Ahh Zbrush! why you so confusing?!

So out of all the new software I had looked into the only ones I seem to be able to use, are 3ds max and blender (sort of) . Zbrush is really confusing simply tasks are made nearly impossible, such as opening a new frame or deleting an object, I have to restart the software every time, its a nightmare and not very user friendly. I've managed to change the head a little and add some details such as scars and such, I really want to add the hair as I think it really will transform the model but the best tutorial I can find, has no commentary and has been sped up so I cant follow it but the end result is exactly what I want :(
My tutor helped me find a pre-made 3DS body for me so I can simply put my head on it, I chose the body from the character Chris Redfield from Resident evil 5 as its just the right build for my character and has the right clothes I was imagining for him, plus it saves me modelling time. I opened the body in 3DS Max and removed the original characters head and replaced it with mine by merging the objects together from different scenes, after re-sizing it to fit the body I noticed that it looked a bit odd, rendering wise, on closer inspection of the wire frame I was told by my tutor the body had been 'tesselated' to allow for better quality rendering, what this means is after a model has been created in 'quads' (four sided polys) a tesselation modifier is added which splits all the polys in half into triangles, which confused/annoyed me because all the tutorials I have viewed say I MUST work in quads because the modelling process will flow better :/ Oh well I'm no expert so I can only go with it.

 After importing my head and working into it a little, happy with the front view....

....But the side view looks odd, I think the top half of the face is protruding too much, because if you cover that the rest looks pretty good

This is the downloaded body with my head on it, its not on there perfectly yet

Time limits

So as the deadline is creeping in I am starting to panic quiet alot as to the amount I have accumulated, there isnt enough in my opinion and I was really hoping at this stage to have 3 nearly complete 3d models, as of now....I have an unfinished head :/
I had planned a time table but it seems to not have been kept to, Im pretty annoyed with myself as I really wanted to complete a fully rendered character and have something impressive to present at the end of it, but I have spent too long on my concept art....so naturally to bulk out my work....I did more concept art..... don't judge me. I did however finish the cyborg concept for the wolf.

Zbrush sourcery

Zbrush is probably the most awkward piece of software I have ever used, the interface is so difficult to navigate. I can understand why so many people opt for it as all the videos and images I researched were incredible. But, my god, its like being dropped in Narnia! From the very minor experimentation I'v had with it, I've managed to create some cool things, I wont lie though, I am a bit scared of it if I'm honest :/
To get my model from Max in to Zbrush I had to save it as on object OBJ, this is like a universal file for all 3d software so I can open it all of them. To save as an obj file I had to export my model first, then save it and then open Zbrush and import it. At first I thought it wasn't working as there was nothing on the screen but it turns out its like a brush at first, and you have to paint it on the screen and then turn it into a 3d object by pressing 'T', confused yet? Me to. One of the main reasons I wanted to use Zbrush was so I could work in high resolution, because in 3DS Max the only way I could work somewhat in high resolution was to put on 'turbo smooth' which I mentioned in an earlier post.

Ive managed to draw in the scars along the face and I have altered the face slightly

Have you heard?

Ear time! probably one of the most annoyingly complicated bits to do -.- the topology for its going to mentally crush me, I mean it baffles me at the best of times but this is going to be ridiculous. Instead of drawing out my own ear I just got one off Google and drew the topology over it in Photoshop and then pasted it only the image I had already drawn (pictured below).
Going through the same process as I did drawing out the initial face and then converting it into an editable poly and then pulling out all the vertex's to give it shape.

After creating the initial ear shape I realised I hadn't created the fold along the top of the ear, so I had to 'break' lots of the vertex's to separate them and then add polys to make the folds. This took longer than I would have liked, but I am pleased with the overall outcome of it..so far

Ear attatchment

So I finished the ear...sort of, I gave up trying to attach it to the head, it was just having none of it but I did create the back of it. The logic behind it is, that I'm going to import it into Zbrush anyway, so if I just place it near the head so it looks attached it will be ok in Zbrush. It looks ok still but it really is driving me mad that I cant attach it to the head properly, even Craig my tutor is a bit stumped by it. So it begins....my fallout with max *sigh*. I need to install and read up on Zbrush now.....this will be fun.

