Hai friends ,
What about your model going ?
Happy modelling and animation.

Well it's the 16th, official deadline for the contest, and I'm sad to say that I have almost nothing to show for it; when I first entered I was so sure I was ready to invest 3 months time into creating and animating an original character, but turns out that was a mistake. Don't get me wrong, it was still a great experience, and it already has helped me learn more about ZBrush and what really goes into modeling a character!

This is probably the last post in this thread, afterwards I'll start a new one as I continue to document development of the Siren. I couldn't complete her for this challenge, but I will definitely complete her in the near future. Here's a look at some minor modifications I made on the model before tossing in the towel!
76% of original size (was 659x19) - Click to enlarge
Most of the modifications involved lowering the shoulders and combining the three subtool meshes forming the fin on her back. I also pulled the back of her 'hair' up, though I feel that I'll have to continue tinkering with it in the future. I honestly still need to refine the whole character, whether that involves starting a new model I don't know.

First of all I'd like to say congratulations to all of the finalists who managed to make the deadline, I honestly don't know how many of us actually made it all the way through. I saw a lot of really cool and creative designs, and I hope to see at least a few of their creators be able to win the grand prizes! I'd also like to thank everyone who posted advice, suggestions, and links to various online tutorials on this thread, while I may not have been able to use them here, I'm sure they'll prove very useful in the future!

So, peace out, and never stop creating!

I've decided to carry on, though I no longer consider myself eligible for the prizes, considering I'll probably be lucky to complete polypainting and texturing, let alone be able to actually animate her effectively. So recently I started working on the fins for the body, which I originally intended to be created using custom Insert Multi Meshes, but they didn't really work out, so I chose instead to repeat the process used to create the webbed hands. I got as far as creating the supporting membranes that you can see in the left side of the image below.
76% of original size (was 659x19) - Click to enlarge
Before I could complete them, I discovered that a professional ZBrush artist by the name of Michael Dunnam was offering a set of IMM brushes of various monster spikes and fins, including a set of premade fins that can be literally painted onto the surface of the mesh itself. I got rid of the spiny version and inserted the new fins, isolating them as individual subtools. Each pair of fins on the limbs are their own subtool, with the exception of the fin on the back, which is actually three separate subtools that I plan to combine in the future.

Hai friends ,
Looks humanoid animal.
Please , speed up your progress .
Time ....... is so close .

Happy modelling and animation.

I've begun preparing for more finalized modeling, starting by splitting the body into multiple pieces so that I can sculpt higher levels of detail without straining my computer. I also managed to find a sneaky use of that last Character Creator model I was going to use as a template. I had split that model into multiple subtools, and I managed to import the jaws, teeth, and tongue, so that way I don't have to make a new set from scratch! So technically, my entry does use a Character Creator model, or rather some pieces of it.

I also took the liberty of changing the material properties, because I've heard other ZBrush artists say that the default matcap red material isn't as effective for creative sculpting. So I changed it to a gray clay material, and I have to say I agree, it looks better, makes it a little easier to see subtle surface details that'll be needed for the higher poly sculpting phase.
76% of original size (was 659x19) - Click to enlarge
76% of original size (was 659x19) - Click to enlarge
I plan on more closely studying anatomy references to get much finer details, and will also begin work on creating the fins and modifying the jaw so that it more comfortably fits into the mouth. Hopefully I can get this all done in time to get started with polypainting and texture baking, then  animation... you know unfortunately I'm getting the feeling I'm not going to get it done in time, not that it'd make much of a difference, I've already seen at least half a dozen other artists whose work are much more worthy of the grand prizes than mine. Regardless, I'll carry on to the very end if I have to!

Did some more work, various tweaks and modifications. I decided that she needed a longer neck and smaller head, so I used Transpose Master to make a full change of both the body and hair mesh. I also pushed in the shoulders, always felt the upper torso was too wide. As you will notice, I've refined the fins on her head, establishing the... whatever those supporting branches are, they give the hair tension when outstretched, like the finger bones of a bat's wings.
76% of original size (was 659x19) - Click to enlarge
I also decided to begin the process of adding the fins, starting with some simple webbing between the fingers and under the arms. A happy accident pictured on the far right provided the template for some webbing going down from the arm pits to the ribs, although with hindsight I may have tried inserting a mesh instead, probably will fix this later.
76% of original size (was 659x19) - Click to enlarge
I used an inserted Circle Mesh and aligned it between her fingers to create the webbing. Piece of advice, inserting a Circle Mesh lacks a backside, meaning if you look at it from the wrong direction, it'll disappear. You'll have to use a Geometry option called Close Gaps to fill it, then you'll have to go into the Brush menu, go into Auto Masking, then turn on Backface Auto Mask, which basically prevents the mesh from indenting in one side when sculpting on the other... otherwise trying to use anything but the Inflate Brush will effectively turn a paper thin mesh inside out!

I used Dynamesh to fuse the modified Circle Mesh into the fingers, and after a couple fixes they look great! I also tweaked her feet a bit, trying to give her two prominent toes like a raptor, minus the sickle toe, while the others are more humanoid.

I've finally gotten started on the "hair" for my character. Technically its not hair, but a pair of fins that flow along the sides of her head like hair, and can be raised like a frill when aggressive or alarmed [if I can figure out how to rig and animate it!]
76% of original size (was 659x19) - Click to enlarge
Working on the hairline may prove tricky, but all in all it looks pretty good. I created the hair in ZBrush by creating a Mask in the general shape of the "hair", then in the Subtool menu used Extract to create a new subtool from the mask. Took a bit of tinkering with the scaling to find a balance between thick enough to sculpt with, but not so thick as to look like an afro!

To VinceDN, thanks for the suggestion, I didn't actually get to use it before figuring out what was the problem, but I'm sure it'll come in handy in the near future!

I decided to import some reference anatomy pics from a CG modeling book I own, which proved very helpful, as it allowed me to determine what was off anatomically speaking, and after some trial and error [which ultimately resulted in the destruction of my beautifully crafted fingers   ], I managed to work the model to roughly correspond with the build of the reference.

76% of original size (was 659x19) - Click to enlarge76% of original size (was 659x19) - Click to enlarge
Now it's not a perfect match, but that was the point, the Siren's proportions are different, ultimately very thin, but not so thin that too many bones would be showing. Now I just need to study some other references of models with slimmer builds to get it right. At this point I'm planning on splitting the model into individual pieces [Head and neck, torso, arms, and legs], so that I can begin working in higher levels of detail in specific areas.

HI, i´m looking for a creator to model and rig a 3d character for me. I´ll pay for that. Someone is interested?

This is my latest update of the Siren character mesh, further fine tuning of the proportions, including realigning the shoulders and legs, and lowering the curve of her back.
76% of original size (was 659x19) - Click to enlarge
Honestly though, there's just something I feel doesn't look right, it doesn't feel like the character as she is in my head, my imagination I mean. I don't know why, maybe its just not fully detailed, or maybe there's something wrong with the proportions, I don't know?

Anybody else here see something that doesn't work, don't be afraid to be honest, I really want to be 100% satisfied with the form before moving into high-poly detailing and texturing of this model.