Wolverine-next gen game model

[vikramvr]

Hi everyone, this is my first post in gameartisans. I'm glad I came across this great site. You people do some greeeeeatttt stuff..

I started this model to study anatomy, but am also paralelly building my showreel. So decided to finish thisand make it a game model. The poly count is some 5500 tris, as of now. I still have to do the belt and claws. Here are the WIP images. I've been using 3dmax for the modeling and zbrush for the detailing

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/backbase.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/full_base.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/basewire.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/front.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/face.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/zbrush_full.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/back_zbrush.jpg


These are my latest updates. I thought, I'll upload them all together. I managed to get the normal map to work as I desires. Please send in your comments and feedback

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/coat_front.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/coat_back.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/coat.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/low_poly_normal_mapped.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/normal_mapped_back.jpg

This is still a long way from completion. The jacket is giving me some problems in normal mapping. So will post an update soon as soon as I fix it. I would be starting texturing him soon. I would be painting a 1k map for the face and a 1k map for the rest of the body. Cheers. Please do post your comments

[TH89]

something about the waist bothers me...like the legs belong to a smaller, thinner person. I could be imagining it though :)

[Japhir]

welcome to gameartisans!
great stuff you've got there! i love the highpoly!
i think you first modeled a great base to start sculpting from, but i think you've forgotten to optimise the lowpoly, the edgeloops are a bit weird. (shoulder area, lower legs, torso. and the neck seems pretty long.
i hope it helps! keep it up!

[Twindragon]

I think you need to shrink him down a bit. Wolverine is suppose to be super short so when I think of muscled short guys I think stocky. His biceps also seem too long. Japhir was right about you need to optimize further you have tons of polys in the neck and chest area doing nothing for you. Anatomy looks good and hes looking like wolverine though so keep it up.

[Gavin]

You could definitely optimize your model. Even though the polycount isn't "that" high right now, you could easily take out some polygons and put them in better areas. For example, take out some of the loops in the torso and forearm and put them in the pants to make the silhouette more interesting. Righ tnow, the legs look a little tubish and thin. The could probably benefit more from added depth or detail much more than the forearms can. On that note, some of the areas in your model really aren't created strategically. I don't think it's necessary to have an equal amount of loops running the whole way down Wolvie's quads. You could probably remove the loop halfway down them and then further optimize your knee...like this. (http://www.pig-brain.com/tut02/tut02_02.htm)

Also, there are a lot of different versions of Wolverine. Different artists and different mediums show him in different ways. so, whatever way you choose to go...that's your choice. When he's in his street clothes, I think he always seems portrayed as a normal guy. Just something to keep in mind is that Wolverine is supposed to be a short, stout, angry guy. While your character definitely resembles Wolverine, he seems to be more of a normal dude dressed up as Wolverine (or, I guess, the X-Men movies Wolverine.) It may be too far in to even change it, but you might want to change some of his proportions to make him read more like the Wolverine we all know and love.

I'd make his neck shorter and thicker. His wrists a lot thicker. Bigger quads and exaggerated calves and traps. Generally make him shorter and wider.

Example 1 (http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/10/14/icon_games2_oct15,0.jpg)
Example 2 (http://www.marveldirectory.com/pictures/individuals/w_3d/wolverine.gif)

If you want to make him more "realistic" and not comic book material, maybe take a look at some weight lifters or prowrestlers. At the risk of jokes, Chris Benoit's proportions are (were) almost perfect for a real life Wolverine as his made out to be in the comics.

Example 1 (http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper736/stills/75z52uq0.jpg)
Example 2 (http://img.freeforumzone.it/upload/344160_Chris%20Benoit%207.jpg)

Cheers,
Gav

[Defeat]

Wow amazing sculpting, no crits as of now. Btw what material are you using? And where can I get it?

[vikramvr]

fantastic...So many replies. Never expected so many.ok Here's where I went worng. I started, having hugh jackman in mind, but saw so many references of wolverine in the middle, so i let my sculpting ponder here and there, and he has now become a combination of comic book wolverine and hugh jackman. All comment accepted.

However, I've made a jacket for him, and want to take off his body and model a new low poly jacket for him. Would anyone suggest me on this?Should I have him with a jacket like the last highpoly snap, or should I go, just with the bare body?

I'm gonna try and make him shorter and bulkier, however. I want a perfect model, before I start in any texturing.

TH89, Japhir, Twindragon,Gavin, defeat..Thank you very much..You've inspired me to work a lot harder on this model.

The low poly model still has a lot of tweaking to go. I havent worked on the sillouette at all. I would be doing that.

[vikramvr]

Defeat, I'm using a modified material of the greenclay default material.I'll post it for you later. Cheers.