Bowl head

After finishing the face area, I needed to start work on building the rest of the head up, this part was relatively easy, I created a sphere and re-sized it to the size on the image planes and then reshaped it to be a bit narrower as the human skull is not a perfect sphere it is sort of oval. After getting the shape right I could re adjust how many poly's it had to match up with the face panel, then I got rid of the sectioned I wouldn't need, such as the bottom part and the front bit where the face is, after getting rid of the polys I didn't need, I was left with a 'C' shape. Now all that was left to do was attach the vertex's together that are separating them and viola! A head ^.^ I did a little reshaping after as it didn't look quiet right, it was still still too spherical. Lastly for this stage I started on the neck simply by doing the method early of pulling out new polys from existing one by holding down the shift key. 

Below I added a turbo smooth modifier just to get an idea of how the rendered version would look, I'm happy with it so far, there's still time for it to go wrong :/

Face progress

 Now Iv finished the main facial area, I went ahead and added a 'symmetry modifier' this basically saves me going through the whole process again of doing the other side of the face and it makes sure its all symmetrical. Another advantage of adding this modifier is that whatever I do to one side of the face it will also happen to the other.

I found when doing the side profile, my measurements were really off, which I find baffling because I used the rulers in photoshop so it should have been spot on. Everything was either to low or too high in correspondence to the front profile, after playing around with it for a while I got it to look right.   

As you can see I made a start on filling the areas I left out in the initial mapping. The nostrils werent too difficult to do, its just getting you topology to match up and making sure they are all four sided polys as anything more or less make awkward shaped to work with and dont render very nicely.

Here I finished the lips were actually more challenging than i initially thought they would be. When working and creating more polys, instead of drawing them all in again separately a nifty time saver is to select 'edges in you 'editable poly' mode and holding down the shift key and pulling out the edge (as if to move it) will create a new poly from that one and you can select many edges at once and do this to. 

Here you will notice a smoother mesh with many more polys that the other image, this is due to a 'turbo smooth' modifier I have applied, this gives me a better idea of a rendered outcome and also if my low poly mesh is attached together properly as any polys that arnt 'welded' together will show gaps in the mesh 

Nice little close up of the overall progress, im quietly confidant at this point, Max is behaving itself....but for how long.........

side profile modelling

Having drawn in all the lines and converted them into polys I can now move on with the side profile and start pulling out the polys from the front image to start giving it shape. I do this by selecting all the polys I have just drawn and converting into an 'editable poly' this means I can now choose different aspects of a poly to edit it by, such as vertex's, which are the corners of a poly (square), edges and faces etc there's lots of other hard to explain things that it does aswell but I couldnt possibly mention them all.

 In the first image you can see where I am pulling out all the polys from the front profile to match up with the side profile. I did this by selecting all the vertical vertex's, pulling them out to match them to the side and them moving on to the next row. Most of the side work is open to judgement as you look at where a vertex is on the front and pull it to where it would realistically be on the side, like the cheek area would rest further back than the nose area would be.

You'll notice that I have missed out the lips and nostril area, this is because they are more complex area and i prefer to do these separately. 

3DS Max....we meet again

Started the tedious process of 3d modelling today, its both therapeutic and enraging at the same time. Max has a tendency (with me at any rate) of picking and choosing when it wants to work. But to start I created two planes (like pieces of paper) and placed the images I drew with the topology onto them so they can be by guidelines, then I used the line tool to draw in all the topology lines for the polys. at this point the side profile doesnt really come onto play, its only when all the polys have been drawn out that I'll need it later.

Bash my head against a wall please

OMG! topology is EVIL! for those of you that do not kow what topology is its a new way of torturing me :/ but really, what it is: before I can import the image on a plane to 3DS Max (which works in polys, which are squares) I need to draw what is essentially a net (mesh) over the top of the front and side profile images I drew that run with the shape of the face. Thus creating a sort of 2d model of what I am to create. Its no difficult though! its like a really elaborate game of tetris, seriously, they all have to be four sided and they all need to floor otherwise it just isnt going to work in the modelling process. The side profile isnt really to be bothered with for this stage because the front image is the foundation for the rest of the head.

