2D to 3D: Gun for Hire

[Sketch]

This is my latest drawing. It's defitenly got some inspiration from Neoromancer, Blade Runner, Matrix, Shadowrun and all other Cypber Punk storys. I plan on using this piece for my portfolio. I want to show that I can design, paint, model and texture. So this will be an ongoing thread for me. Any help on it would be awesome!

http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/images/cybergrl.jpg

[Anthony]

Looks like a good concept. One note, her pistol is holstered in an inconvenient position. To holster cross body you have to have them angled in front of the body. Can't wait to see her take 3d form!

[Sketch]

Thanks for the comments Anthony. You're defitenly right about the gun. I'll fix it when I start to model her.

[Sketch]

Just a recent WIP:

http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/WIP/wip1.jpg

[Substance]

Cool Cool, can't wait to see the final product of this Cyber-Girl. Good job so far. :p

[haiku]

Looks good. How many polys is the model so far?

[Sketch]

Thanks for the encouraging coments! I forgot to mention above that this is going to be a game character... so I'm aiming for about 4000-6000 polys. So far it's just over a thousand but I have a lot of tweakind to do with the face, so that'll go down. Should have another update soon.
:p

[Sketch]

Quik update
http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/WIP/wip2.jpg

[Sketch]

Another update: got her jacket, arms and hands going. Next is her handgun, legs and then a lot of tweaking.

http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/WIP/wip3.jpg

a front view, to show the arms:
http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/WIP/wip4.jpg

[jezelf]

Looking good.

I would suggest a couple of things on the line art. Firstly the black outline distracts from the concept itself and furthermore flattens any depth you have in there.

for this kind of concept I would say to observe comic strip art and take not how the thicker, weighted line can describe weight (under the arm etc)

are you going to colour in the line art? I know that it's not that important if you are modelling and texturing yourself as you have it in your mind's eye, but if you want to create a portfolio, it's worth paying attention to stuff like that because someone might want to hire you for your 2D concepts alone.

This process - creating all the aspects of art is a good thing to do though, Sketch. It gives you more creativity over the concept as a whole. In my time I've done just 2D art and passed it on to 3D artists who would change a lot of things. doing it all yourself its great because at the end you can say 'I did that character' rather than have to say ' I did the 2d concept for that 3d character' :)

it also means that you are more valuable artist to games development companies, certainly - where usually they have to be particular when hiring personnel due to thin budgets.

looking forward to seeing the final piece.
thanks for showing it to us.
Jez

[Sketch]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to write that great review, Jez. Maybe I'll redraw it without the thick line, see what it looks like. I will be colouring it... right before I get to the texturing stage. Even though I have it in my head it'll help me a lot to lay down the colours first. Thanks for the great input!:D

[Sketch]

There is a small update up above... added legs and feet. Are the legs too long?

[Sketch]

Another update... it's getting there.

http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/WIP/pose1.jpg

http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/WIP/pose2.jpg

http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/WIP/pose3.jpg

[Kalash]

are the weapons too big for the hands/body, or is it just me ? other than that awsome stuff

[sic1]

Progressing nicely.
Kalash, i do think you're on the right track, something regarding the hands/weapons is not clicking with me...
Perhaps the weapons are proportional to the hands; the hands are slightly too big?

[coylo]

Good weapon design, based on the original sketch you did a good job considering your trying to keep the polygons down. Its got that rapid fire/Uzi feel to it, particularily with the long magazine. Your gettin' there, well done! ;)

[Sketch]

Thanks for the comments guys! Kalash: I've changed the size of both her hands and guns but nothing is final right now.

I've changed a lot... redid her head, tweaked the legs, redid the torso and more.:)

Let me know what you think of the changes
Cheers
http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/WIP/cybermdl.jpg

[Cellbound]

that looks wicked, youv done well to capture all the character from your sketch. nice lookin weapons too. which game are you making this for?
small suggestion: you could make her hair fring lock(?) non symetrical like in your sketch..
im doing my first game character model atm for UT2, its takin a while. Say, how long would you spend on a model?

