Modelling with a low budget.

Having done several concept development sheets for this module, I decided to begin some low-poly modelling practice.

I decided to do one of the Digital Tutors 3D tutorials focused on modelling with a low budget. The tutorial ties in nicely to my PDP as the reference image is rather stylised:

Not my work.

In the lesson the artist is not supplied with a model sheet.

Instead he uses basic model sheets which aren't directly from the character, and only uses these to directly reference the early stages.

After that it's all about looking to the concept art, and throwing in your own creative nuances to define/flesh out the model. Ultimately however, the final model stays relatively true to the original concept.

Early propotions

Beginning to refine.

Current State

When creating models at a low budget it's crucial to consider if something can just be normal mapped instead of modeled in. The tutorial drew at attention to the idea that if the strength of the silhouette of the character is affected by leaving out extra polys, then it makes sense to model them in. This was the reasoning behind the armor topology you can see around the torso of the model. From the side angle the armor, even when mapped would seem strange.

I'm going to continue working through this tutorial (it's taking me longer than I would like to work through than I would like) and try and become more efficient in my modelling. After all, one of the core interests of this project for me was to scrutinize sketching in 3D. And if I'm taking too long then it defeats the purpose. In the meantime, I'm also going to experiment with the costume design of my child/adult character and consider the modelling restrictions of the costumes, allow the concept art to fuel the ideas for cyclic animations for Lynn's module, and begin a high quality piece of concept art for the adult version of the character in a dynamic pose.

Bye for now :)