Tsumea Modeller Challenge #10: "The Patient" - Snacuum

This is the first sketch of my yet unnamed villain. He is some kind of horribly diseased man who's evil-doing involves spreading new contagions to "cure" the healthy. I like the idea but I'm not happy with this concept since it so far has a quality that is too "contrived" and so far does not actually look decrepit enough, also I am yet to figure out what his calling card should be.

Suggestions?...

looks kinda cool, maybe his calling card could be the IV drip, he has to replace the bag after any sort of strenuous activity.... ie contaminating a water supply or what ever he does =)

Here is a more detailed picture for the face, I'm quite proud of it since i usually don't draw people, also I suppose I have decided that is look is going to be the right one since the only other contender is a Baron Harkonnen look-alike and well I like this one.

edit: Oh yes and by the way yes I forgot to put eyelashes on

I haven't modelled in two years. I don't even know what i'm doing. what a great way to waste $20,000 of my parents money

are you going to AIE or are you buying all your software... Cause if you are, nobody buys if your training, we share our 3d software. if you want a legit version of max get yourself a student license its about $100 (not sure exact price)for a year. I'm guessing but maybe autodesk do the same with Maya now as well.

I graduated from A.I.E. in 2006

One thing I'd like to know though is which first: normal model or game model? I've seen the pros and cons of doing either, but I really have had such little experience in making a normal map, (also it was a non-organic device)Which do you guys who make good normal mapped models prefer?

Also, does anyone else think my dude has such a generic outfit? I mean black trenchcoat, pants, and a fedora?

for normal mapping you have two options, mudbox, or zbrush. mudbox is easier to use while zbrush is better but harder. Also when using these programs i highly recommend a graphics tablet.

yeah i have a graphics tablet, but it sure damn feels weird since i now have a widescreen display with a 6x8 tablet

I have now named my Villain. He he shall now be known henceforth as: "The Patient"

I think he was referring to the course fees.

Try mapping your tablet to a section of your screen, I think it might be the only way to make your tablet usable with the widescreen.

oh no its fully usable, don't worry. I'm just crap

ok here's my next big dilemma, I'm trying to model now but now i'm confused again. do we make a head or body first? and how in the hell would one make his coat? I don't even know where to start!

Well me personally im a head guy :D. i like to start there and move down, i find that nailing the head is something i like to do before anything else, as for the coat im not really sure as i will be having the same problem later on, my advice would be to model his entire body first without the coat and then do it after that.

Just my 2 cents mate, keep the good stuff coming(i love the story behind this dude by the way :)

I agree with _CAD_ I also start with the head first as it is usually the piece that takes the most time to model as it is usually the hardest.

In terms of modelling the coat, what has been said by _CAD_ is probably to most plausible approach and alot easier than modelling it as a piece that was modelled from the head. I dont know how much sense I have made here but I hope it does.

Thanksguys, I'm totally working on the head right now since even though I don't think i'll finish this I really would like to dabble some more in the zbrush and the head is always the fun one with that. In regards to the coat.. i'll get there eventually

Love to see how your head model is progressing Mr Snacuum.

give me a bit, I'm still working on the main mesh. I wanted a half-optimised mesh to import into zbrush so since i'm quite green to it and don't know how to "sculpt" one from scratch.

UPDATE----

Well were not seeing anything new right now since 3dsmax has decided to dick me around. I'm using 2009 and when I put my viewport backgrounds in I all of a sudden lose my selection region. I can still select things as if it was still there but I can't see the box I would use to do so. Madness!

Here is a new pic so as to look like I'm doing something. As you can see, I'm nowhere! I think I should officially bow out of the competition time-wise, since although I want to finish it, there's no way I can by the deadline.

You say that when a good 70% of the people havent even started modeling XD Not to mention the few who have yet to concept.
I think there is still plenty of time left.

Man I'm no where near texturing, that takes me longer than everything.

--edit--

Oh yeah, not to mention the fact that the 70% not medelling yet may also not finish.

What is this? What the *** is this? I don't know what I'm doing, I've lost control. Why did I even think I could do this? I should've taken the hint when all the elite students were given jobs and everyone else and me were left in the dust. I won't finish this, comp ends in november right? model,unwrap,normal,texture,rig,and post production in six weeks? I can't do that. I mean just look at the crap I've produced. That won't get me my dream job, nothing will, the games industry is nothing but a boys club and if you're not top-notch like i'm not then they'll just give your work to some outsourced dude in india. I've failed everyone.

Man if you could only have seen my initial models when I was in school. Look i wasn't offered a job when i was in school but then worked on my folio out of school and didnt play a single game Untill I got hired. I applied in early Dec and I received 3 job offers within 3 weeks of applying. Right at this moment in time alot of the games companies are not hiring too many artists. but in a couple of months they usually start hiring again. I suggest work hard at your folio make sure you have 5 or 6 pieces that show a range of models and textures. EG characters, creatures, objects, vehicles, environments, levels and some concept work. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.

here are the dates...

