zandoriastudios Posted March 1, 2015 Posted March 1, 2015 As part of the 2015 Open Studio plan, I thought that I better throw my sketchbook up here with some concept sketches of some of the locations, props, characters, etc of things upcoming... One of the main locations is a bar called "The Waterhole" at the Oasis of Lund. There will be a lot of buildings, and set pieces that will be good beginner projects for apprentices to work on (Details to come...). 1 Quote
*A:M User* Shelton Posted March 1, 2015 *A:M User* Posted March 1, 2015 Will Awesome. I will find time to help. 1 Quote
Fuchur Posted March 1, 2015 Posted March 1, 2015 Great looking drawings Will . I may join in on some things too if I can... See you *Fuchur* 1 Quote
detbear Posted March 2, 2015 Posted March 2, 2015 Will, I know the Hyennas have been modeled, but what about the other characters in the above concepts? Have they been created yet? Also, I recall that you modelled/ sculpted a tree in a previous post. I guess what I'm askin' is which of the above have been done already? William D. Quote
zandoriastudios Posted March 2, 2015 Author Posted March 2, 2015 Not much--even the boabab tree that I showed in an earlier thread was just experimenting... I don't want anyone to jump in just yet--Im going to post a bible for the series, and storyboards so that choices can be made about what can be modeled vs painted. Though I see the need for individual huts and buildings trees to be combined for different locations. Quote
Admin Rodney Posted March 2, 2015 Admin Posted March 2, 2015 That's a great cast of characters Will. Exciting times! Quote
detbear Posted March 14, 2015 Posted March 14, 2015 Hey Will, I know you said you didn't want anyone to do anything on this yet.. I was bored and messed around with the elephant character. I may not be able to have any time when you release the materials. If it can help you out, I'll send it to you. This is completely just a help to you at best..... If it isn't anywhere near helpful. Oh well... This could give your artist a point at which to retopo....or just to test the overall scale. etc. FORGIVE ME IF THIS IS A STEP AHEAD TOO FAR..... I'll remove post if you like. Quote
detbear Posted March 14, 2015 Posted March 14, 2015 PLUS.....I don't know if that's anywhere near the character you desire. I just took a pass at it. Certainly no worries if it isn't near the mark. Quote
zandoriastudios Posted March 16, 2015 Author Posted March 16, 2015 William--that looks pretty awesome, dude! It looks very much like the sketch. Quote
detbear Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 Hey Will, It's yours if you can use it....no strings attached. Glad I could help you in some way. Let me know. Quote
detbear Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 Will, Also....It's a bit sloppy....And obviously missing some limbs . I figured with your sculpting ability you could whip it/ morph it into your liking. Quote
detbear Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 Will, This Zeebra is kind of a general shape really...But could help in getting a quicker start towards the right shape. Quote
zandoriastudios Posted March 16, 2015 Author Posted March 16, 2015 Wow, William you are on a roll! Quote
detbear Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 And The Water Buffalo. Haven't brushed up on my water buffalo anatomy in quite a while 1 Quote
detbear Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 Hey Will, Rodney & Douglass...... Thanks.....Wanted to help Will out. None of these are super polished. But I thought it might help to have some form to experiment with.... so that as Will works out the characters he wouldn't have to completely start from just his images. He can take these if he chooses and push/ pull/ morph/ delete....whatever. William D Quote
detbear Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 No Worries Big Douglas, These are submissions to be used by Will if he so desires. Could be that he already has a "Rockin'" version of these guys already. Mine is only a submission. Zandoria is Will's universe. Quote
*A:M User* Shelton Posted March 17, 2015 *A:M User* Posted March 17, 2015 William Very nice! I love the zebra! Great stuff for Will Quote
jakerupert Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 Wow, fantastic modeling very true to the great designs! Could you post some wireframes? how long did one chara take you approximatly? Quote
detbear Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 I sculpted both the Zeebra and the Water Buffalo yesterday. Zeebra took a few hours I think. Water Buffalo took about the same. I wasn't clocking myself, so it could've taken a little less or a little longer. The elephant from the previous post also took about the same time. Did that one a few days back. Remember.....these aren't finished characters. In fact, I consider them to merely be a part of Will's design process. A process of "fleshing" out the base form in order for Will to put his final vision into it. More of a help with the character development. William may want a completely different size head.....or torso girth......or shorter legs........or larger head....etc. Will is a Great Sculptor and artist, so his vision could scratch these completely. Quote
zandoriastudios Posted March 17, 2015 Author Posted March 17, 2015 William, are you working with Sculptris, ZBrush, or Mudbox? The workflow that I'm using is bringing the base mesh into A:M, tweaking the size and topology, then exporting back out to .obj. That exported OBJ becomes the base for the clothing,helmets, etc. If you Texture those objects (subtools) separately in in ZBrush, then you can import them into A:M as new models, keeping the textures as decals. and then you can paste them into the main model (or add them in a pose). OBJ doesn't let you have multiple decals like A:M, but this workflow overcomes that (and .A:M models don't have that limitation)... I like seeing the sketch in the round--I can see things that look good, and things that I would change. The designs of the legs I keep messing with different ideas, between quadruped legs or "normal" ones to see what looks best. And I am trying to push myself towards a 4-head cartoony proportion (but my pencil fights it...) Do you want to pick one of these guys and model it all the way? I can give feedback as we go, until we end up with an animation-ready model. I think it would be worthwhile, because you could take your sculpting to a finished state, generate displacement maps and normal maps to apply that detail on the A:M version. It would benefit us both, right? Quote
