Work in progress

lol nice work there, like the hack button :P comically well done as well as visually :P

man as that pic was slowly loading i was thinking... woah insane red hair... nice skintone on the forhead.... O MY GOD LOOK AT THOSE EYES!....

Nice work - but im not a fan of the whole weird comic thing [:P]

hehe nice pic has a lotta character :D
The texture in the background is nice, though IMO could be toned down a bit. The texture creates almost a bit too much visual interest, like my eye is drawn to look at it even though the obvious focal point is the character. though it's a minor crit. Great pic and I love the spam tshirt! lol.

yeah, the only thing at all that speaks barbarian is the inclusion of fur. Id add more "barbaric" ellements like perhaps tattoos or a meaty axe (instead of a sword) or a bulkier frame or whatever you think incorporates "barbarianism."

Nice drawing. Few comments:
1. More hair, especially around the thighs, forearm, chest, facial area (like 5 day stubble). I understand if you didn't add more hair if you wanted the clean design look, that's cool. With the leg armour, I could see barbarians just wacking odd-shaped pieces of metal together which are strapped with thin leather (like the gladiator lace-up-the-legs material). Overall, very cool :)

awesome man i like the simple style - but id like to add, if being a barbarian was his job - id picture him to be alot beefier in the chest arms and neck, paticularly the chest. and although an axe like moony said would be nice - i think some form of mace would be better - or a morning star of sorts.

Then again i am thinking more gladatorial barbarianism [:)] overall i like him - i just think if i were to face him in an arena i would probably breathe a sigh of relief as he doesnt look as big as some of the others.... [:P]

just going to point out one thing that took my eye as soon as I looked at it.. just something on the design.

On the left arm at the shoulder there is a lovely bit of metal there.. I'm guessing the guy who made the armor at the "Barbarian Camp" didn't know much about fighting or the need to move your arm/s when your fighting.

I hope your getting my point now that the way that left shoulder bit of armor was made. There is no way that guy is going to move his arm around unless he wants to seriously hurt his arm.. and with the fact that they are Barbarians there armor probably has jagged edges and not the cleanes armor... sure hope he has taken his tetnis shot.

either way looks cool, just try to get more into your characters minds when you draw them [:)] eg. would they realy wear armor so thick. anywhoo.. I better stop going on you won't read it

Have a good one and keep it up!

I also think that tattoos and an a change of weaponry are in demand for a bararian. You could give him an axe or a way oversized sword. Huge weapons are the latest craze in america :)

But it looks cool apart from that

Hi John, great pic and neatly presented :D

But I agree with snowflake in that the shoulder armour and it's functionality is a bit limited. If this is concept art to be modelled in 3d, I don't know how his arm would move. You've done a very clear drawing for the modellers to work from, though there could be a bit more thought in the design which would save the modellers a whole lot of headaches later on.

You marker rendering and presentation skills are really great though, keep it up!

Hey what brand markers do you use? Ive got some Copic brand ones and they arent that great. Got any advice/tips when using them?
I havent read all of the above comments so sorry if this has been said. He could use some little detials/design in the armour he has, as its just plain metal sheets.
:)

Hmmmmm, the armour was intended to be leather with metal plates...So the shoulder armour is leather (apart from the small metal plate on the side), the cupped shoulder guard has limited freedom to lever up/down from the studs at the base. The arm strap is more of a chafe(sp?) guard rather than a solid attachment point for the armour overlapping it... does that explain the armour design? A little decoration on the metal would look good, eh. This character will (fingers crossed) be done as a 3D model, so if this doesn't make sense speak up!

I couldn't bring myself to do a stereotype barb. and didn't want the character to look oafish in any way. I wanted him to look quick and skillful. More hair on arms and legs wouldn't have gone astray. He has about 1 week of growth on has face but some of these details didn't come up on the scan :(

Makk, have you asked about the markers before?! pay attention this time ;)
Letraset markers (using pantone ink). They were the most expensive ones I could find, but they are refillable and have changable felt tips, and come with 3 different tips as standard. I only have 2 markers- 20% and 50% warm gray. I use them on standard bond/copy paper, all pics are about A4. ( I could probably post this info in a more relevant section with some wip expamles if people would like?)

Asked questions, I have. ;)
Hhhmm, Copic are the only ones around here. I think they are pretty cruddy, only two tips (thick, thin) and they are not refillible. but I must not blame my tools.
Some wip examples, hell anything! would be really cool. Im struggling with these things.

not refillable doesn't sound good (potentially very expensive)once they dry up try pulling the tip out of one. If it comes out and fits back in snugly you could refill it anyway [:D]

Before I purchased any markers I browsed My Zhu site and found it a good starting point for materials and technique/process:

http://69.44.60.9/artbyfeng.com/studio.html

I will try to remember to do some WIPs with the next marker illustration I do and post the process up.

nice character john. I agree with some of the other guys that maybe you could make the weapon more aggresive.
And copics are refillable. It costs about $14 bucks for one colour refil at my uni store!!!! i need more money centrelink!

Okay, finally managed to to a Mk II version. This is just a rough pencil sketch, but I think has a much better balance in character. Addresses a good number of the comments on Mk I above too. Plug away with comments as I intend to do it as a final pen + marker pic for my folio and want it to be real good.

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/simages2/258_character_warrior_v2L.jpg[/img]

the only thing that gets me about that is the detail on the chest pad and shoulder strap, looks kinda spacy and unescacary (sp?). Otherwise great stuff :D

fair comment moony - it does look out of era - the hard sharp edges make it look futuristic where the scraggly hair and fur / cloth parts are the complete opposite.

Good to see some left handed warriors about tho!! [:D]

yeah, should be leather or fur

axe could probably be a little more crude too, for a barbarian

needs cool tatoos! :)

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/simages2/25_human_warriorL.jpg[/img]

Wasn't sure whether to start a new post for this or just continue on, but here it is anyway, makes sense.

This was great fun to get John to design a warrior and then for me to take it and model it, I suggest to all up and coming modellers to get in touch with a concept artist and ask them for a few pics.

I did change things a little like removed the metal plates from his loin cloth and I'm still undecided on his shoulder guard.

Poly count (unoptimised): roughly 4100 with his sword.

All feedback welcome, I should post a wire version too.

I should probably clear this up too, he's meant more to be a warrior than a barbarian.

wires!! Lookin good though [:)] I know it is still to be optimized, but i would like to see a bit more definition at that polycount.

I hope your gunna be texturing him [:D]

your guys a lot slimmer then any of johns drawings, need to be more bulky! :P
still its a cool model :)

Agree with denz 100%, at 4100 theres so little definition - however it does look like a good start so far man :)

I've been looking forward to seeing this [:D] I will see if i can get some more variations on armour details for the shoulder. Might give you some ideas/direction on what to do for that area.
----------
okay here are some quick sketches for armour variations, focusing on the shoulder area. Bit roughish but should serve the purpose

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/simages2/258_armour_variations.jpg[/img]

those are really nice - i like what you got going there JohnN tis always good to create vision with concept. especially when trying to decide on the best possible attire for a game character etc. good job ! [:D]

Phew! Man, I'm gonna have trouble keeping up with all these changes, some great variations there though, love them.

Following earlier suggestions I've added a lot more definition to the character.

[img]http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~cmcmurr/images/human_WIP26.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~cmcmurr/images/human_WIP27.jpg[/img]

And a wire!

[img]http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~cmcmurr/images/human_WIP28.jpg[/img]

All right. Now the sword weighs in at 440 polys so that makes the original post roughly 3650 tri polys. The latest post with more definition is roughly 3800 tri-polys. This is still unoptimised as I'm waiting for some feedback on his look from the edge of valour crew. I think that when I optimise I should get the count down to around 3500 tri's, is that a more reasonable count for how he looks?

That looks a lot better, especially in the arms. But still with 3800 tri's i think there could be a bit more defintition, other than that from a visual aspect, he's looking quite a treat ;)

yup he looks a bit better for sure [:)] ive spotted a couple of 5 sided pollies on the back of his hand tho ! bad bad wiz! [:D] cant wait to see that textured!!

Ok, optimisation is complete, the model below now weighs in at exactly 3500 tri's.

