Action Hero - Mantis Man

[SolidSnakexxx]

Action Hero entry by Yongkiat Karnchanapayap

When a young and brilliant entomologist, Dr. Curtis Mantodea, discovered a perfect way to distill essence of life and finding the secret to recreate life from that essence, His home was intruded by an unknown organization. They stole his research works. by doing so had killed his beloved wife and daughter. Dr. Mantodea was shot in that very same spot.

With the last breath of his life, he injected himself with the essence that he held in his hand. The Mantis Essence Dr.Curtis injected himself slowly fuse with human gene and regenerate damage tissues and more. Awoken hours later, he noticed his body's transformed into something hideous. The body's now encased in a new and sturdy Exoskeleton, his left arm lengthen and formed a raptorial like blade. The new body's now holds secret powers even Dr. Curtis himself can't fathom.

Beneath this horrendous form, the genius mind of Dr. Mantodea's fully aware of his new goal and new meaning of life. With this gift of strength and agility, he must hunt down the organization that took away everything from him, his beloved wife and his works. Rise....the vengeful Mantis Man

Abilities:
1. The Raptorial Blade
His left arm's permanently mutated into a bio-weapon that equally menacing as its look. Its long and spiky blade is used as semi-long range weapon. Each spike's so sharp that can cut through hard objects like slicing through tofu. His right arm remains much of human's, when it need the smaller Blade shank can be extended and used as short range jabbing weapon.

2. Physical
The perfect fuse of man and Mantis gene makes his ability to sense higher beyond humans both vision and hearing. The exoskeleton skin makes him resilient to harsh environment and can protect him from harms. His skin also inherited Mantis power to camouflage, this attribute makes covert operation a walk in the park for Mantis Man.

3. Flying
With the new set of wings growing on his back, he's able make a short distant flight.

4. The Mantis Ray
On his forehead, there are 3 jewel like buttons which can be activated by mind control. Upon activation, the 3 buttons will interact with each other creating destructive energy projection that can be shot very far and its direction can be controlled by his mind. Perfect for long range combat,the ray's so powerful that it can blow up military tanks with a single shot. However, it also temporarily paralyzes him for at least 15 seconds every time the Mantis Ray's used as the ray requires a lot of physical and mind energy to control.

post_001.jpg
(http://www.pixolator.com/zbc/attachment.php?attachmentid=118263&stc=1)

[JUPITER]

Nice sketch!! very well put together..this is going to
be one to keep an eye on...! :tu: :tu:

[Captain Sensible]

I like the idea. It will make for an awesome sculpt too!

[SolidSnakexxx]

Thank you JUPITER, Captain Sensible, I hope my ZBrush skill's up to the task as this is going to be a fun one to realize in ZBrush. At the moment I'm trying to finalize the head design. I'm going for a more realistic insect like head. The tone of the character I'm aiming for is very dark and vengeful.

My girlfriend asked me whether the Hero's too scary looking and that make him look evil. What do you guy think? Does a Good Super Hero has to be handsome? Can this mutated good heart Doctor be good as well?

[maxinkuk]

Very good concept, this is perfect action hero material.

[P'etur]

Promising concept :tu:



http://vierluz.cgsociety.org/

[C-Mad]

The TEXTURING for this creature will be SUCH FUN! So much leeway to be creative for this character!

He won't really need clothing, so you can texture the entire body. The pants look out of place... The long arm will be most impressive, once textured, I am sure.

Definitely looking forward to seeing the sculpt develop for this one!

~OM

[MINTY]

This character really makes for a superb sculpt. Looking forward to seeing more soon.

[eklavya]

:O wow very strong concept
by look wise its villain more then a hero for me ( its my opinion only)
but in any case its up to us so don***8217;t worry :D

good luck man!!

[canndis]

your background story is strong and sounds good ,can get a really good creature hero out of it ,good luck

[gang]

great story.
character is also looking great

[KrakenCMT]

Great sketch and idea! I don't think he'll look too scary for a hero. I like the idea of a hero who doesn't look so crisp and clean. I can tell you'll have a lot of fun sculpting this one and we'll have fun watching the progress.

[SolidSnakexxx]

Thank you everyone for great comments and they indeed are great encouragement.

maxinkuk, P'etur: Thank you. I hope to make one dark hero that might break traditional Heroes look.

C-Mad: Yeah, Texturing him would be a fun thing to do for certain :) I'm thinking about loosing the pants also, but I'm trying to find a way to make him look not totally monster like..... Still thinking...


MINTY: Thank you. I know ZBrush can handle organic looks and hopefully this will work to my benefits for sculpting the hero details.

eklavya: Yes, this is something I'm very indecisive of as I want to create a monstrous (mutated) hero, but afraid his look will make him like villian or too sinister looking....


canndis,gang: Thank you for your encouragement :)


KrakenCMT: I'm glad you think he's not too hedeous to be a hero :D I'ma great fan of yours especially the Conan sculpt. You are a great inspiration to me.

[Lucky_1]

He's Looking very cool Yongkiat,
keep it up

[MGebhart]

Very cool. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Marc

[pixolClay]

Hey SolidSnakexxx, great entry. The design is very powerful and really stands out. Might wanna look Masked Rider and that series for reference. Really good stuff man, cant wait to see it progress. :D

[SolidSnakexxx]

Lucky_1: Thank you. When I was in search for my inspiration, I was in my backyard and saw this small Mantis having only 1 Raptorial leg devouring a small garden spider (The other leg probably lost or eaten by other insect?) I spent a good half an hour looking at it and it was really cool looking. The face structure, the way its helping tiny legs grab its pray and eating, Especially the thorny Big Arm. So I went on and try to create a back story for a hero with the mix of this insect.


MGebhart: Thank you. I'll try to finalize his face first. I think this can be done tonight after work :)

pixolClay: I did check out the Mask Rider stuff, They look very cool but so very clean and in uniform like body suite. I want to make this Mantis Man a bit grotesque and have one large Raptorial arm (Like the one I saw in my backyard), it looks off balance but still very menacing.

[Y/Haüss]

Hey SolidSnakexxx... I've just started to check out the entries... and you're one of my favorities. Nice idea! Fantastic Sketch!
Congratulations!

[SolidSnakexxx]

Y/Haüss: Thank you so much for being one of your fav heroes here.

Frankly I'm now obsessed with Mantis :o Didn't know there are so many different types of Mantis in the world until I seriously started this project. I'm still at a very early stage. As much as I'd love to jump in and start sculpting, I'm in need to get the basic design lock down. So today I concentrate mainly on teh front view of the head, only the head. In reality the Mantis eyes are much larger but I tried out that large and it just look plain ridiculous so I reduced the size a bit but maintain much of the same Mantis facial structure. The rest just fall into places.

