RE: Project: HEROES WIP


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4/1/2016 2:09:34

Arachnid
Member

I promise I'm still here!

Alright, so I've been working on a lot of things that have been bothering me, like proportions, faces, topology, materials, freestyle alternatives, toon shading, and textures.
Y'know, the little things.

As for how it's all going...
Pretty well, actually.

Proportions are slowly getting better, and topology is actually a lot easier than I thought.
Faces are still a pain, but I think that's just because it looks odd without hair.

As for materials, cel shading, and textures... Well... I'm not sure.

I like cel shading because it's simply easier to use. However, it doesn't give results that look as good as a well textured mesh.
Look at this for example

The textures make that model look MUCH better (though the resolution could be turned up a bit more), but it does still use cel shading.

So, as of now, my plan is to use both cel shading, and textures.
That reminds me! I've been working with someone, and we're both trying to find the best material node to make a material that:
Responds correctly to colored light
Has good cel shading
Makes it's own lines

So far, I think we MAY have it, but we're still testing it. This material, combined with textures, should give us the look that we're aiming for.

Speaking of textures, I've been trying to make eye textures first, since I've never textured before and the eyes seemed easiest.

This was the result of about 10 minutes of texturing. Not sure if they'll be her eyes, but I thought I'd share it since I thought they looked pretty.

Now, eyes are one thing, but clothes are another. First things first though, I need to learn how to make better looking clothes, with folds and stuff.

Also I've been working on 217's new model. So there's that.

Thanks for looking!

< Message edited by Arachnid -- 4/1/2016 2:11:33 >

AQW	Post #: 76

5/26/2016 14:33:22

Drakkoniss
Creative!
Constructive!

This looks to be quite the interesting project. Shame it's been coming along as slowly as it has, but that's the way life works out, sometimes, unfortunately.

On to some questions: You have been somewhat secretive about magic, and I'd like to ask some questions of it. You say that Holy Magic is given by the Church in this setting. How exactly does that work? Is it that the Church is the only organization that can teach it? Can it be taken away after the Church no longer has "faith" in an individual through some sort of Excommunication, or does it come from the deity/-ies that they worship, such that they would have no true authority to try and forbid someone who broke away from their organization to use it, so long as said divine being/s still support(s) them? Additionally, on this same subject, you say Enchantment is specifically to counter the Undead? Does this continue to be true, and if so, is that its only use or can it be used to, say, reinforce armor, or increase the physical strength/stamina of the person receiving benefit? On the other side of the Holy Magic issue, could you potentially go further to explain the Purified Light ability that paladins have?

Now, when you said this: "New magics have arrived: Wind magic, Shadow magic, and Parasitic magic. Details later," you did not explain what you meant by any of it. I can understand your desire to keep your cards close to your chest, as it were, but I must ask, is it far enough into the future that you'd be willing to discuss those details? Particularly, I'm curious as to what the difference between Wind Magic and the Elemental Magic relating to Air would be (assuming you don't mean to say wild magic, there).

Regardless of whether you're willing to answer these questions, though... greetings and salutations. It's good to speak to you again.

DF	Post #: 77

5/28/2016 21:48:51

Arachnid
Member

quote:

You say that Holy Magic is given by the Church in this setting. How exactly does that work? Is it that the Church is the only organization that can teach it? Can it be taken away after the Church no longer has "faith" in an individual through some sort of Excommunication, or does it come from the deity/-ies that they worship, such that they would have no true authority to try and forbid someone who broke away from their organization to use it, so long as said divine being/s still support(s) them?

The way that Holy Magic works is that after a large amount of training, a Paladin will promise to serve good and justice. After the promise, the god of Light fills them with a portion of his power. Technically, the church itself doesn't give the magic, but they are part of the process to where people would normally get Holy Magic. As for the magic being taken away; no, it cannot be taken away under any circumstance.

quote:

On the other side of the Holy Magic issue, could you potentially go further to explain the Purified Light ability that paladins have?

A paladin is filled with Holy Light, which basically makes their very soul lethal to undead. They get glowing gold eyes to symbolize their Holy Light, and radiate an aura that can actually calm others, and harm undead. If an undead were to even touch a paladin, they would suffer a large amount of pain. This, combined with a paladins inability to lose their Holy Magic, leads to a very interesting trait about a reanimated paladin. If a necromancer reanimates a paladin, their soul still burns with Holy Magic, essentially locking the undead paladin in a state of eternally burning from the inside out. This, along with the brain damage from temporary death, turns them into very powerful and very angry undead paladin berserkers, which if one of the most terrifying things you would have the displeasure of seeing on the battlefield.

quote:

Additionally, on this same subject, you say Enchantment is specifically to counter the Undead? Does this continue to be true, and if so, is that its only use or can it be used to, say, reinforce armor, or increase the physical strength/stamina of the person receiving benefit?

