3D Mini #31 - Base Meshes Supreme

[FredH]

http://www.gameartisans.org/forums/extras/mini/basemeshes.jpg


The Pre-Dominance War V Competition is soon upon us and is shaping up to be a fun and challenging event. However, to make it work, GameArtisans.org, the host of DominanceWar, is going to need your help. The first challenge is, once again, going to be an sdk challenge, but this year, it is going to be a full figured model. What’s needed? 4 models with interesting silhouettes. They can be female, male, muscular, non-muscular, equipped, armored, short, thin, robotic, skeletal, etc... pretty much anything. In the end 4 models that are found to offer the most fun for challengers world-wide will be used as a base mesh for everyone to start from. Wacky, serious, or normal, the choice is up to you.

Guidelines:
- Create a Single Model.
- Model may be a previously worked on model.
- Make a seamless base mesh with an interesting silhouette.
- Create uv layout map for a 1024 size sheet.
- Do NOT include portable equipment or weapons.
- 2500 tris maximum.
- have an zip file containing your 3d obj file ready for uploading.
- Character can be posed for final image, but it should be a regular Tpose when placed in the zip file.
- Avoid triangles as users who use your model might opt to use mudbox.

Submission sheet guidelines:
- Create a presentation shot that showcases the wire frame of your character plus the uv layout of your model.

Hints:
- 2 legged creatures or humanoids are best.

Notes:
The winning models will be selected by DW officials. Winners will be contacted privately and be revealed on the start of the pre-DomWar Challenge.

You have an opportunity here to set the guidelines for the entire pre-dom war challenge. Good luck, and may the best model win.


Deadline Extension: November 6th Midnight Eastern time.
SUBMIT YOUR FINALS HERE: http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/minis/join_mini3d.html

~

[Draxxuss]

Can they be from previously worked on characters? Just thought I'd ask as many people may have models from which to choose and submit.

[Jimin3D]

Awesome!

Will these 4 models be the models wee will be using for the new Dominance War V animated Competition?

[turbo]

sdk means just texturing right?

so they won't be sculpted on for the dw challenge?

[Shadownami92]

turbo: For the texturing challenge they can be sculpted on I believe so you can bake down a normal map and other types of maps.

[Asmogorwrath]

Lets see if I can at least meet this deadline.

[turbo]

thanks shadownami

hmmm, in that case I guess I'll have to watch my topology.

[dpaynter26]

so basically we just create 4 untextured meshes with interesting silouhettes? sorry im new at this

[Shadownami92]

I'm pretty sure what he means is that we enter 1 mesh, and out of all of them 4 will be picked out to be used for the Dominance War Mini Comp.

[FredH]

Yup, just one mesh for this challenge. I have updated the rules to state one mesh, and it can be a previously worked on model. If you have something old, with a few tweaks to make it look cool for this challenge, you can be done:)

[doG]

Cool challenge. I'm looking forward to DW-V, doing this 3D mini should get me in the mood :)
I have some questions though:
Should the model have a pose, or would you rather have them standing in a neutral T-pose?
Also, should we avoid triangles for better subdivision, in case participants want to sculpt for normal map generation?

[KRossing]

Might be a stupid question, but where do we submit our result?

[KRossing]

Just to this thread? :0

[FredH]

Ammended rules again to include Tpose and submission link:)

[omnicypher]

heres a low poly version of a character ive been working on: tips on improving proportions or topology would be helpfull :)

[Chewy]

Hi all. I am new and really want to enter. I think I understand the rules clearly, but just hope someone would define "sdk" for me. Thanks.

[rabidbaboy]

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/4125/manturn.png
looks like we started out with a similar idea, omni. :)

this is only my second biped modeling, so. i guess that's why it's called a challenge. :))

[Draxxuss]

omnicypher, rabidbaboy, and anyone else involved - make sure to push the silhouette much more than you have. I realize they are still wips but currently they appear to be in wetsuits. Make some interesting details. Pop some polys, add some random gear, etc. Remember that even though you might be modeling a character and have a certain design in mind, others will use this model and probably have a COMPLETELY different take on what you thought it should be used for. That is the magic of SDK challenges.

[omnicypher]

i didnt realize we were supposed to have gear. i remember the dom war bust competition allowed each person to add thier own gear within a certain poly budget. now that im looking back at the rules, it says it can be equipped, but i dont wanna limit anyone with too much modelled detail. ill work on making the silohuette better, but i want to leave alot of options up to the texture artist.

[Hron]

Here is my small contribution can come in handy
if I find time I will make more options
good luck to all

[Draxxuss]

i didnt realize we were supposed to have gear. i remember the dom war bust competition allowed each person to add thier own gear within a certain poly budget. now that im looking back at the rules, it says it can be equipped, but i dont wanna limit anyone with too much modelled detail. ill work on making the silohuette better, but i want to leave alot of options up to the texture artist.

I guess I wasn't really that clear. sorry. You don't need to have gear, per se, but I think as Fred had put it, an interesting silhouette is what we are striving for and currently there isn't much left to the imagination. An interesting chest piece or strange extrusion on a forehead, or wrist bracers, etc, all help to break the smoothness of the model and give some room for thought. And actually I think Fred had mentioned "Do NOT include portable equipment or weapons. "

[Ashurii]

what about hair? is it considered part of the gear, I'm only seeing what look to be bald beefy types so far but bald doesn't necessarily work well for other types

[android009]

Good Luck everyone! I won't be able to enter this one :( Lot's of work to do, and I'm not so great at 3D characters anyways.... But I look forward to the results and the start of DWV!!! Woohoo!

[omnicypher]

still not the most interesting silohuette, but ill keep trying...

[turbo]

nice work hron! Thats a nice interesting silouette,

you might want to consider adding toes or claws like the hands have.

[korpusenko]

Hi guys . this is my version
http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4605/iiiddd.0/0_4c61a_badf8c_orig

[KRossing]

O btw I have a few ideas I'd like to have a go on. Is it alright to send more than just one mesh?