Hazard: What's the big issue with 5 sided poly's? I can't see any problems so long as the edges are turned the right way. Texturing will be underway after I spend an afternoon unwrapping the bugger, but I'll probably create a hi-res version of him first for the purposes of making a normal map.

Bullet: Cheers mate, it was a treat working on him!

[img]http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~cmcmurr/images/human_comp.jpg[/img]

The all important wires!

[img]http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~cmcmurr/images/human_wire.jpg[/img]

Looking nice Wizned [:)] He has alot better overall shape now I think, and better definition, with less polies! Not too much I can crit except maybe the hands look a little bit small. Maybe its just a personal thing, but i think bigger hands would make him look stronger.

I don't wana hijack you thread, but what you said about 5 sided polies was interesting since I'm unsure aswell. I see alot of high poly models with 5 sided polies. Maybe its a game thing?

great stuff, should be good to see how you interprate johns tonal work into a texture

wiz & denz - ask the code guys [:P] its quite a long drawn out topic, but if your really trying to go for best optimised / tri-stripped models, 5 sided pollies are bad. if you really want to get into why they are bad - get yourself a tri-stripping program, that displays model information that an engine must calculate in order to redraw the model sucessfully.

Have a look at the differences in output - youll see why most coders prefer you keep to either singular tris, or quads. - But its not my area of expertise, google is your friend [:P]

Something most institues DONT teach is the nitty gritty stuff just like this.

comming along well [:)]
Wis, if you become stuck on colours and textures let me know and I will do some colour roughs with notes on what I think might work well.

ooh lovely art, i like the one of the right most because it feels as if its dangerous but doesnt have the intelligence or manouverability to climb out of the pit,

dont mind if i just make up some story as i go along? ok good.

they guy in the middle is like the overseer and more intelligent warrior/ evolved class of thing, more like the upper class in society commanding the dude on the left who is like some crappy farmer with his pick axe, mabe he digs the holes for the beasts and they farm the ooze and growths that live on the back of the right guy,, but they got to have a good reason for there big horns and teethn stuff,, so i would say there race is very competetive and any fights that are fought the winner has to eat the loser hence the massive horns and teeth,.. i would say that is sufficiant to explaint he existance of these three creatures

grotesque as they are, exept for the middle guy who, as i said, is a more evolved upper class.

great pics,,

Wow. These ones are really cool Alti :)

I really love the body of the creature on the left. His off-centred head and neck make him look like some real nice monstrosity.

the one in the middle is quite cool. I'd like to see the character developed a bit more [:)]

the centre guy is amazing, really well done with him. The guy on the right has an even more "pit beast" feel to him though. Pit beast to me means a savage mindless creature so a weapon weilding creature suggests more intelligence then my steryotypical view of one, but thats just me

Yup nice pics man, the guy on the left does look peon'ish compared to the other 2, in my eyes the character in the centre looks to definately be a right hand man for a boss, or indeed be the boss himself, but as tykiel said the right handed things fits PIT BEAST the most - mostly cos its just a blob with a massive mouth, small useless arms go good with it, and the massive gaping maw looks imposing.

But i have to say if the development was to continue through - id say the guy on the far right needs to look more alive - he looks almost complacent, like he enjoys being locked up in a pit, not being able to get out and eat what ever he wants etc. I know this soudns corny, but put yourself in his position, your jammed in a small area with nothing to eat, after a while youll start getting pretty pissed off... so your on the right tracks - but piss him off a bit more :)

hey thanks for all the feedback so far :)

[IMG]http://members.optusnet.com.au/altiquex/cryo/lowpit2.jpg[/IMG]

> Tykeil - kickass descriptions - thanks

man your art is getting better an better [:)] is good to see someone grow, keep going !!! [:D]

like his design and everything but im not fond of overuse of hatching (or whatever you would call the sort of hession pattern in the bg).

again i envision a pit beast as a mindless creature (think back to rome here, lions in the coluseum and such) which is not entirely happy with its surroundings and such. A creature that weilds a weapon suggests intelligence (think of tool using animals and such, not the kinds u find in that situation) and thus not a likely pit dwelling creature (on the grounds it wouldnt be as likely to get caught and it would be able to do something about it). Not quite sure how to word it so i hope that makes sense.

random fun still for day 2-
[img]http://members.optusnet.com.au/altiquex/cryo/pit3.jpg[/img]

heh, that is so gruesome, I love it.

very cool..the last one looks like a buffed up skecksi...

"PLEASE!!? Please make PEACE!!!?" *rips out his spine*....hehe i love it.

Day 3

The further into the pit you get the more you don't want to disturb anything in the dark

[img]http://members.optusnet.com.au/altiquex/cryo/day3beast.jpg[/img]
[img]http://members.optusnet.com.au/altiquex/cryo/detailsd3.jpg[/img]

-alti

woah i bet he got teased in the school playground about his teeth size, THATS why hes living in a pit!!!!

i like it man - cant wait to see day 14 [:D]

can you say detail? :P nice work man, more abstract art then conceptual for this one (im sure that was intended).

That?s really quite scary! [:0]
Is it a skull? Or is it just too dark in the pit to make out much detail?

HazarD: I don?t think anyone/anything would be brave enough to give it a hard time about the teeth!

If I have a nightmare tonight, I?m gonna blame you, alti!
Good work. Keep ?em coming!

HazarD > i forsee many a freaky things before day 14 :)
palantir > it's supposed to be a scull/carapace thing for the face and cheek bones- nightmares hey hehehe sorry.

Some of the texture you get are great! nice to see one thread of thought over several illustrations too.
Keep it up :)

Day 4

you enter a vast chamber on the 4th day- to be welcomed by the flightless pit dragon.

[img]http://members.optusnet.com.au/altiquex/cryo/lorezpitday4.jpg[/img]

oh man tentacles for a mouth / jaw - thats sickening - you are one sick twisted son of a bitch man, its excellent and i love it!! [:D] remember a few months back i said you should think about making a gothic comic ? man your style and ideas are in a league of their own, im serious. theyre so weird and disgusting, its screams for its own comic!!

i would if a publisher was interested , know anyone ?

hehe, more beasty pitt goodness,, and no im not sniffing!.

that last one is reminiscent of the lake beast from lotr, but only through the surroundings not much the beast itself..

the one with the two maces/clubs looks like he's had half his brain removed,, stitches on the skull it looks like,,

and the third one looks like a walrus gone wrong :O) i like the first one the best so far

DAY 5

And so we are five days into the pit,- will we survive the rest of the journey ?

[img]http://members.optusnet.com.au/altiquex/cryo/boolorez.jpg[/img]

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh now thats nice... i like how the evolutionary process is starting to come out - the re use of that big skull with the buck teeth - but with an extra crustacean like head, and those massive arms look nutz. love the little caption also!!

wowzee thats a cool one, youve adapted the aquatic theme (whilst keeping your "beast" format) quite well.

Day 6

Day 6 of the journey into the pit- yep

[img]http://members.optusnet.com.au/altiquex/cryo/lorezpitbeast6.jpg[/img]

Thats some freaky ****
Good :)

what the hell ?!?!? hah!!!!! its like a larva with chicken legs and spiderey legs... thats insane, i would push your work to some publishers man - go down to the local comic ashop and pick up a few goth style comics - find out who publishes and get hold of them - put together a short piece, and show them your style, i think your style is more unique than most.

thats gota be my favourite one so far [:D] you have a great imagination

hey thanks - i almost couldn't make it today- i'm doing a few commissioned oil paintings for some people, but don't worry i'l make it to the end of the pit though :)-

mmm terps smelling linseed oil.. yep i'm way back into my traditional media- i'l have to get some shots of it with my camera and upload them :)

-alti

lol that guy rocks, he looks like a pregnant tyranid hormagaunt or something :P (warhammer 40k http://us.games-workshop.com/games/40k/tyranids/catalog/default.htm) good stuff

Hey Rastus, good progress so far, just a few crits.

Neck- Even though it's been a while since I watched the Tick (not cause I don't love it but because it's not on) I remember him having much bigger neck muscles than that, so I'd aim for a more v-shape coming down from his head to the tops of his shoulders.