This gives you a better idea of how it will look in the modelling process, I most likely will reduce the polys as this will benefit the software as the higher the poly count, the more likely it is to crash. 

front/side profile

Finished the front profile and decided I would only do a really quick side profile (I know I always say it will be quick but I really mean it this time) I used the rulers in photoshop to to make sure that everything lines up correctly, but I must say he looks a little like an Easter Island statue from the side :/ but I suppose I can fix that in 3ds Max if it doesnt look right.

Work progress

Working with the Cintiq I feel has really stepped up my game, I know it doesnt really effect my ability but its made working so much easier and fluid. The front profile that i have had to do has come out really well despite originally being a rough front for me to work on.

The eyes! im so happy with the eyes, they match and everything! this is actually alot closer to haw I want my character to look than the colour one I did previously, one of the things I am most pleased with is the way he is starting to take on a personality, orginallly, in my earlier posts I mentioned wanting to make him seem more 'human' that the average baddass character you seem to get in every game, I wanted him to look like he has had a sad past that has made him more determined today to do better. 

Thought I should make a quick start on my enemy character, I wanted the story of them to have been ex soldiers that have been experimented on by the military but it all went Pete Tong (wrong :/ ) and these experiments were once the main characters friends. There is a whole story in progress that me and Jamie are working on as we think this will help in the design process. The enemy iv thrown together is, in short, just awful I really dont like it, I wanted them to be truly terrifying so that if you were playing the game and saw one, you'd actually cry, this type of case for me is Dead Space, this game gave me nightmares. The monsters in them all have creepy long extremities and stuff like that freaks me out loads so I thought this would be ideal for the inspiration for my enemy but its ended up looking to much like the dead space monsters and isnt really fitting for my story at all, below are examples of  dead space monsters and my monster so far.

I wanted a more human feel to my monster as I wanted it to be somewhat recognizable to my main character and I want cybertronic elements......non of these things are visible in my design at all *sigh* still scary though

Cintiq

Today im hoping is a turning point in my work as I've invested in a Wacom Cintiq! For the past 5 years or so iv been working on a little bamboo pen and tablet which has been great (even more so since i figured out that it needed a driver :/ ) But I am going to need a cintiq at some point and an offer from my friend has come up and I really cant say no, they retail between £800-£1000 and my friend has asked for £400! I know what you're thinking, 'what's wrong with it', nothing, he bought it last year thinking he would use it loads for uni and didnt end up going, instead he is now a tattoo apprentice who works only by traditional means and has no use for it, hence why he has offered it to me ^.^ Wont lie setting it up and calibrating it has been a nightmare but working on it has been a dream. After finally finishing the concept head with the scars and mechanic eye, I now need to make a front and side profile so I can make a 3D model off it in Max.

UGH! eyes!

So after hating on the eyes I did in the last image I remembered that the eyes dont really matter if they arnt perfectly symmetrical because one is going to be cybertronic and all scarred up so HA! crisis averted ^.^

I went for a camera lense look for the mechanical eye and I wanted a striking colour to really bring attention to it and the scars across the face i think sort of tell a story as to how it happened in the first place, the scars of which, I am really pleased with. I added a background that I did in literally two minutes to to make it appear more finished overall

The Story of M.A.W

M.A.W or Modified Artificial Warrior is officially what me and Jamie are calling our project, he is doing the level design and creation and I am creating the characters. Its a collaborative project but we don't have to rely on each other to get work done, he can do his thing and I can do mine. The name reflects the main theme as my main character is a cybertronically modified soldier and the whole story will be based around a government trying to create cyborg soldiers. Of course creating a plot wasn't originally part of our proposal but the more me and Jamie were talking about different design ideas and level layouts, the more a story started to develop, like why this level is a lab or why my character has cyborg aspects.