[ReplicA]

What a great comp. Wish I had time to participate....

So far the entries are great, OmniCypher, you could be going for this on purpose, but in case you're not, the arms a too long, and the legs are too short. But if you're going for a cartoony look, it's fine.

I'll be keeping my eye on this one, as I love SDK meshes, and seeing what people can do with them. They remind me in certain ways, of Dunny's, little white vinyl toys you can buy, and paint anyway you want. The creativity coming from that freedom can be pretty amazing. Good work so far, all. Keep improving

[thebubz]

I'm at 2364 Tris. Any suggestions on silhouette or additional features?

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/3083/lpmesh.jpg

[KRossing]

First basemesh done.

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/Silhouetteshotsforgameart.jpg

2448 tris, only squares.

Gonna make another one - as I said I have a few ideas, so I'll post what I come up with and at the end choose which one to submit.

[StiKxx]

Looking great so far :D!

[g2000]

Hm interesting,gonna try to find some time to make something...well see:think:

[KRossing]

Turtoise :) 2206 tris, only squares.

New mesh ready. I've still got 300 tris left so if anyone has any suggestions on how to make this fella a bit more special - as this contest is about a unique and caracteristic silhouette.

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/Turtoise-silhouette-shots.jpg

[thebubz]

KRossing > You could add toes and round out the shell on the top above the shoulders.

[Imajus]

Here's what I have so far. It's a little over 2000 tris

[omnicypher]

i wanted to make somthing with extreme proportions, to make the silohuette more interesting, so i started over.

[KRossing]

Here's my final turtoise basemesh then.

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/Tortoisebasemesh.jpg

[Draxxuss]

Man, this reminds me of some of my first comps where it was simply modeling the character without actually texturing it. Some good stuff coming along. Krossing looking good with that turtle.

[FredH]

Lol, you are right. Reminds me of the same. But that was what? 7 years ago? Those were the good ol'days.

[KRossing]

Thanks man :)

O btw if anyone is wondering how you check for sure your mesh is correct and without any triangles, you just put polycount on, make sure that the ''Faces'' are half the amount of ''Tris''.

[Imajus]

Is it better to unwrap everything uniquely, no overlaps, so people can texture however they please?

[Slaughter]

Are we supposed to make it symmetric or can we go wild?

[KRossing]

Yeah I'd say so. Wanna give ppl as many options as possible to make their character unique.

[turbo]

here's my entry thus far...hoping to do something that would stand out a little.

I haven't unwrapped him yet, so feel free to make suggestions

http://i969.photobucket.com/albums/ae173/turbo889/wire.png
http://i969.photobucket.com/albums/ae173/turbo889/sil.png

[Shadownami92]

Alright so I got started on one.

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/6751/basemeshturntable1.gif
As you can see I still have a good amount of polies. Think I might add more fingers, smooth things out and add a little more definition in some areas.

[KRossing]

Could use some comments on my UV layout. Is this acceptable?

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/UVexample.jpg


Sorry if I'm posting too many pics Fred I just really wanna get further in this contest.

[sinz]

krossing what program are you using?

I'd say the uv-ing can be better in some area's, back of the shell and shoulder, if you want pm me a link and I'll do the uving for you, if that's allowed, Otherwise keep trying.

Good meshes all!

[KRossing]

Nah no thanks man tbh I'd rather do it myself :P I'll try again then. I'm using Autodesk Maya :)

Practice is highest priority right now.

[womball]

With uvs ideally you try to keep all of the checkers the same size throughout the body. Sometimes you have to make certain areas larger to have room for tiny details such as the eyebrow hairs on the face. Also islands tend to be sized on the scale they are on the model. This usually works, but sometimes you have to make adjustments.

[Imajus]

Here's mine. It's sitting at 2322 tris. I tried to go for something that could be interpreted different ways, someone might see this as a reptilian, alien, or maybe robot.

[ChanManWst]

Are creatures ok for this or specifically looking for a character with 2 legs 2 arms 1 head? some how I ended up with a serpent dragon type creature/character.

[KRossing]

Final shot of my UV layout. Hope this will satisfy you Sinz :) Comments please!

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/UVexample-1.jpg

[sinz]

Much better others might say a few words but as always practice makes perfect I am glad you didn't give into my suggestion, you should always do your own work :) congrats you passed!

I want to make one now, maybe I will need motivation :(.

[KRossing]

Tbh as it is now I don't see what I could do anybetter :o I guess things like that comes with time :)

[Blenderhead]

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/696/screenhunter01nov011839.jpg

Planned to do something that could be interpreted as a hard-surface or organic character, but just started modelling and that didn't end up happening :p Hope you guys like, will finish this up tomorrow. Any crits on the silhouette? I think I need to work on the legs a lot to make them awesome.

[Imajus]

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/696/screenhunter01nov011839.jpg

Planned to do something that could be interpreted as a hard-surface or organic character, but just started modelling and that didn't end up happening :p Hope you guys like, will finish this up tomorrow. Any crits on the silhouette? I think I need to work on the legs a lot to make them awesome.

Looking good. Only thing I can think to comment on is maybe some more definition in the area where the neck meets the shoulders.

[artquest]

I just found out about this yesterday and was pretty excited :D I had a lot of catching up to do today. :P Anyway I'm being a bit indecisive now... figured Id post my progress and get some suggestions.

So what do you guys think? Left, right or middle?http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y190/artquest7/BaseMeshChallenge.jpg

[KRossing]

I really like the left one :)

[bcottage]

Is everyone happy with this years mini comp being a full body mesh?
I was looking forward to getting a head (no joke intended).

I think just a head would give able amatures to concentrate on high texture detailing insted of a massive full body mesh project which is obviously going to be too much for a 3d character artist noob (like myself).

Does anyone else think the same?

