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Author Topic: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model  (Read 20121 times)

Offline Destructavator

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(Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« on: May 23, 2009, 02:50:24 am »
Alright, I had a little spare time recently and felt inspired to give it another try at making a new soldier model, taking a break from the SFX.

Interestingly, I found it was easier to start over with a new human base model from MakeHuman, and I modeled most of the lower half (from the belt downward) of a new soldier, and although I didn't even start on the upper half yet this only took me about an hour, compared to more than one day with the first one.   :)

I've already added some material groups on the lower half, different parts of the texture will go in the areas of different colors shown in this shot (the tan/beige areas are where the camouflage will go).

When this one gets done, after the top half is done, I think it'll look much better than the old one, which became a cluttered mess.   :P

Edit:  For those who don't know modeling, this model will be symmetrical horizontally, which is why the other side is missing right now - as one of the more final steps the one side will be copied and mirrored to make the complete soldier.

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« Last Edit: May 23, 2009, 02:52:12 am by Destructavator »

Offline Destructavator

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Re: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2009, 05:06:53 am »
Seems I'm getting addicted to this modeling stuff, I couldn't resist making a version with armor plates added...   :D

The red areas are where some type of armor plate texture could go.

(Yes, I know it still needs some work...)

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« Last Edit: May 23, 2009, 05:08:48 am by Destructavator »

Offline Destructavator

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Re: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2009, 07:32:32 am »
http://www.destructavator.com/92dl/Soldier_Armor_1.blend

This isn't perfect, but anyone is free to play with it - please tell me what you think.

[attachment deleted by admin]

Offline vedrit

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Re: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2009, 08:40:16 am »
That last one looked preatty good! When I finish up adding animations to the skeleton (Been busy with graduation stuff), I'll download it and see how things work

Offline Destructavator

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Re: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2009, 02:01:30 pm »
That last one looked preatty good! When I finish up adding animations to the skeleton (Been busy with graduation stuff), I'll download it and see how things work

Thanks, I was just about to ask you about that - glad you noticed this thread.

I still need to make some minor adjustments and cleanups to that last model, but for the most part the basic shape and size won't change, so if you can get the skeleton to work with this one then it should work fine with the final version once I'm done with it.

Congratulations on your graduation!   8)


Edit:  Just realized I forgot to glue the fingers together as "mittens" - I think I can do this without too much hassle, I'll see what I can do...

Edit2: Here's a somewhat cleaned-up version, I re-did the texture and made numerous other changes:

http://www.destructavator.com/92dl/Soldier_Armor_1c.blend

The textures are still coming out a little strange, but much better than the old soldier model I put together.  Even after adding animations, textures should be very easy to update though.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly what to do with the hands, perhaps with the skeleton they could be posed with the fingers all together?  This would also easily allow the model to be re-used for a program/game that does use fingers and hands, as well as this project if the game is ever re-written with a new engine that supports attaching bones and such with fingers. (I'm not holding my breath on that one, but I think it would be good to at least leave the door open to it as far as the model goes, in case someone does try to start such a thing.)

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« Last Edit: May 23, 2009, 04:08:03 pm by Destructavator »

Offline Destructavator

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Re: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2009, 07:54:11 pm »
I did more work on the texture, and made a number of versions for different camo color combinations.  Here are the textures.

[attachment deleted by admin]

Offline misiek

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Re: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« Reply #6 on: May 25, 2009, 05:17:11 pm »
I'm not good at anatomy, but i think that his arms and legs are little too thin.

I think that some time ago i already posted this program:
http://www.makehuman.org/blog/index.php

Maybe it could be somehow useful for prototyping models.

Offline Destructavator

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Re: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« Reply #7 on: May 25, 2009, 08:23:41 pm »
Yes, I know about MakeHuman, and in fact I actually already used it for a base model before adding details.  Thanks for the tip anyways, it is indeed a very nice program.

As for how thin/stocky the model is, the base model I started with (from MakeHuman) was created with settings for a model of someone lean but muscular, which I think is good for an elite soldier.  I remember someone saying that they thought the old existing models were far too stocky, and I've seen models of humans for other games much thinner than this that were labeled as "normal."  I'm not trying to argue or say you're wrong, but perceptions do vary quite a bit.

Of course people vary quite a bit too - I've seen real soldiers who stay in shape and are quite thinner than this model, as well as other, stockier soldiers who are gigantic, hulking muscular figures.

Still, if others here agree with you then it wouldn't be too difficult for me to thicken the arms and legs a bit.

Actually now that I think about it I'm wondering if there could be several versions, different builds and body types, it would make the game look better if the soldiers didn't look like clones from the neck down...

...but before I make more versions of this:

@vedrit: Does this model come close to working with the skeleton and animations you're working on?  If I'm going to add more details and adjustments based on this model, I'd hate to do more work only to find that it doesn't work with the animation part.

P.S. - I'm also hoping at some point that BTAxis, Mattn, and especially Winter would comment on what needs to be added/changed.
« Last Edit: May 25, 2009, 08:26:25 pm by Destructavator »

Offline vedrit

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Re: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« Reply #8 on: May 25, 2009, 10:52:59 pm »
Hm...The arms do look a bit thin compared to the rest of the body...not much, but just a little.

As for detail, so long as the areas around the joints arent messed with, there should be a problem. Looking at it, I think that the current verticie positioning is great, and will help

Offline Destructavator

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Re: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« Reply #9 on: May 25, 2009, 11:31:30 pm »
Yeah, now that I look at it again, I think both of you are right about the arms, I'll thicken/enlarge them a little.

Offline Destructavator

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Re: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« Reply #10 on: May 27, 2009, 11:22:25 am »
How is this?

Changes:

- Arms are a little thicker
- Boots have more detail
- Texture is smaller, now a 512x512 JPEG instead of 1024x1024 texture

Edit: If this is acceptable or close to it, I'll let this be released under GPL terms, version 2 or higher, with no other restrictions (meaning use in other games/projects is OK).

[attachment deleted by admin]
« Last Edit: May 27, 2009, 11:29:36 am by Destructavator »

Offline bayo

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Re: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« Reply #11 on: May 27, 2009, 06:38:42 pm »
it look better, but can you post a screenshot of the wireframe model?

Offline Destructavator

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Re: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« Reply #12 on: May 27, 2009, 07:32:05 pm »
OK, here's wireframe view - Is this what you wanted?

Also, FYI the vertex count comes out to about 873, I hope that's not a problem.

If you like this version I can also make more textures for it, for different camo pattern colors.

Also, it isn't shown in these screenshots, but the bottom of the feet have a texture for the boots.

[attachment deleted by admin]

Offline Winter

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Re: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« Reply #13 on: May 27, 2009, 08:31:18 pm »
You need to widen the hips a bit, and increase the size of the boots relative to the legs. The small boots make the legs look overly long.

Regards,
Winter

Offline Destructavator

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Re: (Redo) WIP of new Soldier Model
« Reply #14 on: May 27, 2009, 08:38:20 pm »
OK, will do.