Enchantment is specifically for slaying undead, and applied exclusively to weapons. These are the weapons wielded by the paladins, capable of destroying any undead with a good hit. It basically forces some Holy Light into the undead, burning them from the inside out and disintegrating.

quote:

Now, when you said this: "New magics have arrived: Wind magic, Shadow magic, and Parasitic magic. Details later," you did not explain what you meant by any of it. I can understand your desire to keep your cards close to your chest, as it were, but I must ask, is it far enough into the future that you'd be willing to discuss those details? Particularly, I'm curious as to what the difference between Wind Magic and the Elemental Magic relating to Air would be (assuming you don't mean to say wild magic, there).

Ah, yes! At the time I was simply forming a general idea of those magics, but now they're more formed, so I can explain them.
Wind Magic wasn't originally part of the Elemental Magic school, so that's why it was new at the time.
Shadow Magic is some bad stuff; it allows the user to manipulate and control shadows in any way they can imagine. Think Green Lantern, but not as nice. The thing about Shadow Magic is that it's tangible and intangible at the same time, making it incredibly hard to fight it and nearly impossible to learn how to use it.
Parasitic Magic is probably the worst magic you could face. This magic slowly saps away a person's soul/mana. It doesn't completely drain it away, but reduces it to nearly nothing, making the person basically a zombie, which the parasitic mage can then control. These zombie type things are known as "husks", since they are seen as empty shells of who they were. The worst part about them is that, while the soul is nearly gone, it's still there, meaning the husk is fully aware of its actions, but not in control at all.

Alright, now for updates!
I haven't been updating this forum as much as my other ones, which is my bad.
Right now I'm working on 217, again. She's got a pretty big remodel.

Now, I'm currently working on the dress/robe. I took the naked model, made a screenshot, moved that to photoshop, and then poorly drew over it, making the basic appearance of the dress/robe. I only did half of it because I'm lazy and can't mirror very well.

I'm only making the basic colors and dress shape right now, and i'll go into more detail with it as I texture it to give it wrinkles and designs on it.
Right now I'm trying to figure out what to put on her waist, since it seems a little bare. On the reference I made with my amazing painting skills I had a sash kinda thing, but I decided to drop it. Not sure what to replace with it.

Thanks for looking!

AQW	Post #: 78

5/29/2016 2:33:18

Drakkoniss
Creative!
Constructive!

Ah, finally. It is quite the pleasure to see you reply to me, my friend. Your willingness to clarify and publicly expand upon the ideas you've presented do you credit, and are much appreciated.

That being said, let us venture forth into the true meat of the post: Your concept of the paladin is very interesting to me. In all honesty, it very much reminds of how Drakkoniss was empowered in the Herosmash setting, though I must say there actually was a point where, at least in the unwritten history of him I had developed and continue to remember, he was actually depowered (at the will of the Being that had originally given him his extra powers, no less [but of course, this was eventually rectified, once he had proven himself worthy again; for those interested, Drakkoniss was currently depowered in the Tale of Captain Arafae]).

Continuing onward: the nature of the Holy Light itself is very curious. One would think that the Paladins that then become what I shall spontaneously term "Hellfire Revenants" would classify as abominations to the God of Light, considering the power he imbued the living Paladins with was intended at least partially to be a weapon specifically against Undeath. Shall I imagine that every time such a creature is brought into the world, a crusade of sorts is immediately (barring other crises) carried out to render their baneful existence ended?

I wonder if gauntlets would count as weapons. Presumably if they are spiked or something of the sort, they would immediately qualify, yet at the same time, many would consider the use of them as bludgeoning weapons not implicit by the nature of the "normal" artifacts, themselves- as they are just metal (or even leather) gloves.

Wind, then, seems to be... more unique than one would imagine. I suppose that might be like the idea that Fire is not simply Heat, but a form of heat bound up with Light and a fuel source. This would then mean Wind is Air given force, and it may actually be more than just that, but rather any type of "flow", albeit that is hard to say, and somewhat of a stretch.

Shadow Magic... I suppose you mean "bad" as in "nasty, powerful", rather than inherently evil? Or do you, considering Light seems to (at least be implied to be) inherently good, in this setting. It certainly seems to be a much more versatile tool than Light itself, which is somewhat ironic (and yet largely fits the nature of Shadow itself, as it can be contorted and weaved into almost anything imaginable, and with Light, it is more subtle and less seemingly a part of its nature for it to take up significant forms like that, even though it flows around material and creates hollows to some degree [this is relevant because of the concepts of positive and negative space in art], and Light also carries Information, which makes it necessary for there to be a concept or understanding of the Shadow). Anyway... I ironically have a great grasp of this type of concept already, because one of the characters I have created, known as Anastasia Moonkrist, is a vampire that developed precisely that type of magic as a function of her old age and natural magical potential. That makes me quite... excited, and interested to see how this all works out.