[FredH]

bcottage - It really depends on the topic now doesn't it? A full body for this one will be fine:)

[bcottage]

FredH - i thought the mini comp was for thoes which are not skilled enough for the real thing?
if not then...ok

[artquest]

Is everyone happy with this years mini comp being a full body mesh?
I was looking forward to getting a head (no joke intended).

I think just a head would give able amatures to concentrate on high texture detailing insted of a massive full body mesh project which is obviously going to be too much for a 3d character artist noob (like myself).

Does anyone else think the same?

I know at first it can seem daunting to have to do a full body mesh, but don't worry about it! Just do your best, the more you do these projects the faster you get. :D If I were you I would grab an SDK that is already out and see how much of it you can complete before the mini challenge starts. Also remember that a 1024 map for a full character means you don't have to worry about super fine detailing. If you spend your time getting a really nice feel overall and then just detail up a few parts where you know it will show then I think you wont have any trouble finishing it within the time limit.

[Imajus]

Finished mine up. I don't think I'll get anymore time to tinker with it before the deadline. Also Fred if you see this I accidently turned in the wrong image, can you reset it :inocent: ?

[ristesekuloski]

Wow! Some great entries here.

Here is my take on the subject! FatKnight, 2330 tris

Tpose:
35822
Posed:
35820
35821
uv layout:
35823

Modeled in Blender!

[doG]

Here's my WIP. Still need to optimize it a bit and remove some triangles, then unwrap, it's 2452 triangles atm.

I'd love to hear some feedback or ideas, thanks!

http://thomasdogger.nl/challenges/wip_basemesh.jpg

And to be sure, november 3rd midnight means we have wednesday to spend on this as well? Or is it the midnight between november 2 and 3? :paper:

[artquest]

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y190/artquest7/BaseMeshSupreme.jpg

I finished it! :D Well that was fun :p

EDIT: argh, something got messed up on the submission page... I wasn't able to input any of my info. oh well, at least the image is submitted.

[Baddcog]

Wow, some awesome stuff everyone. I honestly like everyones entry and there's so much variety. Can't wait to see the final models.

My first ever 3d model was a failed alien. I never looked back... Guess it was time to face my fears. I don't work with quads enough either so I really tried to focus on that.

Spent the last 5 hours doing this... Will add feet and unwrap tommorrow. Any suggestions /comments appreciated.

Hopefully it doesn't look too much like anyone elses, but it does have 2 fingers and a thumb which seems to be a theme in this contest, lol.

oh yeah, 1778 tris atm.
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk59/Schwaa1147/1778.jpg

[Maph]

artquest: that is one seriously badass basemesh! I would however try to optimize the UV's a bit better though. Nothing as annoying then painting on randomly rotated UV shells.

[KRossing]

Damn suddenly alot of contesters pop up :D Awesome characters everybody:0 I especially like yours Artquest!

[lomate]

here is some girl humanoid

[phanthanhtruc]

There are a lot of good models here and it's makes me so exciting :thumb:
This is my model :) there are 2500 tris exactly. I still need to UV it. Hope that i can finish it on time and hope that you guy can give me some C&Cs :) I greatly appreciate your kindness
:)
Sorry for my bad English :D
And by the way, is there any other way to render my model with wireframe? I was try to put a material and check wire but the result it's not what I want. Thanks you :)

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/189/finalxd.jpg

[g2000]

artquest : Great looking mesh,i have to agree with Maph about UV-s rotation...

doG : Cool model,has a great potential,finish it:thumb:

Here's something i made,not so inspiring,UV-s are rushed as well...:paper:

[D.Hynes]

@ g2000: i disagree with the inspiring bit. in just glancing at your base mesh i've already come up with 3 good ideas and a cpl more workable ones. By far my favorite base so far in the comp. Only thing i would change is "flaring" the arms out a bit from the sides instead of having them run straight down.

[phanthanhtruc]

finally, this is my result :) this competition is great! Good luck guy :thumb:
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/9264/subx.jpg

[Blenderhead]

Kuloski...your UV's look like they are going to cause some crazy warping...

Nice one Artquest. I would probably use yours if we had a choice.

[artquest]

i fixed my uvs... is there a way to resubmit a final image or does a mod have to take care of it?

On a side note, there are a lot of really great submissions popping up today! I do have a question though, the rules on the front page say to avoid triangles because of mudbox users.. Since I'm not incredibly familiar with mudbox and mostly use zbrush does that mean that we shouldn't use triangles at all in our meshes (thats what I thought.)? Or just to put them places that wont matter as much. I would love to be able to go back in and end some loops in triangles. The hardest thing about this challenge for me was keeping it all quads without wasting polygons. :P

[Imajus]

i fixed my uvs... is there a way to resubmit a final image or does a mod have to take care of it?

On a side note, there are a lot of really great submissions popping up today! I do have a question though, the rules on the front page say to avoid triangles because of mudbox users.. Since I'm not incredibly familiar with mudbox and mostly use zbrush does that mean that we shouldn't use triangles at all in our meshes (thats what I thought.)? Or just to put them places that wont matter as much. I would love to be able to go back in and end some loops in triangles. The hardest thing about this challenge for me was keeping it all quads without wasting polygons. :P

I think a mod has to take care of it I asked as well. I think fred does want it all quads, that's how I interpreted it. Your mesh looks good with all quads I wouldn't worry about it.

[Blenderhead]

What is the situation with the DW mini though? Is the intention to use the base-mesh as the low poly that the sculpt will be baked onto? That worked with the SDK last year because its just a blob really, but this year, once you subdivide those models, they are naturally going to warp. I know my base mesh is modelled to look as good as possible when subdivided. Whats the story there?


Hints:
- 2 legged creatures or humanoids are best.


Noticed this was edited into the original post... why is this? I can't think of a reason. Sculpting packages have symmetry these days, even radial symmetry, if it's a 'not enough time to sculpt' thing.