Legs- these look a little short. His ankles look a little thick too.

Abdomen- Definitely pull his gut in, the Tick is much skinnier than that around his middle.

Head- The shape and volume is great so far, but I'd move his head forward more, in the side pic it looks as though he's about to topple over backwards.

Keep at it man, just a few adjustments and it should look spot on, good choice for a model too.

That looks great, and i love the Tick.

Just one crit is that the biceps should probably sit a bit higher up in the shoulders as the angle kinda looks awkward. apart from that great stuff.

i have no idea who the tick is. so i cant comment [:(] he looks cool tho :)

post more of your work here man. [:D]

You dont know who the tick is. Im dissapointed in you hazard :(

i dont know how to edit my post but the image down but this link works
http://img63.photobucket.com/albums/v193/rastus/tick-03.gif

thanks for the comments ill tweek the stuff when i load up max next

found the edit button

im thinking i might make another character for the comp bit more complex the tick is rather simple [?]

wow, awesome man! i love the first and the third the best .

nice work man - i can see that your work is slowly starting to evolve into something thats not so imagination based, which IMO is a good thing [:)] alot more detail going into these, which is really starting to look good :)

hey mate I like your style, definately has that star wars feel. The first one would be my favourite aswell. Also, are you coloring these digitally? or with markers or somehting?

i use a blue mechanical pencil then scan and add some simple values in photoshop- i don't want to over work them.

here's the latest one -
[img]http://members.optusnet.com.au/altiquex/wow/sithassassin.jpg[/img]

Alti, who is E6?

Really like your designs too.

Cool stuff alti.

The E6 site is interesting, but how and what do they they actually work, ie. who's setting deadlines or the creative director, or how do the people contributing stuff know something concrete/end-product will come out of it(?)

Wow. That looks really sweet :D The colour use really suits it.

I have to admit that I looked at it before reading you post and was supprised when you sadi it was a she. She has such a masculine body and face.

Personal gripe, but smaller feathers don't really do it for me. Especially on such an important angel (if she is meant to be as important as Gabriel). It feels like the more important and angel is, the longer and larger their feathers should be. As I said though, that is just a personal choice.

Great work :)

That looks great, you'll hear no crots from me, but i do have a question. Are those grenades that are strapped to her left side? or some kind of heavenly tonic?

holy crap that is awsome! [:D]

Very nice.
It isnt obvious that its a she. I think its due to the face. You may want want to tweak that, Add some red to her cheeks and lips might help.
Its easy to see that your quite skilled in painting, so there isnt anything to crit there. Although the hand on the right (her left) is bit large, but thats being picky :)
I like how you have left the legs/lower torso rough, it helps establish the top half as the focal point.
Was this Painter? If so what brushes?
It has a nice painterly feel to it, and that anime/cartoon look you wanted is there.
Good stuff :)

Thanks for the replies guys :)

Yeah I noticed a bit of the androgeny going on there... I think it's because I'm better at painting male faces, lol. Also her robes disguise most of her curves, though I totally agree with your suggestion Makk, adding more pink etc.. Before I get it printed out for submission I'll play around with it.

Aven, I agree with you too. There's something iffy about the wings and now that you mention larger wings, I don't want them to be too dominating, though I will definitely change it. I think have longer feathers can increase the dynamic flow of the brush strokes around the image too.

Bullet21, no they're not grenades, they're the 'heavenly tonic' you suggested. hehe.

Also does the image look overly yellow? I have an annoying problem. I just got a new LCD monitor and on it, all my images look crisper, warmer and overall better. So when I go back to looking at them on a CRT they look blurrier and yellower. I think I need to calibrate my LCD but yeah, I dunno. The different colour space thing annoys me cuz I don't know what it looks like to other viewers.

I do have a similar problem with my LCD as well. All the colours look really saturated, but when they are viewed on a CRT, people seem to say that the colours are very flat and desaturated. I know that a lot of earlier LCDs (not sure about new ones) had their default colour values set with the red being unusually high. This meant that everything had a very pinkish tinge to it. You just had to set your monitor's red value a little lower :) Still doesn't help with the increased saturation and contrast, but it makes it a bit better. I have posted a few pics in the past and noticed that a few people (mainly Makk :) ) complained about images looking flat. I have to make sure that whenever I do anything colour based I make the colours brighter and more contrasting.

So to answer your question, nah, the colours look fine on my monitor :)

yeah the face needs some tweaking and i would agree with the idea of making larger wings, perhaps (for an example, not saying rip it) like J.Is wings on his entry for the modelling comp (just hit that board and go to the judges viewing thread, its down there).

another thing, just thought id say it has a sort of ranger outlaw type feel to me, dont know if that was purposefull or not. Its a really awesome pic (and colouring).

i dunno - im half and half about the wings - big wings are definately cool, and if thats what your going for... a coolness factor then definately add bigger wings, if your trying to portray something that maybe more than cool - try to add smaller changes and nothing so drastic - i think an over emphasis on the wings could take alot away from who the character is and just brand them another angel.

Like moony said she does have a ranger feel, i get that from the earthy tones and golden light, and also the flowing ranger like tunic / garbs + accesories etc.

Theres almost an elf like anatomy to her, her face included, whilst alot of people have commented on male / female likeness - i tend to think youve captured your intended style perfectly, alot of anime heroes and portraits, are almost uni-sex being its a male with such a girlie looking complexion & vice versa. bluring the lines between sexuality, and creating a non sex biased hero, ie they arent simple a male or female hero but more of just a hero.

Just a note while the lower half of the picture is quite quick, i think her left leg from the knee down is twisted at quite a strange angle almost like shes bow legged.

Bravo for such a nice piece, in paticular the hair, halo, and wings IMO look fantastic, and if you absolutely had to add something to the wings - i think adding slight length to some of the outer feathers would really make a difference, or for more of in impact you could perhaps introduce some trailing feathers ( ie one or 2 that actually stick out alot further than the rest from the wingtips )

Dude... spiffy. You've come quite a long way. Remember this dude: http://www.artofbrain.com/jason.jpg @:-)

Keep rockin' Jason!

Aven: Thanks, that LCD problem is so annoying. Mine is a new LCD, though it's colour representation still isn't as accurate as a CRT. I suppose since the majority of users are still CRT users that it's better to get it looking good on a CRT.

Moon: Yeah I wouldn't overdo the wings, though i think they can be pushed slightly more. I can see where your 'ranger outlaw feel is coming from'. I didn't want her to be a prissy, feminine angel, I wanted her to have more 'omph' behind who she is. She's very strong willed etc..

Hazard, thanks for your point of view I appreciate it. I'm not going to add huge wings as yes, that would take away from the character and just put her into an even more stereotypical role. I can feel the elfish quality you describe, and I'm really glad you sense the purpose for the androgeny. I tried putting pinker cheeks and making her more 'girly' but it just looked wrong. It didn't encapsulate her personality.

My main impression of who she is supposed to be is someone very head strong and arrogant. She isn't timid at all.

Yeah I see the bowlegged thing. To be honest I'm not too good at anatomy in that position, though the reason for the sketchiness is to draw more focus to the head and body where detail is the tightest. I like to let the edges of my images fade into blurriness. It also helps me to stay loose instead of overrendering every part (which I am guilty of doing a lot!).

Thanks for your suggestions, the trailing feathers idea is great!

Brain: ACK!!! I can't believe you still have that! I've lost all my old images in a computer crash, but I'm glad you posted it. I think it was my second tablet pic?? Back in the day. lol.

hello, thats some really lovely work there, i didnt catch much of the androgeny as others see,,
as what happens with wings on most characters pictures that have arms aswell they always look stuck on sort of with sticky tape,, very hard to get them to feel apart of the character, her pose is rather menacing with the fist and the almost clawing left hand, and her left sleeve at her forarm looks liek its bulging wierdly,,

i love the ranger feel to it and the pose is excellent, the colours too, al browns and yellows looks great,

i love her hair and her face esp with the shadows,

and im new here so hello :O)

the concept = VERY COOL!!!

The mesh = her breasts look too far apart, and even though a slightly curvier chick is refreshing i think the gluteus medius / maximus is a bit harsh and sticks out just a tad too much. Also her arms look a whole bunch thinner, compared to the rest of her voluptuos self.

