Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.

• Hi Jordan! Great job on completing this character, here’s what I think you’ve done well: ⭐ Great reference gathering and concept development ⭐ Great start on an anatomy sculpt from scratch ⭐ Nice even topology in most areas and covers most of the main deformation loops ⭐ Efficiently packed UVs with consistent texel density and sensible separation across texture sets ⭐ Great start on studio lighting for flattering renders Some areas that I think you could improve on: 🌸Continue to do anatomy studies on different body types, focussing on the calves and upper torso areas 🌸Use a range of references to make more accurate clothing folds in baggy trousers, especially when going for very clean shapes you want to make sure that these don’t come across as muddy. Start at a lower polycount when sculpting to get the main major forms in before sharpening them up. Check out how this artist does clean stylised folds: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/JvVRwA I would have loved to see more of a sharp/angular silhouette like you had in your concepts 🌸Continue to follow tutorials on correct topology for deformation - particularly focus on the elbows, hands and edges flowing down from the neck into the torso. Check out DannyMac3D or 3D Mutiny for in-depth resources. 🌸As you discovered, stacking UV shells can cause more issues than they are worth. For assets that you want unique bakes, textures and normals (think areas of focus) then it is worth separating the islands. Having multiple texture sets is perfectly fine for a game setting as long as they are packed efficiently. 🌸Texturing in non-human skin tones can be difficult especially very saturated ones, but most of the rules carry across. I think more roughness and colour variation would have helped your character to read less “plastic-y”. Next time, introduce some sub-surface scattering to help the general feel of the skin and the readability of the tattoos. 🌸 I like the key and rim light setup you have going on but the pink setting has washed out the redness in your character. I would recommend adding one more rim light to highlight the left side’s silhouette and darkening the background so the character stands out! You’ve got a great creative eye Jordan, keep learning and improving and you’ll make it far. I hope this feedback is helpful, please reach out if you have any questions :)
• Pros: + Good developmental process for the concept, you’ve got quite a distinguishable style that fits well with the chosen theme. In your final design though, there is a big discrepancy between his red body and the black pants with blue accents, it almost feels like the character is cut in half. The tattoos seem a bit faded and not a focal point like in the references you looked at. + Nicely laid out and clean UV’s. If you want to try overlapping it’s mostly done on handpainted characters with no normal maps, that way there are less issues encountered. Otherwise, you have to do a few bake tests and make sure you are only mirroring from one side. + Good referencing throughout the documentation Cons: - Make sure your character’s feet rest on the world grid when you start making your character in 3D. Overlooking this can lead to issues down the line, especially if you work in a group project and you pass this model to an animator. - I highly recommend practising anatomy and cloth sculpting as they are essential for character creation. Once you have a strong set of sculpting fundamentals, you can focus on the game production aspects like retopology, UVs, texturing. Also, given your distinctive artistic style, you’ll be able to much better transfer those expressive shapes you’ve got in your drawings into 3D and make your characters stand out. **One book I highly recommend is Anatomy for Sculptors (https://anatomy4sculptors.com/understanding-the-human-figure/). Also, don’t forget to practise anatomy through drawing since a lot of the observations you make in 2D can easily be transferred to 3D. For this I highly recommend drawing quick poses (1-2 min) which force you to find the main lines of action and learn how dynamic the human body is. Also a good website for sculpting and drawing reference is: https://line-of-action.com/ - Good retopology attempt although there was no need to subdivide. Also, the jeans could use improvement as the patterns are quite inconsistent. For cloth you want a clean base made of quads only that cover the surface, then make “cuts” in the geometry by adding extra loops where needed to accommodate the folds (peaks & valleys). Triangles are acceptable, even ideal when it comes to cloth in order to cleanly close off the extra rows while maintaining the even quad pattern established earlier. Also, for body retopology I recommend checking out this thread: https://blenderartists.org/t/human-retopology-advice-welcome/1248218/8 - You mentioned the challenge of portraying blood under the skin on a red character but not how you overcame it. - Final textures look a bit flat with not much depth to them, especially the skin which looks like plastic. Study clothing textures and patterns and how to add color variety to skin. For skin I recommend this process breakdown weather you plan to do realistic or stylised as the information is transferable https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtLV9V_-HTo&list=PLWVY6T1hda_j7QA5FBC7lZHt65WgUC3WC&index=10&ab_channel=RohitSingh - Final presentation can be improved, next time use a curved plane as background as the intersection line between the planes draws the viewer’s attention. Also try to play with different sizes of area lights for softer shadows. - No conclusion in the documentation or personal reflection Overall, you’ve come up with a good idea for the chosen theme which can be further improved. Mainly, I would focus on being more comfortable with sculpting characters first and then focus on the technicals like topology, UVs and such. Once you are happy and confident that you can put your ideas into 3D you’ll have an easier time learning the other aspects of production. Feel free to reach me at: verisof08 on Discord or via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mihaiandrusandu/