[thebubz]

Here is what I have. I mirrored the UV's and labeled them for reference. I really hope we can have a few tris... I have some on mine. If there can't be any tris, I don't think I'll have time to fix this. I'll wait until we know before I submit.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/5205/predwsheet.jpg

[Imajus]

What is the situation with the DW mini though? Is the intention to use the base-mesh as the low poly that the sculpt will be baked onto? That worked with the SDK last year because its just a blob really, but this year, once you subdivide those models, they are naturally going to warp. I know my base mesh is modelled to look as good as possible when subdivided. Whats the story there?


I thought the same thing actually and was struggling with keeping it generic enough to subdivide for sculpting and still add some extrusions to the silhouette like was suggested before.

Here is what I have. I mirrored the UV's and labeled them for reference. I really hope we can have a few tris... I have some on mine. If there can't be any tris, I don't think I'll have time to fix this. I'll wait until we know before I submit.


Looking good man. One thing I would suggest is tighten up your UVs a bit more. Looks like you could use up more of your UV space.

[Shadownami92]

What is the situation with the DW mini though? Is the intention to use the base-mesh as the low poly that the sculpt will be baked onto? That worked with the SDK last year because its just a blob really, but this year, once you subdivide those models, they are naturally going to warp. I know my base mesh is modelled to look as good as possible when subdivided. Whats the story there?

When you subdivide it won't warp if you just turn off the smoothing (I believe it's the smt button in zbrush?). You will just have to go over the model with your sculpting tools the right way to get it to match up with the base mesh better.

Either way the main thing is that anybody can texture the model any way they want. So they just want it to work better if someone wants to also sculpt a model for their baking texture needs.

[korpusenko]

final!
http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4505/iiiddd.0/0_4c83d_ecbf92f6_orig

[artquest]

Heres my updated Uvs... better?http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y190/artquest7/BaseMeshSupreme-1.jpg

Should I PM a mod about changing it?

[Baddcog]

So, I've never sculpted a mesh and it's been awhile since I've even got this high of polys for a character.

So it's a little rough. Does no tris mean ONLY quads or can I have some '5 tri polys'?

If everything has to be strickly quads I'm gonna have a hard time getting the mesh conformed to that, but I can easily remove edges so there are no tris.

[thebubz]

So, I've never sculpted a mesh and it's been awhile since I've even got this high of polys for a character.

So it's a little rough. Does no tris mean ONLY quads or can I have some '5 tri polys'?

If everything has to be strickly quads I'm gonna have a hard time getting the mesh conformed to that, but I can easily remove edges so there are no tris.


Just removing a edge from a 3 sided face to make it and the adjacent poly a 5 sided poly won't work. I'm not sure if the meshes need to be composed entirely of 4 sided faces, but a bunch of n-gons (polys with 5 or 6 edges) would probably cause more problems than a few triangles. I have never used mudbox, but Zbrush gives you a warning if you have any n-gons and you will just convert them to 3 and 4 sided polys anyways.

[Baddcog]

OK, thanks. I have 30 tris left so I'll see what I can do to retain quads.
Unfortunately I went over budget, got rid of verts, and probably made it worse :(


edit- figured it out..

[omnicypher]

when sculpting, quads are the best, but using a triangle in certain areas wouldnt cause much trouble. even if you use all quads, you will still have poles where 3 quads meet (like the corner of a cube) and that corner will have less detail than the rest of the mesh. but 5, or more, sided polygons need to be broken down, or zbrush might make your mesh asymetrical. im not sure on the rules of this comp, but it seems like most of these entries have a couple triangles in places they wouldnt matter much.

[Baddcog]

thanks, guess I'll clean it up as much as possible and move on, still need to uv..

[omnicypher]

i still need hands, which will probably add about 400 tris, then i optimize, unwrap, and submit if i dont run out of time.

[StiKxx]

Really digging these base meshes :D!

[turbo]

nice job omnicypher, the head on your mesh looks way better than your original.

[turbo]

Here's my final, obviously made some pretty big changes, especially to the head.

There's still time to make a few changes if you guys see anything small.

http://i969.photobucket.com/albums/ae173/turbo889/sdkFinal.jpg

[Kyalie]

There are nice things over here :)
But it is funny like almost everyone seems to prefer pure pelt unwrap rather than trying to have straight seams.

[artquest]

There are nice things over here :)
But it is funny like almost everyone seems to prefer pure pelt unwrap rather than trying to have straight seams.

For me it was a matter of time :P I had straight seems on my arm and then decided it was going to take longer than the time I would be able to work on this project to do everything that way.

[omnicypher]

done and submitted

[Baddcog]

I think I got a good silohette, but at the end I was thinking I should've made the ribcage bigger and him taller at the torso. Didn't have time to rig, would've liked his arms in a better pose.

I didn't get all the tris, but there are only a few and mostly well hidden or small.

Was quite a challenge to get it done in a day and a half. This is also my first submission to a contest, finishing is a win.

[Shadownami92]

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/8724/basemeshupdate.png

A small update, mostly just resized some stuff and smoothed stuff out a little.

[durp001]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v498/durp001/wolf.jpg

[lomate]

some female humanoid

[LJ.jean]

pastor
http://static16.photo.sina.com.cn/middle/69318d5ex94239dbabacf&690

[g2000]

artquest : yeah definitely better:thumb:

omnicypher : Hey man that looks cool,good job

Here are my finals,good luck to you all cheers!

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/6987/bmswip2.jpg (http://img641.imageshack.us/i/bmswip2.jpg/)

[thebubz]

Looking good man. One thing I would suggest is tighten up your UVs a bit more. Looks like you could use up more of your UV space.

Normally I would pack everything super tight. I assumed that people would want to re-unwrap or adjust to their own liking if mine got picked out of all the other awesome entries. I just wanted everything to be the same scale, oriented and spaced nicely just in case someone new to 3d wanted to give texturing a try, it would be easy for them to read the unwrap.

