Game Art Competition #7 Submissions

#1

Gameart Competition #7 Submissions
Submissions only.

Deadline is May 20th so make sure you enter in time!

Only Judges will post their comments along with their scores, Non-Judges can comment on work in the respective artists WIP thread. Any enquiries or comments on the competition in general can be made in the Game comp #7 thread.

No more than 5 pictures per post. I recommend you to compile what you can into collages, or have the least intresting image as a link. In the few cases where 2 characters are submitted, they MUST be entered as seperate submissions.

Please make single pose images no larger than 800x600, and collages no larger than 1024x768.

Post the following info along with your entry:

Cartoon Character
Series / Film in which it is from
Polycount (triangles, not quads)
3D Software used

Images:

  1. Reference image/s of your selected character. As clear as you can get them, showing as much of the character as possible - especially if it is a little known character. This makes life easier for the judges.

  2. 1 perspective view, 1 orthographic front view, and 1 orthographic side view screencaps of the model. They should be viewport captures of the solid wireframe view mode (or equivalent), with no texturing visible. Compile the 3 views into one image.
    Make sure you use default viewport lighting and hide any items that may obscure these screencaps (bones, lights, cameras etc…)

  3. Selection of perspective images showing off your character at different angles, or in different poses (if rigged). Images should be compiled into one picture, and it must be no bigger than 1024x768.
    Cel shading / inking can be used if desired, as long as looks like it would be possible in a game engine.
    If cel shading cannot be acheived, then the model should be shown with a high luminosity value (or equivalent). In other words, most or all of the light and colour coming off your model should be coming from the texture. Lights and shadows should barely affect it. All views / poses must be against a plain white background.

  4. Show us the texture for the character.
    One 256 image showing the texture used. If you want, you can overlay the UVs on top to show them unwrapped.

  5. A single posed image - Pose your model and render it with a background. Render it as you see fit, and use whatever methods you feel will portray it well. There are no limitations other than the model must be posed. If your model is not rigged, then it must be deformed into a pose. Make the image no bigger than 800x600.

Judges:
Each judge will award points to the top 3 entries they like the most.
3 points for 1st
2 points for 2nd
1 point for 3rd

Judging will be based on the following:

Likeness - Does the model look like the character as he appears in the cartoon.

Mesh construction / flexibility - How well is the mesh created, how efficient is the poly placement, and would the mesh be able to perform well in an animation using the extreme poses that can be required for cartoon animation.

UVW Mapping - Good use of texture space? Is the object unwrapped well?
Texturing - Does the painted texture emulate the look of the cartoon?

Appeal - How does the end result look? Was it executed well? Both technically and aesthetically.

If theres anything else that the judges would like to add, they can do so.

Judges are:
Andy H
Poopinmymouth
bentllama
Neil
Poopinmymouth
Supervlieg

Judging will take place between Thursday May 20th and Tuesday May 25th. The winner will be announced when all available judges have cast their votes.

Good luck!

Thanks to Happosai311 for some of the text from the previous comp.

#2

Dogtanian
Dogtanian and the three Muskehounds
1483 Triangles
Maya 5

Reference:

Wireframe views:

Poses:

TEXTURE:

Beauty render:

#3

Daggett
Angry Beavers
1477 Triangles
3DSMax 6

Reference:

Wireframe views:

Poses:

TEXTURE:

Beauty render:

#4

Johnny Bravo
Johnny Bravo
1498 tris
3Dsmax 5.0

Refs

Wires

Texture
http://medlem.spray.se/buckman/wip/johnnybravo/texture_seethrough.jpg

Beauty render

#5

Cuckoo man
Mighty Heroes
1390 triangles
3dsmax 5.1

texture

#6

Rick Hunter
Robotech
1499 triangles
Maya 5

Reference:

Wires:

Poses:

Texture

#7

Pink Panther
The Pink Panther
1500 tris
Max 6

Reference:

Wires:

Poses:

Texture

Final Render:

#8

Hong Kong Phooey
Hong Kong Phooey
1498 triangles
modeled in Maya 5, rendered in Max 6

Reference:

Wires:

Poses:

hkpposes.jpg793x524

Texture

Beauty Render:

hkpcomposite.jpg784x556

#9

GIR
Invader Zim
1500 tris
3D Max 5

Reference:

Wireframe:

Note: The black mesh is for the outline. It gives a better effect than Max’s Ink & Paint material, but sacrifices polys.

