I decided to start a new thread just for this Colfax modeling tute since the other Colfax thread was for my wild hair of a screenplay idea and not directly related to "Nightcallers".

I've added a new blog post showing just the very rudimentary beginning of the modeling process and I want to take it right through to rigging, cp weighting and texturing. I'm also working on finishing the music video so this should be an interesting Fall season!

http://nightcallers.net/arthropoda/

Thanks Gerry-----nice start to your process....look forward to seeing this progress along. Its awesome getting tutorials from different people !!

Got another brief entry in my modeling tute. I'm going slow, so *most* of you already know this stuff!
http://nightcallers.net/arthropoda/

Excellent Gerry. This is how I model as well.

Steve

Thanks Steve. I think at some point I need to consider making videos for this. Not sure that still pictures really show the process.

Perhaps... but the still imagery makes for a very cool blog!!!

You could use some of both (video and still imagery) on your blog. ...and gif animation is still fun.

Thanks Rodney, glad you like it! Still it's difficult to show the modeling process, as in adding cp's. I want this to be comprehensible to non AM'ers and to others that don't do CG at all. But I'm happy with the stills as a starting point. Maybe a mix of both as necessary.

Since all my Nightcallers material was temporarily (I hope) wiped out with my recent drive failure, I've restarted this modeling tutorial and doing the ears first. I'll post some screenshots later today.

I may know more about the data recovery in a week or so, still got my fingers crossed!

Well I got carried away with the progress I was making on the head, so I plowed forward and got this far but totally neglected to make any screenshots, movies, anything for my supposed modeling tutorial. To quote Rick Perry, oops!

But it's going pretty well otherwise! I'm still basing his design on Brad Pitt, but I think what I'll end up with is a Brad Pitt "type". I'm not getting totally anal about using photos for rotos, I'm actually using sketches I did from photos so I'm not going for a hard-and-fast likeness.

Hi Gerry... great progress here ... however, I would change the design of the face near the mouth and eyes to ease its animation.
something like this ( of course it needs more accuracy )

I think you are using too many splines between eyes and the mouth... that will give you trouble sooner or later.
You may consider at least halfing the amount there.

See you
*Fuchur*

Thank you guys, I will look at that. Very helpful!

Here's the modified head, see if this is better.

Much better Gerry. Still many, but now it is looking ok for me .

See you
*Fuchur*

Thanks Fuchur!

I've sort of gotten away from the tutorial aspect of this for the time being, but have continued working on the model. But as I follow my original character design I'm wondering if I'm creating problems for myself later with these shoulder bags, in terms of rigging and secondary movement, etc. He never really uses them, they're more part of his "look", and maybe they'll ending up being too much trouble later. What do you think?

Nice modeling. Nice costume. And you already know the answer. It won't be impossible to animate him, but as you know, the more cps, the more detail, the more complex it is to bone, cp weight, and animate. And the more "realistic" a character, the harder it is to get past Eery-ville. Realistic style is always less forgiving.

He's looking great Gerry.

I'm curious and not sure if you've already stated your plan with regard to his hair.
Do you plan to use helmet hair?



I have two thoughts here.

1. He's gotta be wearing something.
2. It seems to work for this character.

Beyond that I would perhaps look at some real life actor/models that might be wearing something similar to see how you might adjust it to meet your purposes. I think it does add some interesting detail and helps to frame his body and direct attention to his head.

From a design view:
If you were to look at each of the main characters from the standpoint of extremely basic shapes do these shoulder bags distinguish him from the others easily. This will help when the characters are seen at a distance.

Also, from a purely practical or personal vantage point... Why is Colfax wearing the shoulder bags?
Where did he get them?
Does he ever wear anything else?
Do they serve any other purpose in the story?
Do they keep him warm in the cold and cool in hot weather?
Who made them?
Is it something others with a similar background might be wearing?
Does he have similar clothes that he wears?
Will he always be wearing this? (For the longer story I'd say this is not recommended. In the over all scheme of things consider three main ensembles for him to wear. Can you plot the critical moments where he will be wearing this?)
Can you move from this outfit to one more simple and one more detailed easily (assuming this to be the main outfit he will wear)?
For instance, I can see him taking this off in very informal situations revealing a tight shirt underneath and completely setting it aside for occasions requiring more formal wear.

Animation-wise... as Nancy suggests.. just keep it simple. Consider adding details via decals, etc.

Well Rodney, you do have *one* question in there that I can answer: He will have hair eventually, I think I'll be using a hair material for his buzzcut style.

But you ask a lot of very incisive questions that I really need to think about, which is why I posted the query in the first place. I need to spend some time looking at similar characters' costumes and give this some more thought. The most obvious ones that come to mind are Indiana Jones, Malcolm Reynolds (and Jane) from Firefly, and Han Solo. I think Colfax is based largely on the Solo type of freebooter/spaceship captain/gunslinger/tough guy who could segue from the lone human character in Nightcallers to the disillusioned private eye from my earlier story synopsis.

But drawing this type of costume for a comic book and modeling it for 3D are two completely different exercises and I need to make some adjustments. I think a costume like this needs to be functional, like Indy's bullwhip and revolver. I don't know what's in those shoulder bags, what *should* be in there, or when or why Colfax uses them. A gun makes some sense but in terms of the story there's no scenario that I've developed where he even uses the gun, but a gun in a holster is a given for this character.

In an earlier incarnation he had a white shirt under the vest, no shoulder bags, and was modeled more on Sgt. Rock. Now he's shirtless and modeled on Brad Pitt, and I added the bags just for aesthetic purposes.

Here's a revised roto sketch. I got rid of the shoulder bags and made his gunbelt do double duty so he still has a hip pouch. Also gave him a locket around his neck, I think it's a biofeedback monitor that communicates his vital signs to the ship's autopilot. Or a picture of his girlfriend.