Dominance War IV - 3D - Vanessa Cadena - Syrenix

[Vanessa Cadena]

After flip flopping so much trying to come up with a design id be happy with here is Syrenix. A sea monster (viper fish) and a siren head piece. This concept would be of the Norm clan and class invoker. The siren aspect would lure in the prey and the viper would destroy it. Im still trying to resolve the actual skin of the fish. I was thinking of incorportating the souls of the victims towards the end of fish. Im also looking at giger for a bit of inspiration for the detail of the surface. The colors as well would go from rainbow to dark and desaturated towards the back. Right now im in the process of so much and making changes around the eye area and im open to any suggestions. Thanks for looking!





here are a few of my concepts

[haikai]

The sketches are nice. Of the concepts you have so far, I think I prefer the one where the head is on a longer stalk. Using an angler fish for inspiration is a pretty cool idea, but having the siren only represented as a head seems odd. It has a deep sea monster vibe, but I'm not sure what kind of prey it would be trying to attract down there with a disembodied human head. Have you considered having more of the siren's body visible and concealing the monster part more? Like maybe have the fish's body resemble a rock that the siren is sitting on or something. Then maybe it could float on the surface of the water like an island where maybe there would be more suitable prey.

Also, what is its weapon? I believe all Norm entries are supposed to possess some sort of magic weapon. It will be interesting to see how you develop this idea.

[Vanessa Cadena]

I have been debating this very thing with a friend. I either need to tear off the head and develop the fish aspect or develop the siren more. Right now it feels as though i just attached the head atop the fish and I need a more ingenious way of incorporating it.

I double checked and i dont need a physical weapon. If im going invoker they dont need a weapon they manipulate their surrounding like a siren and viper fish would. But I still need to revamp the design.

Thanks for your help!

[Vanessa Cadena]

Thanks for all your comments. Im looking into making some serious changes soon. I re read the norm and at the bottom it does stae a weapon is necessary in some kind of form. So I will be adding one in or going the demon path like i had originally wanted to. I think i will go back to a more human silhouette. So frustrating until a concept is nailed.

[Gustlebunny]

I like haikai comments about the lure bit.

Maybe you could make it more like the mermaid statue in Denmark?

http://www.denmark.travelphotoguide....aid-702520.jpg

Which ever way you go, I think should just use the fish idea as a starting point and then get all demony!

[Vanessa Cadena]

So i tried to reslove the issues I was having with the design. Turns out what i was trying to combine just wasnt working out. Instead of scratching my head until it bled i decided to ditch the previous concept. So thru some ideations of combinations I came to one that is very overly done but I can live with that. Yes its the Super hot woman with a spider lower half. I want my spider lady built for speed and elegance. I want her to be beautiful, creepy and badass. Im unsure how well she will fit into the demon criteria. Think Tim Burton esk. I have a basic sketch. Her hair originally was going to be made from cobwebs which Im still going to play with but someone mentioned it looking like fire and suggested I make the change. I really have to do a quick paint over to convey the idea. which I will as I start the model.

[Vanessa Cadena]

Oh yeah I have some serious plans for the abdomen of the spider. I plan for her spine to be exposed and continue down the abdomen showing a rib like pattern to encase it. The skin around will have the victims or other crazy scary things trying to get out. more to come..... open to any suggestions

[haikai]

Your new direction sounds more promising. I think taking a familiar idea and executing really well is just as valuable as a unique and original concept anyway (at least as far as getting a nice model done is concerned).

Having corpses or entangled victims in her abdomen sounds like it would be really cool. In your sketch, it looks like you had started drawing some spikes on the joints, but thought better of it. I think it would be cool to bring it back in a subtle way to mirror the larger hooked parts of the lower legs (would be a little more interesting than just a smooth bend). Playing with the silhouette on the abdomen itself might be cool as well.

Hope you're able to start modeling soon.

[Wevlen]

I did like the sketches for you had for your viper fish but this is pretty promising too, i like how its turning out. I hope to see you getting those paint overs done soon

[fantasymaster]

Yeah, go for the super hot spider lady!!
I can't wait to see 3d, for there is not much time left until the deadline...

Keep it up.

[Vanessa Cadena]

Well here is the concept im running with. Because this is so rough I have to explain where im going. Basically I wanted to give her a very creepy, but beautiful face crazy spider mix. She is a blend of some of the most disturbing (for me) spiders I found. Her abdomen is a ribcage with the skin encased with it displaying her victims faces and twisted bodies(not painted in to save time) Her skin would basucally be a colored pattern similar to mystique from xmen. she will have a loin cloth from the front displaying Game Artisans Pride. I took off the claws a spider would normally have an went with the sharp spiked feet. Yes that will be some kind of tribal pattern or runes on her feet. Her hair has two versions. One of cobwebs and second of fire. Im leaning towards the cobwebs only because it makes more sense and color wise as well. Im nearing the end of modeling this so any suggestions will be great.

Still working on her name.



Also is there any rulew against stacking UV's like for 6 legs?

[haikai]

Originally Posted by Vanessa Cadena

Also is there any rulew against stacking UV's like for 6 legs?

I don't think so... Considering this is a game art contest and stacking UVs is so common in game art I'd be surprised if this was not allowed. However, with 2k texture space to work with, perhaps it would be nice to give half of the legs unique UV space anyway (presuming you'll be mirroring the other half). Even if all the legs are basically the same, having the freedom to slightly change the appearance of some legs can really help.

Looks cool so far.

[Vanessa Cadena]

okay then that makes sense to do it that way or Uv on side completely and then mirror the UV's for the legs just to save time. Thanks HaiKai!

[Vanessa Cadena]

Ive been running so behind and really trying hard to catch up. My Goal is to have zbrush done by this weekend and textures completed by Monday next week. I already created my rig in Maya to get the geo to bend. I modeled the legs with out thinking the first time and ran into so deformation issues. I tore them off reattached and rigged the legs in a natural pose. She will have some kind of texturing to her top, but right now she appears nude. This is my progress so far. Any comments will help. Thanks

[BARON_3D]

Very nice shape.

Dominance War IV | 3D | BARON_3D | Hexeros

[Vanessa Cadena]

Thanks Im trying to keep a very stylized shape and appearance to her.

[Vanessa Cadena]

Here is a screenshot of progress. She has been imported back into maya. She is rigged and lights are in place now and I have to complete the base for today. I plan on creating a funnel web being held up by stalagmites and a rock base with holes cut out of it to emphasize her not the base. Hopefully it will be completed today. This way I can focus back on the texturing and another zbrush pass on her. I hope to have her at a finished state by saturday giving me a few days to compose shots etc. Im holding off on finals and my internship to complete this and I hope my sacrifices pay off for a portfolio piece. Race to the finish line as I can feel the flames of failure closely behind.

[typhus22]

really nice textures! are u going to keep the red/orange hair?

[Vanessa Cadena]

Thanks! I talked this one over with some friends and I think keeping an overall scheme of monochromatic colors would make more sense then red hair that it just used as a focal point. So gray cob webbed color hair it is.

[Vanessa Cadena]

here is new updates but she is further along than this.....