The parts that I kind of like on this hero character's head are its Compound eyes and, the 3 jewel like buttons atop its forehead.

1.jpg

As you know the design's not set in stone yet. Should you guys have any suggestions to make him better, please let me know. Again, thank you for looking.

progress_002_tmb.jpg

[abe_Tamazir]

Really like this one!remind me of Guyver! :)
very nice shading and drawing...looking forward to see the zsculpt!
A

[gang]

this face remind me of buzz charater from heman
anyways nice face

[tuh3008]

:tu: Cool..!!!

[pixolClay]

Very nice design SolidSnakexxx, it would be very cool if the final was a mixture of hard surface and organic...would like to see how turns out. Cheers! :D

[KrakenCMT]

Nice head design. Insect like, but also a hint of tech in the design.

[Sliska]

awesome.. lots of thought going into this before the sculpt. No doubt the final result will be great.

My one comment I have about the head is to maybe watch for the stiff neck syndrom alot of super heros get with the costumes. Batman for example.

A mantis is known for having a head that is very articulate... right now those panels on the side of the head make it seem somewhat restricted to me. Hope this helps.

awesome work so far.

cheers!

[Ladysoul]

Hello,
Nice sketches and nice story background. Looking forward to see your zbrush work !
About the head sketch, and i know that it 's a WIP, you should try to keep an organic feel, and maybe his exoskeleton skin could be translucent for some part, seeing the blood vessel etc.

[Seavannah]

I like your backstory. He's good and revengeful at the same time, never know what this character might do especially once he finds the bad guys love that. I don't like most bugs but the mantis I have always found inteseting. they seem to have a intelligence most bugs don't. When you look at them they seem to be looking back at you out gauging your intentions and wondering what you are. they seem to be smart little bugs, your bad guys are in trouble lol. they are also very cool little boxers/fighters when they feel threatened or just playing or showing off. I liked your first pic alot. the second pic, even though I do think they are cute bugs, I would make him a bit more stronger looking. keep up the good work and happy zbrushing.

[gregoconn]

This project looks really promising. It looks like you've put a lot of thought into the character and the design. I can't wait to see WiP on this one and will stay tuned.

I like that you havn't gone for a greyish look.

[SolidSnakexxx]

abe_Tamazir:
Thank you :) Guyver...huh..that's interesting...I'll look into that.

gang,tuh3008:
Thank you

pixolClay:
I was planning him to be quite organic but with a touch of hard surface in certain area might be an interesting mix. Thank you for the suggestion :)

KrakenCMT:
Still thinking on the tech stuff, will see how it turns out.

Sliska:
Thank you for your kind encouragement. Yes, the neck is one of my huge concern as well. I might loose the neck plates all together to make him more "neck" flexible :) I'll try to work out as soon as possible as I would love to jump into ZBrush.

Ladysoul: Great suggestion on the organic thing. Yes, I'm planning for him to be very much organic in the end as he's after all a mutated human/mantis. Will need to adjust the sketch to reflect that as well.

Seavannah:
Don't you just love vengeful heroes...? It gives them the drive to eradicate baddies... BTW, starting this project, I began to amaze praying mantis as well. They do seem pretty smart...

gregoconn:
The color palette for the character is not set yet. I'm thinking among greenish/reddish/brownish as the mantis do come in those colors.

[SolidSnakexxx]

Last night I finally able to squeeze some time to work in ZBrush. In general, I do create my base mesh in ZBrush using ZSphere as it's the easiest way to form the basic shape I need. This time however, I leave out the head as I'm thinking about sculpting it as a separate subtool. (Also think out loud that many of the elements such as some spikes and stuff would also be separately modeled)

Here's what I have so far. I have yet to tweak the mesh as I'm not done with ZSphere just yet. Right now what I'm lookign for is just some rough proportion.

1.jpg
2.jpg
3.jpg

progress_003_tmb.jpg

[gregoconn]

Nice progress.

Are you thinking of retopologizing later? are are you going to continue with just z-spheres?

[avtart20]

Great drawings! the head looks really good. Im starting to wish that i went along with something more organic. Mantis man looks like he would be a lot of fun to create in zbrush. And good zphereing im never able to get those things to work in my favor. Thats why i stick with maya for my basemeshes.

[SolidSnakexxx]

gregoconn:
Thank you. Yes, I'm planning to retopologize him later as at the moment its' too poly heavy in the palm area and I think it would work to my benefits to be have the topo laid out nicely for the pose as well. And Retop tool in ZBrush is quite easy to accomplish the whole thing in a timely manner...So I'd leave that for now until my sculpt's starting to form to waht I expected.

avtart20:
Actually I used to have the fear for ZSphere as well..until one day I tried and everything just fall into places... The trick is that don't think to make it perfectly like what you might envision but think of it as a starting point to have fun sculpting. (But some people here at ZBCentral are really great at creating the perfect ZSphere construct which I do envy...hehe) And after learning ZSphere I no longer go back to Silo or Maya to do my base mesh again.... Believe me, ZSphere is the future of base mesh creation ;)

[SolidSnakexxx]

Still a trial and error phase where I separate off the arm (Still not sure yet whether I'm going to add this as subtool or be part of the main model) This is the Raptorial blade from the ZSphere at a very early stage of ZBrushing.

1.jpg

progress_004_tmb.jpg

[Slosh]

I love the close up of the face. This should be interesting as a hero, although one would normally associate an insect/human as being a villain. Nice way to think outside the box.

[sazar26]

thats looking really good so far, nice shapes, i sure its gonna lool awesome when you add detail to it

[SolidSnakexxx]

Slosh: Thank you for your comment. Hey Bugs can be super heroes too you know (^.^) But I understand most of Heroes in human mind set would be like Mr. Universe Type of body and handsome... LEt's try something ugly for a change huh ;)

sazar26: I also can't wait for the detailing part...the fun part...


Also, while I was googling in search for more bug inspiration, I saw this image and thought this Real Mantis-Man is quite funny:

funny.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('118608','funny.jpg',1,0))

The image's from http://flickr.com/photos/loup-vert/2990650893/

[JUPITER]

come on snake isn't that really you!!LoL just joshing....but that is funny :lol:
thank's for the reinspiration on the exo :tu:

[SolidSnakexxx]

JUPITER: I swear that's not me...hee hee... But I wish to have that suite though So I can test pose before using ZB's transpose. And during the contest what we all need's inspiration. Your stuff's coming along as well, can't wait to see either!

