ART WAR 4 | 3D | War of the Elements | Terminus, The last storm | mrjar0

[mrjar0]

@roulamine Thanks

It has been quite some time since my last update. It appears i'm no spring chicken anymore. Celebrating new years eve the same way i did when i was 18 might not have been a good idea.

So far I've managed to retopologize and rig my character.
Since it is required that the character is clearly attacking or defending i went for an "about to throw the javelin" pose. I also added the armor. For now it is quite clean. I will add the engravings and minor details later on. The element symbol will be on the pauldrons. The vambraces turned out to be more like shackles. I kinda like it that way. Feels like the armor is what binds him to that form. Otherwise he would be just a storm.
Next step will be to add the lower body. It will be a tornado. Afterwards i can work on the armor some more and then it's finally time to add the lightning. I think he needs some lightning inside of his body. It would help to break it up a bit. Right now it's this massive dark cloud.

Here is the newest progress pic. The hands will be fixed a bit later. They are not dense enough at the moment. I gave him some eyes. I think they help a lot with the overall feeling. I really like that camera angle. Feels like he is this big and powerful being and we are so beneath him that he doesn't even notice us. I think i'll stick with that angle for now.

[3dc]

well look at this came out after all nice.

[Sergei_Pakhomov]

Looks nice! I like combination of storm cloud and gold plates!

[mrjar0]

@3dc , @Sergei_Pakhomov Thank you. I too think that the gold fits. Although pure gold feels a bit heavy. might add some smaller details out of different metal. Just to break it up a bit. Not sure yet. The armor does miss all of the engraving though. So maybe that will help break up the monotony.

Today i started making the lower part of the body. So far it's all over the place, or rather the opposite. It's a bit too bunched up. Lots and lots of work needs to be done. The tornado doesn't spin, the shape is sort of wrong and overall doesn't feel like it's a tornado. On top of it, the bottom dust cloud is too big and feels more like teddy bear stuffing than a dust cloud.
For now i will be working mostly on the lower body part. The armor can wait.
Gave him a light rod. Wanted to see how the hands interact with light. It appears they are not dense enough. He is supposed to be holding the rod.
I'm not sure i like the color of the cloud. Doesn't feel like a proper storm cloud.
Overall there is still lots and lots to tweak. Luckily there is still time left.

[3dc]

We men don't hear this often but nice rod.

[mrjar0]

It is once again time for another update.
I feel like a pastry chef. All I've been doing for the past few days was baking, tweaking some settings and baking again.
The waiting time is killing me. It's like i'm sculpting, except each brush stroke takes 1 minute to load. I do like the outcome though. I think I've got the shape to where i'm happy with it.
Now it is finally time to work on the armor. I don't really like the helmet right now. I think i will go for a horned helmet instead of a winged one. Also i think i will decorate the armor with runes and symbols from the Norse mythology. I'm not sure how accurate the "translation" sites are, but i do like the way the runes look. I was thinking of writing "Storm bound to metal" as a rune word on his shackles and "Lightning bound to storm" on the pauldrons. I think that would explain why the storm wears armor and looks humanoid.
So for now the next step will be remaking the helmet. Afterwards i can add the details to the armor. The lightning part of the character will have to wait for now. It will probably be the last step.

I fixed the hands. They actually look like hands holding a lightning. Changed some colors here and there. Fixed his left eye. It was smaller than his right one, for some reason. Overall quite happy with the result.

[mrjar0]

Today's update is not exactly big.
I've made the shackles smaller. I think it fits better. Made the whole body a bit more swirly and changed some shapes. Some more minor changes are needed but i don't plan to change the cloud design for the foreseeable future.
Changed the helmet design. Not entirely sure if i'm going to stick with the shape of the horns. I do like how they look though.
Overall the whole thing starts to finally look like sth I've imagined.
Now it's time to add some much needed details to the armor.

[mrjar0]

It has been quite some time since my last update.
Do you ever make sth you think is good, but then you take a break and suddenly it turns into the most horrendous thing you've ever created? Well, that is basically what happened. I took a break, then came back to work on my elemental and felt like ripping my own arms off.
I tried to fix it, but nothing felt right. So I've decided to scrap the whole idea. Well not the whole idea. I do like the whole clouds and lightning bolts thing. That part i will keep. Everything else has to go.
I've decided to go for a ronin. So far i have a very rough base shape to show.
The next few days will be spent on fixing everything. Then i can run all the simulations. I think i'll do the whole thing in 3 layers. The first will be just his body. Quite smooth and dense so you can see the muscles. The second will be a lot more "cloudy" and way less dense. Just to add some variety to the silhouette. The third will be a bigger cloud going out of his back side and flowing away from him. Should add a feeling of movement to the whole thing.
On top of it some lightning bolts across his arms, his sword and in the eyes should add some much needed details to the body.
That is the plan. Let's see if i can finish on time.