The Texture = Looks pretty good man - but i think a few more detail passes with highlights / shadows are needed - to define materials a bit more - also there are a few visible seem problems especially the one around her neck.

edit : i just noticed that youve used 2 x 1024 x 1024 !!! a word - it really doesnt look like it at all so far, but like i said above a few more detail passes should help to fix that up, just at this stage it looks to be about a single 512 x 512 detail.

The rig = looks like it needs a bit of fine tuning around the armpit area ( always tough ) and the hip area - also theres a bit of stretching on that foot thats thrust forward on the bottom pic.

Overall man id say its a good start for sure, but for me that design deserves a bit more of your time spent making her look REALLY cool, dont get me wrong i think its good so far - but i think witha few more hours she could be great [:)]

Yeah, I really like the idea here, excellent :)
Texture is pretty good, but you use some more like Hazard mentioned.
Any chance of an SDK?

nice! pincers are cool.

great work, fits into the UT unvierse without being generic and boring, like the pincers :) dunno how theyll look holding weapons tho :P

Those pincers are awsome, looking forward to the finished texture.

Cool!

The pincers remind me of a Slaneesh daemonette from Warhammer 40k.

Also, I kinda like the alien-esque purple tint in the concept's skin. Would fit the red/pink colour scheme also.

nice work.. I like the poly work, nice proportions! you should do more work on the texture.. otherwise all that texture space your using is going to waste! otherwise is cool, and I'm sure she would nip anyone in the ass!

I agree with what Hazard said, particually about the texture, there is faw too little deatil in there for such huge texture space.

These are good, I like the designs. Not that original, but not much is these days. The cendagan male and the sireon race are my fav. The female and male both go together well (Each one looks like its the female/male of that race).
The paintings themselves are pretty well done. Not really my style, but to each his own. The poses work well and the backgrounds are done well so they support the focal point (the characters) and dont dominate. All thats left to say is keep practicing and you will get better and better :)

Those are awesome. The Sireons remind me of HaZards Aquanox. They are great ideas to. I could really see them in a fantasy game Esp. RTS games. That would be nuts, I love Warcraft.

Oh and my favourite was the Fulven Male :)

They look really good angel :) cept to me the style fits more promotional than concepts, ie some would require extra definition to model off etc etc.

The Fulvens look exactly like the mook race off wizardry - but like makk said - alot of work these days is not going to be original :)

I have a question - if you didnt draw the characters - how much creative control did you have over the design / ie did you write a big long description ? give sketches of your own to your artist ? just curious :)

Thanks for your feedback :)

With exception to the Sireon, all races started with a human build, then were adapted to suit individual environments within the game.

Note: I have no idea what mook's and HaZaards are (*googles*).

To answer your question, I'll briefly describe the process we went through:

First, I created the races according to the needs of our game.. Yes, I wrote a description for each doing my best to paint pictures with words. I couldn't give my own sketches because my scanner is down, and Wade and I work on the same wave length anyway, so there wasn't really a need to. For the Sireon, I did provide pictures of sea creatures, described what features I wanted to adapt, etc.

Then Wade would draw a basic outline sketch, I'd review it, he'd add in details, I'd review it again, then he'd color. Sometimes I'd make changes, sometime's he'd suggest a few of his own. Most of the credit for this work goes to Wade, and he's been invaluable as support and as a friend. We're just both looking to improve.

I have a question - if you didnt draw the characters - how much creative control did you have over the design / ie did you write a big long description ? give sketches of your own to your artist ? just curious :)

Hahaha! HazarD's been Googled! What an honour, take a bow my friend...

Angel, Bullet was refering to HazarD's Sumea modeller challenge entry, check it out on the relevant thread.

rofl!! sorry angel, im hazard and my model was called Aquanox, it had a similar theme to your sireons :)

but it sounds like you 2 are doing a good job - look forward to seeing more, my fiancee says wade your artist has a similar style to hers and would like to see more of his stuff :)

lmao.. didn't realize, soz Hazard. And I just checked out your aquanox art, and it's all so very awesome! You know, I'd love to see another artist's version of my designs if anyone's ever interested.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice and encouragement!

~Jade

lol that is awesome, id love to see that guy in game, specially with some custom taunt animations :P . Its also a very polished looking drawing

really good:) cant wait to see the model.

that ideas awesome and it shows in the concepts as well. Keep it real dawg, and represent

Nice drawing, very nice.

if you go through with the whole model and stuff - definetly keep with the animations for side style shooting / gangsta symbol things going on with the hands and shit, would be funny if anything, to see that next to some hulking muscle men with borg arms etc.

A refreshing approach - i hope you take it right through, id definately be keen to see the final results :)

Just one note tho in the concept hes wearing a massive Shotty cartridge holster thingo ( dunno the name of it ) - but hes got a small sidearm, i think it woulda looked cooler with a fat sawn-off.

well he dosent have the right sort of ammunition belt for his sidearm no, but in game he wont be able to take that weapon out and use it as it will just be a part of his model so theres no loss in keeping it small really, as the whole theme is still there. Thats my opinion.

Thanks for the comments! I was thinking of a b-boy 'freeze' as a taunt. I'll update when progress slowly happens.

you could really do a whole stack of custom animation for this guy, but thats really up to you and your patience :P

Looks cool, I like it alot.
Would be good to see something different in an Unreal map.

Moonunit: Can't recall ever seeing that model gun before so I can't comment much on its ammo type but it could be a one shot flare gun as one of my co-workers pointed out. [:)]

Really nice artwork and a cool design.

He just needs a bit more of the Bling Bling factor :)

Nice, the flesh tones could use more colour in them, but apart from that it looks really good.

heh if only i still had my weapons book (i used to have a book with detailed drawings of every weapon makind had made since pointy rocks tied to spears to 2000). The ammunition could pass for flare ammo (im not an expert on flares but they generally look like shotty shells) however the holster for the gun is too long for the short barrel found in flare guns.

heh just felt like creeping everyone out with weapon talk (hides weapon stash).

That is one well out thought concept, I can't wait to see the modeling progress. Good luck with it mate.

Lookin' great!

that beanie would sure proove to be a hinderance to sighting the bad guys tho dont you think ?pretty much tunnel vision going on there [;)]

- im only being picky man, he definately looks cool [:)]

lol. yeah... but he IS the bad guy!

I like your style, especially that second pic.

Stu

thanx stu [:)] Heres one i did this morning. again, c&c would be most appreciated, thanx.[:D]
[IMG]http://img59.photobucket.com/albums/v180/denzil40/robocopy.jpg[/IMG]

you should check out alti's work your style is reminiscant of his - although your slightly more clear, nice concepts man - welcome to sumea :)

I really like the lighting on the mech - but the first concept at the top looks a tad weird anatomy wise - then again i have no idea what that thing is - his head looks cool - but back where the hind legs are etc - things start getting a tad funny, really small ribcage area etc.

look forward to seeing more of your work man :)

Thanx for the crit hazard, I totally agree. I don't really know my anatomy to well and it was sort of in the back of my mind when doing these, cos i'm still practicing how to paint, but thats no excuse[:D], also thats probably the reason I'm doing monsters etc, cos you can let that go a little bit.
I think the next thing i do i will concentrate more on learning anatomy.
Heres another one I did today, the anatomy is pretty whack aswell, heh. Keep them crits comin!

P.S If the pics dont work, try refreshing the page, that seemed to work.
[IMG]http://img59.photobucket.com/albums/v180/denzil40/animal4newpasscopy.jp…]

Heres a mech i did yesterday, and a w.i.p of a cargo ship type thing. Any ways you think i can improve the design? thanks.

[IMG]http://img59.photobucket.com/albums/v180/denzil40/robo2paint.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img59.photobucket.com/albums/v180/denzil40/ships3New_copy.jpg[/I…]

Very cool man, im really liking your style - once again the lighting on the mech is really good and that creature thingo.. man its hideous.. that verticle mouth, just screams disgusting... i love it [:D]

The cargo ship thingo also looks very cool, but is it a boat type thing ? or a spacecraft ?

hey thanx hazard :D I was sorta thinking of that stormship troopers slug thing at the time.

