ART WAR 3 | 3D | Villains | Ulf-The Frozen Lord | jordan3

jordan3 2018-12-18 00:16:30 UTC #24

Currently working on the transition from ice chunks to skin, adding a layer of frost like ice over the skin. also worked on numerous other details. Will likely need to start my low poly and UV soon, so that I manage to finish on time.

jordan3 2018-12-26 05:37:44 UTC #25

Havent had the chance to do much in the last week, but have started retopo work(currently, the ice, helmet and belt skull). for the hardbody areas of the character, such as the belt centerpiece, helmet, ice and other objects that will not deform, I am using a combination of decimate/ zremesh and reduce to lower the polycount, then adjusting any harsh areas and making sure it fits over the highpoly correctly. this isnt the neatest way of doing things, but i dont think ill have time to qaud draw and properly retopo everything. Instead, I will do this just for the main areas of deformation, ie- the skin, pants, boots, and also look to redo the ice fingers, as the current topology will be unsuitable for rigging. The race is on to finish in time

jordan3 2018-12-28 06:15:12 UTC #26

Because I love nothing more than procrastinating, instead of doing import things like retopology and UVs, i decided to take all the ice, and do a quick bake of some maps. i then chucked those into quixel, and added a concrete normal to break up the surface, and some color variation using masks, before exporting the textures, bringing into marmoset, and having a play round with refraction and emission. was pretty happy with the result. the fingers are pretty broken, as i didnt have proper uvs, and so the map baked out for them were pretty bad. Now back to retopo work tho...

jordan3 2018-12-30 08:03:23 UTC #27

Ive managed to get all my retopology down, and all my UV's unwrapped. I intend to try a couple different UV layouts, and then test baking, having a look at using various numbers of maps. I want to try keep this to a reasonably low number, so that i do not run into issues with my marmoset file. I also had a look at creating a beard from hair cards. when viewed from behind, it looks a bitt iffy, so i will see what i can do to try fix that.

jordan3 2019-01-01 11:41:13 UTC #28

I got my UV's all laid out. Ive decided to use 4 maps. one contains the body, pants, eyes and mouth. Once contains all the ice. the third is dedicated to the beard and mo, and the final map is for all the remaining objects, ie the armour and such. Got my normals and occlusion baked for all of these, and have begun texturing inside Quixel. The ice will look closer to what i have shown in a previous post, when i add emision and refraction.

jordan3 2019-01-03 01:58:00 UTC #29

A small progress update. I have continued working on my texture maps, and have started cross checking them in marmoset as i go, as this will be what i do my final renders in. Ive got the refractions set back up on the ice. this will also be applied to the ice on the body and helmet, but I will need to create masks for the effect in these cases

jordan3 2019-01-03 20:43:02 UTC #30

Quick test upload of my texture WIP to see if this is viewable. Also wondering if the blood I have is pushing the boundaries at all?? If anyone knows if this would be unacceptable, let me know haha. I will also have a small amount of blood on the right fist once finished, and droplets on the ground- nothing too extreme tho
FrozenLord.mview (14.5 MB)

jordan3 2019-01-05 02:03:18 UTC #31

Thought I would take a quick break from texturing to start thinking about my characters pose and scene composition. I am thinking of having him in the process of freezing/ defeating an enemy, with broken ice scattered around a snowy ground, depicting other frozen and shattered foes. Then I will have a snowy downpour/blizzard obscuring the background, with some faint rock formations. maybe also the enemies sword broken on the ground somewhere, and arrows and a small amount of blood on the snow. Here are a couple test examples( forgive the lack of weight painting haha). I am leaning mostly towards 3, unless any1 has some suggestions. For the moment tho- back to texturing

jordan3 2019-01-05 12:17:52 UTC #32

Ive decided to focus on pose 3, and have done a quick mockup of how i will be presenting the character in my Mview file. The background in my final image will be an extension of this. I am also working on creating an arm asset for the secondary character. Since he isnt impervious to the cold like ulf, Im modeling it in a thick gambeson, with heavy leather gloves on( not that either of those protected him from being turned into a popsicle ) If i get time, id still like to create a basic sword or axe or something to place on the ground, as well as some shattered ice

jordan3 2019-01-06 08:49:29 UTC #33

I got the Low poly's created for my base/scene assets, and got all the normals and occlusion baked. took longer than I had hoped. Now onto the texturing of it tho. Ive done a quick pass over(mainly just adding materials) but theres still alot to polish/change and add, heres a preview of it tho.