As for the progress on my Mantis Man, I decided to make the Raptorail limb a subtool. And Now I also start shaping the Adaptive Skin from that ZSphere model. Checking the rough proportion (A bit buff at the moment as I'm plannign to have him leaner)

Here's the lowest subdiv (At level 1) and the poly for the body is merely 289 polygon.

progress_005.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('118626','progress_005.jpg', 1,0))

[Pluie.]

Nice design man :tu: and uh ... GREAT REFERENCES :lol: :lol:
Your mesh from zsphere look really clean :p

[gang]

great nice going

[avtart20]

SolidSnakexxx - instead of extracting the mesh, you could try drawing new topology over your base figure, then projecting the mesh below onto the surface. It would conform exactly like an extraction, but would not have the edges you were concerned about. Also, using a crease on the edges for the first few divides will keep it sharp. posted by Slosh on my thread.

[gregoconn]

I like the look of your early test with the blade your getting some nice shape out of it. I always have trouble knowing whether I should use something as a sub tool or not as well, usually because it allows me to get more sub divisions out of it.

I'm curious to know which route you will take.

This all still looks very promising

[aiman]

Great Progress, My only question is are you planning on taking it in more of a spandex costume clad superhero/villian look or something more like "the fly" look??
fly_1.jpg

[neozerahan]

brother snanke...u hav an amzing concpet ther bro....
waiting for updates...

[SolidSnakexxx]

Pluie: Thank you. Hee hee, the reference with Mantis costume is a big help :D I want one of that suites.

gang: Thank you, sir.

avtart20: That's very kind of you to post the trick here..and Thank to Slosh as well for the trick on your thread. This would come in handy when needed.

gregoconn: I'm at the moment going for the subtool route (at least the raptorial limb is a separate subtool at the moment) and hopefully the ability to have more poly count would work to my benefits.

aiman: Yes, I'm thinking about going the style you posted! Where did you get the reference from? Is it from the movie The Fly? Hopefully in my hero, he'd be less demonic (organic) and looks more agile.

neozerahan: Yes, I can't wait to go home after work for the ZB session as well. Wouldn't it be great if we don't have daytime job but getting paid for it?

[JUPITER]

I want a mantis arm..can i borrow one for my back?maybe some genetic upgrade from uncle shady's discount viruse's and gene's!!!!
looking good keep it up. i espically like your drawing of the head! ;) choice

[SolidSnakexxx]

JUPITER: I'll lend you one limb :)

Anyhow today I was able to do a quick session after work...I wish to have more time to do the sculpting fun. Pressing on time, I didn't do other parts, except the torso area. I hope it being not Humanly anatomy is alright by the rules. I have come up with 2 possible choices one fully covered in exoskeleton and the other half way cover. I might go for the full exo version what do you guys think?

progress_006.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('118737','progress_006.jpg', 1,0))

progress_006a.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('118738','progress_006a.jpg' ,1,0))

[DAnconia]

I would keep it simple. I like the second part. You could also have human and exo flowing into each other randomly. This looks really great. keep up the good work!

[MINTY]

Really like the sculpt so far mate. This is going to be superb. looking forward to seeing the end result.

[malc2304]

This is a nice idea. I would go for the full body exo and it might be nice to have fleshy fibres between the plates in places you could also work larger areas of this into certain spots. Could possibly be a weakpoint amongst all the protective surface maybe...

[Harmonic]

I like the the full cover. I have a hard time picturing how the half cover would work. Great design work on this guy so far.

[KrakenCMT]

I would go half exoskeleton and half human as your sketch shows. The reason being that the design would much more interesting and seeing the human side integrating with the mantis side would make for a great contrast modeling wise. The trick would be to balance the design of those elements.

But I do like what you have done with the torso!

[SolidSnakexxx]

DAnconia: Thanks for your kind input. I'll do a separate sculpt with him half exo one day (Kind of like his half way to become Mantis Man.)


MINTY: Thank you. I also would love to see how he'd end up looking like as my concept sketch has him pretty loose.

malc2304,Harmonic: Thank you so much guys, I've made my decision to go for the full exoskeleton route. Here's a quick Animated GIF from subdiv 1

1.gif

During the sculpt It I was going back and fourth a lot between subdiv....as the design's not locked down...Now I know why ZBrush is such a great creative tool to flesh out ideas even during the sculpting phase.

[JEQ]

Very nice progress!

[Lucky_1]

Nice update Yongkiat !

[avtart20]

Thats looking really great. I think that the exo plates should be a little more rigid though. it will make them look much stronger. there just looking a little to rounded.

[avtart20]

and how did you do that animated gif? thats really cool!

[sendhilv]

Coming very nice...

[True_Saint]

wow commin gr8:tu:

[Fess]

Coming along nicely! I like the middle part of the torso more. Design-wise I think he would have a hard time moving that human arm, with the shell covering his right pectoral.(unless it's not the hard insect shell?)

[slashpot]

Fantastic work man! I suggest you go for the more human torso as the judges have made it clear they want some human anatomy, even though the rules don't force you to do this. I like the mantis body myself, but it is less likely to win.

Just trying to help, I'd like to see you win! However, even if you don't clients with tight deadlines will be queuing up to hire you!

[zeke3d]

this dudes lookin pretty coo L :cool:

[SolidSnakexxx]

KrakenCMT: Now that you've mentioned it, I might revisit the design. There are quite a few comments suggesting the half exo route.

JEQ, Lucky_1, sendhilv, True_Saint: Thank you :)

avtart20: I'll most likely redo the exo plate tonight after work. I've been referencing off various mantis and some do have bulby plates on their bodies.

The animated GIF I did I simply export out different Subdiv and combine them in Photoshop in layers and export as Animate GIF (in CS3 would be under the menu > Animation)

Fess: You are quite right :) Thank you. If I'm going for the full exo route, I'll design some interstitial skin that allow the hero to move around with ease.

Slashpot: Umm, good thinking. you might be right. Thanks for the tips. Even though I

zeke3d: Thank you, dude.

[JUPITER]

Very nice mate!! :D

[SolidSnakexxx]

JUPITER: Thank you mate.

Some Questions:
I'm just thinking aloud here...as many of the contestants seem to go for the human-like character and that would most likely fit what the guidelines state....would character similar to Ironman where his entire body's covered in armor suite be all right? As you will not see a single muscle in action at all. The reason I'm pondering is because I'm afraid my hero design's somewhat going the other way from what's suggested. But again, I want to go for an unconventional hero......fully mutated and deformed and unlikely to have human muscle and flesh.....What do you guys think?

[DAnconia]

If you can find a balance it would definitely help just so that the viewer can identify with the character more. Even just having the torso humanoid and everything else mutated would help.

