Knight Templar

#1

Hey Everyone! I am new to posting in the WIP, and am also new to 3d character modeling. I decided for my first character I wanted to do a Knight Templar and sort of give my own spin on the character. I had originally wanted to create a series of animated shorts involving medieval characters, all with their own stories, and eventually they would all meet and work together. Essentially telling the stories of characters within a specified world. This however is a pretty huge undertaking for one person, so I decided instead I would just make the characters and focus on my modeling skills and improving. So below are some images of where I started and where I am today with the model. Let me know if there is anything specific you want to see and I will get screen grabs or renders for you guys. Please be brutally honest with your critique as it is the only way I will be able to improve myself.


Reference Images. I wanted a cartoon look to it.


First render of Knight. Cartoon Style with some toon shaders applied.


Further tweaked the knight model and gave everything full toon shading



I didn’t like the toon shading and wanted to give it a more 3D look, so I tweaked the model and adjusted the helmet to not be so large. All textures were made in photoshop. I attempted some normal map creation from ZBrush which is the helmet and the chest cloth. I wasn’t very satisfied with the result that came on the gloves and the boots so I scrapped those maps.


Re did the normal maps from photoshop filter so that they were generated from the texture rather than me attempting to sculpt (still learning how to work zbrush). The textures from this model all have a diffuse map, spec map, and normal map. all created from photoshop. This render also has an AO pass on it so I could get a bit more pop on the picture. I am having an issue with the chest and overall cloth texture coming in dark on the render. the front of the character is actually getting lit with lights, but the texture keeps showing up grey. Even with a physical sun and sky render I get the grey look on the cloth. Any suggestions? Let me know if there are any other images I should add here for you guys to critique.

#2

I think the toon shader thing could of worked. Maybe try a more borderlands style. Here’s a test I did a few months ago. I had so much fun doing that little project. It’s really fun doing the toon shader thing. People tend to get wrapped up in realism a bit too much.

//youtu.be/9Y3enRASeto

#3

I agree, I was liking the toon shading, but I wanted to change up and go with more of a “CG” look rather than straight toony. I was originally trying to get a pixar incredibles look, but decided to just do the best I can with the render. Not really shooting for realistic, but shooting for a good CG look. Similar to final fantasy advent children, or resident evil degeneration. I definitely did like messing with toon shaders though. The possibilities are definitely endless with it.

#4

Yeah, the pixar rendered look is another option too. Anyway, can’t wait to see how it turns out

#5

Thanks! Loved your cell shading test render. Did you paint the maps and apply it to toon shaders?

#6

yep, that’s it exactly. I just did the textures in photoshop, then I simply connected the nodes together.

Also, I just read your issue, I was so focus on the image that I forgot to read what you typed. Well, I would check your materials attached to your cloth. If it’s Maya or 3ds Max, can you show a screenshot?

#7

updated the model a bit utilizing the Mia material and some tweaks to mental ray settings. I am very happy with the results I have been getting, however the sword and shield still need work as far as texturing goes. Let me know your thoughts!