For my own purposes I’ll give these a rating of 1-10. 1 being what you’d expect a first timer with little to no experience in a modeling program and/or anatomy. 10 would be the highest professional and artistic quality. Something you’d find in the ideal game where every artist is able to have enough time to model and texture at the peak of their ability. I’ll try and provide examples for each entry on what a 10 could/should look like.
This should be a learning experience, so I’ll try and give my honest opinion and constructive criticism, although for this purpose, the work here is ‘finished’.
crimson13
The Twins - Matrix Reloaded
Model - (4)
This model reminds me of a model that would have been made for a Half-Life Matrix mod. That says alot for a game that came out in 1998. Nothing really stands out as being a good part to look at, other than the upper torso. For something in the neighborhood of 3000 polys, I’d expect alot more attention to detail put into the face, and capturing the likeness. I think you got the nose in there good, but the rest falls pretty short. The segments that are placed in the arm are way too close to add any benefit in animation. The hair lacks any kind of ‘noodly’ shape and resembles more of an Egyptian Headress.
Perfect 10- http://www.turner3d.com/smith_wire.jpg (2679 tris)
Texture - (2)
If a model needs work, there is only so much that can be done with the texture. It doesn’t help that in this case it would be hard to make it look great with a nice texture. One of the main things that catch my eye is the rushed look to both the unwrap and the texture (Maybe these challenges should be made longer, so that a higher standard of quality could more easily be reached and by more people). There is a lot of wasted space here. What makes it worse is that there are a number of areas that don’t get any texture space at all. They are planar mapped and the edges get left behind in the dust. The head was given an extraordinarily amount of space considering the lack of any detail put into it’s texture. The jpg’s don’t help either. The compression makes it hard to find any hidden details, if they even existed. No details were put into the gun, as well. If you are going to give him a prop, make sure you put more than 10 seconds into the texture.
Perfect 10- http://www.turner3d.com/smith_head_map.jpg
Likeness - (2)
With the previous comments, I’d find it hard to give the likeness a higher point value. All I can say is to keep learning. The perfect 10 shots I posted were from John Turner’s portfolio. You can find info on it, including the source files from his site- http://www.turner3d.com
This would be the ideal level of quality I’d expect to see in this particular character, for this particular challenge for someone that would win the challenge. This makes me wish I actually had the time to finish my entry.
Perfect 10- http://www.turner3d.com/smith.jpg
ElysiumGX
Shocker - Spiderman
Model - (7)
There isn’t much for me to say on this one. For a relatively generic character, it was captured very well. The porportions are, for the most part, authentic to the superhero/villain style. The muscles look good and round, so they give him a fairly beefy profile. The only areas that concern me the most are the metal pieces that he has on his arms, waist and feet. For 2300 polys, a few hundred more could have been put into those areas to spice him up more, and bring you’re own feel to him. You could have even made some sprite pieces for special effects. That would have won me over, for sure.
Texture - (7)
The level of detail on this guy is mostly hit and miss. There isn’t much in the way of wasted space, although I’m not sure what’s going on between his legs and feet. Probably just some bits that were’nt able to fit elsewhere. If it weren’t for the criss-cross pattern in the costume, the texture would look no worse at half it’s size. The only sharp detailing is found in the criss crossed lines, and around his vest/boot seams. There could have been alot more going on in the metal pieces to set this character apart(seams, scratches, dials, vents, bolts, etc).
Likeness - (8)
The model and texture are spot on as to capturing the likeness of the character. I can only wonder what could have been changed/altered to the overall composition of the design to make him look less like a walking rubber glove, and more like a menacing villain. If you are given the chance to alter/redesign a character, do it. Nothing is keeping the others from doing it too.
On a side note- the beauty shot should be something that would strike fear and terror into an individual, not confuse them as to their sexual preference.
Perfect 10- Closest things I can find are the characters from City of Heroes and Freedom Force. Even then, there’s are more like 9’s. :S
Jo|{eR
Shredder - TMNT
Model - (7)
Another one that is pretty well spot on target. Looks like shredder, and could easily be identified as him. The hand and feet look a bit long, and since the hands aren’t weighted to fingers in the poses, it really draws attention to them. There are some areas that could have been optimized, namely the spikes on the armor. These could have easily been planes with an alpha mapped transparency applied. This should have given you plenty of room to add the sash that comes off his waist. You could have also taken a number out of his abs, if needed. There is a good assemblage of polys that don’t add much to the profile, and could have easily been shown in the texture.
Texture - (3)
The unwrap looks fairly standard. I could see some areas that could have been mirrored to allow for more pixel density, but what is the point if no time is spent on the texture. I can almost name each of the textures that were used on this character. These would have been fine, if used as an overlay to add to the detail painted on there, but not by themselves (again, more time could have done wonders for this model). This texture actually takes away from the detail of the model, especially when you look at what the bumpmap does to it. The jaggedly drawn lines in the armor and elsewhere, almost cause me mental pain.
Likeness - (6)
It still looks like Shredder, but only because of the profile. The texture is very muddy, and confuses any detail that could be seen when looking at it. The render is cute, but again, does not strike fear into my soul. I can only wonder how much time was spent on the beuty render that could have been well spent on the textures.
The perfect 10 I’d look towards would be the Green Goblin in the Spiderman games. The shinyness and shape lend a similar profile to both of them.
pluckylump
Mr. Mint - Candyland
Model - (9)
I can’t see much in the way of wasted polys on this monstrosity. But that is to be expected on a non organic model. The shape reminds me of some sort of steam powered tippy bird that goes up and down drinking water, or pressing the ‘y’ key. For a more original design, this one defninitly generates interest. It certainly does remind me of the Mad Hatter in it’s lanky, hunched appearance.