You seem to be sculpting very quickly. maybe you should do both?

[SolidSnakexxx]

DAnconia: You are absolutely right. What I will do is to go do one version first and then the second if time allow. After all this is a WIP contest, I'd love to have the benefit of having your valuable comments to improve my character!

This project's getting me so involved that I plan to visit an insect museum out of town this coming holiday. Wanna go see them so I can design the pose accordingly.

[JUPITER]

I wanted to know the same thing.because i love doing monsters and mutants but i wanted to do a human for more of a challenge..Then i threw a story together,and didn't take that into consideration..my guy i WAS suppose to be pretty much clothed in full armor,but now i need to do some more adjustments..If i did a creature(which i kinda wish i did) i think that as long as the form was not just a blob and had some good form resembling muscle of some kind then that would be acceptable..but that one oppinion i think it's very formatible though....sorry for the blah,blah,blah.. :lol: ;)

[neozerahan]

JUPITER: Thank you mate.

Some Questions:
I'm just thinking aloud here...as many of the contestants seem to go for the human-like character and that would most likely fit what the guidelines state....would character similar to Ironman where his entire body's covered in armor suite be all right? As you will not see a single muscle in action at all. The reason I'm pondering is because I'm afraid my hero design's somewhat going the other way from what's suggested. But again, I want to go for an unconventional hero......fully mutated and deformed and unlikely to have human muscle and flesh.....What do you guys think?



hey yong,
bro, i gues if u would mix ur mantis concept with the human anatomy,it wil be amazing...,..i kow it wil be realy chaleenging but i think it wil be woth it...
wel,for a refrence of a mantis and human anatomy i gues u can take a look at this
cell.jpg
yeha cell from dbz...
just wanted to help!!!!!!

[C-Mad]

"Make it believable..."While I think anatomical skill will be a consideration, my opinion (which, along with $5 USD will get you a cup of Starbucks coffee...) is that "beliveability" will be a strong factor. There is no limitation to what transforms or creates our Heros or Villains, I do not see a "classic humanoid figure" to be a requirement for believability...

~OM

[SolidSnakexxx]

JUPITER: I guess I'll stay with my original idea as if we bend toward too human or simply just to abide by what suppose to be the winning type character, it's no longer fun. After all, we all have different "type" of heroes in our goal. Also it's more fun to be creative and think out of the box sometimes.

neozerahan: Thank you for the inspiration. That "Cell" character's really great. I remember the good old days watching Dragon Ball as well.

C-Mad: True, mate :) Let's sculpt to what our ZHearts desire.

Update:
Today I couldn't do much of the sculpting as I got home really late like 1 AM Thailand time. But I want to at least keep my progress everyday so I sculpted a bit on the arm and by no mean complete it and some on the back. It's getting fun...and then I have to hit the bed :( ..I'll do some ZDreaming tonight though :)


progress_008.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%27118851%27,%27progress_008.jpg% 27,1,0%29)


progress_009.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%27118852%27,%27progress_009.jpg% 27,1,0%29)


Please let me know what you think. Your C&C has always been really helpful to me.

[Flack]

Good job snake, at first I had a critique about the upper chest area that I had been sitting on for about a day but I see you've changed it. The new version seems more anatomically correct where as your other version seemed like it would get in the way of how your character moved, good fix. I'm interested to see how you do the details on the back. It's looking really good thus far, keep up the good work!

[SolidSnakexxx]

Flack: Thank you sir.

I think the shear beauty of this contest is taking in comments from our peers and able to adjust it on our next iteration. This is great as it allow us to improve at great speed. After all, sometimes when I get too involved with my sculpt, certain things can look off but never notice them. Having hundred pairs of eyes spotting out is one of the best things.

[jp_smith]

Snake, cool idea for a character, you're rockin' it so far. :D

[Slimspoonful]

Hey,

This is coming along fantastic, I think its one of my favorites in the contest so far. I would say that its a little non organic right now in the chest area(if thats what your going for). I think carrying the sort of organic exoskeleton from the front pinchers and mixing that with human forms for the rest of the body would look great. Dont get suckered into conforming to what you think the judges will like, good form and an interesting concept will always win in my mind over some stale anatomy.

Cheers,
Matt

[mantegra]

I like the uniqueness of this character. The pinch tool should really help to give the impression of this heros hard chitinous shell. Keep it up!

[gang]

nice sculpt great :tu:

[SolidSnakexxx]

jp_smith:
Thank you :lol: I hope I can take this idea of mine to the fullest as well.

Slimspoonful:
I'm so honored that my character is one of your fav. At the moment it seems somewhat mechanic...especially the plates.. But I'll try to re sculpt a bit soon to get more organic flow. You are right about "conforming to what I think" I'm certain I will have fun following through with my guy feeling on how this character should look from the story I envisioned him :) Again thank you for reassuring.


mantegra:
Indeed, pinch tool is one of my fav tool for creases and stuff :) ZBrush is so great and really fun when it comes to pick and choose cool brushes to splatter on our models (^_^)

gang:
Thanks, mate.


Updates:
As promised that I'll force myself to do the contest consistently (like every day update), today is yet another small update..nothing sexy...just yet (unless you find a mutated bare chest and extra naked limbs sexy :lol: )

This time I spent a good portion doing the leg area. Like always I started out sculpting using Human anatomy as the base and will eventually build up the exoskeleton shell. The majority of brush I use is Clay tube...it's such a fun brush to play with. This is what I have so far...

progress_010.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('118908','progress_010.jpg', 1,0))

progress_011.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('118909','progress_011.jpg', 1,0))

[dismantled]

The Raptorial Blade is looking sharp.. the animated gif is a great tool for showing progress! I like watching it over and over again..

as far a anatomy goes .. I think what your laying out is good.. its already got human like muscle flow to it.. its half human/ half bug.

Iron man still has human like proportions. and most of his armor flows like real human muscles..

[Captain Cartesian]

Your progress is great! I also like the animated GIF, excellent tool. I would like to see a little more of the insect physicality in the pose, but perhaps that will be addressed later. Have you considered, segmented body shapes, maybe a thinner torso? Keep it up, its looking good.

[markrulz]

Looks really nice. I think he'll have problems going to the bathroom tho... ;)

I'm excited to see how you're going to color him.

[Finners]

There arent enough insect superheroes in the world! Great sculpt!

[Lucky_1]

He is coming along nicely Yong,
keep it up.

[SolidSnakexxx]

dismantled:
Thank you for your kind comments. Hopefully in the end I'll have the hero as I envisioned him..part insect, part man....all mutated! It's quite amazing about ZSculpting on various subdiv. I can't be grateful enough for I able to adjust large portion of the character using lower subdiv and fine tune once on bigger subdiv without loose the flow both ways. Just.....awesome!