Regarding Parasitic Magic: How very interesting. I suppose the person targeted would have to find and attempt to incapacitate/kill the caster, or have them dispell the magic in order to defeat them. Another point to be considered is the idea of what might amount to Will Saves, in the equivalent of the Dungeons and Dragons term and its implementation. Until a certain point, I expect many might be able to actually resist it (depending on how powerful the caster is, I suppose), and could end up betraying/assaulting a "master" that should have complete control over them. I don't expect it would likely happen anywhere near often (other than against inexperienced or overly-hasty practitioners), but to see such a betrayal actually occur would be to witness a thing of beauty, I expect. A question to be raised is this, though: does the caster actually GAIN the mana/soul portion (or the equivalent power from it) as the victim weakens? If so, I could see some ridiculous power vamping going on by a particularly skilled practitioner.

...

Addressing your character design change: Hmmm... I'm not certain I like it. It does have a certain quality of beauty to it, but she seems a bit less innocent, and appears older. These could be good things, mind you, yet at the same time, considering the type of character 217 is, I would not have expected that to be how she looks (unless it is actually her after a time skip/some later character development). I should note that in particular, the dress (especially after photoshopping it to include more color and whatnot) makes her look like a more experienced, majestic spellcaster, who is confident in herself and can hold her own, rather than a child that feels guilty over what she can and has done. (Also, the design reminds me of Azura from Fire Emblem Fates. And somewhat thankfully, not Azula, from Avatar the Last Airbender. :P )

DF	Post #: 79

5/30/2016 2:50:09

Arachnid
Member

quote:

Continuing onward: the nature of the Holy Light itself is very curious. One would think that the Paladins that then become what I shall spontaneously term "Hellfire Revenants" would classify as abominations to the God of Light, considering the power he imbued the living Paladins with was intended at least partially to be a weapon specifically against Undeath. Shall I imagine that every time such a creature is brought into the world, a crusade of sorts is immediately (barring other crises) carried out to render their baneful existence ended?

You would assume correctly; whenever an undead paladin is found, a large group of paladins will hunt it down and free it from its hellish existence.

quote:

I wonder if gauntlets would count as weapons. Presumably if they are spiked or something of the sort, they would immediately qualify, yet at the same time, many would consider the use of them as bludgeoning weapons not implicit by the nature of the "normal" artifacts, themselves- as they are just metal (or even leather) gloves.

Yes, I would count spiked gauntlets as weapons; they'd be a good alternative for someone who prefers fists over swords.

quote:

Wind, then, seems to be... more unique than one would imagine. I suppose that might be like the idea that Fire is not simply Heat, but a form of heat bound up with Light and a fuel source. This would then mean Wind is Air given force, and it may actually be more than just that, but rather any type of "flow", albeit that is hard to say, and somewhat of a stretch.

The best way I can describe the difference between Air and Wind is to use two different sky mages, Willow and Yuri. Willow has control over air pressure, allowing her to "shape" the air around her, which allows her to make a wing shape and have the ability to fly. She can also do a few more explosive things, since rapidly decreasing the pressure in one area can cause a mass suction of air. Willow would be considered an Air mage. Yuri, on the other hand, controls wind as a more forceful tool. She can control more powerful winds, such as causing tornadoes or even hurricanes, along with simple high power blasts of air, but she can't control air pressure as closely as Willow, so she can't fly with it. Yuri would be a Wind mage.

quote:

Shadow Magic... I suppose you mean "bad" as in "nasty, powerful", rather than inherently evil? Or do you, considering Light seems to (at least be implied to be) inherently good, in this setting. It certainly seems to be a much more versatile tool than Light itself, which is somewhat ironic (and yet largely fits the nature of Shadow itself, as it can be contorted and weaved into almost anything imaginable, and with Light, it is more subtle and less seemingly a part of its nature for it to take up significant forms like that, even though it flows around material and creates hollows to some degree [this is relevant because of the concepts of positive and negative space in art], and Light also carries Information, which makes it necessary for there to be a concept or understanding of the Shadow).

Yes, when I say "bad" I mean something you wouldn't want to encounter, but not inherently evil. I actually explore the concept of evil itself a good amount in the story, since a philosophy professor of mine proposed the idea that nothing is truly "evil", in a sense. i found the idea interesting and I plan on expanding on it in the story. (This is also why there is a god of light, but not a god of darkness or shadow).

quote:

Regarding Parasitic Magic: How very interesting. I suppose the person targeted would have to find and attempt to incapacitate/kill the caster, or have them dispell the magic in order to defeat them. Another point to be considered is the idea of what might amount to Will Saves, in the equivalent of the Dungeons and Dragons term and its implementation. Until a certain point, I expect many might be able to actually resist it (depending on how powerful the caster is, I suppose), and could end up betraying/assaulting a "master" that should have complete control over them. I don't expect it would likely happen anywhere near often (other than against inexperienced or overly-hasty practitioners), but to see such a betrayal actually occur would be to witness a thing of beauty, I expect. A question to be raised is this, though: does the caster actually GAIN the mana/soul portion (or the equivalent power from it) as the victim weakens? If so, I could see some ridiculous power vamping going on by a particularly skilled practitioner.