Shaded:

Texture Link

Beauty Render:

#10

Drake Mallard
Darkwing Duck
1486 Tris
Lightwave 7.5

Referance image:

Wires:

Texture:

Beauty:

#11

Before the judging commends, I think Kman (pink panther) and Eclipse3d (darkwing duck) should check their links to the pics. I do not see your pics.

I think it’s only fair if me and the other judges get to see your pics for the final judgement can be made.

#12

Originally posted by Supervlieg
[B]Before the judging commends, I think Kman (pink panther) and Eclipse3d (darkwing duck) should check their links to the pics. I do not see your pics.

I think it’s only fair if me and the other judges get to see your pics for the final judgement can be made. [/B]

We are both hosting them on the Gamespy network, so if it goes down for a littlw bit, neither of ours show :). They should work now tho.

#13

Originally posted by Eclipse3D
We are both hosting them on the Gamespy network, so if it goes down for a littlw bit, neither of ours show :). They should work now tho.

They dont show up on my comp, any other way to show the final results?

#14

Not sure why it’s being blocked from your end. I zipped up the images and put them on my site, but if you’re having problems there, I don’t know if this will even work for you.
panther.zip

#15

I can see everyones. No problems here… so here we go.

ANDY H-
All rigged up and everything. Even the mouth. Very nice. Oh i noticed the eyebrows too. You always pay attention to the details, that’s what impresses me. Since your textures are all flat, i question the need for so many poly in the area around the ankles for example. Wouldn’t a simple single cut to fold it over work? You’ve added divisions to give the clothing a more realistic fit, but since you’re rendering with no shadows or anything else, it’s all lost in the flat cell shade. But that is what you wanted anyway… so it’s a toss up i guess. I’d like to see it look a little more like a lance, and less like a sword. A little thinner and longers. Minor grip. Textures are cleanly layed out. (well as clean as you can get with solid color fills) I’d like to see some more smoother edges on the hat and a little more ‘wave’ to it (as in the pictures). I know polys were short to begin with.

STEVYN-
The final render looked a little muddy from the start. Then when i looked at your texture sheet, it was evident why. It wasn’t layed out as well as it could have been. Even though it’s all solid colors anyway (pretty much), out of habit, you should still make the space count. I don’t think it was necessary to waste polys on the hair on his chest. That could have been done on the texture map. And i think you could have cut the divisons in the fingers and toes down… becaues it’s rendered solid black and it looks very linear in the end anyway. The nose looks blurry (agian, a problem with the texture map laying out)

BUCK-
Forearms appear a lot more linear in the reference, than they do in the model. Possibly cut out some segments there? I think that pose is very good, but it would be a bitch to rig from that. I don’t watch the cartoon, but if he turns his head, can you see his glasses being seperate? In the model, you made ti part of the texture sheet. is that correct? I would have made the hair a lot bigger on the texture sheet, so that the lines don’t look blurry. the neck/arms and everything else that is solid beige can just be layed over itself. Not a good habit, but would free up room for you. His build is very good and matches your reference very well. Nice job.

DUBGE-
haha, funny character. First difference i notice is that the tail features have no texture/detail. That is missing from the refernce. The eyes could also use a highlite on them. Should his hand be skin or yellow? I think the mo-hawk on his head should come to a point more, and look less blocky. Which you would actually save polys there anyway. The H looks kinda blurry. But this is probably the most highpoly looking character so far in teh competition. Even though you kept it under teh minimum, good work.

