Braveheart's Beard -- Model WIP 6

Oh man the happiness couldn't be contained when I saw this come out in the first render.  

More planes were added and they're still symmetrical.  They also all have the same alpha channel -- but they look awesome for a first test.

Looking at the beard and detail on Braveheart's body and beard and face make his jacket and hat look inadequate to me.  Another attempt at modeling them will likely be necessary.  I also don't enjoy the bandolier and holster any more -- they're seriously just a pipe primitive with some extra edge loops.  Something will need to be done to add interest.

Right now I'm thining of basing the holster on John Marsten's holster from Red Dead Redemption... an amazing game for anyone who's not played it.  I'm about 3 years behind but right now I'm about half way through the undead nightmare expansion -- cowboys and zombies -- do we really need anything else?

Up until now I've been box modeling the jacket -- that may not be the best option -- I thought I'd use Mudbox to put in all the detail I was looking for, but I think a more solid foundation in the actual poly flow is called for.  It's supposed to be an old jacket -- I picture it with lots of folds and tears...

By the time I'm done he'll be totally impractical for anything other than stills though -- so I may need to start over anyway and try not to go crazy with the polys.  He will look awesome though:)

j -- out

Braveheart Model WIP 5

Work continues... Not a lot time this week... and who knew poly hair is such a pain to model.  The beard is still painfully symmetrical, but that will give us a successful overall shape, and then by going in afterwards we'll tweak some details to bring it to life.  The textures can also be varied randomly to help with the individual planes' shape.

Braveheart Model WIP 4

The exodus continues...

Not a lot of time this week to refine the changes, so it's easy to notice where the new pieces intersect with each other.  Nonetheless please enjoy the new:

bandolier
jacket folds
first attempt at beard

The beard was more of a test really. -- each bit is just a flat plane -- extra edge loops will be added to give them a greater sense of gravity effecting the hair -- right now they just stick straight out.  I did some experiments with wrap deformers to try and rig the beard.  I think it'll work to maintain the bear's postion on the face as the face deforms.  I think I'd prefer to have the geometry smooth bound to some joints--I'd just have to make sure that the wrap deform comes higher on the order of operations for the influences.   Clusters may work too--It'll just be a matter of seeing what works better.

I have to admit -- I'm not looking forward to uving this bad boy... it's tedious work at the best of times...  maybe I should try some experiment with the new Ptex material in Vray.

In addition to the beard we also have some whiskers.  This geometry will hopefully work with some actual short hairs on Braveheart's head.

Looking at the close up -- Braveheart clearly needs some detail in his collar.  I think I'll do that in Maya rather than Mudbox.

Braveheart's current model with the actual head geometry.

 

Braveheart WIP3

Work on Braveheart continues.

-Remodeled his jacket.
-Construction on his arms has begun in earnest.
-holster belt added

I never intended for daily updates... It's just so handy to be able to access the image whenever I have an internet connection...

Not a great deal of time last night -- Some folds were modeled on the back of the jacket -- they're awesome believe me.   Those will be included in Sunday's post.

Braveheart Render

Another render to view at the studio.  Every couple of days a passer-by takes interest in what I'm looking at and I get to explain the concept, and all the work I've been doing.  Most are children of the 80s and have fond memories of the Care Bears--not they recognize them from the render.

Well -- what's different?  Subdivision has been activated for most of the geo.  Details have been added to the chest plate, hat and chaps.  The jacket got a makeover thanks to average vertices and sculpt geometry tool, and construction has begun on the arm frame.

Two of the torso plates are hidden in the render.  They will likely be redone.  Some sculpting was done on the body/torso and the top two plates didn't line up well enough with the body anymore.

While viewing the render as I type I think some more structure in the shoulders would help. Looking back at the concept---Braveheart's shoulders were much more angular.  I'll have to see about what can be done about that.  Perhaps pointy shoulders and some folds...  thinking...

Braveheart Model WIP2

Hey All --

Well -- it's out first official render test of Braveheart.  He's looking good--settling in to a kick @$$ place somewhere between Van Helsing and Rooster Cogburn... if Rooster Cogburn were a cyborg... and a lion.

For anyone who's curious -- this was rendered using VRay.  Technically Mental Ray can do everything VRay can, but VRay is just so painless to use--and consistently produces great results.  I'll just have to remember to go back in and turn on the rendering subdivision on all the geometry -- so far that's my one complaint about VRay -- I haven't found a way to turn on that attribute on multiple pieces at once.

Braveheart's not as far along as originally planned, but as you can see his jacket is blocked in -- I don't think I'll do much more with the geo -- I'll see what can be done with displacement maps.  I've done leather jacket before and the folds were done exclusively with displacement maps.  (See Below)

A leather jacket -- the geometry is smooth the folds are all displacement maps.

So what remains with Braveheart:

arms/hands
some beveling on armor plates
bandolier
gun/holster
details -- shoe treads -- more detail in armor plates, chaps and collar.

We'll see how it goes this week.  I'd be happy if Braveheart's arms were done for next week.

Later.