With the ship, its suppose to be one of those 'Looks like an old boat but is a space ship' things heh, but im not really pully it off. I wanna put some more oriental boat feel into it, maybe some sails will do the trick.

if you want to make it orienantal your headed ont the right track but you could go so much further. Funnily enough the first thing that springs to mind here was a trailer that was posted in general chatter for a animie that has been turned into a live action movie. Souri posted it... help me out here :P

if your going to develop it more try to not just make teahouses with wings :P youve got a good base there to work on as far as ship contruction goes.

As for the ghoulies and mechs, the mech images i dont like half as much as i like your creatures. In particulary the second one you posted. its a very well designed and drawn (or tablet painted or wutever :P ) picture. same goes for the other two (yes i reckon the vertical mouth is neat too :P is there a story to that?) just theres little niggles with them i dont see in the other one.

thats my 2 cents (i feel like i was too harsh, really all your work is really good and i have nothing like that tallent, just offering my petty donation ;) )

Good work ! all of your pics have a really interesting area of detail. Like the second one has these little blue spots on the top of its neck!(i think) If your whole creature had that kind of detail emphasised they'd be even better!
If you want a pic of that star wars ship you were thinking of go to:
[url]http://www.jed1kn1ght.fsnet.co.uk/-=matt=-worldofstuff/sw/ships/shipsj…]
keep it up.

MoonUnit: umm heh, i don't know what anime your talking about [:P] And yeah, the design is pretty basic, so I tried adding some things, I think it's still not working though. Theres definately no functionality there:) But I think I'm still going to continue with it anyway, it's all practice. thanx for ur comments man[:)]

Vertical mouth, haha, theres no real story to that, just had stormship troopers in mind. Theres probably more detail there cos I wanted to try and do more detail for that one. And don't worry, not harsh at all :D harsh helps me out.

scottiebrack: Thanx mate. The reason I try to only leave detail in certain areas (besides my lazyness) is to focus the eyes on the important areas such as the head, I think it is also fun as a viewer to try and interpret some of the stuff, but yeah mainly lazyness [:P]. So I might try and do more next time.
Thanks for the link dude, pretty cool [:)]

So here is a quick update on the ship, I'm guna leave it as is for now and start painting it or watever. Still open for suggestions though.
[IMG]http://img59.photobucket.com/albums/v180/denzil40/ships3NewNewNew_copy…]

heh, now the crew have got a backup option if the engines fail, i think we need to put one of those on me mates car :P

Just a quick note regards the ships front ( bow ? ) if it were a boat then it would be tapered and not squared off like that - because its a ship - i guess you can get away with it a bit more - but still aerodynamics issues etc ;) imagine those poor bastard rowing those massive oars! [;)]

we could all use one i think moonunit ;) Thanx hazard, thats a really good point. I think the front like you said would really bring out the boat in it so I'll try and do that. heh and I think there would be quite a few poor bastards slaving away, and all becos of my terrible design [:D]

i would love to see that ship modelled, with a really decent texture size. i like that design more and more every time i look at it - are you going to colour it as well like your creatures ?

I'm glad you like the design hazard. yeah a model would be cool, if you wana take a crack at it you're more then welcome to [:D] I'd love to see a lopoly of this, I'm terrible with nonorganic stuff though.[:(!]

About the rest of it, I know I said I was guna go further with it but I'm taking that back heh, sorry. I started but was just havn a heep of troubles with it and moved onto other stuff, i know it's bad!. Thanx to everyone who helped out with it though.

Here is a wip space girl thing (knowing me, that I will not finish) Again, open to suggestions and crits.
[IMG]http://img59.photobucket.com/albums/v180/denzil40/girl1C2_copy.jpg[/IMG]

I think its done

[IMG]http://img59.photobucket.com/albums/v180/denzil40/girl1C2_copy2.jpg[/IMG]

that gun is cool, but you know i get 2 completely different styles of painting from that pic - one for teh face alone and another for teh rest of the piece.

the face looks almost abstract compared to the rest of the painting & its because IMO it looks highly smoothed and finely detailed - which doesnt seem to fit in with the rest of the pic.

your understanding of lighting is still pretty good though, i can see that from all your pieces.

RE : building that ship as a model - i might give it a go, but ive got so much on the go at the moment i will be pretty hard pressed to fit it in :) ill definately keep it on the books tho - thanks for putting it out there to be built [;)]

hey thanx man. Yeah your right, theres far too much contrast in detail there. As with the ship, no worries heh.[:D]

Wow, that's some nice work there Me, you can tell you've put a lot of work into it. Be great to see him textured up, but I guess that's in the works hey?

nice work Me109!! he looks like a really cool character!

it reminds me of that guy from argh real monsters, who hel his eyes in his hand. Its nice work mate.

awesome character, reminds me of a cartoon character i used to draw as a kid :P . He has a sort of mikey from monsters inc. feel about him.

Nice one dude, I lov ethe floating eyebrows

Stu

You're right Bullet it does look a lot like Krumm from Ahhh! Real Monsters, that was a great show, Ickis is the best.

Amen to that Wizenedoldman!

looks like something you'd see in Yellow Submarine :P

Yeah! yeah!! it is like Krumm!!!! I had no idea.... I do remember watching it all the time when it was on... I guess Jazz is a result of 'Real Monsters' effecting my brain!!! hahaha.. cool point dudes!!! and thanks for alll the positive comments...
Sumea Rocks!!!
Have a great long weekend!!!1

It's a long weekend? First I heard...

that is some nice mesh flow. also, He's got so much character! specially in the animations, keep em coming.

dont you love subconcious inspiration, i onced designed a character who was an exact replica of something that id seen a few months beforehand, i just forgot it existed and thought it was a really neat idea i spontaneously came up with :P

It reminds me of this show called "What goes bump in the night" or something, looks almost exactly like the main character :)

MISTER BUMPY!

Yeah, i love that show... (thats "Bump in the Night" for the uncultured among you, go track it down).

Cheers

lol i remember that show, mr bumpy and his pal squishy, ahh the memorys :D

[url]http://www.cooltoons.com/various/drawinglessons/[/url]
found some stuff on how to draw the characters from Argggh Real Monsters!! I couldnt find any good picture of Krumm... much to my disapointment.. and check this.. anyone have a SEGA genesis??
[url]http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2465303/platforms?[/url]

Hi!! This is my latest animation for Jazz... I've gone with a fighting theme, trying to make him look tougher!

[img]http://student.ci.qut.edu.au/~n4675215/misc/Jazz_Fight_01.JPG[/img]

Download here 360k

[url]http://student.ci.qut.edu.au/~n4675215/misc/Jazz_Fight_01_LB.MOV[/url]

Cheers guys!!

I don't know too much about animation, but he's looking sweet [:D]

great stuff, he looks really smooth for most of it which is great. Only thing that kinda faulters is the jump kick, he seems to come down to obrubtly and loose his momentum. If you can tape someone doing this or just study someone doing it (i dont know if you have any mates who do martial arts of some kind, you can atleast do crappy immitation martial arts failing that :P) watch how they come down and out of it.

oh and when he waggles his tounge, make his mouth wider :D
Looks awesome tho dude, good work taking this character into this theme

A happy looking chum. awesome drawing by the way. The top half looks especially good. His legs look a tad to pointy, but who am i to crit? very awesome little beasty.

nice man :) i see youve tidied up your style quite a bit - not so much impressionism in this piece - i really like him except i think like hobo says his legs look to thin in order to support his massive frame.

looks insane tho!!

as mentioned a lot tidier then some of your other work :P its a good concept, he is a bulky character so yeah, with points for his stability you can see him just slipping right up and ending on his arse (if he has an arse....). He needs a larger surface area on the bottom of his feet area (or whatever you choose to hold him up).

thanks for the feedback- too pointy gotcha

[IMG]http://members.optusnet.com.au/altiquex/wow/con13.jpg[/IMG]

just from that last post, id say that the front legs need to be a whole lot more large and powerful man - look at that crazy body those 2 small legs are holding up. also something is looking funny in the area just past his main gut part - i think its called the thorax ( not sure ) but it almost looks unbalanced in that area.