Captain Cartesian:
I'm working out of the pose since the start of sculpting process. In fact, it's the most brain draining process for me to find a vicious pose and the pose that has great impact. I'll also take into considerations about making each segment of his body stand out. Again thank you for you inputs.

markrulz:
Hee, hee...today I'll sculpt his bum....I'll make sure he can go to bathroom. It's a shame for a hero aren't able to release himself...heh? But then I hope he's not wiping his....with the Raptorial blade.... :lol:

Finners:
Thank you....this insect will set to rid the world of :evil: baddies....

Lucky_1:
Thank you for your encouragement. I'll work hard on him over the weekend.

[SolidSnakexxx]

Minor update on the rear part of the model. Again...before adding the exoskeleton plates. I guess building distorted model after the basic lay of anatomy is what I'm going forward from this moment. Knowing in the end it may be covered with full insect plates.

progress_014.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('118979','progress_014.jpg', 1,0))

[adroit.jr]

nicely done it. very good.

[SolidSnakexxx]

adroit.jr:
Thank you :) I've reshape the rear a bit as the last post he seems to have quite a flat bum. Oh... and also today I spent quite a bit of time sculpting the back of the legs. I didn't put much emphasis on the toe areas as I think I'll most likely reshape the foot quite a bit when it's the right time to make him insect like.

Again, should you guys spot anything that I might be able to improve upon, please let me know. Your Critiques and Comments are always valuable.

progress_015.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%27118984%27,%27progress_015.jpg% 27,1,0%29)

[DAnconia]

Wow this is looking great Solid!!

The only crit i have is that the bottom of the lats need to be brought out, or at least defined more.

Also, on the front of his leg the center muscle could be brought down a bit more. It seems a bit too high.

Post more! Work Faster! hahaha! Keep up the good work. When are we gonna see some facetime from this guy?

[Gohanf22]

great work so far man. the look of the mantis is coming along smoothly.

[SolidSnakexxx]

DAnconia:
Thank you for the crit. Is the lat you talk about is the highlighted area in this posted pic?

lats.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%27119001%27,%27lats.jpg%27,1,0%2 9)

I'll most likely do some more sculpting on this area and will recheck the front leg area you mentioned. Again I can't thank enough for the crits.

BTW, the face's being redesign (on papers) and I'll most likely start sculpting it soon. Seems like I'm way behind others at the moment. I just want to get the body part finished and then worry about the Topology / Face then....the big transpose. Will try to work faster :) as fast as I can :lol:

[SolidSnakexxx]

It's 2:18 AM here in Thailand....and I'm so tired...and sleepy....but frankly...never had this much fun ZBrushing.

I've stepped away from the body for a moment. As sometimes, I'm not sure this might happen to some of you too, when I leave the model that I've been focusing on for a while and get back to it I will notice places and things to fix. Almost like fresh look at it once you leave it alone.

But that doesn't mean I have stopped sculpting. :lol: As a part of sculpting the head (and practicing). I decided to start off as a skull...although much of his facial features will change to the point where he's not recognized as a man but ultimately this character's deformed from a human. Will see how it goes.


progress_016.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119002','progress_016.jpg', 1,0))

Again, C&C are most welcome.

[joe55]

nice snake! somehow i had missed checking this thread the past couple days but you have made huge improvements to your character. very impressive

[KrakenCMT]

Yeah, I feel the same way when modeling. The times when I feel like I'm working a section to death and getting nowhere, I just take a break from it for a day, come back and try again and sometimes it does work.

The skull is an interesting approach. I'm very curious to see how you apply it. Do you mean you plan on sculpting the mantis head from the skull?

The sculpt is progressing very well. I like the treatment of the pectoral area.

[Gohanf22]

the skull idea is a very interesting tool to use. i suppose you will be putting some sort of skin over it some how. cant wait to see it done. doing good on it solid.

[zeke3d]

zbrush is lots of fun, go go go!

[DAnconia]

Thats the part im talking about! It just seems like it needs some more meat from the bottom.

[Teyon]

I'd have to agree that the lats need some added meat to them, especially if the back is meant to support that added weight of the deformed arm. I love the progress you've made so far and I'm looking forward to the next update.

[JUPITER]

Coming along nicely... :D

[SolidSnakexxx]

joe55:
Thank you, Your Sting Ray's super cool as well. Your creation's awesome.

KrakenCMT:
Hee hee, I thought I was the only one having Mental Block when sculpting too long. Yes, for the head I'll continue the sculpt from this very skull.

Gohanf22:
Indeed, it's quite interesting technique. This technique I learned from Alex Oliver, My master. And it seems to allow me to build up muscle and forms quite nicely.

zeke3d:
Thank you sir :)

DAnconia:
gotcha, you are right...again thanks for spotting the area.

Teyon:
Thank you mate, I'll revisit this part after a short break on the body. :)

JUPITER:
Thank you :)

[SolidSnakexxx]

Before moving on to the head sculpt. I decided to attach the main body to the skull I sculpted. This is the rough proportion for now.

progress_018.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119067','progress_018.jpg', 1,0))

And this is the 2 subtools in their separated state. Got to thank Lucky_1 for sharing this material and of course to Adam Lewis who created it.

progress_017.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119068','progress_017.jpg', 1,0))

I think I might do the fix on the Lats later today as well. So I won't forget again, thank you DAnconia for pointing out my weak areas.

[JUPITER]

Snake,this is awesome skull..do you plan on fleshing it out to skin lvl or??
keep up the good work man.. :D

[True_Saint]

commin cool:tu: . the skull is lookin gr8:tu:

[SolidSnakexxx]

JUPITER:
Yes, my idea is to start fleshing out the head from this very skull. Hopefully i will come out good.

True_Saint:
thank you.

Update:
Today I took DAnconia's advice real serious as the Lats area's a big area for character support. So I've sculpted this area to be bigger and more anatomically accurate. (That's before adding the insect plates) And also adjust the lower back to have the Erector Splinae more prominent as well.

This is what I have so far:

progress_019.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119075','progress_019.jpg', 1,0))

And the back side of the character up til now:

progress_020.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119076','progress_020.jpg', 1,0))

[vincenzi]

Wow, this is looking pretty solid, snake. It looks interesting as a part skull and part insect, but I'm anxious as to what the head will actually be.

[Gohanf22]

looking really nice solid. would love to see some skin and muscle for the head. cant wait to see what your next update is. the skull idea is coming along very well for the setup of the model. :D

[Fractalbot]

This looks amazing, even with just the skull! It acutally makes it more frightening that way... I'm really interested in how you're going to change the structure of the jaw-- whether you're going to incorporate mandibles or not.
Keep it up! :D

[Fess]

Love the anatomy of the back, great work!

