HMC #20 - Expressions - Michael C. Hall

#6

Hello again. I’ve finished the base mesh and just wanted to post what it looks like in zbrush at level 3 before i start sculpting.

 [img]http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/1732/side.png[/img]
[img]http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/3179/sidde.png[/img]
[img]http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3824/10043188.png[/img]

and compare

to tell you the truth i’m a little disappointed with the basemesh. It was kinda difficult getting his likeness inside maya. I’ve been relying a lot on sculpting inside of zbrush.

Also here's an image i took while building the ear. I couldn't find a whole lot of good imaged of Michael's ears so i just moldeled one for a filler. Hopefully i'll be able to find some better pics in the future.
[img]http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7660/earss.png[/img]
#7

Eww I hate modling ears. Nice work getting it done at this early stage, and as long as you have the general flow, the rest can usually be easier accomplished in zbrush.

-Rage

#8

Yea ears are annoying. i usually just make some simple form for the ear and just sculpt it out in zbrush and if i’m not being lazy i’ll retopo it in Maya. But i just wanted to see if i could do it in maya from scratch. Even though i was happy with the ear it was the only part of the mesh with a few messed up faces >.<

well i couldn’t resist sculpting a little.

it’s probably my cleanest model and sculpting is a lot easier than usual. I just eyeballed a few pics of Michael, but i gotta figure out how to set up references inside zbrush. Next hopefully i’ll post my expression references.

#9

Here’s some expressions I’ve gathered. I was lucky enough to find this site http://www.michaelchall.org/gallery/ that had screenshots from Dexter. I’ll probably end up not using a lot of them for reference considering they’re kinda vague, and because i have a ton of other references.

Also i did a little sculpting! the hair is just a filler atm.

Let me know what you think, thanks.

#10

oh,wonderfull !! It’s him!!! This is the coolest thread. It has caught my eye like Shin.

#11

thanks a lot, wasn’t really sure if i was capturing the likeness at all. I’ve been eyeballing a lot of the detail. I’m going to keep working on the features then i’ll have to plan out the hair, and decide on other things i might add. Thinking of adding a dress shirt.

#12

looks fairly close…although i would bring out the outer edge of his brow just a bit…it seems to flat to the head just at the moment but does actually stick out a bit

#13

Hello again. I actually haven’t given a model multiple expression so i really want to see if i could retain the likeness while emoting the expression. i just wanted to see how i’d do, but i think i’ll go back to my static pose and finish the other parts. Please imagine the teeth there, i know it looks really odd, lol.

Here’s a little animation using blendshapes. I think i’ll use this method to see if the expresions blend naturally.

#14

Hey there looking cool. Definitely see a semblance.
Not sure the hair is working, otherwise pretty smart.
I think teeth will make a very big difference.

Hard to judge exactly where the lips and lower jaw should be when they’re just missing imho

#15

nice job on the neutral face - really looks close to the original… I’d work it a bit more before doing the shapes - I think the area around the eyes could do with more love… and yeah I agree about the teeth, the lip moves on top of the teeth so it’s definitely hard to make a smile without them :slight_smile: Remember also that the lower eyelid will move a lot when smiling.
Keep it up :beer:

#16

Interesting choice for the challenge, on one hand his character is all about creating the appearance of emotion through expressions, but on the other, you can always tell he’s got the subtle “emptiness” in his eyes while doing it (great actor!).

The model so far looks really good, I’ll definitely be following this one to see how it turns out!

#17

Thanks for the encouragement and advice. I’m still trying to get to the point where it definitily looks like him without having the reference nearby. So here’s a little update.

 [img]http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/788/daz.png[/img]
 
 Yea the hair is pretty bad. It's gonna be a challenge for me to figure out how to get decent hair that isn't too conceptualized in zbrush, but i'll do my best. Also here's a shot with the teeth i made in maya. I haven't done any sculpting on them and they're pretty horrible i know. 
 
 [img]http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/1990/29664990.png[/img]

Thanks.

#18

Hey Pedro. The likeness is getting there, my collegue just looked at my screen and recognised it. I think the mouth in the neutral sculpt was pretty much there in your previous post, but to me it seems to be a bit further away from him now, sort of too downturned if that makes sense. I’m basing that off the picture of the front view you posted, so maybe your other ref says otherwise.

The stand you have him on is a bit sinister, like he’s a severed head. I don’t know if you’re going for that, but it’s quite apt really, I like it :slight_smile:

Edit - Something I meant to say, but forgot, was that maybe you could afford to give him a wider chin, that seems consistent across your reference

#19

Thanks a lot for the tips Lord McGoat, i totally agree. I tweaked the model a bit and i hope it looks a little better. Also thanks for noticing the stand i have the head on. I thought it would be suiting considering the dark humor of ‘Dexter’ and would make fans laugh, while making the model seem a little more real. anyways an update.

[img]http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/2394/fug.png[/img]

I hope it looks a little better to you all. Sorry for the horrible looking hair, i've been trying a ton of different ways and haven't gotten it yet. Also it's odd that the neutral sculpts expression looks as if it's getting angrier with each iteration.

I think the chin may still be a little small. :frowning:

#20

It’s definitely getting there!

#21

Hello again, semi update/ question thing. I’ve started on a new expression with my latest model. should i keep working on the neutral face or begin on the other expressions? anyways an update. Sad, despair or shamed? which do you think?

and some references i used



My reference of Dexter wasn’t that great so i used the last two to get the idea of the expression and make it a little less convoluted in my head.

#22

Small update on the sad expression. I think the eyes are a bit more expressive and changed the focal length a bit, the image above made his head look a little flat and box-ish. Anyways.

#23

I guessed that was sadness, so for me it’s in the right ball park. I think it’s a difficult expression to do as sadness, as it’s not really typical, that grimace could be determination or pain, so kudos for taking it head on :slight_smile: . One thing that all of your sad reference images have but your model doesn’t is the slight downturn at the corners of the mouth - even the Dexter reference has him doing it, albeit very subtley (you could probably get away with pushing it further than that). Could help sell the sadness more.

The model is very well observed though, can’t really find anything else to pick out. Actually, looking at it now, the extra wrinkles in the eyebags are a bit distracting, might be worth knocking them back a bit.

Cheers

#24

Thanks a lot Lord McGoat. Your comments and critiques are so helpful. Reviewing, it almost looks as if he just saw someone get hurt really badly. The wrinkles (sigh) i usually over do them or make them too flat, but i will not give up and i totally agree with you on them.

#25

yeah the expression’s looking good - I like the curl in the lips… I’d say watch those eyes - your neutral model has a different outline of the eyes than the expression. I like the more defined [second] version better but it’s weird to have the outline definition change… they would just move :slight_smile:

also perhaps using just the plain gray shader would flatter the model more… that shiny one’s not really showing it off well IMHO - just a side note :slight_smile: