The tsumea modeller challenge 10 results!!!!

Hi folks, here are the results for the tsumea modeller challenge 10!! Thanks to the five challengers who completed their entry for the challenge - you guys did absolutely great! A thanks also goes to all the judges below who spared some of their time in looking over the entries and providing some great feedback, as well as a HUGE thanks to Big Ant Studios and Infinite Interactive for sponsoring this competition with prizes for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placings.

The judges results are fairly unison in their results, so it was pretty easy to get all the final placings. Congratulations are in order to Paternoster for his Dr. Tox entry for taking out the number one spot for the challenge!

FIRST: Dr. Tox by Paternoster - score: 1st,1st,1st,1st
SECOND: The Pitbull by _CAD_ - score: 2nd,2nd,2nd,2nd
THIRD: Phoenix Brothers by Tejay - score: 3rd,3rd,3rd,3rd
EQUAL FIFTH: Scarlet by NeutralEnergy - score: 5th,4th,4th,5th
EQUAL FIFTH: Viktor "Thanatos" Mastin by abe2mir - score: 4th,5th,5th,4th

Dr. Tox by Paternoster
http://www.tsumea.com/journal/paternoster/151208/tsumea-modeller-challa…

Mark Pitcher, Art Director, and Adam Briggs, Lead Artist, at Big Ant Studios: [Rank 1]

This entry ticked all the boxes for the competition criteria as well as being very well executed. The style fits in with the realistic and gritty nature of Nolan's approach to the Batman movies, and the character himself seems plausible enough to actually exist.

The mesh is nicely modeled, the texture space has been used well and the normal maps work to add just the right amount of detail to the image without going overboard.

Overall, the final piece has been presented well and lit very nicely. The backdrop really helps set the scene and gives a very strong sense of the atmosphere surrounding the character.

Steve Ford, Art Director at Infinite Interactive: [Rank 1]

By far the best of the characters presented. Dr Tox looked the part. It was exactly what I expected. Well rendered with believable proportions and lighting. A very interesting Mood feel on a photo-realistic character.

Though it's not my area of speciality I thought the texture displayed a good economy of effort and use of available space.

Joe Tabor, 3D Technical Lead at Infinite Interactive: [Rank 1]

A great render of a really nice looking character.

Character Concept
The character design is ok and checks all the boxes for the mad scientist look.

Modelling
The modelling is fairly simple though you have good proportions and good details where you need them.

Texturing
The shader work is where your piece really shines. The diffuse is a good example of a photo-realistic texture and your normal map is great.

Rod Green, Technical Art Director at Intel Corp: [Rank 1]

Overall
Nicely executed character and model.

UV map
Well layed out. Some issues with snapping and overlap but overall good job.

High Frequency (Normal Map)
Looks strong. Detailing is good could be cleaner around the cloth seams.

Diffuse
Nice work! Really overall good job.

The Pitbull by _CAD_
http://www.tsumea.com/journal/cad/151208/tsumea-modeller-challenge-10-c…

Mark Pitcher, Art Director, and Adam Briggs, Lead Artist, at Big Ant Studios: [Rank 2]

A very good effort. The mesh is well put together with neat edge loops and the texture space has been used very efficiently. The character himself is maybe too much of a caricature to fit seamlessly into a movie that is as realistic as Nolan's take on the dark knight, but saying that, there is plenty of grit and attitude in the piece.

It's presented very nicely with the environment and lighting adding to the overall effect. There is also a solid back story and the characters calling card has also been integrated well.

Steve Ford, Art Director at Infinite Interactive: [Rank 2]
This was another fine character. Interesting concept. The desaturation of the texture is the only area that let the presentation down.

The exaggerated proportions may present difficulties but overall it was well worth second place.

A great miniature figure look.

Joe Tabor, 3D Technical Lead at Infinite Interactive: [Rank 2]

A well rendered, nicely styalised character with a good personality.

Character Concept
I like the design of your character and the styalised proportions that you've used, though maybe it could be pulled back just a little.

Modelling
You've modelled in a good amount of detail and your character has a good silhouette. The guns are also nicely done and suit the character well.

Texturing
You've done a good unwrap and have gotten some nice details in the texture, though it is perhaps a little too desaturated.

Rod Green, Technical Art Director at Intel Corp: [Rank 2]

Overall
Nice model I like the asymmetry of the arms. The character design overall isn't too creative, while the background sounds interesting.

UV map
Looks good - nicely packed.

High Frequency (Normal Map)
Looks clean and well built. Could be a little stronger in areas.

Diffuse
Nicely painted. Some of the dark shading and dirt might be a little too extreme and confusing the model and normal detail. Try to avoid using pure black in a diffuse for shading. It's OK to bake in some form of Ambient Occlusion but when this is too dark it renders badly in lit areas.

Phoenix Brothers by Tejay
http://www.tsumea.com/journal/tejay/151208/tsumea-modeller-challenge-10…

Mark Pitcher, Art Director, and Adam Briggs, Lead Artist, at Big Ant Studios: [Rank 3]

This character very much reminded me of El Mariachi, what with the guitar case slung over his shoulder.
The characters base mesh is cleanly constructed, although there is possibly too much detail around the face and neck. These polys could maybe have been put to better use in other areas, for example cleaning up the meshwork in the guitar. The hand-painted textures are well drawn and the characters calling card is a very nice touch too, the phoenix guitar pick.