detbear Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 Hey Will, These are quick sculpts in Sculptris.....I sent you an e-mail this morning about this. If you didn't get it, let me know. The process you described is close to what I figured you were doing in the character development. I know on my projects, the more I can see in "The round", the better I can develop my vision and faster. Even if it's just porportions, or something. IF you dina mesh the final look and use the Z-re-mesher to get the character down to a low "Quad" version, couldn't you import that into A:M as splines via the obj importer? I could be wrong about that. Or....the results may be inadequate. That way you would have the model inside A:M as a .mdl for placing whatever surfacing/ cloth/ etc. you want. Your push/ pulls is what I was kind-of thinking....in that your "stylized" look could be acheived on your side of the fence. I would be happy to pick one of the characters and go at it. My only reservation is whether I would be able to complete it on time. I want to get back on my Submarine project.....especially to finish what Robcat and I started on the "Cinematic Sub Shot." Plus....I'm inbetween Jobs here and worried about eating. So I want to be careful about what I commit to. But regardless.......these are yours for the taking as I've said several times. You can grab them into ZBrush and flesh them out to your style. Selfishly....I would love to take a crack at your Alligator/ Crocadile character....but I didn't see but a faint sketch of the head there. In the event that I could battle at one of these.....You pick the one you want me to develop and I'll see what I can do. William D Quote
zandoriastudios Posted March 17, 2015 Author Posted March 17, 2015 I appreciate your efforts thus far, and I can do as you say and use your sculpt as a starting point--so thanks! Crocodile needs some sketchbook time, as I think he will be in a shot in the next episode....I've got to get this Pitch Bible online, so everyone can see where this is going Quote
detbear Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 OK Will, I sent those over to you. William D 1 Quote
higginsdj Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 Cool workflow. I love Zbrush and am experimenting with Marveous Designer for construction of clothing (that's why I am so keen on retopology functionality in AM) Quote
detbear Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 Hey David, Retopo is one of the most helpful features I've seen added to A:M. A:M has pushed forward so much. As good as it was in the past, these additions have made it even that much more awesome. By the way......I've checked out Marvelous Design before. Have you combined that with A:M animation? Or exported a mesh animation to blend it with work in A:M? Quote
higginsdj Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 No, haven't delved into MD beyond simply making clothes and exporting them to ZBrush. Wasn't aware it could do animation other than cloth simulation for a static pose! Quote
higginsdj Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 Will, having already designed and made the Hyena's aren't your leg shapes already defined - ie all your animal characters will need to have human legs! Every time I look back at the work you've done so far Will I get real excited about the project Quote
zandoriastudios Posted March 19, 2015 Author Posted March 19, 2015 Yeah, that's my thought at this point...the 3rd sketch of the waterbuffalo is the bartender, Mike. a retired adventurer who runs a bar called the "waterhole" with his wife Robin. He loves to re-live the glory days... Quote
higginsdj Posted March 19, 2015 Posted March 19, 2015 I'm having a go at the wilderbeast (I assume that's what it is) myself just for the exercise Quote
detbear Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 I think being consistant with the characters is very important. Sometimes the appeal of a character can allow for breaking that rule a bit. For instance....I think "Tusk" (The Elephant) has more appeal with Elephant legs. Tar himself has hipo feet. I think it will work either way. His leg is still a Hippo leg even though he is upright. For me the shape of the legs is not as critical as having them upright. If Tusk or Tar were down on all fours, that would be odd. The main issue with the feet from an animation perspective will be handling a non-human like leg. There will be a little difference in the locomotion of a leg of the sketch I worked off of for the Water Buffalo. What wouldn't seem to match is making one of these Quadraped-like....walking on all fours. Quote
detbear Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 BTW......David...I look forward to seeing your hit on the water buffalo. This gives Will the luxury we all normally don't have. That is....being able to see different perspectives of the character and being able to take the strengths and appeals and getting a stronger character. You're such a good modeler...I think it will be great. I look forward to seeing it. Hopefully Will can get support throughout like this. It will help strengthen his process. 1 Quote
higginsdj Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 LOL - I just need the practice with ZBrush Low Res - no hair/fur (in Keyshot) Cheers David 1 Quote
detbear Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 Well....Getting the base shape is a plus. I picked the central character in the sketch and did a loose representation on that. In Sculptris, it takes me about a day to get loosened up again to the flow of the tools. Especially if I haven't sculpted in a while. Quote
zandoriastudios Posted March 23, 2015 Author Posted March 23, 2015 I love the way Sculptris dynamically tesselates the mesh as you sculpt it! I really expected ZBrush to adopt that when they bought it... Quote
detbear Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 Me also Will. I find that it flows so well. Being able to set the tesselation amount really helps too. And the reduction brush tool works behind it really well. I don't think I could've banged those 3 out as fast in Zbrush. Then again....I haven't the experience to know for sure. BUT from what I hear from other Zbrush professionals, they feel the way we do on this subject. Quote
zandoriastudios Posted February 27, 2017 Author Posted February 27, 2017 ZBrush sculpt of "TUSK" https://www.artstation.com/artwork/YoDZY Quote
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted February 27, 2017 Hash Fellow Posted February 27, 2017 Now if there were some way to export the small details as displacement map and place that back on the A:M model... Quote
*A:M User* Shelton Posted February 27, 2017 *A:M User* Posted February 27, 2017 Awesome! Love the detail of Tusk Quote
Admin Rodney Posted February 27, 2017 Admin Posted February 27, 2017 I"ve been wondering what you've been up to. Glad to see you are still plugging away at this. Quote
zandoriastudios Posted March 13, 2017 Author Posted March 13, 2017 Now if there were some way to export the small details as displacement map and place that back on the A:M model... yeah, you can do that... I guess I will have to do a tutorial at some point, but I've been working on a graphic novel version on my iPad Pro, instead of animating. I did this for a modeling contest where they were giving away a Form2 printer...didn't win Quote
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