Yes, if a person could tell that their soul was being drained away, they could find the mage doing it and stop them. That being said, how can you tell the difference between your very soul being drained, and you simply getting sick? One would assume the symptoms would be similar. Hmm... Gaining the victim's soul... Yes, I suppose that would be a good fit for Parasitic magic, and even further the taboo against it. Though, I'd probably save that skill for particularly powerful Parasitic mages.

quote:

Addressing your character design change: Hmmm... I'm not certain I like it. It does have a certain quality of beauty to it, but she seems a bit less innocent, and appears older. These could be good things, mind you, yet at the same time, considering the type of character 217 is, I would not have expected that to be how she looks (unless it is actually her after a time skip/some later character development). I should note that in particular, the dress (especially after photoshopping it to include more color and whatnot) makes her look like a more experienced, majestic spellcaster, who is confident in herself and can hold her own, rather than a child that feels guilty over what she can and has done. (Also, the design reminds me of Azura from Fire Emblem Fates. And somewhat thankfully, not Azula, from Avatar the Last Airbender. :P )

Hmm... Older and more experienced isn't what i'm going for yet. I'll keep the dress in mind for when she does get a bit more confident, though. Oh, I certainly hope she doesn't remind you of Azula... Craziness at its prime...

So, given Drakkoniss' comment on her appearance, I've decided to change it a bit...

I made her legs a bit shorter in relation to her body, along with making her arms a bit thicker (more childlike, I suppose), and I shortened her hair. I also made her head a bit larger in proportion to her body. The result makes her look, I think, a bit younger.

I also changed her dress by making it go up a little higher on her chest, along with replacing the bottom half. I actually went back and grabbed part of a dress from one her previous models. Opinions?
I plan on changing her hair a bit fairly soon, but after the dress is done.

Thanks for looking!

EDIT: For the record, those lines on the dress are just creases showing that it isn't flat. Not her legs.

< Message edited by Arachnid -- 5/30/2016 2:59:56 >

AQW	Post #: 80

6/2/2016 3:05:05

Drakkoniss
Creative!
Constructive!

I must apologize for the lack of a quick reply. These last few days have been... busy.

Regarding your last post, I must sincerely thank you for your clarification. It is good to see, for example, that my understanding of paladins and their inclinations is not at odds with the nature of them in this story- or to be more accurate, that my understanding of them actually still holds some validity (considering, of course, every individual interpretation will vary, and whatnot).

That being said, I do not have that much else to say. I disagree with the notion that there is no such thing as pure evil, but at the same time, I do not want to enter into an elaborate discussion of that which would distract from the purpose of the thread (at least in here). I like the way you differentiate wind and air. It's quite nice that not all Parasitic Mages are able to horde souls and use them to fuel maddeningly powerful magics. The changes to the model are appreciated, and I do think that it makes her look younger.

Just as I apologize for the lateness of my response, I must also do so for the few details in this post. I might have liked it to be larger, as were the previous ones... but I am also quite tired. I bid all who might care to see this good night, or good day. *bows cordially and disappears*

DF	Post #: 81

6/5/2016 3:55:24

Arachnid
Member

quote:

I must apologize for the lack of a quick reply. These last few days have been... busy.

Regarding your last post, I must sincerely thank you for your clarification. It is good to see, for example, that my understanding of paladins and their inclinations is not at odds with the nature of them in this story- or to be more accurate, that my understanding of them actually still holds some validity (considering, of course, every individual interpretation will vary, and whatnot).

That being said, I do not have that much else to say. I disagree with the notion that there is no such thing as pure evil, but at the same time, I do not want to enter into an elaborate discussion of that which would distract from the purpose of the thread (at least in here). I like the way you differentiate wind and air. It's quite nice that not all Parasitic Mages are able to horde souls and use them to fuel maddeningly powerful magics. The changes to the model are appreciated, and I do think that it makes her look younger.

Just as I apologize for the lateness of my response, I must also do so for the few details in this post. I might have liked it to be larger, as were the previous ones... but I am also quite tired. I bid all who might care to see this good night, or good day. *bows cordially and disappears*

A short reply is better than no reply, my friend!

Alright, so I did some work trying to work with proportions again.

The left was the last one you saw, the middle is the one before that, and the one on the right is a newer one.
The way that most anime is proportioned is by "heads", meaning the size of thing is determined by the size of the heads. For example, the body is about 6.5 heads tall, the shoulders are 2 heads wide, etc. That's the third one.
Let me know which one looks best.

I've also been working on topology with the feet and hands. It wasn't terrible topology, but it wasn't optimal, either. This is better.

The left is old, the right is new.

That's all for tonight, thanks for looking!

AQW	Post #: 82

6/26/2016 21:47:37

Arachnid
Member

Sorry for the delay everyone, I've had overtime for the past two weeks and that kinda kills motivation.

Anyways, here's some progress! (Want a higher rez image? Try THIS!)

