ART WAR | 3D | Owlbear Battlemage | haZe

be-evrard 2017-01-16 09:58:58 UTC #21

Cute! keep going it's nice!

aveon 2017-01-17 22:46:50 UTC #22

Such a simple design and it looks amazing xD K.I.S.S. property to the max haha, love it.

dantert 2017-01-18 12:32:42 UTC #23

Awww he's so cute
Do they come in armies? XP
Loving it!

haZe 2017-01-19 18:55:25 UTC #24

This is great feedback, thanks @mrzhwang. I've been fighting his short height as a part of his silhouette, but realize he has to be able to bend his legs to walk and accommodate his feet. I've given his legs room to articulate and scaled his feet down a bit. I'm still trying to figure out the best fur forms to pop out. Probably going to fuss with that area all the way to the low poly.

@verycrunchytaco, @hallomy @be-evrard, @aveon and @dantert Thank you!!

@crazymoon Though it's early, I am actually considering this after the challenge is finished. I'm doing my best to not let it compromise the final design.

I redesigned/remodeled the book from the block-in. Determining the level of detail to add and exactly where to stop. The pitting is feeling right to me, but it could mean adding more wear to the belt and clothes, which I like in their current simpler state. Maybe save for the Substance pass?

Detail of book progress:

engcenti 2017-01-19 23:15:15 UTC #25

So cute! I like how you textured the feathers.

You can add wear with Substance but with your style it could be better to do the main wear by modifying the mesh. Something like Darksiders or Blizzard' style, to keep a strong visual impact.

haZe 2017-01-24 19:42:34 UTC #26

Thanks, @engcenti! I decided to put those sculptural details in -- if it feels heavy-handed anywhere in the finals, I figure I can tweak the normal map.

Calling this about done for the high poly. I want to give myself time to create a small pedestal and effects, so I've started retopo. I'll probably do some minor polish and detailing afterward (e.g. still considering how best to knock out the sword blade), but if anything's glaring it can still be fixed at this point.

engcenti 2017-01-24 21:37:01 UTC #27

Definitely better with this wear, good job!

dandoombuggy 2017-01-25 07:19:57 UTC #28

What a fantastic little owlbear! Beautiful work, I really look forward to seeing the finished piece

sstoev 2017-01-25 10:45:45 UTC #29

super sleek design mate ... lovin it

skylarc88 2017-01-27 08:07:10 UTC #30

this is my favorite contest entry ^^ <3 nice to see the progress, clean and adorable!

popol 2017-01-27 10:03:37 UTC #31

Aw this is so incredibly cute! You especially did a great job on the head, shapes and colors are on point. The only let down is the shape of the sword, it's very bland compared to the character.

haZe 2017-02-06 19:57:30 UTC #32

Sorry for the late reply, everyone, I promise I've been busy! "Bubo Baggins" is slowly getting there.

@engcenti -- Thanks again for the feedback, it really helped define things.
@dandoombuggy, @sstoev -- Thank you!
@skylarc88 -- Thanks, it sincerely means a lot! I love your work.
@popol -- Thanks for the feedback. I see where you're coming from, and will likely be tweaking things up until the end. I have some glowy plans for the sword which should make it a bit more of a standout. I may be in the minority of liking things to be simplified a bit more in general, but I'll push what I can if it feels a bit plain near the end.

I'm still cleaning up a couple normal wobbles on his gear. I'm aware he's a little dense in some places, but I'm looking for a clean bake. I'm also getting some odd seam artifacts (that oddly show up in Marmoset but not Substance?), but nothing I can't quickly clean up in 3D-Coat.

Lots of transferring and app crashes in my future.

*Minor update on gear bakes for clarity.

aveon 2017-02-06 21:08:08 UTC #33

Niiiiiiice bake! The artifacts are pretty hard to catch; if they're showing up in MT then maybe you need to change the rendering mode?

haZe 2017-02-07 07:32:18 UTC #34

@aveon -- I actually found the culprit -- I hadn't swapped out the new low poly with the corrected geo/normals (D'oh!). Everything's groovy now.

aveon 2017-02-07 08:11:26 UTC #35

@haZe Sweeeeeeeet! At least it was an easy fix You keep the design simple but complex enough to be interesting, looking foward to textures!

haZe 2017-02-12 02:28:16 UTC #37

Here's my progress on textures so far. Got some good feedback and re-approached the color palette, still making tweaks. I am monitoring night and day for this character since I imagine him as a defender against giant evil pure owls. My final shots will likely be at night with him on guard in a dangerous situation.

wip02112017_night.mview (13.7 MB)

eggo 2017-02-12 05:54:46 UTC #38

Looks really great!

skylarc88 2017-02-12 13:24:23 UTC #39

love it ^^ great to see you will likely have it done in time.
i think the first light setup is my favorite, and i think the gold could benefit from having highlighted edges in the Color Map.

keep up the great work!

haZe 2017-02-18 03:36:55 UTC #40

Thanks folks!

@skylarc88 I made those changes, though I'm still getting a hang on controlling Substance Painter's output for channels. I'll do another texture polish pass near the end to isolate the maps.

My company went through a pretty big layoff this week, making it a bit harder for me to make time on this, but I'm still determined to finish it out by the deadline.

Gonna move on to pose/pedestal/presentation and revisit later with fresh eyes.

amedin20 2017-02-18 09:20:43 UTC #41

This is very appealing Haze! Nice concept and execution. Have to say this is one of my favorite entries so far. best of luck on your entry!