Here is how far I've progressed so far.
The head is technically a skull, but it's hard to see without the lightning in the eyes. All of the ropes are missing. The angle of the katana is wrong. Overall there is much to do.

[mrjar0]

Another day another update.
Cleaned up most of the shapes. Added the ropes. Added the weapon. Tomorrow i'll work on finishing the base. Then i can finally do the cloud sims.

Changed the camera position. He is technically holding the katana the right way, but for some reason it feels wrong. Will adjust it later. The materials are just placeholders. Got rid of the cloud sim for now. Makes it easier to work. Luckily the body does not need to be too detailed.

[mrjar0]

Time for today's update.
I changed the size of the ropes. Now they dont look like shoe strings. I've adjusted the katana. It feels a lot better now.
The big part for today was the cloud sim. I started with 1 dense smooth layer for the body. It helps to see the muscles. On top of it i've put a less dense more noisier layer. It gives the char that sort of "cloudy" feeling. Now i need to add the "cloud" layer behind him and maybe some small dirt/dust under his feet. I want it to look like he just finished slashing someone.
I've been thinking about the background. I think putting him into a bamboo forest would fit quite well. I would make a road from left to right and have a bunch of bamboo as the background. I'm not sure what time of day it should be though. I plan to have a quite a few lightning bolts and they do give off a lot of light so maybe late evening / early night could look good. But i'm getting ahead of myself here. One step at a time. For now I need to finish the char first.

I've decided to keep the actual skull and just surround it with clouds instead of making the skull out of clouds. Ironically he looks a lot more alive with the skull. Added the light inside his head. It's not a lightning, but it looks right so i'm going to keep it like that for now. The cloud sims are low res for now. The shape wont change much, the quality will.

[mrjar0]

A small update for now.
Added the big cloud. Changed some minor shapes here and there.
Now it's time to work on the armor.

It feels weird working on this character. My computer is struggling to keep up with my demands. Which means i have to guess how things will look like in the end and only once i'm absolutely sure that i like the form can i increase the subdivision levels.
So for now everything will look a bit rough around the edges.

[mrjar0]

Once again it's time for an update.
Today i started working on the materials. I've added the base layer. Still testing some colors. I do like most of them. The rope could be a bit darker though.
For now everything is squeaky clean. Once i'm happy with the how the colors look like, i'll start adding details. I still need to find a proper place for the emblem. I think i could paint it onto the leg guard parts (the metal ones). Maybe do it like it was painted with one of those big Japanese calligraphy brushes.
I've changed the shape of some of the clouds. I still don't like how the cloud around the skull looks like. Everything else fits. Might change the color a bit. Maybe make the body blend into the big cloud.
The lightning is still missing, but it'll have to wait for now.

The materials are for the most part in place. I've decided to give him some gold teeth and changed the ends of the rope from gold to painted wood. Makes more sense that way.

[mrjar0]

A few more updates and i'll be done. This is one of those updates.
I finished detailing the armor and improved the quality of the clouds. Decided to change some materials. Now they fit even better.
I think for the most part the base material is done. Now it's time to add the imperfections. It's too clean and shiny for my taste atm. This is a warrior who has been in many battles. He needs to look the part. Dents, scratches, edge wear, cuts, dirt, dust and grime are still missing.
Once that is done i can finally add the lightning.
Time is quickly running out. Let's see if i can finish.

[mrjar0]

Second update this week. 4 more days to go.
Today i finished the materials. They finally don't look like they were freshly printed. I tried not to go overboard with the amount of imperfections. I'm quite happy with how the whole thing looks so far.
Now it's finally time to add the lightning.

[mrjar0]

3 updates done 3 to go.
I have finished my character.
I could tweak stuff all day long, but at some point i have to say i'm done.
Now it's time to add the background and adjust the light. I've decided to go for a bamboo forest. Most likely at night. Will need to test it first before i decide.

[mrjar0]

4/6. Only 2 more days to go.
I'm still working on the scene. The original idea did not go as planned. The bamboo forest does not really fit the character. He needs the sky.
I think i'm going to put him on one of those Japanese wood bridges. That should work.

The first version is already scrapped. Will work on the second version tomorrow

[mrjar0]

The last update before i'm done.
I tried a lot of different backgrounds and lighting setups. This is what I've ended with. I think it fits him quite well.
Now the only thing left to do is render it properly and do the detail sheet.

[mrjar0]

Well, here we are at the end of the road. I've finally finished everything.
It's interesting to look back. I've started with a very different idea and ended up here. Changing the design in the middle of the contest was perhaps not the best idea, but i like how the character turned out.

This challenge was a lot of fun.
I wish everyone good luck.

Final Image

Detail Sheet

[3dc]

neat congrats on finishing.

[mrjar0]

thank you