Redid the dress. I'm going more for a plain look, something that isn't very distinguishing but still looks good; this is also something that reflects her as a character. A healer by nature seems fairly plain at first glance, but upon further thought, a healer can be your worst enemy to encounter on a battlefield, with near invincibility. Plain, yet still interesting. This is, of course, before textures, but I'm trying out the colors to see if they look good or not. Thoughts?
I also want to give her an accessory of some kind; something to add color. A necklace or a flower or something, but I'm not sure what, exactly.

I've been looking at color and seeing what it can do to a piece, and have been adjusting the colors of various things. For example, the eyelashes and eyebrows used to be a solid black, but are now more of a dark blue color to better match her eyes and the general color scheme (though I may need to make them more blue, since they still look too black here).
I've also made the shadows less of just a darker base color and have started making them a darker, more saturated base color, along with some extra blue or red, depending on the material.

I think soon, I need to make an environment to better model her, but I should honestly rig her before that.

Thanks for looking!

< Message edited by Arachnid -- 6/26/2016 21:48:25 >

AQW	Post #: 83

8/15/2016 18:33:04

Arachnid
Member

Alright, so I have some pretty big news.

Long story short, something is going on with my job and I won't be working there for about the next six months. I'll still be getting paid (half), so I can still afford food and rent.

Basically, this means that i'm going to be working on this full time for about eight hours a day for the next six months. That means a LOT more progress.

The current plan is to model and rig the main cast, and then start work on the first trailer. The goal is to have it out by christmas this year. I'll probably have weekly updates every friday, but I may post other times if I need opinions or advice on something.

Well. Let's hope this goes well.

AQW	Post #: 84

8/20/2016 16:08:20

Arachnid
Member

Hey all!
Sorry about not getting the update out yesterday. I had planned to do it at the end of the day, but my computer apparently had a pretty big update that took it a good long while to do, so I didn't have time.

Alright, let's get started. This week, I worked on Experiment 217 and Krieger! Let's start with our main girl.

Alright, so here's what I did:
1. Changed around her colors to have better harmony with each other.
2. Outfit change, again. Needs textures. Trying to make clothing folds is really hard, let me tell you.
3. Made the freestyle line reflect the color that they're outlining to make it look smoother.
4. Adjusted proportions.

Now, about the adjusted proportions...
I have her scaled now to six heads. This was because a friend made a comment about her waist being oddly proportioned. To be honest, the were right. Without her robe on, she looked very odd. But THIS version seems a bit stumpy to me.

Here's a picture of the new and old next to each other, respectively.

Tell me which one you think looks better, or offer any suggestions on how to make the current version look better.

Now, for Krieger.

I had his base model made up from a while back, so I loaded that file up to see what I needed to do.
Yikes.
The topology was... pretty horrendous. His body was well proportioned, but his face was pretty awful (and still is). I retopologized the body, and tried to with the face, but I'm just going to scratch the face and start it over.
Faces are hard, though. Especially after getting used to rounder female faces, Krieger's sharper, more box like face is giving me trouble.
No pictures of Krieger yet because of the face issue, I feel he isn't very presentable yet.

One week down, a lot to go! As always, thanks for looking!

AQW	Post #: 85

8/22/2016 19:00:57

Arachnid
Member

Alright, small issue.

Right now I'm working on Scarlet, and fixing her topology (old model, you know how it is).
I decided to append Experiment 217 into the file to see how they compare.

I immediately saw an issue.

The proportions on them are way off. I know that Lady Scarlet is older than 217, but having them side by side looks...very odd.

I'm not sure what to do. Krieger and Scarlet both have a semi realistic anime look to them, while 217 is much more on the anime side of the spectrum. I need to adjust 217... But I don't know what to change or how.

Any ideas?

AQW	Post #: 86

8/26/2016 2:42:42

Arachnid
Member

This will likely be my update for the week, since i doubt I'll make enough progress tomorrow to warrant another picture.

Alright, so I went back and messed with 217's proportions...

(Want a better resolution? Try here! http://imgur.com/8FxDAoy)
I think it looks a bit better now. To be honest, all I did was adjust the size of her head. To make sure they were proportionate to each other, I scaled her up to Lady Scarlet's size, then shrunk her head to a little bit bigger than Scarlet's (staying with the younger anime head), then shrunk her back down.
She looks a bit short here, so I may make her taller, but I'm not sure. I'm trying to keep her looking young.

On the topic of Scarlet, what do you think of the purple eyes? Keep them? Or move back to blue? Or maybe even a different color?
Also, hey, her retopology went very well, and she's done. Again. She's back with her smirk, which is actually a shape key so it doesn't mess with any modeling or rigging this time.

Right now, and for the entirety of tomorrow, I'll be working on my male base model. I'm trying to work on Krieger and one of the Gods at the same time, which is good practice since they have much different body types.

Got my drawing tablet in the mail today, so I should be able to have an easier time texturing things and making them look more drawn (since, well, they are).

For those of you that want to know more intricate details, read on. For those that don't, that's all I have this week, so, as always, thanks for watching!