[FredH]

Hey guys, I am going to extend the competion untill Saturday night. I thought I needed the models, beforehand, but turns out I can wait till near launch of the Pre-DomWar challenge:)

For those wishing to change a few things, I can delete your entries from the submissions page so that you submit a new one.

Extension, New deadline: November 6th, midnight, eastern time.



~

[omnicypher]

g2000: thanks man :) yours is looking awsome too, i cant wait to see how well that stomach topology will sculpt, it has a nice flow to it.

since we get a time extension, i might beef up the forearms and change my hand topology a bit to integrate the thumb better.

[FredH]

lomate - Loose the weapon:) Also, the feet might be a bit hard to work with as the toes are seperated, but it's too big to be a naked foot, and it can't be a boot because it has toes. Sandles would be a little strange.

g2000 - Sweet generic mesh. Leaves a lot of room for people to pick it up, and do anything with it. You put some thought into it I see:)

LJ.jean - He looks great, but he is extremely specific. He limits the choice people can create with him. Maybe loose the robes and make something more open?

Shadownami92 - Donald duck on steriods:p Good work so far. Like with the others though, limiting the model to that form limits what people can do for it. Would be cool if you made something cool with ... dunno. You'd have to play around and see what works:)

[Imajus]

Thanks for the extra time, I'm using it to work on the silhouette some more. What do you guys think so far?

[KRossing]

Alright then I guess I should do something with the extra time. DOes anybody have any ideas on how to improve my turtle?? I know it's a pretty strict model and since it's race is already decided there won't be as much playroom as there could be.

Comments on UV and the model please :) CC is there to help!

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/SubmissionShot_Tortoise.jpg

[g2000]

FredH : hey thanks man i appreciate it:)

omnicypher : thanks dude

KRossing : nice character overall,but still needs some work,it looks to defined already and not leaving artists many choice ,but to do a same thing,maybe you should take a look at the old SDK for last year pre dom war competition http://www.gameartisans.org/forums/showthread.php?t=7283 (the middle one in particular),leave out this hard edges at front shell and make it look like it's same mesh,that goes for his face as well,you don't have to make a mouth opening and try to make him symmetrical when you build him and unwrap,afterward you can always add some asymmetrical stuff .
As for UV-s it seems that you got some of your UV borders touching each other shells,there will be a lot of artifacts when baking normals and other maps,there is a lot of stretching,i know it can never be perfect but try to avoid that as much as you can,i can see that on his legs especially, hope this helps,keep up the good work you have more time now and you can make a really nice model/SDK:thumb:

[grindill]

Just thought I'd try to get in on this one. The extension will really help since I'm swamped with other stuff. Well, here's a start on Blimpy. Hope to get him finished by tomorrow.

[FredH]

KRossing - Like g2000 said, you defined his shape too much. If people wanted to make him human, or alien, they would have a hard time. If it were up to me, I'd modify the mesh so that it looked less turtle, and more big guy with heavy bag/jetpack on back. For the face, round it off so it looks like a big helmet. Yup, I know, it's a big change in direction, but at least you wouldn't be starting from scratch:D

Imajus - If people want to do a snout or beak, they could always add that on with their extra alotted polies, so for the face, I'd have to jump in a say make it a little more human looking. Other than that, the shape is coming along well. looks like a fun character to deal with.

[Baddcog]

Fred, could you please remove my entry.

Since we had time I spent alot of today cleaning up the UV's and reshaping a little.

You guys think I went too far with details? I think it could go several ways, but deffinately limited to alien/insect genre.

Anyway, crits are welcome model wise.
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk59/Schwaa1147/dom_war_presentation.jpg

Ended up installing sculptris and messing around, had to tesselate it before export to get better details in the normal. There are some ugly spots, guess I need to improve on some stuff if I'm going to sculpt .

[KRossing]

Fred could you take my tortoise off again? Just tweakin it a bit atm

[korpusenko]

FredH : Please,remove old my work. I will download new work
This is my new version
http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6002/iiiddd.0/0_4cbd7_8a5d87f5_orig

[KRossing]

So this is my new modified character... Might even be going back and changing the turtle again to something different. Anyways this is what I've come up with so far.

Comments please

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/Deviltest.jpg

[thebubz]

KRossing - I like the version with out horns a lot better. I don't like the flat tail though. (If it is flat at the end... It's hard to tell by that angle.) A normal tail that comes to a point, or no tail would look better in my opinion.

[LJ.jean]

first time to join! Comments please

[KRossing]

I really like the mesh, but you wouldn't really be able to build on it at all. it's already become an actual character. If you kept his bodystructure and removed some of the cloths there would probably be alot more possibilities

[KRossing]

Same problem as I have tbh :S

[Baddcog]

So I'm a bit curious what factors the judges will be looking at the most.

Is it mostly silohette and possibilities/potential they see in the mesh? Is it mesh integrity how well it will sculpt?

Seems like just about everyone has a few tris, so are the judges gonna knock points for that? Are there other communities doing this as well, right now it looks like GA has about 12-15 entries.

And what about the final comp. Will you be allowed to add polys, weapons, armor. Tesselate more. Choose which mesh you use. Sculpt the base mesh or just sculpt normals...

Of course Fred might not have answers to these questions, and maybe asking them at the start would've been best...
-
@KRossing, I think I like the horns more than the tail ;)

[KRossing]

Doesn't matter if it's with horns or tail really. Won't win me this challenge - I'm making a new one :P

[KRossing]

Mhm new model done. Comments n CC please!:)

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/Fred_pic.jpg

[grindill]

Got a couple more minutes to work on Blimpy. Still missing the rest of his face ad his arms. Coming along though. C&C appreciated.

[StiKxx]

Blimpy reminds me of a tadpole on steroids :lol:! Great meshes overall:thumb:

[Ashurii]

So glad we have this extension, here is what I have so far, I'm only 6 tris from the limit let me know if you see anything that I should change, right now I have quads on it, except for 8 tris by the joints. All that's left is the unwrap.