The character I'v created will be called Adrian and his story is as followed: He was a high level soldier in a military company with many expectations had of him, but he ended up leaving after being asked to take part in an experiment to cybertronically enhance him on a genetic scale. He refused, left and had a family, putting behind him his military past. Until one fateful day when Adrian, his wife, son and pet dog where coming back from a day out with some of his military friends and a truck hit their van leaving only Adrian and his dog Axel alive, but only just. He woke in a military lab alongside Axel and saw the extent of his wounds from the accident, his whole left side had been crushed, what is now in place is cybertronic transplants wired into his nervous system including his left eye. Axel was left with a broken spine and brain damage but after an operation he is now a 'cyberguardian' his spine and damaged brain areas have been replaced with mechanical and computer implants thus allowing him human speech and thought capabilities. His replaced mechanical jaw and hind legs serve as powerful prying and crushing tools. Axel is all that Adrian has left of his family and he confides his trust in Axel, having no family left Adrian returns to his post in the military given that he didn't really have a choice, having cybertronics which technically belonged to the military.
Some years later Adrian is out on a routine flight with Axel and notices a military base isn't responding, he goes to the base which is located on its own small island due to its sensitive weapon research nature, or so Adrian has been told. Upon landing on the island Adrian is already aware something is not right, no one replying on the radio and no one on landing. Axel scans the area and reports that there is no one around, Adrian finds a way in to the base by means of his enhanced arm strength and Axel's powerful jaws, when he enters what he sees immediately puts him on pins, the hangar has been destroyed all vehicles have been demolished and a dismantled machine gun that still seems to be hot from firing rounds. Searching further into the base going down many levels Adrian discovers bodies of soldiers and blood stained walls, he assumes there was an attack on the base, until he reaches what seems to be a hospital wing. There is a laboratory that seems to be more damaged than any of the other rooms in the base, there are large incubator type containers, upon further inspection he discovers bodies of soldiers that he used to work with including his friends from the crash, only they don't look entirely human, one of them awakens and smashes out of the container, Adrian tries to speak to him, but its clear 'its' lost all humanity and attacks Adrian but flees soon after Axel intervenes. In shock Adrian makes it his mission to unearth the true intent of the company that his future was sacrificed to, what he finds though freezes him to the bone, the company had been engineering soldiers and some had rejected the 'implants' and had mutated with them becoming a savage AI beast, these soldiers of which had been his friends.
Axel hacks into the base computer and finds evidence that the crash that destroyed his family had been set up! Adrian, enraged calls his superior who's silence speaks volumes. His journey back to the service though is going to be a lot more difficult as the base receives a lock down protocol, the company doesn't want Adrian getting out with this information, this isn't going to stop him though. Driven by anger and revenge Adrian and Axel begin to make there way to the service encountering many escaped experiments along the way, but its the last 'boss' character that pushes Adrian to his limits, the company didn't just experiment on his friends... his wife and son are now these soulless monsters to, he is torn but has to do what is right, they aren't his family any more.

Adrian is going to destroy the company by any means.
This is going to be the second in a series of three games of which we have named:
MAW origins: Adrians life leading up to the accident and how he became the high level soldier he is today
MAW reboot: The story mentioned above, his discovering the facility and the companies true intentions
MAW shutdown: Adrians mission to destroy the company

A clever little pun we created that would be on a hypothetical box art cover 'Leaves you wanting MAW' because it sounds like 'more', get it ? no? ......we thought it was cool :/

New year, new start

Came back from the Christmas holidays sporting a 'new year, new approach' attitude, so I carried on with my character design but I tried to try a looser technique, which is a difficult approach for me. I carried on from my earlier head base (below) and carried on working into it, I spent ages working in the skin tone and texture focusing on where the light would be coming from etc.

 After working in actual facial features in more detail and adding hair etc, all that was left was the eyes, I have been putting this off for quiet a while as im really reluctant to do them because I really struggle with them and i didnt want to ruin the piece. So I studied lots of eye sketching tutorials on youtube and from some ImaginFX magazines that I collect religiously and did a few rough sketches which on there own, weren't too bad (if I say so myself) it finally came to the time where I couldn't avoid it any longer so I started on the eyes and as i predicted, they sucked and I ruined the piece (below)

He looks ridiculous the eyes are really wonky, despite my best efforts to get them to look the same without copying and pasting one eye. The eye on the left is by far the better of the two, I think the eyebrows are adding to the overall 'wonky' look to. Close up though, the eyes are quiet realistic in the sense of colour and shape (apart from the obvious lol) quiet happy with the hair on a better note