DARGON-
Ok, now this one is the most highpoly looking. See i told you guys not to allow anime in this, because now this one looks better than the rest, even though you’re comparing humans to dogs to beavers. I think his knees could be thinner and higher up. More of the exaggerated pose, and less realistic as you’ve done. I love the pose of him running. His head looks a little more masculine and squared off and less feminine and slender as the reference shows. I like the belt. and I like that all the stripes in the outfit don’t look blurry. You should have mirrored his face though, and rotated the pieces so that you are painting stripes horz. or vertically. It will look better, than diagonally.

KMAN-
Sweet work. First off, i think the face should be longer. Atleast judging from the reference of him standign at the wall. Were alphas allowed? He bends very nicely at the elbows and knees. He carries himself like the character nicely. Looks very light of foot. Except the tail. I know it’s a bitch to get something smooth off a low poly model, but it just looks rigid in comparison to his pose. and i think you have enough segments there to work with, just needs to be tweaked differently. The belly texture looks nice and i like how you did his toes. Eveything flows very well. nothing else to say. I don’t care for the beauty pose, but then again, i’m not really gonna use that render to chose a winnner.

KUNGFUBILLY-
Robe looks very blurry. Look at your texture sheet, all those beige pieces could be put on top of each other with no difference to the final look. I would work the smoothing groups some more. I see it was done in maya, the harden/soften is your friend. I would have liked to see more the cartooney mouth and less of the realistic opening mouth. I noticed you animated the eyebrows too. Ear edges look very sharp though. hands look a little too big. IMO. I would have cut out bellow the belt too, as you did above the belt. Help seperate it from the mesh more.

LEKKU-
This is 1500 tris? where? I think it could have been done in less. I would hav kept the ears as straight edged and not sliced in half. Now it just looks like it ‘could have been smoother, but didn’t’, as appose to ‘never was meant to be smooth’. Wait… did you cut out behind the eyeballs? why?

ECLIPSE3D-
Looks like his build is too strong for teh character. Looks too muscular. Hat looks pretty good, but only have 1 render to tell. After seeing how well the others turned out with cell shading, i would have just gone that route too. the folds in the clothes didn’t turn out that great. Same goes for the hat. I would have just left it more solid and less highlited. Just looks blurry now. Feet are missing some lines as in the reference. I think the hat top needs to be more rounded and less hat-top like.

In general as such low poly, they all looked very similar and i had to be picky inorder to chose a winner. So please dont’ think i’m a dick and just being picky for no reason. This was a great instance where i got to see cell shading serve a good purpose. There was a rash of videogames that came out with cellshading that served no purpose to be done in that style. This did server a purpose.

POINTS
KMAN = 3
ANDY = 2
DARGON = 1

#16

and let me note my dissapointment of yet ANOTHER missed front page mention.

#17

Andy H - Dogtanian

Good likeness. Nice clean mesh. It is really noteworthy how youve captured the look of the character.
Personally I would have liked a bit more desaturated colors on the textures and a more yellowish skin. I also would have like to see a more textured feather on his cap. Or a bit more shape in the mesh of the feather. The mesh looks as if it would hold up really well in animation. Perhap a bit more polies in the shoulders and upper leg area would be nice. The poses look great, though they could have been a bit more dynamic.
The beauty render is top notch, I like the subtle use of the cartoon rendering.

Steyn - Dagget

I really like this model. It is instantly recognizable as Dagget from the angry beavers. The poses convey the character of the creature very well. The eyes and eyebrows help a lot in this aspect. The texure doesnt look very good when viewed out of context, but works excellent on the mesh. The mesh itself looks very good with nice poly distribution. The lack of polies in the joints in the arms could cause some trouble in animation.
I dont know why you chose a realistic background for the beauty render. A cartoon background would have suited the character better. But since its about in game models, the beauty render doesnt count that much for me.

