ZBrushCentral

DnD Tabaxi - Mersharr

I’ve been working on this guy for a week or two. He is my Tabaxi Paladin DnD Character I play and as it’s the first time I’ve ever played I thought I would commemorate with a 3D Character!

Unfortunately this is the stage I rarely get past, so taking him to the next level is my next big challenge. I’m hoping to make him in a sort of Overwatch style (cos I do love that style and it’ll be good practice I think as there is lots of reference) so I’ll need to dial back the tiger texture but also do a lot more with the armour. I’ll be looking at Reinhardt and Brigitte mostly for reference from here I think. But we’ll see!

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So here’s an update to the head mostly. Going for the Overwatch style/simplified shapes rather than the more realistic texturing I had as a placeholder previously. Still a long way to go though!

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And another update…this is where things get tricky on where to go next to take it to the next level for me…I might do some drawovers I think.

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Nice work. hope there’s more coming after. i think it’s more of a good idea to pursue something on texturing.

I think you are right about the texturing, but I’m trying to push the base as far as I can before I take it to that step.

Next I think I’ll set up a pose and see how he looks. Take any considerations from that back to the base mesh then look at texturing.

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And another update. Just to check out the posing and overall feel of the character…not bad, but still a ways to go methinks!

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Working on the Armor and shield a bit. I’m going to have to redo the thigh plates as they glitched out at some point into one model which won’t work at all!

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And some more on the shield and made the lower legs a bit thicker. I also had to redo the thigh armour as the different plates merged at some point and I need them separate if I am to ever rig and animate him as a game character.

I’m thinking of adding a leather satchel to his right side off the strap. And then I will need to create a proper mouth. I also want the sword and shield to be able to hang off his back somehow, but I have yet to figure out the best way to do that with his cape in the way. eg. Do I put his straps over the cape? Does he slip the sword in between the cape and the armour and the shield hooks onto the top of the cape on some rope I have there…will have to think that over.

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Sorrrrry for the late reply though he looks already awesome (or handsome). I think he’s good to go as the cape should probably stay where it it under the cape. Compositions of all scraps on his outfit integrate well. In my opinion, it might be the right time to push forward on the details like fur (ClaybuildUp’s my favourite) or a little bit a crack on the shield with an Alpha. Choose a fitting Matcap too, if all is consider done in Zbrush. BTW, I’m wondering what renderer you are using. The zbrush integrated one is good but kind of not enough for a more realistic representation reflection of light.

Since the modeling part is looking all good, you might wanna consider texturing and render in another program, Keyshot’s good, you might consider SP, too.

Either way works, Looking forward your next step. Keep up the awesome work! ^^

@Marty_yyz Thanks for the kind words! You’re right about renders and texturing. But as I am going for an overwatch style (more simple and stylised rather than detailed) I need to make sure he looks good in a pretty basic form and then try to ramp it up even more later with actual textures. These renders are all done in ZBrush, not even a BPR (it’s a screenshot). At some point soon I’ll try for a good render from zbrush or Keyshot just for kicks, but currently focusing on getting all the details in there first.

Latest update. Still adding details to flesh him out some more. Added an actual mouth for later when I get to posing. Added a satchel and a sheath for the sword.

Still getting used to ZModeler but I must admit I miss my old SubD modeling tools. I’m trying to get better/faster at ZModeler though so sticking to it as much as possible. ZModeler seems more like puzzle solving sometimes rather than just push and drag and create. I’m sure with more practice I will know how to ‘solve’ different approaches to modeling though. Will have to see if it stacks up in the end once I am more used to it.

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Did some very small details on the my character tonight. Even streamed it for something different, as I would like to get into streaming more.

Edited the shield strap, added some bolts, and some very subtle details on the dark armour shoulder and thigh plates. VERY subtle. Also played with a render in Keyshot just to see how it’s looking. Turned out OK…but I need to improve that too. It’s very dark, for example. But I was running out of night time to work in :slight_smile:

I think I will focus on all the leather and add some buckles etc. before looking at retopology and posing.

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And here he is as a low poly character ready for first pass texturing…I think I need to clean him up a lot to get it to next level…but…I will decide if I take him that far after a break.

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And another, after tinkering with Substance Painter…

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So about that ‘I’m just going to leave it’ :slight_smile: …I’m definitely doing that now though as I’d like to get back to coding before I forget everything again. I’m relatively happy with it…but the metal doesn’t look as good as it did in Substance painter it’s too…shiny or…something…so I’ll be looking at fixing that up somehow.

Next pass I will add an inner mouth so I can add some more expression. I might even try to do an aggressive facial expression too. But done…for now.

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Just another update on pose and added a mouth. This is game ready, basically, and rendered in Marmoset.

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