Greetings,

I'm beginning a WIP thread for my submission for the '3D Character Design Contest'. I will detail my process as I create the character. Unless there is an objection or a rule I'm violating, I will be doing DC's Lobo. I'm not really a DC reader, but the design is interesting and challenging, and has plenty of character. Hope you enjoy the thread.

Should be interesting to follow your progress with this Mythcons, looking forward to it.


Dell XPS 8900, Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3408 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s), 16 GB RAM, - 4 GB GeForce GTX 745, NVIDIA compatible.
Acer Aspire V Nitro Laptop,  2.5GHz Intel Core i5-7300HQ processor with 6MB cache,  256GB solid state drive, 16GB Ram,  4 GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics.

Me too.

I'm using a free app called 'Image Overlay Utility' to load a reference image of Lobo. Since Character Creator does not (to my knowledge) have a way to adjust bones automatically, I'm using the main shaping tools get the model and rig to block out the basic proportions. The model can be exported at any time, but your morph needs to reference a mesh of approximately equal shape to get the best results and deform properly. It's best to save and export the model as an iAvatar so that your morph can properly reference it. In the end, the morphs will be baked into the base CC model, but my work flow does require saving, exporting, importing, and baking a lot.

I used the Dynamic Appearance Editor and turned down the skin Saturation to get the chalky skin tone.

That's a great start so far Mythcons. I have always thought Lobo was a cool character. Are you also creating a polycount WIP? Cheers.


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Designer, Illustrator, Artist, Developer, Modeller - Augmented Reality : Instagram and Facebook Camera Effects
www.realityaugmented.co.uk

Thanks! Yes, I will be creating a polycount WIP once the forum for the contest opens. I checked yesterday and it appeared to be closed or missing. But I'll check again shorty.

good job so far. you nailed it.


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After conversing with Reallusion staff on how the contest is judged, I am moving away from a copyrighted character, and only using Lobo as a reference.

I have used the Character Creator to get the proper proportions, exported the mesh to Blender, have made some minor adjustments to the mesh. I have sharpened his features, giving him a more stylized, chiseled appearance. That said, the character design is in flux and may take a different direction. I like the the stylized look, and the white-blue skin. There's a hint of Pixar in the proportions. I have given him the name 'Dhaos'.

The armor I have borrowed from Adobe Fuse. I will run through how to get a mesh from Adobe Fuse to Character Creator later.

I wanted to see the character in action, so I borrowed a few quick animations from Mixamo and ran it through iClone. I'm probably going to use Akeytsu to choreograph and edit my animations, then import them into iClone. I've been wanting to incorporate Akeytsu into my workflow since I bought a license last year.

As you can see, I'm going in a much different direction. I would have liked to do Lobo, and still will, but not for this contest.

I wanted to expand my knowledge of Character Creator and iClone throughout this process, and I felt the design I was pursuing was limiting me. I've since used the same procedure listed above to block out a new shape, and did some minor sculpting.

The Eye Piece:





I used a Blender add-on called 'Hard Ops' to create the eye piece. Adding it to the scene, and saving it as a prop, is a simple matter. I imported it in iClone 3DXchange as as an OBJ, then added it to iClone. I had previously set up my materials in Blender, which are saved during this process. Then I simply added Substances to each material (through the iClone Material editor). The glow can be added by plugging in an appropriate texture. iClone has a variety of these to play with.

I am going with the direction that this character is a technologically modified man (perhaps an alien). Over the course of centuries, he has replaced and modified parts of his body to keep himself alive. Once a wealthy and prestigious man, he has spent his fortune on his longevity. Now a scavenger of parts and resources, he does not maintain his appearance, and is thus easily recognizable as a cyborg. His fragmented humanity fading with each replaced part.

I may create three versions of this character. His original self, his current self, and his future self.