STARTING DATE: Wednesday, 23rd of July, 2008.
CLOSING DATE: Tuesday, 16th of December, Midnight. Yes, 4 and a half months Total
thats still almost 2 more months.
You still have plenty of time.

Also just because you don't get a job at certain companies now, it might be that there not looking for that Type of artist. Find what your good at and stick with that. Keep applying, keep updating your folio and sending it out. Even us artists in the industry have to do it otherwise we will lose our jobs to the young and upcoming artists that are learning all the new techniques eg ZBrush Mudbox. We are all always learning and constantly bettering ourselves.

Keep persevering and you will get there.

"didnt play a single game Untill I got hired"

gee why don't i just kill myself already? Playing games is the only thing that gives me joy anymore.

"Find what your good at and stick with that. Keep applying"

I'm not good at any of it, even my teacher at AIE said I was just an 'all-rounder' I mean look at that model, I can't even get a face right, it's a puzzle with no solution to me. It looks like nothing more than a bunch of lines and dots. All I get is 'it'll be all right' and there's no proof.

There's no teachers and no colleagues any more. I'm going to be stuck at my dead-end of a job and never even come close to naive dreams of 'making the greatest game of all time.'

Im with kookiemunster, you cant quit now.

In my opinion the important thing is that you finish cause it will be valuable practice..now if you dont finish by the deadline thats no big deal its just a competition, and you use competitions to further your abilities and get advice from other artists, remember they're just supposed to be fun. Also if your having trouble with something the biggest advice i can give is ask people for their help and opinion, i know a few of the people in this competition and they would be more than happy to offer advice and help to anyone who needs it.

With the teachers at AIE saying your just an all-rounder, so-what. (i mean no disrespect to the teachers of AIE as im a student there myself and think they do a great job) but what they say isnt 100% concrete, i was actaully told to pursue a certain direction of art but chose not to, what you need to do is choose what you want to do and work at it, and then work at it some more pick what your passionate about (from what i can see your better than some character artists ive seen). you wont become the greatest overnight though.

With the problems u think your having with the face i suggest checking out other peoples models, check out the way they do theirs....reference in my opinion the best tool an artist can use :)

Well i hope you'll continue going at it i wanna see the final result and remember if your having a problem just ask im pretty sure the tsumea community will jump in with some friendly advice.

CAD

hey ya, just keep at it, try finding differnt tutorials on the net, i see you making the head from planes, i have tried that way and failed miserably i find starting from a box easier but thats just me. check out

http://3dsmax-expert.blogspot.com/2008/05/for-max-and-maya-swordmaster-…

the swordmaster it might help

I'm thankful for the support you guys give me. I have been dealing with depression for a very long time. I currently work at a harvey norman, which is dreadful. The thing is I don't actually enjoy this really, I all I know is that I don't want to do anything else. I want out of where I am and to be in the industry. I had friends once which I don't now, many of them work in the industry and now have forgotten about me. I suppose I find it so hard because I want so badly to be like them but I can't seem to get any closer, I mean what I have done is just not good enough.

and I've tried box-modelling and it just doesn't work for me, I can't separate the edgeloops and i usually 'forget' one of the axis as I model. And in regards to reference, damn it is so hard to find, I've been all over but I can only find one measly pic here and there, the likes of 3d.sk hoards them all.

Unfortunately nobody will pay me just to play games.

Kit, _CAD_, and Kookiemunster have provided some great advice, and I want to add some more encouragement. I can tell you're getting pretty frustrated, and I feel for you because we all go through moments of doubt like this.

Here's the thing, this challenge is a tough one. Normal mapping isn't a walk in the park, so it's ok to come across difficulties. Everyone can be an exceptional character modeller, but it requires time and practise, practise, and more practise. Consider this just another chance for you to hone your skills. Don't worry if you don't complete this challenge, just don't quit just yet. Take this opportunity to work on something.

If you find that character modelling isn't your forte, that's fine, there are certainly other avenues you can try. Perhaps try your hand on environment, architecture, vehicle modelling, low polygon modelling etc and see what you're more complacent at.

You say you haven't modelled in two years which I find a bit concerning. Why did you stop?

For all the reasons I've stated above. I was depressed and unemployed, (even less of a reason to stop.) Every time I tried to start again I saw an insurmountable task, I was so upset and confused that I just stopped and played games. When I did I was happy and forgot about my problems.

Why am I so worried about not completing this on time? Because it send a horrible message to all the developers I'm begging for mercy: That I can't complete work by a deadline.

Find one of those Hideo Kojima's, Peter Molyneux's, or Cliffy B's who went through this. You won't find any because they were all geniuses or fell into the industry by being born at the right time.

--EDIT--

Now what's going on? My normals appear to be confused. I have tried to reset its smoothing groups but it doesn't help. Happens the most when I add/delete geometry.

Okay don't worry i figured it out. I used the reset function in the 'edit normals' modifier.