35879

[omnicypher]

KRossing: you could use another edgeloop near the crotch to give him a butt, and to make the pelvis deform better. the lowest part of his pecs are in the center, you might wanna move that point up a bit so he doesnt have a uniboob. also the way that point dents in, it goes past where his ribcage would be. your feet are intersecting. and your pecs dont seem to flow to the humerous, which might be a style choice, but could make sculpting difficult.

grindill: to be more structurally stable and believable, those legs could could come in more under the weight. check out elephants or other big-boned animals for reference.

ashuri: most of your polys are in the toes, i would take some of those out to make another edge loop for the wrist, ankle, and foot arch. where the neck meets the torso could slant more towards the front, to show the difference in hieght between the trapezius and collar bone.

[MasteroftheFork]

Hey folks, thought I'd join in on the fun. I got the model mostly finished today. I still need to do some tweaks and the Uvs. Opinions?

http://drewgarnerdesign.com/wip/demoness_wip1.jpg

[omnicypher]

i think im done, id like to resubmit a higher res of this:

[KRossing]

So here it is with a crotch and a butt :P Feet are fixed

And yeah some things are disproportionate - Which is definetly on purpose.
Trying to make it as characteristic as possible.

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/Fred_pic2.jpg

[xym456789]

Here's my final.

[Asmogorwrath]

I know this is a silly question but what is the best way to render the wire frame of your model? I am using 3DS Max.

[KRossing]

I just take screenshots tbh :0

[Gunterr]

Hello Everyone,
sorry for joining the challenge so late
Here is my base mesh so far, please comment :D
ThanX

http://i1040.photobucket.com/albums/b408/gunterr/3dPix/preShot.jpg

[Asmogorwrath]

O.K. Guys Were do I submit My stuff?

[thebubz]

There is a link at the bottom of the first post on page 1 for submissions. Good luck :D

[Asmogorwrath]

O.h Here is what I got so far, took me awhile but I did get it finished.

[Asmogorwrath]

thanks alot thebubz, tell me what U think.

[Asmogorwrath]

Just 1 more question how big can the image be?

[KRossing]

Pretty sure it sais on the submission page. 1000x1000

[Mprangley]

Thanks for the extra time, I'm using it to work on the silhouette some more. What do you guys think so far?

I hope this is one of the 4 winners, because I'd love to texture this. xD

I can't tell if you've changed it from this perspective, but I think the silhouette would look more interesting if you brought those arm-tubes down a little more, so you can see them better from the head-on view.

Edit: Grabbed the front-on view and did a quick paint-over.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k246/axiem/paintover.png

[Asmogorwrath]

thanks, I asked the question before I saw it, sorry guys. thanksagain. well I got to get to my day job.

[Imajus]

I hope this is one of the 4 winners, because I'd love to texture this. xD

I can't tell if you've changed it from this perspective, but I think the silhouette would look more interesting if you brought those arm-tubes down a little more, so you can see them better from the head-on view.

Edit: Grabbed the front-on view and did a quick paint-over.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k246/axiem/paintover.png

Thanks! I hope it is too. I actually did work on the "arm tube" some. I rounded out the face like Fred suggested and made the tubes a little thicker in the middle and brought them in and tweaked the limbs to give them more shape. I need to get my final image back to together I'll post it when I'm done.

[thebubz]

thanks alot thebubz, tell me what U think.

The silhouette is really unique. Even if you (as well as other entries) don't win, I think it would be cool to see them finished.

MasteroftheFork - Nice to see a non hulky male model. If you win I am curious on all the variations people will do with those arms. :thumb:

[KRossing]

Alright so I've just been playing around with my UV map. What's the bad part of just mapping like this??

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/Fred_UVsubmission.jpg

[sinz]

Nothing except It doesn't utilize all the area's of the uv map which is the point of the texture map to get the most out of It which means you have to have 0 wasted space, by doing It that way you have a large percent% of the map not being used.

Try detaching the legs, arms, and head and sort It out again thinking of the box map you have in front of you and use It's space to the best of your abilities.

[KRossing]

MHm yeah I guess that's a pretty good reason. :)

[Mprangley]

Also, you want to try to "hide" your seams to prevent ugly looking seams in obvious places after the texturing is finished.

Look at the middle of the back. You can clearly see seams running up his back and across with the checker pattern on it.

I'm still getting better at unwrapping characters, but I improved a lot when I made my first Unreal Tournament character, because you've got divide the mesh into certain pieces, and unwrap it in a very specific way for it to work right.

Here's an example of what an unwrap for UT3 looks like:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k246/axiem/Hero_Unwrap_Head.jpg
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k246/axiem/Hero_Unwrap_Body.jpg

It's not the best unwrap, but I'm still working on it.
I use Roadkill to unwrap my .OBJs between MAX and ZBrush
http://www.pullin-shapes.co.uk/page8.htm

Not sure what package you're using, but if you can export/import .OBJs then you can make it work.

[dimperioa]

I may try to finish a model I previously never completed. The arms and Legs are separate as of right now, and I haven't mapped him yet. I'll see if I can get the character up to qualifications for the 6th. A lot of the characters are looking pretty good.

http://anthony.dimperio.org/Model.jpg

[KRossing]

UV done now as it's supposed to be made:P

Anyone wanna add something?

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/Fred_UVsubmission-1.jpg

[omnicypher]

FredH: could you delete my old entry so i can post the new one?

KRossing: looking good, but the bottom of his feet have alot of topology for an area that will rarely get seen. you could use some of those to make another edge loop near the ankle, so those quads become more square and sculptable.

Asmogorwrath: heres a way to render wireframes over textures in max: clone your object, add a push modifier with low settings, set it to a self illuminated-wireframe material, and render. (you can even make outlines with the same method, by inverting its normals and applying a self illuminated-black material.)

[korpusenko]

My new version.
FredH, You didn't delete my old version. Please, do it.
http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4604/iiiddd.0/0_4cc0c_45f2e98a_orig

[MasteroftheFork]

Looking good guys.

