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By Mythcons1 - 8 Years Ago
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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.
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By Snarp Farkle - 8 Years Ago
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Should be interesting to follow your progress with this Mythcons, looking forward to it. 
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By mtakerkart - 8 Years Ago
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Me too.
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By Mythcons1 - 8 Years Ago
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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.
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By mrmdesign - 8 Years Ago
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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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By Mythcons1 - 8 Years Ago
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mrmdesign (7/26/2016)
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.
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.
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By Skuzzlebutt - 8 Years Ago
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good job so far. you nailed it.
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By Mythcons1 - 8 Years Ago
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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.
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By Mythcons1 - 8 Years Ago
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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.
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By Mythcons1 - 8 Years Ago
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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.
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By Mythcons1 - 8 Years Ago
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Since this is not my official Submission thread, here's that Lobo I promised. Not quite finished.
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By Mythcons - 8 Years Ago
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Back to the main character. I think the conclusion to this character's journey will be fully incorporating his brain into a computer, and eliminating his physical self. Until then, his body continues to waste away, as he focuses more and more on his brain. His skull has swelled to enormous size, and his body has shrunk. He is virtually immobile, and his nourishment is maintained by a series of feeding tubes (to be implemented) . I am in the process of designing a chair of some sort that grants him mobility.
The following attributes are pretty much locked into the character design/concept:
Name: Dhaos Zek
Height: 5'1" (originally 5'9")
Age: 396
Weight: 125 lbs.
Species: Human
Eyes: Blue
Hair: None (formerly white/blonde)
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By Mythcons - 8 Years Ago
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Testing out some tubes.
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By Mythcons - 8 Years Ago
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I'm experimenting with 'before' and 'after' designs. The great thing about Character Creator is that you can design something, save it as a morph, go back and re-design something, then dial in the original design to accommodate it.
For the base, I'm testing out a design based on a caricature of Ron Perlman. It may change, and knowing me, probably will.
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By Mythcons - 8 Years Ago
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Now that the Decals options are fixed, I'm able to add more dynamic detail to my textures. I use 3D-Coat for PBR painting.
The cybernetic arm and the electricity are separate decals for the Body texture. I added the electricity decal texture to the 'Glow' channel to enhance the glowing effect.
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By Kevin.S - 8 Years Ago
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Great work everyone !
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By Mythcons - 8 Years Ago
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I used an opacity map to turn the lower half of the character invisible. Then, in Blender, I created an apparatus to replace his lower extremities. I could have edited the mesh and the rigging, but I want to maintain compatibility with Character Creator for as long as possible. In fact, I don't think I'll need to break compatibility at all. Now I need to blend the organic half with the tech apparatus so that it looks 'natural'.
I think I'm about 50% there. Time is ticking, and I still have to complete a video.
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By Mythcons - 8 Years Ago
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I pulled an image from a Star Trek monitor, created a UV'd plane in Blender, then imported into iClone and placed the texture onto the plane.
I'd like to make the monitor seemingly interactive, or dynamic in some way.
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By toystorylab - 8 Years Ago
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Cool...
Love the glow effect ;-)
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By Mythcons - 8 Years Ago
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I recreated his mobility device at much lower resolution. I still need to texture it properly. I think this vehicle would use mechanical arms to lift and analyze objects, so I created and rigged arms in Blender, then imported the FBX into Akeytsu for a simple animation test of the mechanical apendages.
Akeytsu is a great FBX animation tool. I highly recommend it. The animations import into iClone flawlessly.
https://www.nukeygara.com/
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By Mythcons - 8 Years Ago
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I'm experimenting with another character design. I'm not putting it in the official thread until I perfect a few things. This character has four arms, and after much trial and error, I've decided that the best method of implementing this is to place two separate characters in the same space, and block out key portions of the character using the opacity mask. It's a challenge to animate and keep synced.
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By Mythcons - 8 Years Ago
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By Mythcons - 8 Years Ago
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Uploading more images to my alt character thread.
  
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By Sen - 8 Years Ago
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Great work .
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By rampart - 8 Years Ago
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Just my thoughts... I think the purpose of the contest is to encourage development of "New and unique" character/s.
I wouldn't suggest for entrants to waste their time kit bashing or editing other artists' ideas.
It can't hurt to share your thoughts and ideas,
I suggest entrants not focus on thoughts and ideas, or elaborate on other artists' work.
That's a big prize package, so I would think the winners will produce very unique and special works.
Then of course, I won't participate... I don't have a single unique idea for a character to enter the contest. LOL
Worse still, I can't even get close to any ideas, even from my bad dreams. LOL
Best of luck to everyone
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By Mythcons - 8 Years Ago
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Hello Rampart,
Raijin is a mythological figure that is open to interpretation. He is not another artist's character, he belongs to the Shinto religion. I am referencing mythology, but like Marvel's Thor, it is completely different from the religion -- drawing influence only from the most basic concept of the figure. If I get penalized for this, if I get last place, I guess those are the breaks.
rampart (9/12/2016)
Just my thoughts... I think the purpose of the contest is to encourage development of "New and unique" character/s.
I wouldn't suggest for entrants to waste their time kit bashing or editing other artists' ideas.
It can't hurt to share your thoughts and ideas,
I suggest entrants not focus on thoughts and ideas, or elaborate on other artists' work.
That's a big prize package, so I would think the winners will produce very unique and special works.
Then of course, I won't participate... I don't have a single unique idea for a character to enter the contest. LOL
Worse still, I can't even get close to any ideas, even from my bad dreams. LOL
Best of luck to everyone
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By Mythcons - 8 Years Ago
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