Buck - Johnny Bravo

While the model certainly looks like johnny bravo, I feel a few points could have done with more work/attention.
The mesh seems a bit irregular, I doubt it would hold up very well in animation. The hair for example could have been a more smooth surface with less polies. Overall I would say the mesh needs a more natural flow. The lines in the hair look a bit pixelated. Use of straith lines would have helped.

Dubge - Cuckoo man

I dont know this character, so its kinda hard to judge how close it matches it’s cartoon counterpart. But judging from the references, the shape looks really close to the real thing. The texture could have been a bit more desaturated, and a bit darker red. The feather could have used a little texturing.
The poses look cool, they convey the cheesiness of the character nicely. some facial expression would have been nice.
A more cartoony background for the beauty render would be nice as well.

Dargon - Rick Hunter

Nice execution on the model. The textures capture the feel of the character really well. Overall the most elegant texture of the bunch.
The mesh looks nice and very well to animate. His upper torso is a bit out of shape though. The shoulders could have been bit broader, and in the first pose it almost looks like he has boobs because of the shape of his ribcage. The face is a bit chubby in my opinion. As is his whole body compared to the references. The dark lines of the cartoon render obviously add to this. His face could have done with more sharper features like a more pointy chin for example. If the face looked more like the original I would have given it the three points. But since the character, apart from its clothes, doesnt look like the cartoon character it loses some points. The poses look great and the presentation is really well done.

Kman - Pink panther

Nice model. Good use of polies and very recognizable. The colors are very accurate, though some proportions and shape could have done with a little more work. The head seems to be a bit too short and overall the body of the pink panther in the cartoon appears more slender. Obviously the cartoon outlines in the renders add to the shape, but I think the model should have been a bit thinner. His eyes are a bit off too. They’re a bit too close together and slightly too big. The beauty render is really good, and presents the model in a very good way.

Kungfubilly - Hong Kong Phooey

Good model, very close to the references. The colors and poses are very nice. The rigging of the lower body isn’t very strong, it shows when comparing the reference pics and the pose of the dancing dog. The model could do with some extra sections in the fingers for better deformations, but overall it holds up very well. The white band on the clothing could have had less blurry edges if you seperated the polygons on the uv map.
The beauty render is good, although I would have liked a more cartoony background and an outline on the dog.

Lekku - Invader Zim

This model captures the feel of the cartoon character very good. Though I dont know this cartoon (we dont get that one over here) The model is very close to the original. The head could have been a bit more neat poly-wise and te, but it holds up very well with the texture.
Overall the character is converted into a model very well, the colors and shape are reproduced really good in the final model. The beauty render stays in style with the cartoon and compliments the whole package.

Eclipse 3D - Darkwing Duck

The model looks like Darkwing, though the mesh could do with a better flow. The mesh comes across as a bit angular. The face could have done with some extra polies for the brows and eyes. Since you chose the non cell shaded route, the texture would do better with a bit more detailing. Now it seems a bit bland. Overall it could use more work to be a top contender.

So in conclusion:

Let me say that all models were really well executed. It was really hard choosing the winners. Since looking like the original is one of the most important features with these models, the winners are as follows.

Andy H - Dogtanian [3 points]
Steyn - Dagget [2 points]
Dargon - Rick Hunter [1 point]

And yeah a frontpager would have been nice. If all those speed sessions get a frontpage mention, I think these competitions deserve a mention as well. But perhaps we need to be a bit more patient.

#18

Steyn - Angry beavers

Good resemblance to the reference, Very good topology, and flexible mesh - especially around the mouth - the part susceptible to the most extreme deformations. Nice posing too. I like the squashy eyes.
The main letdown (for me) is the texturing and rendering - The textures are too shaded and blurry - they need to be more solid, striking and sharp. I know its difficult because hes dark, but I think he’s TOO dark, and I think the beauty render is not really showing off your model to its fullest.