Alright, so as it stands now, I'm really trying to get the male and female base models ready. Just being able to start with a basic shape will increase the speed at which I can shoot out characters by a few hours, which will be hugely helpful. It was brought to my attention by a friend that I should be... A bit more careful about my time schedule. It's nearly the end of August and I'm trying to get the first trailer out near the end of December. That's about three more months to make at least 14 models and rigs, a set, and choreograph/animate 11 separate and interesting fights along with trying to find music to go with it. And all of that while trying to keep the 2D look.
It's kind of sinking in how hard that's going to be. I'm not changing my goal, but I'm getting nervous. I know December is going to be a lot of long weeks and less sleep, along with stress over the whole thing. I know I have a LOT to learn about a lot of different things before then. I know all of that.
I don't want this trailer to come out half-done. I want it to be a good quality, even if it is a first trailer. I stick with my models until I feel like they look exactly how I want. And that's how I want the trailer to be. But I do have to keep in mind that, once these six months are over, I do have to go back to my factory job and lose so much more time not doing this.
It's at times like that, when I'm reminded that I have nothing to show, when I'm reminded of something Monty Oum once said. Bad animation is better than no animation. It's something that really bothers me. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to the things that I make. I hate looking at something I make and seeing flaws everywhere. Every artist does it. But, he's right. If I'm to get anywhere with this project, if I'm to get a job in this industry, or even get a job making this as my show, I NEED something to show. So I'm going to do my best. In the end, all I can hope is that YOU enjoy it, and that I'm proud to have made it.

Thanks for watching. You all make this even more fun than it already is.

AQW	Post #: 87

9/2/2016 22:48:33

Arachnid
Member

Alright, so this week was mostly working on the male base and the female base. Not much to show about them (don't want to deal with no nudity rules), but with those two done, it gives me a faster path towards making characters.

For example, one of the fifteen gods! This is the current state of the god of Death!

(Want a higher rez image? Try here!
Right now it's very plain, but only because I worked on him today. He'll get more added to him soon.
For now, what do you think? I feel the shoulder armor is too curvy. i want to add a chest piece, but I also want to keep the "V" of the suit and shirt, so that'll be a bit difficult.
I want to be able to present the gods a bit better than the standard "T" pose. Giving them a more intimidating/powerful stance; maybe an action pose or something.

That's all for this week, thanks for watching!

AQW	Post #: 88

9/9/2016 19:59:45

Arachnid
Member

This week I was working on the god of Death, Scarlet, 217, and the god of Decay.

I was working on the proportions for Death, Scarlet, and 217, so I placed them together in the same scene and edited them accordingly...

(Want a higher res image? Try here!)
Here we can see some changes made:
Death's proportions were edited, he still needs textures on his suit for pockets/buttons and stuff. The reason why the shading on his previous shoulderplates was odd was because I was going for a three tiered cell shading, because it's supposed to look like metal. I'm trying to think of ways to make it more obvious that the material is metal and not just some gray material.
217 had her proportions changed a bit, mainly getting taller and slightly altering her face.
Scarlet was pretty much untouched, but I think I may have made her waist a bit more in line with 217's proportions.

(Want a higher res image? Try here!)
Here's a picture of Death to see the back, because I wanted to show off the spine bit. That was a pretty time consuming thing, but it looks good. Rigging it will be super fun, I'm sure.

(Want a higher res image? Try here!)
Worked a bit more on 217's outfit, AGAIN. Not much to say, yet. Still trying to get a design that I like.

The god of Decay was another thing I was working on this week, but it was mainly just me trying to make hair for her using the base model, so no pictures.

Trying to work on more things at once as time goes by, particularly the gods for the trailer.

Oh, that's another thing. Trailers. I didn't really think through how long the tournament style fighting would be. Turns out, after making a rough outline, that it's gonna be nearly fifteen minutes. So I've decided to divide it up into four separate trailers based on the rounds. They'll be released at about the same time (y'know, probably), separated by about a day. They should be about 3ish minutes long each.

Gonna try to have all of the relevant gods modeled by about halfway through October, gives about two and a half months to animate it by the Christmas deadline.

That's all for this week, thanks for looking!

AQW	Post #: 89

9/16/2016 21:40:34

Arachnid
Member

This week was touch up on the god of Death, adding to 217, along with working on the god of Magic!

Higher res: http://imgur.com/YaxdHGf
Lost the rib cage armor as I felt it was too much, changed the color of the pants to help differentiate it from the shirt, and added some texture to the suit with buttons, pockets, and a seam down the middle. (I know the buttons are on both sides, I;m just lazy with the mirror modifier until I'm set with the look)

Higher res: http://imgur.com/C3TLaQI
Added a pouch for more detail in the middle. I think... she's almost done, outfit wise. It's still missing something, I just don't know what...

Now for the god of Magic!

Higher res: http://imgur.com/HhJX9o4
I'm not sure how I got her to this point. I was initially going to make her a combination of grace and power, but that went straight out the window. Now I'm going for of a crazy/tortured power thing. Nearly done with her, just need texture on the top and maybe some folds on the bottom.

