I am currently working on a university assignment in which the task is to create an in game, rigged, character model based on an original concept. The brief is fairly open ended in regards to how the character can look with only the following requirements affecting the design of the character:
I also tried to consider what sort of game my character would fit into, paying attention to designs that would have an affect on in-game mechanics etc. So with these specifications in mind I started doing some research; searching for existing character designs that I felt drawn to, in order to give me a better idea of 'who' my character would be. In my search for inspiration I came across this image by lobsterfancy which gave me the idea of having an animal 'companion' as the required 'accessory'. I thought about how a snake buddy could make for interesting gameplay mechanics, such as being used as a rope/grappling hook, as well as being able to slither through small nooks and crannies. With all of this in mind I began doodling. The idea of the snake hiding in a backpack seemed to hark back to a classic character design. However, I wasn't completely happy with the design so I kept sketching. I wanted her to have an interesting silhouette, so that she would stand out and be easy to recognise. With that in mind I gave her a big, baggy coat. Out of curiosity I tried out the opposite; a silhouette with a heavy form on the bottom rather than the top. To me this seemed a little easier on the eyes, with its rounder and more organic form, but no less distinct. With this shape in mind I doodled an idea... Which I liked enough to clean up a little.... I gave her ahe robotic arm as it broke up the symmetry of the form and sort of juxtaposed the organic shape she had. I also thought that it would play well into gameplay; giving her increased strength and other abilities. I continued to make changes to her design, giving her a rounder shape. Here is a front view sketch that was created so that I could begin work on the base mesh model; getting the basic proportions and aesthetics into 3D as early as possible.
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Next on the agenda is the tree. I did a little research to see what sort of tree it could be and opted for a Field Maple, since they tend to be fairly small but with full, shaped crowns. With this in mind I completely reworked the model from the blockout and experimented with using circular forms for the leaves rather than the usual plane/billboard approach. This was because I wanted the canopy to have the more dinstict shape of a Field Maple as well as keep in with the style of the scene. I also added some roots that permeate the earth of the forest. The whole thing amounts to 962 tris, which isn't too bad at all! I started the texturing process by painting the leaves of the tree. As tempting as painting each leaf individually was I opted instead to paint a few unique leaves and create the final texture by cloning and manipulating those original images (resizing and changing the hue ever so slightly). Which is how I went from this... To this! I wanted to keep all of the tree's textures in one file so I compiled the bark texture alongside two variations on the leaf texture; allowing me to break up the canopy with some darker clumps of leaves. Here you can see how I laid the texture and the UVW map out. The tree's trunk, branches and roots all use the bark texture on the left; they're arranged vertically so that the tiling effect continues along the entirety of the model. On the right are the two collections of leaves. And here's the result... And here's a shot from a different angle to show the roots sticking out at the back; making the diorama break out of its own boundaries! I've tweaked the colours of the whole scene a little as well to work better with the warm colours the tree brings to the composition.
With the blockout completed I have started working on unwrapping and texturing the scene. The model for the well and wall asset needed some adjustments (I added some extra geometry so I could play around with the form and make it look less square) but was otherwise ready for UVW unwrapping from the get go. The unwrapping itself was pretty straight-forward, with both the wall and the well (comprised of the wooden beams and roof) sharing the texture sheet; with a little room to spare for the bucket if need be. So far I have painted the tileable texture for the stone wall and I'm quite happy with the result. I plan on adding more details nearer the end such as moss/grass between some of the rocks as well as some reworked highlights. I've painted in some basic grass texture on the top of this to give me an idea of colour combinations as well as helping out with moving the UVs around to create a varied and seamless texture running across the whole wall. Here you can see how I've arranged the UVW map for the model; running across so that the tileable texture repeats across the whole wall. And here's the result on the model along with a wood texture I'm currently working on for the beams of the well.
Inspired by a lot of the great work created for the VGRemix contest down at Polycount I have decided to create a small, low poly diorama style environment. The goal is to try and get this done pretty quickly whilst also tackling some elements I find challenging (foliage and rocks for example).
I have chosen to loosely base my scene on some artwork created by the brilliant Kyomu; giving me a good oppurtunity to practice my digital painting. Here is the basic blockout. |
Me
3D Artist, Game Dev and Teacher based in Liverpool, UK Archives
February 2018
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