Texture - (6)
For a complete overhaul of the original character, I think I would have been able to keep more familiarity by implementing more of the peppermint stick in it’s texture. The hat is too small to warrant it as the only carryover. Maybe a weathered looking paint scheme on the boots and arms could have livened up his rather dark and plain look. The face texture wooks fine, but there isn’t much in the way of detail other than what is on the boiler, and saws. Maybe dents, blood stains, rust, holes, etc could have been put in those areas. There isn’t much in the way of wasted space in the unwrap, but if the same texture was going to be used on that much of the model, you could have saved alot of space by having those parts all overlap on a smaller portion of the map.
Likeness - (5)
For such a cute and cuddly character (was it the enemy in Candy Land? I never played it as a kid), the only remaining visage is the hat, and partly the face. This was mentioned in the idea behind the character, but I think a lot more could have been on the design wise, especially in the texture to make it somewhat obvious you’d know what character this would be if you at least told them this would be Candy Land if done by American McGee.
Strider3030
Monev the Gale - Trigun
Model - (6)
That is one beefy lookin dude. I think he’s too beefy in fact. The only real defined muscles I can see are the biceps. The rest are all mushed together to create some sort of marshmallow look. I think this is the big thing that hurts this model. The proportion of the muscles leads the eyes away from the torso and head and out to the big cylinders and clunky hands. There could have been alot added here to bring some style and finesse by cutting out alot of the excess polys in the musculature and putting them into modeling those big chain gun bracelets.
Ideal direction for model- http://www.mindlessgrafx.com/files/Gunner/colorpose.jpg
Texture - (7)
The layout of the uv’s is nice here, and there isn’t anything I’d do differently in regards to the unwrap. The texture looks to be about 70% complete. As such, the purple muscly bits aren’t modeled with any real definition to them (something that would have helped the look of the model). This guy looks to have some extra muscles in him, as well. Veins could have been added, some extra detail like an overlay, or slight bumpy texture could have been applied to his tights to give it interest up close.
Here’s a toy that was made (lot’s of small details, all over)- http://webpages.charter.net/k91283851/Monev.jpg
Likeness - (7)
Looks alot like the character in the cartoon picture there, but not much else. The profile looks spot on, but the style that his proportions were carried out in, don’t appeal to me as being a good style to use.
hanzo
Jedah - Darkstalkers
Model - (8)
This one follows the concept pretty close, so not much to say on that end. The wireframe shot makes it hard to see the real porportions as he’s pointing away from the camera as you go up. The legs don’t look as skinny as the concept though. I think that lent a more stylized look.
I wish I could see the face better, it’s hard to see what’s going on as it’s pretty small.
Texture - (7)
The one thing that catches my eye in both the texture flat and it applied to the model is it’s consistency (or lack thereof). You mentioned that you did not like the way it looked being colored flat. I’d agree with you on that, but the details that you added don’t make much sense. What’s worse is that there seems to be different styles going on in each part of the body. You’ve got some organic ridges and highlights in the head, but not elsewhere. The legs get really dark seams and strong highlights, but no place else. In the concept, the dark blue areas on the costume look to be made from the same material. But on the model you have three separate styles that don’t seem to work well together. It’s almost like these were drawn by three separate people.
Likeness - (6)
For anyone that knows the Darkstalkers series, I’m pretty sure they’d be able to recognize him by just the sillhouette(unless he has a younger brother that looks just like him). There was some creative steps that went into the texture to spice it up, but it falls a little flat by being disjointed. You should have stuck to one thought process and went with it.
War Destroyer
Thanos - Marvel Comics
Model - (8)
Now this model looks spot on. There isn’t much I can see that needs fixing other than the shoulder points on his collar look a bit too sharp in comparison to the original drawings. This reminds me of the meefy male character model from Freedom Force. The face also has a lot of character in it. Could easily double as an Apocalypse.
Texture - (8)
I think this one could use another day or two in the oven. It’s just so close to being a very nice texture. This one also would fall into the category of not losing detail when shrunk down to 512x512. There is some extra detail that starts to get put into his mouth and chin area, but that’s it. There aren’t any fine details or texture to these areas. The metal in particular could have used more emphasis on a reflective light. I can see some small areas where it is there, but not enough to make a good statement. The muscles are well defined and look nicely shaped, but the light doesn’t seem to be coming from anywhere. There are also areas on the boot and glove cuffs that could have had some extra detail like seams or other decorative motifs. You can see them clearly in the concept art, but nothing is there in the skin. All things aside, the unwrap does what it needs to rather nicely, although I think everything could have been pushed closer to each other and get another 10-20% extra room.
Likeness - (7)
This one has loads of character in it. The poses capture his menacing tone, and his facial morphs only add to it. This one could easily be a 9 or 10 with just some extra time spent on it. I’d recommend that the next challenges have a longer build time. Since most of us actually have lives outside of these and other forums, it’d be nice to get enough time for a higher majority of the entrants to finish. Especially if the polycount and texture requirements are of modest size.
CONCLUSION
I’ve averaged the scores given to each of the entrants here, and here are the results of the top 3:
hanzo - Jedah (7.3) - 1 Point
ElysiumGX - Shocker (7.0) - 2 Points
War Destroyer - Thanos (7.7) - 3 Points
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