Steve Ford, Art Director at Infinite Interactive: [Rank 3]
An interesting character but, as Joe mentioned, the concept was somewhat ambiguous. What exactly is this guy meant to be?
Overall quite pleasing to the eye. Could do with a bit more attention to overall aesthetic appeal when rendering.

The pose is good and strong with a nice graphic novel feel. This is another example of a figure that would easily slot into a game.

Joe Tabor, 3D Technical Lead at Infinite Interactive: [Rank 3]

A nicely rendered character with some good texture work.

Character Concept
The concept seems a little confused to me, I wasn't sure if this guy was an assassin or a rockstar. There is not really a sense of “villain” about him.

Modelling
Your modelling is good with some nice shapes, though watch the proportions, especially the characters head.

Texturing
Your unwrap is good and I like the level of detailing in your texture.

Rod Green, Technical Art Director at Intel Corp: [Rank 3]

Overall
Model looks good. Could do with some work to push the style a little more - more extreme silhouette.

UV map
Nice clean UVs.

High Frequency (Normal Map)
Pretty flat. Little unclean in some areas (guitar). More work could be done on details.

Diffuse
Generally pretty good. Colors and rendering looks a little too painted.

Viktor "Thanatos" Mastin by abe2mir
http://www.tsumea.com/journal/abe2mir/141208/tsumea-modeller-challenge-…

Mark Pitcher, Art Director, and Adam Briggs, Lead Artist, at Big Ant Studios: [Rank 4]

The background story is very intriguing and definitely shrouds the character in a certain amount of secrecy.

The mesh itself is simple yet fairly effective. However the texture usage could do with improving as there are a lot of blank spaces on that texture page. The lighting is very intense and makes the render look overexposed. Ultimately Thanatos is a very interesting and well thought-out character.

Steve Ford, Art Director at Infinite Interactive: [Rank 5]
Good posing but the texturing and lighting were a bit weak. The figure looked a bit too lo-poly in the render but that may have been deliberate.

I could see this character appearing in a game. Overall a fine effort.

Joe Tabor, 3D Technical Lead at Infinite Interactive: [Rank 5]

You've posed you character well though the lighting could have really used some more work.

Character Concept
You have a lot of ideas in the characters background, you need to unify them a bit more in the visual look of the character.

Modelling
The model could use some more details and more definition in the overall shape, rather than his very cylindrical look.

Texturing
Your UVs needed to be better packed and your texture is too “noisy”. Edge you shapes a bit more, by texturing borders etc. Prioritize which parts of your model need the detail and give them the space on your texture page.

Rod Green, Technical Art Director at Intel Corp: [Rank 4]

Overall
OK job. Model and character lacking creativity and style.

UV map
Is OK. Clean but wasting a lot of space.

High Frequency (Normal Map)
Looks very 2D needs more depth low frequency details.

Diffuse
Good start but more time needs to be spent rendering and adding color and detail information.

Scarlet by NeutralEnergy
http://www.tsumea.com/journal/neutralenergy/151208/tsumea-modeller-chal…

Mark Pitcher, Art Director, and Adam Briggs, Lead Artist, at Big Ant Studios: [Rank 5]

It's nice to see a female creation in the final five, and also good to see a character that has a companion.

The lighting in the final image unfortunately weakens the composition. With the only source of light being the spotlight in front of the character, the majority of the image appears to be in the shadow of the rifle, especially areas such as the characters head, which is something that should be a primary focal point. However, it is good to see that the artist has tried to keep the mesh construction clean, this is visible with the edge loops in and around the characters waist.

Steve Ford, Art Director at Infinite Interactive: [Rank 4]
A well detailed render. The texture had very good detail also. The major flaw, for me, was the curious proportions of the figure and wolf's head.

The figure is a little too abstract for something that aspires to realistic proportions. If the modeler can refine this area then it has much greater potential.

Joe Tabor, 3D Technical Lead at Infinite Interactive: [Rank 4]

An interesting character idea, that could use some better posing to show off all the details that you have put into it.

Character Concept
Apart from the wolf wrap there was not much else to suggest Scarlets persona, you could have pushed the whole grown up in the wild idea more. Some of the elements (e.g. the knee pads) look a little out of place.

Modelling
You modelling is quite good and you have a nice amount of detail on the character. The gun is too low res and watch the shape and proportions on your wolf.

Texturing
You've done a nice unwrap and have some good details in the texture, though they are really shown off to their best potential in you render.

Rod Green, Technical Art Director at Intel Corp: [Rank 5]

Overall
Most creative and ambitious of the group but lacking the execution needed.

UV map
Clean but could be broken up more to help with some issues you have with the overall layout.

High Frequency (Normal Map)
Good depth but needs tightening and more work to get clean.

Diffuse
Like others requires time to get rendering from the 'cartoon' side of things.