[adroit.jr]

now you got that alien wooo.

[maxinkuk]

Nice job man, I really like the bottom up approach.

[dustbin1_uk]

WOW! this guy is looking amazing so far! Great anatomy!

I can see this contest is going to be tough with entries like this on the cards!

The bugman concept I really wanted to try out before I saw you beat me to it! LOL! :D

But still great work so far Snake! I'll be watching this entry with keen interest! ;)

[Fractalbot]

Hey, might want to check this article out if you were going to include mandibles... the head structure reminded me of this article which says that the reason humans jaws decreased in size during evolution was that the jaw muscle (masseter) needed to recede in order that the cranial structure become larger, so we could have increased brain capacity. Thought it was pretty interesting in case you were getting deep into realistic anatomy.

http://genomebiology.com/researchnews/default.asp?arx_id=gb-spotlight-20040326-01

[SolidSnakexxx]

vincenzi:
Thank you. The head I'm in the process of initial sculpt right now it turns out a bit too clean..so I'm redoing it again tonight.

Gohanf22:
(^_^) Thank you. I'll try to incorporate some more muscle if possible to the head as my ref on teh insects are rather just plates..not much of muscle visible throguh teh face.

Fractalbot:
Actually I kind of like the skull face on this body as well. Tonight I'll most likely study the insect anatomy for redoing the facial sculpt. and Thank you for the article that's inded very interesting.

Fess:
Thank you for your kind comment.

adroit.jr:
Yeah he's looking more and more alien like :) Hopefully I'll try to bring him abck to organic kind of character.

maxinkuk: The bottom up approach is quite fun. I've been using this method for qutie sometime now.

dustbin1_uk: Thank you for your encouragement and sucha wonderful praise. In fact for the reference I owe a lot to the reference model I purchased awhile back from Freedom of Teach and my master, Alex Oliver, for his hours of personal tutoring with me.

Update:

progress_021.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119088','progress_021.jpg', 1,0))

Not much really.. I did the preliminary head sculpt but turns out not so good (Too clean/techy) So I'll redo again, however I also adjust some minor proportion and compose the subtools so you can see the overall head/body/raptorial blade as below.

[toddworld]

I really like the concept on this one. I admit, at first glance the skull seems a little odd to me but if you've got a backstory to support it then I'm all for it.

I do want to ask one thing, and it's probably a super beginner question, but since this is a learning contest I figure "what the heck". How in the world, technique/processes-wise, are you able to break the model into sections like you've done (main body, left arm, head), sculpt each to a fairly detailed level, THEN combine them?

I've used the topology tool to work together a couple of meshes, but I can't hold the higher detailed divisions with that method. If you can point me to a thread or tutorial or even a topic I'd be happy to cover the rest of the research from there.

Thanks. And again, great job.
Todd

[Lucky_1]

Hi yong,
he's coming along nicely !
Maybe the transition from his torso too the mantis arm...should it be more mantis like ??? (I mean his sholder/deltoids, looks too human for me at this point--anyway, it's just a suggestion :) )

Keep it up!

o yeah almost forgot:
Do you want all the Adam lewis shaders ?
it's about 3.8 mb (I think they are great)

[gregoconn]

That's looking really nice Snake. It's good to see this one moving in a forward direction still. My only crit would be is that the skull and neck look a little bit 'thin' compared to the rest of the body, but I guess at the end of the day their going to look quite different.

It's great progress I'm really looking forward to seeing you working on the mantis head :)

[SolidSnakexxx]

toddworld:
Thank you for your kind comment. Skull will definitely be gone...it's just a starting form to build the insect head which I'm still fiddling with. And about the question, it's all appropriate. In fact, what I did is rather simple;


1. I'd create a full ZSphere of both body and the Raptorial arm (To see about the overall proportion) knowing that I'll section them off for the poly count purpose.

2. After I've ZSphere ready. I'd save 3 versions of the ZSphere construct; a full version with both body and raptorial arm, a version with just the body, and finally one with just the raptorial arm. (You can do this by Alt click on the zsphere you want to delete) This way I'm able to have 2 parts that can be added in at the right proportion and also an original version to revert to in case anything went wrong.

3. Make Adaptive Skin of the 2 latter versions, then sculpt them separately.

4. At one point I'd create the head and join them using subtool to see the head/body proportion


I hope this make sense to you. Let me know if you want me to elaborate some more on this.



Lucky_1:
Thank you, mate. That's quite an interesting suggestion. Next week I'll be all for the exoskeleton designing. I'll keep in mind about making the joint more insect like. And yes, please do send me Adam lewis shaders :) If this place can't hold 3.8 Mb please send me direct at Yongkiatk@gmail.com I thank you in advance!


gregoconn:
You are right about the neck. I'm waiting for the actual head design to complete and I'll be certain to address this issue. Please keep an eye on this area for me, as I might overlook. Again your C&C are much appreciated.

[Fess]

The big mantis arm looks a bit large to me - both in comparison to his human parts, or the other insect legs. You could do something with the other side to balance this guy out, if you want to have it that big. Just my thoughts, looking forward to seeing how the head turns out!

-Alex

[Seavannah]

wow I love that is is coming along so well, keep it up can't wait for this character to be finished.

[SolidSnakexxx]

Fess:
I'll be sure to double check the Raptorial arm proportion again. The reason I planned it to be so big is because I was referencing after a real mantis with "ridiculously" long / large raptorial arms. Again, I think in the end if it serves better with smaller version, I'll definately do so. Thank you for your valuable comment.


Seavannah:
Thank you :) I'm still having headache over the head design. Will post some more soon though.


Update:
Nothing just yet.. However, a request was made through email about the Reference I've been using for the body and the skull. Like I've stated before, the main reference I'm using is the 24" reference male anatomy figure version3 from Freedom of Teach (http://www.freedomofteach.com/products/figures/figure_male_3) which, in my opinion is a great investment for anyone who's slightly interested in anatomy and sculpting (both digital and real-world)

Here I've attached a couple of photos of the reference figure on my working table:

ref1.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119177','ref1.jpg',1,0))

ref2.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119178','ref2.jpg',1,0))

[dustbin1_uk]

dustbin1_uk: Thank you for your encouragement and sucha wonderful praise. In fact for the reference I owe a lot to the reference model I purchased awhile back from Freedom of Teach and my master, Alex Oliver, for his hours of personal tutoring with me. You lucky lucky lucky *****!!! :D

Seriously that's great to hear that you had such a talented mentor! Being stuck in Leicester in the UK, I envy you having access to such a talented artist!