I really like the concept - i can see these guys going sick a bit like the oliphaunts in LOTR ( obviously on a smaller scale tho )

Oh yeah man this style is much better suited to concept art! I like it, I agree with people to a point with just 4 of those little legs it couldn't support itself, but seeing its all insectoid and arachnidish, I'd just chuck a couple more sets of those legs on, I also think it would balance the whole creature, check out the top half, he has a heap of arms and arms/mandibles yet not as many legs! having more legs would I think really set it off, plus you could keep the spindly insect legs.... I think that you have cleaned up your style to a good point where people can clearly see the details, yet managed to keep the 'flavour' (non-hip hop context[:p]) of your old work!!

movement -
[IMG]http://members.optusnet.com.au/altiquex/wow/con14.jpg[/IMG]

very cool - that stance in the middle to the right of the page - expresses so much menace. i like it lots - and that poor little bloke with the handgun, is undoubtably about to cop it oh so sweetly. i like the progress you got happening with this creature man :)

its coming along very well, reminds me a lot of some of the half life bugs

one thing is that your front side concepts dont really match up too well, so as an actuall bg reference under the grid in a modelling program they wouldnt work very well, but they could be used as a reference still.

i think it looks good - but personally i would put some more detail in the wheels definately.

Cant wait to see the texture :)

are you planning to keep with the dome style foliage or is that going to become the basis for a 2D layout of leaves. (ie itll still be the dome but using the alpha layer, it will be transparent besides where the leaves are, ahhhh you know what i mean).

What are you Technical limits ? is there a concept ?

MoonUnit, Yeh the greenery will be alpha mapped, basically its just strands of mossy greenery and there will be some sort of fungi all over his forearms and lower legs. The idea being he should end up looking like an ancient forest tree.

HazarD, I have no Technical boundarys this being a personal peice for my folio. However i do like to set myself limits. Therefore I am aiming for a 512 texture square and around 1500-2000 polys in total.

thanks guys! keep the crits coming!

ah cool, cause i was gonna say itd look a bit odd as domes. Maybe even make them longer if you want him looking like a old tree (thus his branches have grown a lot)

His mouth isnt very deep, i dont think he needs to have a big gapin hole in his face but when textured it might look a bit flat, but until a textured shot i cant really tell...

the way his wrists are at the moment make him look like hes wearing a long sleeve top. The forearm sort of stops abrubtly and then thins in for the palm of the hand.

and just something funny i noticed, his gut (in wireframe) atm look like a computer mouse :P all he needs is a scroll wheel navel :D

all in all hes a neat character tho, looks pretty bright and happy :)

Just looking at it - why not make those big domes a fungus type thing ? bigass mushrooms growing outta the top o'his head.

depends on what hes for - i try to establish a background for my characters before just simply building one. i think your able to achieve better results that way.

LOL @ mouse belly!!! he looks like a cheerful ent tho [:)]

Id probably use up a lot more polys adding some more branches or growth sticking out in places etc if youve got more to play with that is.,

thanks for mentioning the mouse gut, i just spotted a 5 sided poly!

nice concept man :) probably should have done that first tho before you started modelling yeah ?!?

in fact i really like that concept - the mushroom / fungus stuff sticking out of his shins looks really cool. good work man ( thumbs up )

lol, he's a happy sort of plant isnt he.

My god, its Treebeard! [:D]
Awesome, you?ve managed to create an original Ent without copying the stuff from the movie. Brilliant! Worthy of Tolkien?s vision. Excellent concept.
You should consider making a matching Entwife. [;)]

?Bhruum, boom, brumm. Don?t be hasty young Shirelings. Now, you haven?t by chance seen any Entwives have you??

hey thats pretty cool. And yes palantir, an entwife would look wicked beside him. Maybe a couple of entings running around.

how are you going with the texture etc idaho ?

Sorry guys! I know its been a while between posts, Ive been putting colours on boxes and using radiosity for architects lately (gotta pay rent somehow! I dont make enough on the corner these days)... Anyway hopefully ill have time to adjust the model this week so that it fits the finished concept more closely.

show more leg man - that will get business up [;)]

hey nice ent-thing, i think the leafy goodness of the domes should be longer tho,
alsoif you were to make the leafy goodness sort of seperate objects and have then sway when he moves it would give a good effect and give him that little bit more personality,
i like tree's

hehe that is one happy looking tree! good work on the concept. With the arms, i get the impression that he is wearing a jumper or shirt of some kind cause the hands are 'inset', I think I like the way you have it in the concept more where they are more of just an extension of the arm.

Thats nice, it looks just like him, but don't worry about what program you are using to much, just learn to use it and than later change if youd like.

thats pretty good, if anything i reckon you could add something to the hands.

nice work man, good proportions for him, youve captured him quite well [:)]

Nice work, you could probably be a little less conservative with your polys.

also there are a few edges that need turning in there. Take a look at >>>

url]http://www.sgi.com/software/opengl/advanced98/notes/node17.html[/url]

you also might want to play with the uvwx on his eyes.

yeah, thanks for advice. the reason i try not to use to many poly's is because i model for games, marvins gonna be in Counter-Strike, i can't use to many polys.

woooah those are NICE, love the snakey plug socket arm on the female engineer, also the male symbol on the pilots forhead .. question tho - no female symbol on the chick, and her neck looks a tad long.

like the robotics on the female character, and the symbols and jewel looking things on both are pretty cool.
no real crits :)

Sweet.
I love the guy's costume/drapery. Not so big on the whole "female sci-fi swimsuit" thing, but thats just me.

cheers

That's nice, nice to see the scrawny little female gets a bis ass gun, and the masculine male gets a pistol :D

Tidy Work! I really like the detail on both of their heads.

I don't know the brief you're working to or the overall artistic theme, but I like the first pic. Especially the twist on what appears to be a militaristic uniform. The red stripes had me thinking of a formal naval officer. Never really been a fan of headsets coming around the mouth. It's almost a sci fi cliche. BTW - do those 'plugs' light up?

The female looks like a mix of Voldo and Ivy's costumes from Soul Calibur. The technical excellence of the pic cannot be doubted, but the design (to me) just doesn't appeal at all. It's a bit too 'game-cliche' for me. Showing skill, cybernetics, militaristic arm - it's what I expected to see. Sorry if this sounds harsh.

I've just seen the small text under each pic, just now - and I can see that the female is an engineer. Okay, that puts a twist on things. But how about instead of cybernetics, perhaps having some form of opaque plastic (kinda like a prototype?) for the limbs? A female engineer could be a geeky chic(k) surrounded by lots of gadgets? Again, technically superb, but I feel it's the route most commonly travelled. I like the glyphs and the 'markings' that appear to tie into some sort of physical acceleration.

Can we see some more?

thats insane man,.. the ghostship and training samurai type one are paticularly good IMO.

did you use a filter effect over the background on that top image? *gives Makk a big spank* 'bad Makk, baaad!'

heehee. Good for you- practicing some painting though. Is the only way to improve :)

What you talkin 'bout Willis?!?!
Nope no filter use at all. I didnt even do the Sharpen filter trick that alot of people abuse. What filter did you think I used? If I remember I just used the Charcoal varients for that one.
Anyway, yeah got to do more practice! :)

The sort of spotty effect in the background looks alot like, umm... one of those filters- Ocean Ripple or something. I don't know Painter at all, so it is probably some setting in that :)

Keep practicing though

Some good ideas there, id like to see some of them more developed. the girl in particular.

looks just like a red scorpionfish / lionfish. cept with a more gnarley skin covering :D

It looks like what i have in my sandwhich :D

Edit: that's John West's Tuna

except it has little legs and flippers....it swims like a scuba diver, not yer 'run of the mill' fish.

this is not really a run of the mill fish either...

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/simages2/219_lionfish.jpg[/img]

whatever it is, its pretty cool. Nice work with that skin surface, that looks really awesome.

Shit, sorry to hear that Morphine, you might try putting up a notice in the local shops there or something, worth a try. I'll be sure to keep my sketch book close to me at all times now on my little holiday (going to Lismore, W00t!!).

Keep your chin up though mate.