Buck - Jonny bravo

Very good likeness - one of the best one in that department - It seems to ‘belong’ in that beauty render, though I think the cel shadows are unnessesary. As a standalone model, its great, but if it were to be used in a game, it seems somewhat inflexible. Because the head is flat and textured, animating it would be limited because it would look wierd at any angle other than the front. I think there may be a little too many polys on his hands and arms too. Its a shame this wasnt rigged up - some more poses would’ve been great. Jonny bravo IS the master of posing after all!

Dubge - Cuckoo man

This one actually made me laugh! So good job there. Its tricky to get a good comparison to the reference - in some pics his hands and tail are white, skin coloured and yellow. Nice use of polys and good overall distribution.Having not seen the cartoon, I can only compare to the reference, and I think that he looks a bit too fat around the belly, and his proportions dont seem quite as extreme. He needs ‘loosening up’ and to look less stiff. Think more athletic.

Dargon - Rick Hunter

Very good use of polys - they all serve their purpose and none are wasted. Great hair and form. Its a bit hard to compare to the reference, as he has his helmet on in the pics, and the rest are too small. His skin seems too yellow and im not too keen on the bluey graduated shader. The head UVs could be mirrored and the eyes mapped seporately to save space. Great work though. Good presentation.

Kman - Pink panther

Fairly standard, but effective polygon placement - a few more polys could be used on the tail and less on the hips and hands. A tough character to pose due to his roundness and flexibility, yet your poses are very good - especially the arms, hands and legs. My main problem is the size and shortness of the head and the fatness of his torso. Very flexible model though. Well done.

Kungfubilly - Hong kong phooey
Excellent use of polys. His ears could use a few more to give them some flexibility should they need it. Looks a lot like the reference. The main problems for me are the UV spacing (the robe could use a lot more space, and crisping up) and the mouth. It just seems lifeless. Not sure on the pose for the beauty render either - the mesh doesnt seem quite as flexible as it needs to be considering hes a martial artist - the robe seems to prevent the leg from lifting past a certain point. It looks excellent in its default pose, but the more extreme poses suffer somewhat.

Lekku - Gir
I love the cartoon, so im not going to let myself be biased! Its a little hard to see how its been constructed because of the somewhat unconventional wire views, but it seems pretty efficient in terms of poly distribution. Its a bit odd the way that you spent half your budget making a duplicate model for your outline, but considering you used up only half the required polies to make the base, its very good. Great likeness to the character but the line for the mouth seems to be missing. Nice beauty render presentation - doesnt look CG at all.

Eclipse 3D - Darkwing duck
Good UVs and texture painting, despite not looking like the reference. Fairly neat and tidy topology and a pretty good likeness to the character. I think he can be inproved with some gentle tweaking though - he needs to be less rigid and a bit more shapely - especially around the legs and feet. A tough choice, what with the cape and all, but handled well.

VERY well done to all who finished in time - It was tough to want to continue after all that work was lost on the cgtalk server problem. And the celshader / basic texture rules mustve been a bit frustrating to work around, compared to some of the more recent competitions. There wasnt a single average entry, so judging was tricky…

Ive mailed Bentllama and Leigh about a frontpage plug, so keep your eyes peeled!

Aah well - here goes - it was really tough deciding on 2nd and 3rd place - I really love Gir, but im giving dargon 2nd place based on the topology and complexity of making such a low poly human character, and the hair. Gir is great, but hes a simpler model to make. Great work either way!

POINTS:
KMan - Pink panther - 3 POINTS
Dargon - Rick Hunter - 2 POINTS
Lekku - Gir - 1 POINT

#19

im impressed with all of them!

#20

Yep, great jobs guys! I had forgoten about that Dogtarnian cartoon, very good job on that one. Great subject for this one, next time : Disney characters?

That would rock!