Not to mention the fact that clearly that talent is rubbing off on you!!

[SolidSnakexxx]

dustbin1_uk:
Thank you sir. I'm so and will always be honored that Alex took me in as one of his apprentices. His method of teaching is unprecedented. He's more than my teacher...he's like my mentor.

Here comes the daily update...although not so much...as again I'm home so late from work (It's like 11PM now and I barely got any time left) This is the head I'm working on, still not satisfy but you can see it's now closer to the concept sketch I have with some minor tweak on the plate pattern and have yet to add in the stuff next to his mouth. I'll most likely re sculpt this again tomorrow as I think it still looks too clean.

progress_025.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119216','progress_025.jpg', 1,0))

This head I started off as the skull in the previous posts the slowly dig up larger eye holes and convert most of the lower jaw to the insect mouth. this is the cross comparison between the pre-post sculpt using the Morph Target Function

progress_022.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119217','progress_022.jpg', 1,0))

[sendhilv]

great progress.... coming along very nice

[neozerahan]

wooow,solid snake(sir),the head is looking nice..........

and ALEX (sir)used to personaly teach u:eek: .....waaaaaaaaaaaaa
thats the coolest thing,
:tu: :tu: :tu:

[gang]

nice update man

[wiebe]

aww man that is so cool:eek: wish i was at your skill level with zbrush already

[electricCAT]

Love the design !

[dustbin1_uk]

Well I can already see at least 3 or 4 that are going to be winners here! And this one is just insane!!

I love the style and the method!

Will adopt me and teach me to do this? :D

But seriously! This is one of my faves so far! Well done!

[SolidSnakexxx]

sendhilv:
Thank you so much. I'll try to improve further and will post for you all to C&C.

neozerahan:
Thank you. :) He's been very kind to me and teaching me on the anatomy part. I owe my digital sculpting life to him.

gang:
Thank you.

wiebe:
Truly grateful for your encouragement. ZBrush is something that I'm addicted to now...Can't live a single day without a session of ZBrush.

electricCAT:
Thanks, man. Will update more...hopefully refining the head shape some more as well.

dustbin1_uk:
Thank you for such high praise! My aim is to learn and sculpt as much as I could on this contest. In fact, I'm very open to talking about anything ZBrush. So if you need just fire me an email anytime. :)

[SolidSnakexxx]

Today I'll be focusing on the Antennae part of the head and maybe the extra helping hands around the mantis man's mouth. Before getting started, I've done a quick paint over in ZBrush to see the overall parts that will be added.

Here's the sketch:

progress_023.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119408','progress_023.jpg', 1,0))


Again your C&C are more than welcome.

[SolidSnakexxx]

I've decided to reduce the size of the mouth (narrower) basing on the Praying Mantis photos I've been researching. And then added in the Antennae. This time around I utilized the ZSphere's flexibility which allows me to add in the strings rather easily and fit perfectly with the Antennae base.

This is the ZSphere construct added in as a subtool

progress_026a.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119411','progress_026a.jpg' ,1,0))

And the converted to Adaptive Skin version

progress_026b.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119412','progress_026b.jpg' ,1,0))

Here's the result after adding the Antennae on both sides of the face:

progress_026.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119409','progress_026.jpg', 1,0))

[dustbin1_uk]

Man you're going to be done in no time!

And here's me still struggling with the concept drawing!! :D

[MINTY]

This gives me the creeps lol! Stunning work so far. More soon please!:D :tu:

[gang]

face is looking really great man

[Captain Sensible]

This is looking awesome already! I like all the shapes that make up the face. I can see a lot of thought has gone into this. Keep us updated! :)

[SolidSnakexxx]

dustbin1_uk:
I truly hope so.. But I think it will take awhile to redo all the topology and I'm in the process of planning out subtools like the 3 simple eyes atop his forehead, I think I'll make them separately as well, for the purpose of different clean material that will make them like jewels.


MINTY:
Hee hee don't you like it, a hero that will creep people out..and hopefully he'll creeps out baddies as well. Got lots of planning ahead...will post ASAP :) Again thank you for your support and complement.

gang:
Thank you, I hope to get his face more "dirty" look possibly with subtools as finer hair on certain parts of his face. We'll see how it get developed.

Captain Sensible:
Thank you. In face, I've sepent most of my time sketching and resketching the face quite a bit and thniking like I've stated earlier about sectioning off for the future benefits. Liek the eyes that I decided to make as subtools as certainly they will be of their own materials, and the raptorial arm for I can add gritty details without affecting the main form. Hopefully this will make my life easier once I got to the texturing stage.

Small Updates:
The face's still has a lot to develop and I hoped to complete it tonight, but then again its almost 1 AM here and I'm so exhausted from today's meeting at work. But I did some more adjustments to the shape and minor proportion alterations. The next few days will be all for the face finalization and I'll get back to the exoskeleton design of the entire body. For now this is the latest update.

progress_027.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119435','progress_027.jpg', 1,0))

[DAnconia]

Do you think the left side of his body should be slightly bigger so that he is able to manuever and swing that mantis arm around? At least in the shoulder and lats there should be significant musculature there.

Great update. this is looking really good!

[dustbin1_uk]

Hey Snake,

looks like I'm out of this contest for at least the next 3 weeks! Client workload just went and doubled on me! Good for me, bad for the contest. :confused:

So at least for now I am out.

So I wish you the best of it mate!

I am truly inspired by your entry so far and will pop in to see how your getting on.

[markrulz]

Looking really solid! I almost want his insect parts to be even more insectish- plus some of those little insect hairs you see when they're really close up. I'm excited to see it textured.

[SolidSnakexxx]

DAnconia:
That's quite a good suggestion. I'll definitely think about your comments and how to proceed with the design.

dustbin1_uk:
What a sad thing to hear that you'll be unavailable for the contest... I'd definitely want you to continue (as I've been busy with client works too) and do sculpting at night (For me like unearthly hours...midnight 2 AM-4AM). Cuz your work's just getting really nice

markrulz:
Yeah, I think making him more insect like will be one of my next major tasks. (And I'm sure the little hair you've mentioned will be one of them) Thank you so much.

[dismantled]

you got the head in view now..

its looking a lot like the sketch:tu: ... the close renders are dynamite!:cool: :tu

it looks like you're putting in some crazy hours... that is intense..

[dismantled]

truely dynamite!

[cmoffitt]

This is looking awesome! Loving the head you have going and the anatomy is truly believable. It all blends together in a naturalistic way. Can't wait to see how you pose him!