That's all for this week, thanks for looking!

AQW	Post #: 90

9/24/2016 1:28:54

Arachnid
Member

This week was a lot of touch up work, along with a HUGE amount of help from Mammal Pod of blenderartists.com.

First up, 217.

Higher res: http://imgur.com/OlaCHj6
Just color work here, messed with line color and hair color to make it look better.

Next, the god of magic.

Higher res: http://imgur.com/OUuDLFc
Added wraps to her legs and feet to break up the plainness, and added blood runes and scratches to her skin in various places to make her more... magic-y? Also increased brightness and light emission of her eye so it should glow.

Finally, I had some HUGE help from Mammal Pod who spent his free time to help out.
His task? To make the god of the mind.

Higher res: http://imgur.com/zcJOiZz
What do you think? I'm a big fan of the design. Those colorful things on his hips are various masks that he swaps to based on his magic.
Going for a scholar/traveler look, and I think he hit it pretty well. What do you guys think?

That's all for this week, thanks for looking!

AQW	Post #: 91

10/7/2016 23:12:32

Arachnid
Member

This week was spent working on three new gods, and changing one of them!

First up, the God of Time!

Higher res: http://imgur.com/WBSi4Qq
I went for a bit of a samurai feel with him. I'm going to texture his robe with a sun/moon design (to symbolize the passing of the day), but I can't seem to come up with a design that I'm satisfied with.
Very pleased with how the sword came out, particularly the blade. It's meant to be a nodachi, so I'm not sure if it should be longer.

Next, the God of Music!

Higher res: http://imgur.com/FIiovjp
Going for a very plain and pretty look here. Thing is, it seems too plain, but just a little. Thinking of adding a bow or a floating ribbon or something to help balance it out.
Yes, her eyes don't have pupils. Yes, there's a reason. Just remember. Eyes are important.

And finally, I decided to change the model from the God of Magic over to the God of Decay, with a few small changes.

Higher res: http://imgur.com/XRInyuM
Added a mask, removed the chains on her left arm, and added two claw things to her right hand. Also made her bow.
Yes, I'm aware of the odd shape of the bow; it's in the style of an Andaman bow, which has that strange S curve.
Thinking of making the bow bigger. She also needs...something. I don't know what, but SOMETHING.

Also spent this week converting everyone over to A pose. The reason behind this was because: T pose is for easier rigging, but A pose is for more accurate deformation.
It also helps get their hand into camera view, so there's that. So, if any of the shoulders look off, let me know and I'll go about fixing it.

Next week will probably be Cold, Heat and War. That'll leave Air, Water, Calamity, and Magic left.

That's all for this week, thanks for looking!

< Message edited by Arachnid -- 10/7/2016 23:16:36 >

AQW	Post #: 92

10/8/2016 8:20:49

Crystal Lion
Member

I think the time god should have little silver stars on his robe, especially concentrated towards wherever the moon design will be. Personally, I think the moon should be on his back and sun in front.

Post #: 93

10/15/2016 1:50:54

Arachnid
Member

quote:

I think the time god should have little silver stars on his robe, especially concentrated towards wherever the moon design will be. Personally, I think the moon should be on his back and sun in front.

I'll keep that in mind when I go back to him. I'll be fixing up little things as time goes on when I have extra time, so i'll get to it eventually.

This week was the god of Cold, Heat, and War!

First up, the god of Cold!

Higher res: http://imgur.com/AL9R0rs
Summer clothes seems an odd choice, eh? Actually, the reason for that is that cold mages are able to very easily control their body temperature, which means she's nice and toasty, even in a blizzard. The holly is their so help associate her with cold, and the necklace and bracelet are...gifts.

Next, the god of Heat!

Higher res: http://imgur.com/odc6myc
Going for almost a pirate-y kind of theme here, looks like some guy you'd see at a beach. The bracelet and charm on the headband are...gifts.

And finally, the god of War!

Higher res: http://imgur.com/lZ0JoHY
Obviously was going to go for a warrior theme here. Texturing the cape was actually a lot easier than I thought...

That's all for this week! Next week is Air, Water, Calamity, and maybe Magic if I can fit her in.

Thanks for looking!

AQW	Post #: 94

10/21/2016 22:34:28

Arachnid
Member

Hey there everyone!

Alright so... This week I don't have much in the form of quantity so much as quality.
I spent all week working on the god of Magic. Specifically, all week on just her head.
Yeah.

I know that sounds bad, but hear me out.
There have been a few things that have been going on continuously with these characters; a few small problems that aren't a big deal by themselves but eventually add up. The way the hair was done, the way freestyle worked (and in some cases, didn't work), the way normals worked, texture jobs, face shapes, eye shapes and textures, etc. A lot of small things.
So this week, I spent all day every day doing EVERYTHING differently. A lot of tests failed, some things made it look worse, and it ended up taking all week instead of just a day or two.
Now, all that being said, the end result is... Well, I'll let you be the judge.

