, light, gas , ect.  Until it takes its embodiment, which will be the character to present.  Since it comes from another dimension, it's form doesn't take a true shape until it's allowed out of its' confines to activate; then we would recognize it as a life form of proportions.
               
                The Archaea or Archaeons' purpose is to take life back to ground zero, sort of like a power off button for life (organic or artificial alike).  It takes shape in the form of a biological plague, that reproduces itself by converting the energy of matter into replications of its "viral self."  The "viral appearance" is the construction of the Demonic Character, but they will each posses a small amount of the essence from the actual Overlord  (the shapeless mass) which is about the size of a star.
    
     Imagine a glowing light located in their bodies, which is a little part of the demon.
               
               So technically it is all one massive demon who spreads itself by destroying life at its' core on a microscopic level, producing something similar to the "Grey Goo Effect."
                
                Ok, enough of that; everything may change later anyways.
               Now its time to post some art.
               
                These are some roughs I was playing with to get some ideas.
#3

I busted out some quick sketches since I was working on the background instead of the characters form. Some basic ideas for the parasitic shape the Demon takes. The helmet idea I think Ill scratch since its not needed for battle, and the upper torso will have to change from the more human version. I worked on the background a bit more, but Ill save that for the next post. I noticed I’ve got some views, but no comments or feedback. Please feel free to critique, mind you the sketches are plain.

#4

I got another image if anyone is watching. Working with the body a bit lately, Ive change it up a few times and I may change it again. I went with a more insect like body instead of making it more like stone. Its still real basic and soft, Ill add detail later. The other change is the arms I added, which may change again too. Ill probably change the main two arms from the shoulder, and make the torso more like organic armor.

Anyways, here’s a screen grab.

#5

So I decided to scrap the other mesh and start a new one. I know its a bit late and it will probably give me problems, but I felt I had to change the character because the body wasn’t working for the concept I had. I’m keeping it similar, but more creature like instead of more warrior based.

Here is a screen grab of a lower subD to give the idea.
Ill post more when I get to sculpting it.

#6

I have changed the structure a bit, starting with my last post. I wanted to make the Demon more parasitic to better relate the the back story. The history is still in the works too, but it will still spread like a massive plague as it’s main function. I also decided to record my sculpting session for the basic anatomy section. I will post two images as well, which I took after the video was made.
Just more detail and a texture idea.
Enjoy.

Sculpting Session:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZGHHU1CKss

#7

Here are two more images, and I had to remove some other post’s to fit them. One is an idea of how I might pose my creature, and the other is the final untextured model. I may still make a few minor changes if I have time, but this is pretty much what it will look like.

#8

This will be the last post before it’s over.
I hope I can get it finished by then.

 Here's two a mini's for fun.
#9

I am all done with my entries finally. I am so glad that we got the deadline extension, because I would not have been able to finish otherwise. However, with the extra time I managed to get all six of the main entries done and locked in on time. There was so much more I wanted to do, but I guess I can still do it for fun in my free time. This has been a very fun competition and I’m glad I got involved with this one.

Good luck to everyone, and here's an extra picture just because.   ;)

#10

Someone told me that link wasn’t working, so here is a compilation of my entries if anyone wants to see. Sorry it’s really low resolution cause of the compression.

#11

Here are four post’s from my final entries, since the last post was such a low resolution. The first is the “Construction” shot with the high poly model half painted, and the low poly mesh with the wireframe displayed. The second one is the “Presentation” shot of the low poly model fully textured and then rendered from Maya, also placed on a pedestal as required. The third is the “Beauty” shot which was posed with ZBrush and altered with some Photoshop work to express the creatures origins. Lastly is the “Story” shot, which is a quick version of the back story to the Archaea. I wanted to keep it a bit more simple for presentation purposes, so I cut a lot of the history out to make it shorter.

       It would be outstanding to place within the top 50 of over 600 excellent 3D entries.  More than anything though, I have entered with the hopes of acquiring a job/career with one of the many great companies out there who may be viewing the contest.  If anyone is interested with any of my works, or would like to contact me about CG in general, please feel free.
       
       Thanks to everyone, and best hopes & wishes for the contest and the future of CG in general. 
       
 [img]http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs49/f/2009/162/2/3/Archaea___Constuction_by_Geo_Geo.jpg[/img]
       
       [img]http://fc09.deviantart.com/fs47/f/2009/162/0/5/Archaea___Presentation_by_Geo_Geo.jpg[/img]

PS: (ZBrush 4 is gonna be monumental :))

#12

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