[Vailias]

also looking at the topology of your low poly the torso/shoulders are going to deform horridly if you do anything more than minor movement with them.

the back is better than the front.
The key area of where the pectorals go under the deltoid has nothing there to allow it to compress or stretch in a natural manner. The polygonal flow should generally follow the muscular flow so they'll compress or stretch in the same way.

[butt_sahib]

Im going to have to agree with vailias :)

Excellent model IMHO. BUt i would keep it shirtless (no homo- lmao)
I dont sense that the shirt and jacket match to the level on the whole model. It looks rushed.
ALso, as gav said, remove some loops from the forearm and add them to the pants to get a nice silluhuette.

p.s. are you sure the porportions are correct?

[Kalango]

Something loks odd to me in the normal map or the base model...but its quite nice man :) should look way better with color and specular.

[vikramvr]

cheers guys, I can't wait to post more updates.

Defeat here's the matcap material.
http://rapidshare.com/files/70941804/MatCap_GreenClay_modified.ZMT.html

Vailias,butt_sahib, kalango, Thanx all

[cookepuss]

fantastic...So many replies. Never expected so many.ok Here's where I went worng. I started, having hugh jackman in mind, but saw so many references of wolverine in the middle, so i let my sculpting ponder here and there, and he has now become a combination of comic book wolverine and hugh jackman. All comment accepted.

That makes sense. I was wondering why he was so tall, considering the comic character is only 5'3". Even the fairly short (5'5") Jason Alexander from Seinfeld is taller than the comic Wolverine. :)

As far as proportioning goes, I'd have to agree with butt_sahib and Gavin. The proportions do look a bit odd. I'd have to say that the problem lies somewhere between the definition of the abdominals and the size of the pelvic region. The crotch area, based on the sculpts needs to be dropped down. His @$$ is barely bigger than his belt. :p

Pretty good work as a whole. A bit lumpy, but still pretty good.

[Ramseus]

Good sculpting, but yeah the proportions are off. His torso doesn't seem deep enough, like he's actually a washboard. His pelvis is almost non existant. His waist and legs could do with some fattening up too, his legs (even with not skin tight pants) look pretty much as thick as his arms, and his waist is just tiny. Probably not saying anything new.

[Ged]

this reminds me of the movie version wolverine. Its good work but it doesnt make me think of the character in the comics, hes built like an athletic caveman on steriods.

[vikramvr]

Thanx for the overwhelming replies guys. Here are some fresh updates. I've worked on the overall proportions. I've made him look shorter and bulkier, as you all had suggested. I'm not going to worry about the silhouette or the poly flow at the moment, as I would be posing him in zbrush in the end, and then exporting a final model. I'll be doing that in the end.

Keep the replies coming. Thanks

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/newshorterversion.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/back_newproportions.jpg

Here's one with the coat.

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/coat_closeup.jpg

I'm starting the textures next. I'll post more updates soon.

[vikramvr]

Here are some updates. The face is a lot modified, and now I'm pretty much satisfied with it. I've taken off the exaggerated cheek and added more "skin" to his face. The eyes are just composites. Haven't really done em. I haven't worked on the sillouette yet. I wanted to test the textures, and the normal maps here.

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/face_new.jpg

Weekends are good for personal work. Keep the replies coming.

[YdoUwant2know]

The new shorter version looks a lot better. The neck looks a little thing in the front view but otherwise major improvement.

the textures could use some more stubble. Wolverine always had a rugged look so a 5 o'clock shadow might help.

[Twindragon]

are you going to have a few alphas coming off his hair to hide the silhouette? Right now the hair seems blocky.

[Iyappan P]

Hi viki its look nice coming out well keep tune….:thumb: :thumb:

[parivel]

hey vicky..

Cool .. Waiting for the next update. :thumb:

But i think the face specular is little waxy and the area under the eye has to be corrected little in the normal map. what do u think?

Keep going..

[vikramvr]

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll be tweaking the low poly a lot more to get the sillhouette looking good. I don't think i'll use alphas for the hair, but ill work a lot on the specular and the normal maps. YdoUwant2know, Thanks,
I'll add a darker stubble and post updates soon.

[vikramvr]

new updates. Worked on the specular for the face and also the eyes. This is a default scan line render with a 3 point lighting setup. The normal map seemingly looks good in this to me. Please comment on this guys.

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/face_render.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/face_render2.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/face_render1.jpg

I still haven't worked on the sillhouette. Will be doing that soon.

[vikramvr]

Hi Guys, I haven't posted updates for this one in quite some time. I've worked quite a bit on the textures, and also on the sillhouette of the whole model. I think the model is coming along as I had expected. It's still a long way from completion. Please post in you comments when you see this.

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/meshflow.jpg

here's the sillhouette
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/sill.jpg

A closeup of the face. This is just normal three point lighting. I wanted to post a direct x screenshot, but again decided on testing out the shadows

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/1.jpg

Full Body renders

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/2.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/3.jpg

I'll post snapshots of the textures soon. Please leave in your comments.