Let's hope the thief uses it to paper cut himself in the eye :)

ouch man that sucks, keep you chin up though, atleast your ok yourself :)

youll probably find your clothes/bag on a rack at a used clothes store/or on his back, your book in a gutter/bin and whatever money he got from pawning your stuff injected into his arm.

ahhh....

'we live in a beautiful world..Yeah we do yeah we do' - coldplay

Damn, that sucks. I agree, he probably would have dumped it as soon as he looked inside. I've had a dude come into the house once, collected handbags and wallets, took the cash and left them in the garden. Bastard snuck right past me as I was watching TV too. Must have been pretty desperate, he's just lucky I didn't spot him.

Man, that is so shitty... I've had my car broken in to twice. The first time, I had nothing in the car except about $5-6 worth of change (we're talking 5 cent, 10 cent, and 20 cent coins here - a whole handful). It was in a small compartment next to the steering wheel, and they actually took *every* last cent! The second time someone broke in, they must've been a bit pissed off, since there was really nothing in my car to take. They did manage to screw up the driver's side lock though (they must've stuck in a screwdriver and twisted it like mad for the door to open). So for the rest of the time I had that car, I had to go in through the passenger side. [:p] *shakes fist*
One of my programmer friends had his PC stolen a few months ago. Took the tower, flatscreen monitor, everything.. He lost *all* his source code that he's ever written (some way back from the c64 and Amiga too) and the diary which he wrote in every day (probably over 20 years worth).

The horror!

One word to desrcibe them. C*NTS. My sister's new appartment was broken into a few weeks back and they cleared a fair bit of stuff. Took all her DVDs as well. The insurance company refused to replace them as they didn't have reciepts or photo proof :/ Who are the bigger crooks?

I hope that your gear turns up somewhere along the line.

I do hope my stuff gets found, I doubt the guy would have had any use for what stuff was in there, maybe the bag itself because it was a nice bag (Billabong mind you). [:)]

My bro contacted the insurance company for his car (RACQ, NRMA for NSWers), and my bag isn't covered, even though he has full comprehensive with them. It was classed as not being a "fixed" object. So if they stole the headdeck, sure, they'd pay out. I'm with RACQ now with full comp, I'm seriously thinking about changing it to someone else next year (March was my payment date), maybe to Suncorp that covers to $300 for un-"fixed" objects. [:p]

I'm going to search around the streets to see if I can find my book, I don't mind about the rest if its found or not. Tempted to set an alarm to my car when set will electrify anyone that touches it [:D]

or of course the classic...

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9812/11/flame.thrower.car/

holy..... i so want one of them flame fitted cars :D

The invenetor believes that it will only permanently blind someone :D

I say we use it on him.

you'd think somewhere remote like Moreton Is wouldn't really attract thieves!
"Hey... lets sit around on Moreton and hope a 4bie' pulls up nearby"

Yeh, loosing artwork is a pain, whether from a pc error or otherwise...

yeah, it really sux. last time i broke into a car, all i got was some broken glass, some thongs, ans some scrayy cloths and papers.

They're looking good John - I want to take a bit of time and give you some good relevant feedback, so bear with me [:)] I'll tackle the main points seperately.

Communication
First of all, communication is solid - If I where given these to produce the assets, I dare say I'd be able to hit next to exactly what you wanted; this is a really good thing since they're not too fuzzy on the communication and don't rely on an interpretation. It's all spelt out quite clear in marker [:)]

Execution
As I said, it communicates its design well; how these structures are put togethor and what goes where etc. In execution, it's good, it's presentable, it's easy to read, and it does it's job - it could be better ( more polished/refined) but it doesn't need to be. Three direct crits here:
First of all, the fortress has surface detailing which tells me it's made out of eneven but clean cut blocks of some type of stone; the first one however is kinda a mystery as to what it's made out of.
Secondly, just personal preferance not really a crit, but have you tried using a 2 point perspective setup for these to get the scope and scale of them?
Last of all, line weights - maybe try experimenting with heavier lines for the main profiles of the important pieces to accentuate the form - a few parts get lost within the backing.

design
Form and function - when I look at these I think of the scenario and setting in which they'd appear first and foremost. Who lives in the fortress, how do they defend it, is it a practical point of defence, what's the purpose of it, how was it built, how is it going to be overcome, who does that, etc etc etc blah blah blah.
This is more practical design crits than anything, but it is what it is. There's nothing bad or wrong with it, just I'd like to see a bit more function in them. Perhaps a spike field on the outer plains putting towards where the attackers would come from, or some form of mounted weaponry or better defined crows nests it's blocking the passage of the mountain pass, but the defender usually wants to allow themselves to get outside to push forward just as much as they don't want their enemies to get through, so maybe a heavy gatehouse styled cogworked door or something. As I said, nothing wrong or bad with it, just a little more function in its purpose would be awesome to see. At the moment it's a big structure sitting in the middle of a pass blocking people getting out, and people getting through - it's purpose is an obstacle and lookout.

great stuff, that's just a few things to think about! keep up the good work [:)]

Yeah, I agree the second one is alot better. The surface detialing really does it.
Designwise they are good, agian the second piece is the strongest here. The first one doesnt look very ominous or large. It could be the door though, look at the front door and compare it to the size of the rest of it.
I wouldnt change the line wieght, as you have got some varition in there plus I dont think they do much in enviro design.
If you havent, do some full colour enviros too, that way you can establish such things as colour, (colour)lighting and mood, which are important.
Like the lighting on it too btw, solid.
What size did you draw these at?

okay, after both markers running out (on consecutive days), felt tip pen wearing out and my printer running out of ink I have finally gotten around to doing a neat version of the guard post. Might do a ground level view in colour depending on enthusiasm levels.

Makk, all my marker stuff is on A4 paper with the exception of the rough guard tower in this post- it was done on a single A3 page. Oh! and below was 2 A4 pages :)

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/simages2/258_arch_GuardPostL.jpg[/img]

Wow, nice concepts. I can really see these turning up in a tribes-esque desert skirmish...

Should look good in your folio.

V6 ponies! I agree with your suspicion about the horses not being aggressive enough. They look like merry-go-round ponies to me! In a way they match the 70's disco stylin' chariot pilot. You could easily push the whole thing to a comic/humourous style.

I like the overall concept though.

if i could comment on the colour choice - theres just something about that sky blue colour that doesnt do it for me, if it was more like the helmet i think it would be better.

the skin tones look a tad 'glowy' to me.

The overall concept is really cool tho i like the idea - could be really funny :D

As far as unwrapping tips etc - this is the only one i can really give, when you concept your character even right back as to when the idea is in your mind, think about how you will paint the texture - that in turn will dictate how you unwrap the character, and hopefully make life a bit easier - if you just build the guy then unwrap him willy nilly as it suits - you might find your self with a difficult unwrap - and an ever more difficult packing job.

hope that helps some.

Get some dark tones into your flesh, like Hazard said, its a bit glowy. Give your flesh some saturated browns/reds for shadows and less saturated highlights (like more white, they are pretty yellowish at the moment.) Some harder shadows would be good for under the nose, shadows for where the end of the cloth meets start of the skin, etc.
I really like the chariot :)

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I'll be pushing and pulling bits of those ponies to try and make them look meaner.

I'll also bring the skin down a couple of f-stops and add some extra shading detail. Is the general idea to get the shading plausible at 100% self illumination? Here's a render of it at 50 (plus a tinfoil skirt -belt's coming): [url]http://members.ozemail.com.au/~styerman/cent50si.jpg[/url]

It's a good thing I've still got my skin split into 50+ layers at the moment. :)

Youve used the dodge tool i think for the highlights in the skin - and from my uber NEWB experience, it always gives the wrong highlight colour for skin tones.

and although haveing 50 + layers for a painting is good for undoing things - ive just learnt to paint on a few layers ( 4-5 ) as i used to find my files getting really large and cumbersome - even with a few gig page/swap file and 512 ram. 50 isnt so bad tho - man i used to have files with 150+ layers :D, now im just more confident and know a bit more about the tool that photoshop is i can confidently paint on only a couple.

I also just had another look at the horses and i thought you might wanna spend a few extra tri's on defining the ribcage, give them a bit of a gut etc.