[Sketch]

Hey Cellbound, I'm not making this for any game really... just need to put some game characters in my portfolio to try and get a job.
The hair won't symetrical once I'm done. It just is right now because the model is mirrored.
It's hard to tell how long I spend on doing a model. I always do it when I want a break from drawing. This is pretty much my first game model so my next one I'll do quiker.:D

[Sketch]

Another update: starting to fool around with her base colours. I was wondering what you guys think, bright colours to give her energy or dark colours? I still have to model a few things, like her neck... hehe.

http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/WIP/cbrclrs.jpg

http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/WIP/cbrclrs2.jpg

[usagi yojimbo]

id prefer dark colours, adn i think she'd look cool if you took off the pony tail. i think she'd fit more into a cyber punk world rather than a saturday morning cartoon show (i dont mean that as an insult) i think youre heading that way with the new head and especiallly if shes a mercenary/assassin. also i thoink shes too umm, shapely? i think shed look cooler if you made her more athletic adn less hippy/ bossomy

yeah, it think the legs are too long, adn i agree with kalash, i think the weapons are too big

the new head looks alot better. it looks reallly cool, especially seeing it evolve youre making me want to try some more modelling

[Sketch]

Thanks for the comments Usagi. But I'm not really getting your post. You say you want a more athletic look but then to shorten her legs... that won't really work. Her legs are as short as they're getting.
I agree that the pony tail gives it a bit of a cartoony look but that'll change once I texture it. And I have to stay true to my drawing.
The guns are easy to change. I already made them smaller in my last post. Once I'm ready to rig, I'll fit them into the hands properly.:D

[Sketch]

another update:

http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/WIP/drkcybr2.jpg

[usagi yojimbo]

ehat io menat was that her hips are too big, not to lengthen her legs,

heres a guide for female porportions, if you dont already have something like it. of course im not saying you should make the proportions exactly like this or anything

http://www.fineart.sk/page027.gif

i dont know if this will help but...

http://www.anything3d.com/model-portfolio_session/index.php3?ShowOnly=f&cell=1&no_style=&MODELSESSION=8b85ef936f2947a55ce31402ad5c6ae2#top

its a site where you can spin models around 360 degrees, click a model and click 3d view.

[WerxOne]

i like her hips! athletisism really shows more in the animation,
how whe stands, how she walks, the way you animate her personality gives a more convincing view of how athletic the model is. though the model has atleast match somewhere close to the stereotypical athlete. it would be really hard to achieve the same effect with an overwieght model.

[Sketch]

Thanks again for the input Usagi... I personally don't like that body type in the picture. I'm going for more of a comic book feel than real life(although I do want everything correct). That 3D turnaround site is awesome! Can't believe I didn't know about that, thanks!

Glad you like the hips Werxone.:)

There'll be another update sometime soon... I'm just laying out the UVs right now.

[usagi yojimbo]

no, i dont like that body type either, i just posted it to show the formula. the thing is that the body is measured out using the head, for a different body type you use a different head shape but the formula is still the same (skinny head, skinny body, fat head, fat body)

sorry if this sounds like im lecturing you or anything, just trying to be helpful

glad you liked the turn around thing, i got the link from this place (http://www.fineart.sk/) its pretty useful

[Sketch]

uv layouts... starting texturing soon:D

http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/WIP/uvbody.jpg
http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/WIP/uvhead.jpg

[danbucknam]

Sketch: This looks good. There are a few problems that i see. I would have spent more time in the concept stage before getting too deep. How are you modeling this?
Are you using subdivision surface? Is this low poly for games?

[NightFox]

The UV map of her head looks a bit too distorted to make an actually good looking texture job. Did you use the checkerboard technique for it? I have this UV tutorial video I got from polycount. I forget which one did it. Bobo the Seal or Nutsy. Show's a really quick way of mapping flats easy.

Where's her neck? Is her ribcage area a seperate piece and not connected to her abdomen? You can get nice deformation when animating if it's connected. Well, if it's all connected pretty much, as long as it's her clothing that's skin tight.

The last color render you did of her bothers me on her left foot. The heel should come out less and more towards the heel of her foot inside the boot. A couple extra polys there won't hurt that much. You could probably take them from other parts of her body if you're under a poly budget. You should post some wireframe shots of her. Could tell where there'd be some optimization for her to maybe even have LOD models. I can tell from the texture flats that there's alot of polys on her. I'm sure with some work done, you could probably even get her modeled just like your reference picture of her without losing all those extra poly's.

It's a great start. Just keep going with it!

NF
-----------------------
"More Polys!" *whipcrack* "Draw Better!" *whip crack*

[danbucknam]

seems pretty good for low poly

[Sketch]

Sorry i took so long to reply to you guys. I just got back from my Christmas getaway. Now it's time to really look for work.
Danbucknam: It is a lower poly model... should come out to 4000 polys or so. What are the problems you see?
Nightfox: Thanks for the input. The uv maps are completely different now. I've applied the checker patteren and everything looks great. Her chest is connected with her abdomen. She also has her neck now.

I'll try and post an update by Monday. Haven't worked on it at all seeing as how I was gone.:D

[Sketch]

finally starting to get some texturing done...

http://www.vfs.com/~m07matthew/WIP/mdlupdate.jpg