BHG Challenge | Marco Mazzoni | Apec Skare

[Marco Mazzoni]

BHG Challenge | Marco Mazzoni | Apec Skare
http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/competitions/uploaded_thubnails/29-game-concept-art-1057-1178841773-super-small-Thumb.jpg

Marco Mazzoni has entered the competition!

[Kus Umok]

Nice concept man I really like the idea. The only thing that I cant really say i like are the back of his legs, they look like high heels. But very nice, keep at it this guy has potential.

[Marco Mazzoni]

Thanks for the comment. It does sort of look like high heels straight on. If I decide to go with this design, there will be another "heel" on the other side of the leg, just hidden behind the front bulk of the foot. I suppose it would almost be like a reverse bird foot.

Here are some other loose designs I'm concidering at the moment. This is the result of lunchbreak brainstorming, so the ideas are all over the place.

http://www.butcherfx.com/stuff/CA/BigHuge/super%20huge%20Thumb.jpg

If I go mechanical I want to feel like there are some hard core gryros keeping these things balanced and agile. The organic bipeds should be wide and lumbering to remain stable. Then there's that guy in the middle... I'm not entirely sure how he moves around. I was thinking it could use those tubes on it's back to draw in air which would pass through the holes in it's chest to create massive pressure under it's wings. It could then use those inner appendages to scoot around while picking at it's prey with the tentacles... or something :think:

Right now my 2 favs are the one in the middle and the one right below it. I'm guessing the tentacles will be a pain for the model sheet, but don't think the robot will be as interesting for the final illustration. Any input?

[FredH]

Hey, welcome to GameArtisans.. and this looks great! Yeah, I am also liking the middle one. It's either that one, or the top right. Like you said, the tentacles might be a pain to draw in different angles, however, it's such an innovative design that it might be worth bearing through it.

[cabertevon]

I prefer the middle one also. It's like new specie and most intimidating among the rest.

Nice stuff btw.

[Antimagic]

Middle! If you can develop that one further, I am sure he is going to be extremely cool!

[Marco Mazzoni]

Well that settles it, middle it is! Thanks for the input guys. It's always a relief to get an outside opinion that validates my own before I get too deep in a project. :lucky:

Now I don't have much experience with ortho's and I was wondering if some of you 3D guys could help me clear something up before I get into the modeling sheet... I know I'll have to seperate the tentacles before I render them either way, but would it be ideal for me to lay them out straight or should I leave them kinked?

[Antimagic]

You can leave them bent. It's always better to leave something in it natural relaxed position. This way, it will look best in a game when it's in this base position.

Can't wait to see it!

[Centrifuge]

those are really cool thumbs! I agree the middle one is what I would choose, though I really like the top right one as well. yeah lunchbreak brainstorming is about all I have time for at this point, lol. I really need to make time to post an update. ur stuff has inspired me now, and Im gonna take off work for a day, lol. good stuff

[Marco Mazzoni]

Hehe :D Y'know, if I can inspire just one person to take a day off of work, then I've done my job.

[Marco Mazzoni]

Thought I'd take a break from the modeling sheet to post a quick thumbnail for the final illustration. There are a few elements still missing, but the general idea is pretty much there.

http://www.butcherfx.com/stuff/CA/BigHuge/Illustration%20small.jpg

[cabertevon]

I thought all the while it's a deep sea creature, considering the tentacles and its appearance in general.

[Centrifuge]

this looks really nice. I need to do some value roughs myself, lol. man there you go again...I just might end up getn fired I keep taking days off to work on this, lol. I like where this one is going, gonna wait for more elements as I know you are working on em. this is one of the top concepts in this battle so far I think...good stuff.

[beelow]

Hey Marco, Nice sketches so far! I am where you are going to take the actual Illustration. I will keep an eye on this entry.

[Antimagic]

I didn't think you would put a modern touch to it. Now that the army men are in, I can see where you are going with this. Pretty cool:)

Personally, I find the helicopter off in scale. Not sure why, but I would expect the helicopter to be smaller. If the missile travels this far and still doesn't hit the beast, it is making the helicopter look huge!

[COUPLANDROB]

Hey Marco, like the thumbnail you did for the final Illustration, I agree with you in putting more elements, it seems to be pretty empty in parts of the composition. Very awesome creature, lovely :)

[Marco Mazzoni]

Whew, I made it! Thanks for the comments guys. There's a lot of great stuff so far, I can't wait to see everyone's final entries. Here's what I submitted...

http://www.butcherfx.com/stuff/CA/BigHuge/Sketch%20FINAL.jpg

http://www.butcherfx.com/stuff/CA/BigHuge/Ortho%20FINAL.jpg

http://www.butcherfx.com/stuff/CA/BigHuge/Illustration%20small%20FINAL.jpg

...and HERE (http://www.butcherfx.com/stuff/CA/BigHuge/Illustration%20FINAL.jpg) is a link to the full res winning pose.

[Antimagic]

This is simply amazing. The skin on the monster is really well rendered. He looks gooey and strong at the same time. Fantastic!

[FredH]

This came out extremely well. The colors and rendering style really sell this piece. Congrats on finishing in style man:thumb:

[EVIL]

oeh! strong piece! the color sheme you used really did this creature justice
and the shilloette is strong and unique

Congrats on finishing and good luck to you!

[ThatDon]

The full size version is awesome man, very impressive work!

[Marco Mazzoni]

Thanks for the kind words guys. To be honest, working on the same set of images for 2 weeks makes it kind of difficult for me to even look at anymore. Your positive feedback means a lot.

I thought you guys might be interested in seeing an animated gif I made out of my progress shots, HERE (http://www.butcherfx.com/stuff/CA/BigHuge/Apec%20Skare.gif). I do this sometimes to help myself see where I can improve the decissions I'm making while I work, but some people just like watching a big picture come together in a short amount of time ;)

In this case I found that my sloppy drawing early on forced me to spend too much time fussing with the placement of the forms later. I also think I could have saved some headaches if I'd have introduce some broad patches of color earlier on, but I got away with it this time.

BTW, the first frame looks a little strange because it was actually a still pic I took of the screen when my comp froze.

[Antimagic]

woh, that animated give is really cool. I like the climatic ending where you decide to flip the whole image hehe Thanks for posting this, it's really great to see an artist's progress.

[keo]

nice strong entry marco!
thanks for the prog gif, it's always cool to see how other folks work. I've done the B&W -> color trip before, but getting the saturation levels right can be a real chore, I usually try to avoid it. good subtle use of texture too.

I'll be looking forward to seeing your entry for whatever the next contest is. :)

[Heber]

great concept ! and congrats on the win.
:cool: