Dragon-man

[Zaryin]

Hi everybody. It's been a while since I posted. I was working insane hours at work, blew out my back, and got fired the next day. It was a temp job though, and I knew I would get let go soon. I now have time to work on some stuff some more.

 

This character is my spin on the Draconian from the series of Dragonlance books.

 

Although I have the head done I have yet to decide if I will add the detail that I have in the reference with splines, or if I will try to do it with decals. The patch count is already at over 1200, just for the head, ugh! Let me know what you think about that.

 

The pupil of the eye will be slitted. Right now I am using the eye from my Jinx character (beagle entered in the Mascot Image Contest). Any help with this character on the way to finishing it would be apreciated.

 

Thanks everyone.

[Zaryin]

Oh, I know it's not an exact match to the ref, but I decided to keep the horn count down so they wouldn't crash together in posing. It also help with the patch count .

 

Here are some wires.

[KenH]

Rather cool. Some of the splines along the centre line appear to be discontinuous.

[Zaryin]

Thanks Ken. I haven't actually attatched the the two halves of the head. I probably should have mentioned that in my other posts.

 

Thanks again for the comment.

[dingo]

Oooo I like his eyes. Good Job.

[Zaryin]

Thanks dingo. Here's a very small update.

 

Just added a base for the top armor, might just add the rest with decals. I could use some opinions on if I should build the geometry of use bump or displacement for the detail of the top of the head.

 

Thanks

[Guest mrsl13]

Thats a nice looking model...looking forward to seeing more as you go..

 

Mike C

[starwarsguy]

I love the modeling! Great job!

[Zaryin]

Thanks starwarsguy,

[Zaryin]

Here's another update. I will be adding horns going down the entire length of the back. I will also be continueing the armor plating on the front and back to the tip of the tail. Wings will also be added.

 

Let me know how it's looknig, and what you think I could do to improve it.

 

Thanks everyone.

[MATrickz]

WOW! Great modeling, I really like the eyes and facial structure. I cant wait to see more! By the way, what lighting setup did you use for those renders? it looks great!

 

Keep us updated!

[littleandy]

Nice job! I like the expression in the face- especially in just its rigging position. Looking forward to see what you do with it.

 

-Andrew

[Zaryin]

Thanks for the comments guys. I am using Yves' Skylight Domes (25 lights) for the lighting. Thanks Yves!

[Zaryin]

Another little update.

 

I finished all the torso horns for now. Any rendering artifacts you see between the horns is caused by me not finishing the modeling on the other side of the model . I figure since I will be Copy/Flip/Attaching everything I don't really need to.

 

Let me know what you think.

[ypoissant]

That is coming along very well. You've put a lot of details in this model. That adds to believability even though it is an imaginary character.

[Rodney]

Whoa... I somehow missed your WIP Zaryin!

 

Sorry to hear about the job and the back but it looks like you've been quite effective with your extra time.

 

As has been mentioned the detail you are putting into him is really making a difference. They eyes seem to have caught people's attention too, and with good reason as you've really made them look great.

 

I know you gave some background on the genesis of the creature but did I miss what you are planning to do with him? Perhaps I should go back and read more slowly...

 

Great effort thus far!

[Hutch]

This guy is looking really nice. You already have so much detail. Bump and/or displacement maps will make him look incredible. I can't wait to see how his arms and legs turn out and did you say he would have wings also?

[Zaryin]

Thanks for the reply guys.

 

Yves: Yeah, I'm trying to put alot of detail in the splinage instead of the the textures. Really just trying to see how far I can push my pc . I think if I Copy/Flip/Attached right now I would have a little over 3,000 patches.

 

Rodney: Like most of things I make -- um -- I make it because I felt like it, haha. I don't really have plans for it. Maybe it will pop in in a future Image Contest -- if I ever finish it.

 

Hutch: Another reason I am making this guy is to see if I can make credible displacement maps that will turn out well.

 

So I guess it's a modeling and texture excercise for me.

 

Thanks again for the comments. Keep 'em comin'!

[Zaryin]

Another small update. I finished the bottom armor on the tail. I think I will start on the arms and legs now. I'll probably do the hands and feet last, so will work on the wings after the arms and legs.

 

I'm working on the next Image contest that's why my posts have been little ones .

[lazz]

Wow man that's turning out great. Looks awesome! Can't wait to see the finished porduct. Do you plan to texture/decal it? I think it would look good even how it is now in that respect.

Good job!

-robert lazzarini

[Zaryin]

Thanks Xade for the comments. Sorry it took so long to comment on them .

 

I'm thinking about starting this character up again, and had a question...

 

Does anyone have any good refs, or know where I could search, for that human-animal type leg I would like for this guy. I would like to get an idea of what others have done in this situation to get a good looking leg for him.

 

Thanks everyone.

[Rodney]

Jeff,

Where to start...

There is an incredible amount of images out there that can lead you and inspire you in your effort to discover the ideal leg.

 

Here are some sketches (not necessarily what you are after but a sample of a search):

Example page returned from a Google search on "lizard man character sketch sheet reference"

 

You can narrow the search down a lot more I'm sure.

 

Click here for the actual search results

[KenH]

Something like a T-rex leg would seem appropriate to me.

[CreativeAustinYankee]

Your best bet:

 

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ag/20030808a

 

 

Or you could find some of the manuals for the games, particularly the Monstrous Compendiums.

 

 

Also, there's been some incredible artwork for the manuals. There is at least one collection of Artwork of the AD&D worlds. My personal favorite was always Ravenloft.

 

Barring all of that, I believe both Boris Vallejo and Frank Frazetta have done lizard men.

 

Hope this helps.

[Gorf]

Rather cool. Some of the splines along the centre line appear to be discontinuous.

Is there an easy way to fix that, when it happens?

[Zaryin]

Wow, thanks everyone for your responses. I used to have the Monstrous Compendium back in the day, but gave it away after I stopped playing.

 

Gorf: To answer your question, the splines are discontinuous like that because I just copied and flipped one side without attaching both sides. I decided to do it that way for now, because when I do Copy/Flip/Attach I have alot of 5-point patches along that middle spline so it will cause alot of problems that I will have to fix when I do. I will C/F/A when I finish the legs, arms and wings.

 

Thanks again for the help, guys.

[pixelmech]

Real nice Zar! I enjoyed those original books a lot, and the draconians are one of my favorite villians. My only suggestion is to remember that these are dark, underworld creatures so they are going to want to have a nasty, lizardly (word? LOL) guys. His default expression should be a egotistical sneer for example. His default stance should be aggresive, even menacing!

 

Granted, you are still modeling him so - just things to think about. And a lot of that can be accomplished with texturing too. Looking forward to seeing more!

 

Tom

[Zaryin]

Thanks pixlemech. I did decide to make him sleeker than what I really thought Dracs looked like. I might make this a "good" drac, but probably not .

 

I think I found a good ref for the legs. Thanks everyone.

[Zaryin]

Hey everybody. It's been awhile, but I decided to try this guy out again.

 

Here he is with wings. I will probably still be doing minor tweaking on the wings. The two halves of the body are not connected. Right now he's coming in at 3532 patches. Let me know what you think.

 

Thanks everyone for looking.

[johnl3d]

Nice work Jeff !

[MattWBradbury]

Having worked with the Doom 3 SDK, I suggest using Normal Maps for small details like scales, or the armor on the top of the head. It's a realy fast tequnique, and it comes out a lot better looking than bump maps. The main reason for that is because normal maps have slope calculations built in, so they can give much more quality. It would be a bit harder to use displacement maps, but that would add even more detail.

 

A cool thing you can do with the wings is give them translucency. If you do that, make sure to build a spline on the inside of the wings with veins. Also make sure to build the bone structure too.

 

Really nice model by the way.

[gazzamataz]

Very nice model Zaryin but I have a couple of points I would like to make about this model that bug me:

 

The teeth. I know it is a fantasy character but his teeth have always looked like they slope back to much, if you where to look at T-Rex or raptor teeth they wouldn't slant back so much. It looks as though he wouldn't be able to close his mouth properly.

 

His waist. It looks a bit too feminine and narrow to support that big chest, arms and those large heavy looking wings.

 

Apart from these two things he's looking good.

[Korken]

Hurray! You continued with you draconian!

 

Only thing I can say is that the teeth do indeed point to much backwords other then that... It's awsome!

Can't wait to see it complete!

 

//Korken

[phnxpyre]

WOW!

 

That is so incredible, its amazing!

 

But, like gazzmataz said, his waist does look kind of feminine. its too skinny below his chest.

but other than that, Wow!!! keep up the good work.

[Zaryin]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

 

John: Thanks alot .

 

MattWBradbury: Thanks. When I get v12 I will be using normal mapping. THat was my plan. THe only problem is learning to make normal maps .

 

gazzamataz, Korken, phnxpyre: Thanks for you comments. I will probably be keeping the teeth exactly as they are. They just seem nicely menacing and readier to rend the way they are. I have already made sure that the mouth closes before I finished the head.

 

The waist I will be adjusting after I do the legs. I just don't know where I am going with the bottom half of him.

 

Thanks again everyone.

[MattWBradbury]

There's two ways to make normal maps. The first is to use the NVIDIA photoshop plug-in to convert a hightmap into a normal map. You can find the plug-in here:

NVIDIA Normap Map Plug-in

The second way to create normal maps is to use the A:M normal map plug-in found here:

A:M Normal Map Plug-in

Just create the armor plating with the normal map material applied to it, render it, and you've got your very own armor plating normal map.

[Zaryin]

Thanks Matt. I was already considering the second method, but that would take way too long. I think I'd rather convert a painted tecture. Seems like it might be easier .

[DanCBradbury]

I realy like what you've done so far with this dragon-man. But... he's missing something. You should really change him up a bit to look more like this.

[jamagica]

homestarrunner!!!

 

sweet.....did you do that in A:M?

[DanCBradbury]

lol. i wish. no i just found this on the interweb. it's a pretty awesome styalized picture of him. TRODOR BURNS IN THE NIGHT!!!! lol

[Zaryin]

Haha that's funny as hell. Thanks for the inspiration .