jordan3 2019-01-07 09:53:59 UTC #34

The Finish line is now in sight!! Still a fair amount to do, but i think i will make it on time. Pretty much ready to start polishing things. My mview file is cutting it close, at 18.9 megs, but hopefully that is okay when i upload it... If i get the chance, I might make a model/detail sheet aswell.

jordan3 2019-01-08 06:33:41 UTC #35

WIP sketchfab upload. I cant seem to get the same refraction effect going in sketchfab, so will definately stick to mview my main file. Ive addressed several things, such as the ice colour( looks better in marmoset) faint footsteps, the rock texture- the frost transition, and some other general tweaks and fixes. still need to address the texture stretching however, and a few other things. after that, itll be on to setting up my final images
https://skfb.ly/6FWLw

jordan3 2019-01-09 05:35:46 UTC #36

Ive been looking at putting together my final image. I am just wondering If i am doing too much editing to the scene? I have added fake volumetric lightling, as well as snow flurries, and mist at the characters feet. The brief states that the character needs to be 100% 3D, and Im just wondering if this image breaks the rules? I havent painted over any of the characters textures to enhance them or touched the hues and saturations. The reflections and colours and everything like that are all in the render. If someone could let me know if i need to go with something more basic, that would be great
The image on the right is the render straight out of marmoset

malcom 2019-01-09 05:52:13 UTC #37

The background can be whatever you want. What you have works within the rules.

by the way if you have a question you can also tag the mods in your forum thread as well.

jordan3 2019-01-09 05:55:52 UTC #38

awesome- thank you for that!

Acolet 2019-01-09 11:41:45 UTC #39

I love the character, and the model, very nice!
I would have a bit of critique about the final image though, if you'd like. I feel like model on its own is a bit more striking than the final image, which gets a bit drowned out in the storm and mist. The background doesn't seem to be very contrasting to the character, it's all similar values.
I also don't like that much the grey color in the snow. I see you wanted to create a dreary atmosphere and maybe it's just a personal preference, but the gray looks a bit dirty, I would suggest trying it out with dark blue instead.
Hope some of this helps!

And finally, just for fun, I was curious how it would look with a bright background so I did a very quick edit (Not saying you have do it this way - it's your image, but maybe you'll find it interesting too :).

jordan3 2019-01-09 20:32:38 UTC #40

Thank you for the critique! Your right, the character does get a little lost beneath it all. I was trying to create a stormy battleground feel, with silhouettes of soldiers still fighting in the near distance, but ill see if theres anything i can do to that, that might bring the character into better focus. Ive also got a couple days still to concept up other backgrounds and ways of presenting him. Cheers again

jordan3 2019-01-11 12:24:04 UTC #41

I had a look at some various ways of presenting my final image, i tired a brighter kind of day, and then a mid rand, with the storm billowing, but a brighter background. In the end, my personal preference is still the darker grittier tone, however i have reduced the opacity of some of the effects, and this lets the character stand out a little better.

jordan3 2019-01-11 12:25:45 UTC #42

I also added a tatto across his right arm and up over the chest. I kept it away from the main scar, so that i wanst cluttering up the detail too much. It ended up looking slightly more celtic than viking, but I like the effect it gives

jordan3 2019-01-12 00:17:07 UTC #43

@Acolet @malcom Just a quick check before I submit. Am I fine to just have my name and email address? I dont have a website or twitter, and would prefer not to link my facebook. Also, do I use the submit button under my first post, or is the button under any post fine?