I got the uvs done.

http://drewgarnerdesign.com/wip/demoness_wip2.jpg

[MasteroftheFork]

And its submitted :D

http://drewgarnerdesign.com/wip/demoness_final.jpg

[sinz]

I hope no matter what in the end or start of this that we can change the uv map's to work with our ideas on the base mesh we choose?! Fred any input on this?

Looking good folks, I am liking most but some stick out like g2000 and korpusenko that's just personal preference and not a stab at anyone. :) Hugs.

Edit:
Looking good fork.

[Safronov]

korpusenko, artquest, g2000 - my favorites. Interesting will be a miniDW.

[Imajus]

Heres a smaller version of my final. I'm done no more time for revisions. Hope you guys like it.

[KRossing]

Mhm 2 models a bit changed and UV's done.

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/Fred_Turtle_UVsubmissions.jpg

[KRossing]

I'm still seeing alot of triangles on diff meshes.. I guess ''guidelines'' doesn't necessarily mean you have to follow them then? -.-

[omnicypher]

the only reason to avoid triangles is for sculpting, and a few triangles in certain places can still be very sculptable. i think its mentioned in the rules to keep people from making a mesh thats completely triangulated, which is common in SDKs, but fred will have to clear that up to be sure.

[Ashurii]

so here is a quick update for mine, thanks omnicypher for the advice, I'm still pretty close to the 2500 mark for tris. I should be able to get him unwrapped by tomorrow

35906

[Asmogorwrath]

I was wondering, do we upload the base mesh OBJ. file with the UVW layout now or do we wait till we are contacted by the DW staff?

[yoyomon]

Saw this a couple of days ago. I'm glad there's an extension cause now I have a chance to enter!!!

Topology is poop. I'm gonna bring it into zbrush to create the final topology as well as for proportional tweaks.

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/8043/fathornywip01.jpg (http://img843.imageshack.us/i/fathornywip01.jpg/)

[Shadownami92]

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/5034/basemeshcomp2turntable.gif

Decided to go for a more generic shape, so here is a hunchback thing with extremely small legs. It's currently 1416 tris, don't think I have enough time to do anything else to it so I'll unwrap it and send it in tomorrow.

[KRossing]

Send a submission shot of your character, And when contacted have a zip file containing your OBJ file ready.

[KRossing]

Fred is it possible to send all my entries instead of only choosing 1? I have quite a few characters I'd like to submit.

[Beartastic]

Sweet work guys, I had a go today and came up with this not-at-all-a-space-duck. Just have to do my UVs but I can't for the life of me find the plugin I had for an earlier Max version that selected non-quads. Checking by hand I guess

http://mikeblackney.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/BaseMeshSupreme_MBT-01.jpg

[Blenderhead]

Well I never got a reply on why non- bipedal characters were for some reason not ok, so I guess they are ok. The model is unwrapped but the uv's are terrible, I am locked to using Blender right now while my laptop is off for repair and the tools in Blender aren't up to snuff really. If it is selected for use I will re-unwrap the mesh in Max. Or if someone want to do it and I'll credit them? I could send the .obj no problem.

Anyway here it is;
http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/7465/25897416.jpg

[KRossing]

MBT - as I wrote earlier. If you use polycount and make sure your ''faces'' are half the amount of ''tris'', you'll know when you've removed all triangles.

[Beartastic]

Thanks KRossing, but that only works if you have no n-gons. 3+1 = 2+2

[KRossing]

mhm true. Your mesh looks clean to me though. Don't think you need to worry about it.

[Beartastic]

Thanks for the help :)

Here's my final

http://mikeblackney.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/BaseMeshSupreme_MBT-02.jpg

[omnicypher]

blenderHead: i like the shape of your model, but without more edge loops, those long tail sections wouldnt sculpt well. also the face could use a little more detail and the horn ring isnt welded on to the head, which i think would count as a seperate mesh. i think the reason bipedal characters are better for this comp is the triangle budget. for an 8 legged creature to have the same smoothness as a bipedal character, it would probably need a higher poly budget.

MBT: i like the silhouette of your character, but that calf topology causes 8 extra poles wich may make sculpting more difficult. you have enough poly budget left to create that shape with simpler edge loops. either way its looking pretty good, and the calf shouldnt cause too much trouble.

yoyomon: its looking good so far, once you fix up the shoulder and torso topology, it should be looking great! to define the shape of his head a bit more, that forehead could probably be flattened out a bit. also it looks like hes pitching a tent, lol.

fredH: could you delete my old submission so i can post the new one?

[KRossing]

O well I guess I'll just be submitting all my characters then >_>

[KRossing]

So here are the 3 models I want to submit.

Sadly I have a feeling I'll only get to send one of em in to the competition...

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/KRossing_TurtleSubmission.jpg

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/KRossing_LittleDevilSubmission.jpg

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/KRossing_FredSubmission.jpg

Which one should I pick??:S

[KRossing]

Ehh Fred you never removed my turtle so I can't submit a new one..

[KRossing]

Well anyways since I won't be able to submit my updated character - If I'll still have the chance I'd like to submit this one...

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee398/KRossing/KRossing_TurtleSubmission.jpg

[doG]

There are a lot of nice models, good work everyone :)

Here's my final. I hope you like it. Although I don't have time to work on it anymore, I'd love to hear comments.

http://thomasdogger.nl/challenges/presentation_shot.jpg

[yoyomon]

Great model MBT. I really dig the proportions.

Here's my entry. Retopologized the upper body and removed all tris. I had to axe the tail too just to get under 2500 tris :( .

Omni: Yep he needs several detailers just to get them cleaned :P

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/595/yoyomonfathorn.jpg (http://img139.imageshack.us/i/yoyomonfathorn.jpg/)

[omnicypher]

yoyomon: your model and presentation are looking great! very inspiring...

i guess im stuck with my original entry, i cant upload my new one, and its due in 2 hours.