Also the headers on the engine - i think use up a shitload of your tri's you could probably save a few on the area where they meet the engine block.

Yeah, the dodge tool's the one, Hazard. I found keeping the dodge, but then desaturating the highlights gets rid of that gold tint. I've reduced the highlights a bit too, and added extra shadows under the helmet, under the skirt, at the top of the midriff, under the pads etc. The helmet is a different shade to the armour 'cause the helmet is (meant to be ) shiny whereas the armour is a matte-ish painted metal; however a bit of desaturation made it a little less lurid, so I'm glad you pointed that one out. Your input has definitely improved my work, and with only a bit of fiddling; thanks guys.

Here's a render with the fiddled texture at full self-illumination: [url]http://members.ozemail.com.au/~styerman/textureprog4.jpg[/url]

thats DEFINATELY coming along man :D i like it heaps more!!!! keep going !!

WOW, that is amazing, I seriously would've thought that was a photo! The metal on the ring has a nice worked feel with the slight variations in texture. Really good stuff!

That looks really nice. A few things, and these are just my tastes more than anything.

The wood texture looks a little low res. It is fairly blury takes away just a little from the crispness of the ring's texture. Either the light is a little dull or the wood texture is a little dark. These are just little nit picks though and I don't even know if they would improve the appearence any more.

Love the Anisotropic Reflections on the ring. They are really nicely done and gives it a nice touch :)

could i just add to what aven said, id like to see a bit more clarity in the stone, and (depending on the cut of the stone ) give one or 2 highlights on it.

not bad tho WOM :)

very nice. wood texture could be a little low rez, or i could just be that the table is polished a fair bit.

I'm having real difficulty believing that scene was done in a 3d program :)

baah, ive drawn beeter pics is ms paint..............Seriously, excellent job. If you hadnt said 'photorealism' i would never have dreamed it was a model. very photorealism!

Looking fantastic. Sharper wood texture would look too sharp for a genuine photographic effect and move into hyper-realism.

small crit: The stone has no shine to it and looks kind of 'dead'. If i were painting the same scene i would be putting real attention to reflections on the stones surface and sharp highlights on any edges (that might in part be a modelling thing so fair enough to over look it.)

smaller crit: the reflected light directily infront of the ring looks the wrong colour (kind of orangey on my monitor)maybe too saturated?

John, agree with you on the wood texture. The ring was modelled on my own and the stone doesn't really have a cut, just a high polish, so I left it at that, but I suppose i can take a few liberties in the name of art ;) One other thing I want to do is add some dust and speckles to the table top surface.

As for the saturated reflection, I see what you mean and I'll look into it.

Thanks.

I did some edits to your image Wisenedoldman, along the lines of what I was talking about. Some of it addresses subtle modelling details that of course were not the focus of your project.

...Oh yeah, and you forgot to include that pencil that was next to your ring! so I added it in for you [;)] (a bit of P'shop practice for me.)

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/simages2/258_ring-on-table_photoedit-pen.jpg[/i…]

yup that stone highlight is what i was reffering to up the page - makes a world of difference to the whole shot i think. nice pencil btw johnn :D

Nice figure, however I'd add more red into the skin tone. At the moment she looks a little cold, a little lifeless evev. Add more pink I think. Experiment. Change her into a green chick even, see what you can come up with, unless you're looking at more realistic ppl.

I'd amp out the hips, decrease the crease in her body, shorten the distance between the top of the breasts and shoulders. Remeber dude, its an exercise cut loose with the colour man, add red purples blues oranges, anything just play with it without restrictions. Are you using photo reference? If not I'de try and find some, if so keep on with it. I know this post sounds negative but that wasn't my intetion. You have some really nice aspects in this, the bottome half for starters, the legs are great. But yeah cut loose and have fun, best way to learn in my opinon. Of course thats just my opinion![:p]

I see what you mean with the suggestions Matias, cheers. I'll cut CRAZY style with the colours now. Yes I'm using a photo reference, it's a must for this sort of thing really. No negativity felt here :)

yeah seriously have fun too, especially doing exercises for purely personal reasons, plus play alot and maybe not show it to an audience, theres some stuff I'm not sure I'd like anyone to see!

I know that this is about ten days late but you know if we're talking realistic proportions, I actually think that's pretty close, a realistic woman is actually no where near as curvy as they appear right in front of us, when we see them move, walk, perform action, because of the setting of the pelvis, there is a lot more movement in the torso and hips than with men so therefore they look more curvier. As far as actual bone structure setting I think you're pretty much there. What Matias says about the tops of the breasts in relation to the shoulders is right, but I think it's more with lowering the shoulders than raising the breasts. As far as colour I got no idea but what he's sayin sounds pretty right.

Nice work, WOldman, I really like the cartoony topheavy feeling, and also the arabian sortof touch. Were you thinking of the claw as a second hand mainly or a weapon as well? If it was for a hand I think I'd like to see it horizontal, to mimick the opposable thumb action. If it was for offensive perposes I'd make it bigger and bladed like a crab claw for snipping off stuff.

I was thinking the claw would be a multi purpose tool, something to grab onto high ledges (thanks to extendable arm, gadget style), something to whack baddies with, open doors, hit switches (I'm thinking he'd suit a 3D platformer), something to open those tight jam jars ;), So not a weapon as such.

i have to say like i did with the teran guy - for 2300 tri's that doesnt look like alot of detail... i dont know whether its just me or not, but i honestly cant see where they all are.. by no means am i saying its bad - its actually a really cool little guy has the aladdin / prince of persia bad guy feel about him. well done man.

There's a whole bunch of polys in the hand and his ball chain necklace (each ball is 20 tris), the poly count also includes his sword. I know what you're saying though, I look at it and wonder where they all are too.

Tell ya what, I'll try and chop it down to 2000 and see if I can maintain the same level of detail seen here (or at least make it virtually unnoticable).

you might be able to take some out of the feet.

personally i dont like the claw, but that's just me and i usualy have the opposite oppinion of everyone else when it comes to things like that.

oh yeah forgot to mention the claw - is there any reason for the claw ? ie little story ?.. i mean if you just stuck it on there for fun,.. then its only kinda cool ;) but a bit wacky for the rest of him,..IMO. however if they are a mass produced soldier line... with these claws for doing something specific to their jobs... then why not ;)

First of all, slight correction to make, the first posts of 'chopper' have a poly count of 2110.

Now the good news, I went back, trimmed tri's like a mad man and got the count down to 1893. I'm happy with the results and can see little or no quality difference in the pics.

[img]http://members.optusnet.com.au/~cmcmurr/mypic32.jpg[/img]

[img]http://members.optusnet.com.au/~cmcmurr/mypic31.jpg[/img]

So Hazard, I hope that this count is more to your liking, or should it be even less? ;)

lol dont go for my standards man [;)] im definatley no guru!!

but you see little areas like the tps of his feet in the first evo and the last pic you posted - how youve done them in the last post saves like 300% of the pollies used. thats something i find in alot of models finger tips and sharp pointy bits are made with a whole swag of tri's instead of a few quads shaped right :) good work man - your coders will be proud :)

- alot more refined i can see where youve chopped out polys but left them were deformation is needed etc - good work man [:D]

Thanks Haz, it's always good to get a push in the right direction.

So any further comments on the claw? Did you read the little description I gave of it's uses above?

as far as the claw goes - how i would picture him is in a quirky platformer where the world is full if such inhabitants with crazy additional body parts and things like that. On his own i think its a bit odd, in saying that tho it would be cool to have him as a unique / storyline charcater or something like that - thats how i view him anyways.

ie its like a pirates peg leg - if you see him walking down the middle of a mall hes probably going to stand out and not look like he belongs - but if it were the national peg legged pirate meet - he would probably fit in quite well and recieve many a " Ahhharrr me hearty's" from onlooking pirates aspiring to one day have such a great peg leg of their own.

it really depends on how you see your characters i guess, when creating something you have - its a thin line between balanceing the character out and crossing the line and creating something that looks to out of place.

I like it tho man - not saying its bad at all, i think if your going for that quirky kind of atmosphere then he should fit right in :D

Of course thats all IMO - its how i try to approach all the characters i design and build anyways. hope that helps a wee bit :)