This is the god of Magic (or, her face anyways).

Higher res: http://imgur.com/OYgFjnZ

And after throwing together a compositing effect:

Higher res: http://imgur.com/if0xiGT

The compositing isn't final; the saturation is a bit too high and the brightness is also a little high, but it serves its purpose here in showing the bright and bubbly goddess of Magic.

That's all for this week! Thanks for looking!

< Message edited by Arachnid -- 10/21/2016 22:36:23 >

AQW	Post #: 95

10/25/2016 8:27:44

xShadowHunterx
Member

Haven't checked in awhile but, looks great! The abs on Heat looks a bit weird but I can't figure out whats wrong .-. The compositing test on Magic looks noice! The blush is a bit on the strong site though.

_____________________________

AQW

Epic

Post #: 96

10/31/2016 20:14:51

Arachnid
Member

quote:

Haven't checked in awhile but, looks great! The abs on Heat looks a bit weird but I can't figure out whats wrong .-. The compositing test on Magic looks noice! The blush is a bit on the strong site though.

Thanks!
Yeah, the abs were done quickly and not very good, I'll be fixing them in the future.
Fixed the blush!

Alright, sorry about the lack of a post on Friday, I had a lot of family stuff come up.

Ok, so here's the situation:
I was able to get in touch with someone who I would consider to be an expert on modelling, and they gave me a lot of tips on topology, among other things (proportions, colors, rigging, etc.). So I'll still be working on this model this week.

For the foreseeable future, the model updates are going to be a bit slower. The reason for this is I'm going to do my best to do QUALITY over QUANTITY, something I haven't really been doing.

Now, what this means is maybe a model per week. But, this model will be done well, have good topology, and be presented posed, and therefore rigged.

What this means for the trailer(s) is uncertain. I don't think I'll be able to get every model done, rigged, and animated by Christmas anymore. So instead, I plan on animating each individual battle and releasing them one at a time. This accomplishes a few things: as each battle happens, I'll be getting feedback for the animations, along with learning how well the rigs and models hold up, and what to avoid/change. The first one will be Magic v. Time, and will be out... Eventually.

This probably should have been the case earlier, but... I simply didn't see what I needed to be doing. I tried too hard to stick to my Christmas deadline and simply ignored and thoughts I had about possible moving that deadline, mainly so as not to hurt my own pride. But, hey. This is all a learning experience to prepare me for a professional environment, and to show that it is possible to make animations that look 2D while being 3D.

I appreciate everyone's patience and feedback, so thanks.

Next week will probably be showing off Magic in a finished state (topology better, rigged better, and her outfit).
But in the mean time...

Higher res: http://imgur.com/hh5JDnj

Happy Halloween!

Thanks for looking!

AQW	Post #: 97

11/4/2016 9:20:28

xShadowHunterx
Member

Quality over Quantity is definitely the way to go, take your time! :D

AQW

Epic

Post #: 98

11/12/2016 19:28:41

Arachnid
Member

Phew! A day late, but not too bad all things considering.

Gonna be honest, this whole process wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Well, except for rigging.
LET'S TALK ABOUT THAT FOR A SECOND.

So, unsurprisingly, the longest part of this was rigging. The first problem was the leg deform. For whatever reason, it did not want to deform properly AT ALL. So I added a butt bone. No fix. Moved the burr bone. No fix. Parented the butt bone to a different bone. No fix. Tried weight paint. Not a very good fix. Made multiple bones to act as the hips. No fix.

At this point I was starting to lose my mind, so I took a break for a day. After the break, I came back, added a different butt bone, and it worked fine. yay

The next rigging problem was my own fault. I modeled a layered skirt and a layered coat. Not my best idea, but hey. That problem was actually pretty easy to fix, without weight paints, only took an hour to figure it out.

Rigging altogether took 7 out of ten days. I've learned a good amount from it though, so future rigs should be done faster.

Texturing was...easy-ish. I'm still trying to get the hang of clothing folds and uv unwrapping, but for the most part, it wasn't too bad since the outfit was fairly simple.

Texturing took about two days.

Finally posing and compositing, which took a day and a half, leading up to this result:

Higher res: http://imgur.com/jaP2abH

I'm pretty satisfied with it. Posing led me to some weighting issues with the rig which weren't too hard to fix. Lighting wasn't very easy either, and the posing itself was surprisingly difficult. That being said, I previously had the issue where if I switched the camera to a perspective view with a focal length less than 90 mm (yeah, I know), then the model would start to look too 3d.
This image is perspective with a 35 mm focal length, and it still looks very much 2D, which means the model holds up.

The first fight is Magic v. Time, which means Time is next. His model is male, and I haven't updated the male models to be on par with the new female one, so it could be almost three weeks before I'm done with him, but I'm hoping for less.

That's all for this week, thanks for watching!

AQW	Post #: 99

11/14/2016 12:24:48

xShadowHunterx
Member

Looks great! Wonderful job on the background.

AQW

Epic

Post #: 100

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