Turntable

It's Finally here! Added some details to the textures and adjusted the weights on some troublesome joints.

Texture 1024x1024

I made some quick changes to the texture.
I wanted to see how far I could take metal in Illustrator.
This is all vectors. Pattern editor + effects.
I'm especially proud of the back of the corset.

Lo-Poly

My model is very low poly with a subdivision surface modifier. With one layer of subdivisions and smoothed faces she looks nice and curvy. There are 445 quads (890 tris).

What did I learn?

I think this module was super valuable for my future career. I know 3D skills are important when applying for jobs in the games industry, even if the job in question is 2D, but it's an asset to have knowledge on a wide range of areas. To sum up some of the things I've picked up during the creation of this character:

• Lots about 3DS Max.
• Even more about Blender.
• I mean I had done virtually no 3D in the past, except for some short workshops.
• Now I can independently build a whole character or building in Blender and produce adequately lit and textured renders of it for further uses.
• Also learned to take regular backups of my work.
• The first lectures and basic info about character types and such were educational.
• I've tried to get better at expressing my work in this blog.
• I actually think my 2D painting skills leveled up during the making of this. :3

Things I want to learn SOON:

• Textures, I need to work out how to make them look nice.
• Textures, how to emulate metal (also in concept art).
• Modelling, figure out how lo-poly joints should be configured to make animating and posing look natural.
• Animation in Blender.
• Lighting
• Normal, Bumb, Displacement, Specular maps.
• Character design. I'm gonna get a pile of heavy books on the subject from the school library and take a dive in the deep end of the pool. <3

Submission Stuff

I've got some renders, and the .obj file of the character.

Still need to render the turntable!

Development of the silhouette

I thought it was interesting how my silhouette formed and defined itself with time. I had the idea of a curvy woman from the start, but at first all my sketches seemed to turn into "normal" beauty ideal heroine body types (see the dark shape, one of the lost designs, on the left). Then when I started over with the caricature type cat thing, I managed to fatten it up, and from there the waistline was found and the butt formed. I like the curvature she has now! :3

After re-concept design on Photoshop, here's the 3D evolution of a big butt. I just had to go back and fix that lo-poly topology. :)

Rigging

I gotta say that rigging was maybe a little bit simpler on 3ds max. I have very little to say about the good sides of max, but here's one. We went through the procedure together with the class and for once I immediately understood what happened.

But I managed to make a skeleton in Blender as well. And I still love Blender.

Pen and Paper

Trying to adjust the outfit design for the new (original) body type.

Rigging and Lecturing

Blender Love!

This is how far I got in one night. I'm pretty impressed! Blender UI is so much smoother, at least for me to use. Here's the tutorial series I started watching to get to grips with the software.

Character Design

I had an epiphany: I've been away and concentrating on my other two modules since I lost my USB stick along my char development. I'm still going to do the warrior motorcycle girl, but first I could try something simpler, just so I don't fall completely off the wagon on the lectures.