[ChanManWst]

crap not gonna make it.

[Dan!]

Good job guys, these all look very fun to work with.<rubs grubby hands together>

[Ashurii]

here is my final entry,

35913

[Shadownami92]

Here is my final entry, was a bit rushed there at the end though.

http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/minis/uploaded_images/BaseMeshesSupreme-3D-mini3d-BaseMeshesSupreme-163-img_d98c82408.jpg

[Baddcog]

Yeah, my old one was never removed either :(

[sinz]

Great work all.

Maybe Fred will allow you guys to update your entries, I don't see why not since he mentioned you could in a previous post.

Good luck otherwise!

[Imajus]

Looks like winners were already picked, kinda surprised at some of the choices, but congrats to those who were chosen.

[Blenderhead]

Looks like winners were already picked, kinda surprised at some of the choices, but congrats to those who were chosen.

Where do you see this? Please link...

[Imajus]

I noticed I had an extra star and went back in the thread to see who had a gold, silver, or bronze and looked at those to see who was picked.

[ChanManWst]

http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/minis/uploaded_images/BaseMeshesSupreme-3D-mini3d-BaseMeshesSupreme-163-img_2871e3590.jpg

Only able to get my work loaded up now.
Missed deadline but had fun doing it.

Had planed for giant flying fish dragon wings and fins/feat, obviously started runing out of polys and time REALLY QUick. lol

[yoyomon]

I like what I see ChanManWst!

[Beartastic]

I noticed I had an extra star and went back in the thread to see who had a gold, silver, or bronze and looked at those to see who was picked.

Oh, hey that's cool. Congrats, guys! :)

From looking back at people's stars, here are the winners:
MasteroftheFork (http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/minis/finals_mini3d_3205.html)
yoyomon (http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/minis/finals_mini3d_3210.html)
g2000 (http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/minis/finals_mini3d_3200.html)

Edit: Not sure about the two silvers thing, but here's the results page:
http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/minis/view_entries_mini3d_31.html

[KRossing]

I thought there was supposed to be 4 winners? 1 gold, 2 silvers and a bronze. Who got the last silver?

[Imajus]

Looks like winners were already picked, kinda surprised at some of the choices, but congrats to those who were chosen.

Didn't mean for this to sound crappy. I was actually referring to masteroffork's entry. It's an awesome model, but seemed very specific as opposed to g200's which is very generic. Anyway I couldn't figure out who the 4th was. I'm digging yoyoman's, I'd probably choose that one in the mini.

[Beartastic]

Didn't mean for this to sound crappy. I was actually referring to masteroffork's entry. It's an awesome model, but seemed very specific as opposed to g200's which is very generic. Anyway I couldn't figure out who the 4th was. I'm digging yoyoman's, I'd probably choose that one in the mini.

I don't think it sounded crappy, it's always hard to say that (no matter how much you liked the winners) you thought other entries would win. yoyoman's looks great, I agree I think I'd use it (though I was eyeing off korpusenko's killer bunny at first).

[MasteroftheFork]

Oh awesome! I was hoping to get in the top 4 but wasn't expecting gold :O Imajus, I know what you mean about mine being specific, but I felt inspired to make that model and I didn't want to simplify it. Congrats to yoyomon and g2000 (andthe mysterious 4th winner?) There were a number of great models, I would like to have a go a texturing them all :D

[g2000]

Hey thanks who ever voted for mine,some very interesting meshes produced for this comp and congrats to all who finished:thumb:

MBT - how did you found that link for all entries,i can't see it on the front page?

FredH - hope you received my email,thanks:o

[Imajus]

Hey thanks who ever voted for mine,some very interesting meshes produced for this comp and congrats to all who finished:thumb:

MBT - how did you found that link for all entries,i can't see it on the front page?

FredH - hope you received my email,thanks:o

I used my internet detective skillz to see who got the gold, silver, and bronze stars in this thread, no announcement yet.

[thebubz]

Congrats to the winners. Now to decide what one to work on. :think:

[Beartastic]

g2000 - I just did what Imajus said, clicked the stars to find out who had won. The competition entries page is always named the same thing so I just went to the last 3d mini comp entries page and added 1 to the number on the end :)

I feel a little rude jumping on this though before Fred's had a chance to announce it, so sorry Fred! I think this is a nice little bit of information for us GA ppl to have, but don't anyone use it to cheat the warm-up competition!!!!

[sinz]

Doesn't matter without a brief for what your supposed to do regarding the warm up you can't cheat It cause we don't know what It is yet.

Congrats all!

[Imajus]

Yeah you're cool MBT, by the time I saw you posted the winners, I noticed you could just click on the 3d challenges link above and see it there, so anyone can stumble upon it now.

[kanegt]

Great work everyone,Congrats.:thumb:

[Blenderhead]

Congrats to the winners! I like horns so I will probably sculpt yoyo's :P That is if my laptop comes back from the shop in time.

[artquest]

So maybe I misunderstood, but in the original post it said 4 base meshes were going to be picked. I only saw 3 on the official page. Was the number dropped or has the mini challenge page just not been updated with the 4th winner yet?

[Beartastic]

Fred hasn't announced anything so it's all just conjecture right now. I reckon he'll let us know the final results as part of the announcement to start DW, announcing the winners beforehand would ruin the suspense :)

[steferson]

Congratulations to all.
I liked the winners and especially liked the part of yoyomon, with a silhouette was very interesting, probably will use. But congratulations to all, were great base meshes.
:thumb:

[artquest]

Fred hasn't announced anything so it's all just conjecture right now. I reckon he'll let us know the final results as part of the announcement to start DW, announcing the winners beforehand would ruin the suspense :)

But the first 3 winners are already posted in the mini challenge section for all to see...

[MasteroftheFork]

Looks like Korpusenko was the 4th winner, congrats man. I'm guessing the winners page just wasn't set up to have 4 winners.