[BuroKun]

I would suggest making these tweaks.

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/8951/11946220ku8.jpg
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/9259/94492437mb8.jpg

[vikramvr]

cheers mate. Thanks for taking the time to work on the image. I'll work on it.

I have a doubt here. How do people generally show off their low poly characters? Do they render them or just have snapshots from the drect x viewports? I know its not too advicable to use final gather or any GI. Any suggestions on this? I think the light setup I've got that makes the character look flat. I also have to work on the colour variation in the skin.

[kirilot]

id say keep the squarer jaw just add more hait or tone down the normals in that are so its fuller at the edge. but definately take the lipstick off, wolverine doesnt wear lipstick

[vikramvr]

Thanks for the comment. I'm going to keep the jaw squarer,but about the lipstick...I don't see him wearing lipstick. Does anyone else think he's wearing lipstick?

[East]

Not lipstick per se, but it looks a lot like he's got very dry and slightly cracked lips. The way some people's sensitive lips get during wintertime and they have to put on guck to keep them smooth and undamaged. I think that's probably something his regenerative powers would fix.

[vikramvr]

Hi everyone, It's been a couple of weeks, and I finally found some time to work on the model.thanx for the replies. East, I've tweaked the lips a bit.

I've posed him as well this time. He's got two textures, one for the face and the suit, the face having higher texel density and one for the body, pants and shoes. The pants still need some colour variation. I'm still working on it.

Please post your comments on the pose as well everything else.

http://i14.tinypic.com/80uw5u1.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/texture_face.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/vikramvr/textures_body.jpg

[Japhir]

looks great! i still think the lips are a bit too pink-ish and the hand-blades thingies look weird at the places where they meet the hands. maybe indicate some skin folds/bumps around the blades?
keep it up!

[vikramvr]

Thank you for the reply japhir. I'm sure now that the lips are quite wrong. I'll work on them again. Cheers.

[Gavin]

Hey dude, looking nice.

I think your poly distribution still may be a little dense in places, like the torso and arms, but it's not like you're breaking the bank for poly limit anyhow...so it's probably not a big deal :)

In general I would say that your skin is a bit too pale. I guess in the comics his colouring changes, so it's probably hard to nail down. In my mind though, and it may be because he's practically covered in hair, he's always been a bit darker...

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/shunter/wolverine.gif

I think you could also make the hair a little more interesting by making the spikes sharper. In the movies, the guy's hair is pretty toned down, but in the comics it can get a little wild and, i think, is a trademark Wolvie thing. You could also probably add some alpha planes to help try and blend the hair to the head more.

http://pittsburghopera.org/operablog/uploaded_images/wolverine-739230.jpg

I think your spec map "may" be a bit too noisy and is causing little blow outs, mostly referring to the body texture though. You could probably tone down the contrast and just push the areas that would be greasier/shiny. Like on the face, it's fine because the cheeks and forehead won't have the same spec. On the body though, you have values that are going from near black to near white on the same muscle group. Even though the abs need to be defined, I don't think their spec would be much different than the surrounding areas. Also, don't be afraid to photosource. I know it seems to be the Cardinal Sin to some, but I think your clothing could benefit from at least a slight overlay. Your jeans are reading as really low resolution to me. The contrast is a bit high and the noise pops out. I'd say, at the very least, find some jean photos, base the texture off of that and just add wear, tear, rips and dirt.

for the claws, I'd taper them. It may be the weird perspective comics throw at you...but I think they'd look more dynamic if the tips were taller than the parts by the knuckles.

Man..i ramble.

Gav!

[vikramvr]

Thanks for taking the time to send me a detailed reply Gavin. I'll do the needed corrections and post updates soon. Cheers.

[vikramvr]

gav, Here are the updates, Ive changed the lips and the hair a bit now. I've entirely reworked the textures on the jeans, and also worked on the silhouette a lot, done a base and worked on the claws.

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/7797/compositeio1.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=compositeio1.jpg)



I've uploaded a turnaround for the model now. Please have a look at it and post your comments. I've done a little bit of colour correction and post processing on it. Hope you like this

http://www.myotherdrive.com/file/363.010106.12012008.71229.0067fi/Wolverine%20turnaround.avi

[Japhir]

wow great renders!
only thing i notice that still isn't optimal is the pants folds and jacket folds. they seem really soft and not very realistical. take a look at your own jeans to see where it folds when standing in a basic pose.
keep it up!

[vikramvr]

awesome thank you very much Japhir, I'm gonna consider this finished at the moment because I can keep tweaking and tweaking it forever. I think I need to stop this and go and do another model on the dominance war competition. Cheers.