[zeke3d]

im starting to look at this with a more critical eye to see if I can help any, here goes, make the legs skinny or longer insect like, make his human hand have insect like forms. hope that helps!

[SolidSnakexxx]

dismantled:
You are very kind and thank you for your support on this character. This character really grows in me now. Even when I'm about to go to sleep I would think about how to manage the parts and stuff. In fact, I've been doing quite a few planning in my head while asleep and waking up with some ideas. Also I like to do some paint over in ZBrush (Using MRGBZGrabber to do a quick snap and paint over with paintbrush tool) to see overall value and my sculpting strategy. This serve as my daily goals to accomplish as well (Although some may get pushed back and delayed....I'm a lazy person )

cmoffitt:
Thank you. Frankly, ZBrush is such a great tool for fleshing out ideas. As for the pose, I have a few poses in my head right now. Will sketch them down soon. Cant' wait til the Mantis gets in action pose either.

zeke3d:
These are very crucial comments. My GF has also provided similar critiques mainly on teh leg. I'll lengthen teh legs a little in my future sessions and the human hand you suggested as well. Again, I'll be putting a lot of time and thoughts into the plates that will cover most of his muscle. At the moment I simply wants to lay the foundation of which teh plates will be residing on.

Thank you so much. :) This kind of advice is what I've been yearning for.


This one is the plans I have for today:

progress_028.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119524','progress_028.jpg', 1,0))

1. Jewel Eyes
The 3 simple eyes atop his forehead, although I've sculpted in as parts of the head but further thinking making me decide to split into their own subtools (This would be benefiting them getting different material assignments)

2. Mount Limbs
This actually was a part of my previous paint over that I didn't get aroud to do so. So it's time to complete this area.

3. Neck Plates
Thinking about adding in the neck plate, most likely as an additional subtool (Will need to do a quick test sculpt to confirm, this addition)

4. Head Retopology
As my head was developed slowly from the basic form then skull to the insect like head many of the polys have been pushed and pull. I want this to get "cleaned up" after the design's finalized and ofcourse when the settings for the 2 jewel pieces have been carved out for.

Your C&C are more than welcome.

[swankymonkey]

That head is seriously rockin' like a hurricane! I am staying tuned ...

[monsit]

hi! k yong and wow, very nice model , and just discover this contest , after new year party , maybe I give it a try ,
happy new year kub!

[askutt]

Its looking sweet man, i really like the little arms coming off the midsection. I think it would be cool too if you could incorporate some sort of insect shaped body parts. mainly in the torso and legs....like the fly in the fly 2.

[SolidSnakexxx]

swankymonkey
Thank you. I truly hope it will rock as well.. I thing I'm really aware at this moment is as the hero does not have the generic human facial form, I'll need to express his emotion through other means...I'm thinking about the small arms around his mouth would play a big role in this.... But still lots of the poses are still in my head.

monsit:
Sawadee kub P'Monsit and Thank you so much for your encouragement. It means a lot to me. Looking forward to meet you after new year na kub. I'm brewing up a project and would love you to jam :o

askutt:
So you like that little arms :) i'll definately redo most of his lower body as you've suggested. As at the moment i'm taking "a mental break" from teh body for a few days so I can gaina fresher eyes on this.

Updates:
I've splitted the 3 jewel eyes as subtools. like my plan and placing them/ sculpting to fit in the settings. And now I'm working on the small limbs around his mouth using, again, the ZSphere technique + subtool. This feature is awesome...Here's what I have so far.

progress_029.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119546','progress_029.jpg', 1,0))

[dustbin1_uk]

Sorry dude, I'm already pulling unearthly hours as it is!! But it is my intention to make my intended entry, even if I don't get to the deadline. :)

anyway, back to your work, can you tell me the adaptive skin settings you chose for that last added zsphere peace?

Or do you just keep the default settings?

[The Runner]

I love this man, one question. How do you do the texture on the eyeballs and ensure it is all tesselating as you have?

[SolidSnakexxx]

dustbin1_uk:
I understand you, mate. Sometime the workload is just insane... I feel ya pain. Anyhow on the Zsphere as added parts, I simply leave them in default state. I think it's quite all right. In fact, most of the time I do leave ZSphere settings as they were shipped, except for may be the fingers/hands stuff that I need to adjust the IRes in Transform sub menu. :)


The Runner:
Thank you, sir. For the Eye pattern, what I did is creating the alpha in ZBrush. The basic idea is to create a seamless alpha in ZBrush. It's real easy to create as this trick was once learned when I first got the ZBrush 2.0.

Here are the steps to get the seamless alpha and how I applied to the eyes:


1. I create the alpha environment first by selecting the plane3d with material set to Flat and color white. This is to set the canvas for the pattern itself.

2. I'd create a basic silhouette of a single form that will make up a pattern. In this case, an insect eye is a compound eye with shape like hexagon. So I chose the primitive cube3d and initialize it so that the side count equals to 6. This time around I draw (and select black color) the hexagon on the white canvas.

3. Utilize the "Snap Shot" feature found in Transform menu. This would allow you to create the exact size of the pattern. Then I'd use the Gyro to move and form the pattern. (See attached image)

progress_030.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119559','progress_030.jpg', 1,0))

4. For the seamless part, what you have to do is using the "~" - Tilda key which locates on the top left part of your keyboard...in general it should be the key right before number "1" this Tilda would let you move and create seamless pattern. (See attached image)

progress_030a.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119560','progress_030a.jpg' ,1,0))

5. Once I have the alpha I want I simple export this out as a .PSD file and reload in as Alpha.

6. I'd turn this alpha to Stencil. However, it seems like the Pattern I have is quite large for the compound eye, what you need to do next step is to adjust the repeat (to whatever you desire).

7. In addition, my eye has some curve, if you simply use the default setting the side area might be off , so I activated the "Wrap" mode. And then I'd use the low Intensity of Standard Brush and lightly sculpt the eye.
Hope this answer what you were asking. Should my answer's not clear in any point you can ask me the specifics.

[Harmonic]

That mantis head is shaping up really nice! Can't wait to see it finished, it's gona be so cool! :tu:

[Gohanf22]

man solid everytime i keep looking at your work, i keep taking down notes. im really impressed with your work. im going to have to ask you for some better lessons in zbrush cause I'm still new at it. lol. keep up the good work dude.

[Crotalis]

I like the crispness in your lines on the insect parts. They make a nice contrast with the flowing smooth forms of the more human parts. Keep that up!

I'll be very intersted to see how you handle the toes. I see you've already got a start on it (They look a little long in spots btw), and that's one part I always have trouble with in Zbrush.

[SolidSnakexxx]

Just want to pop in to say Happy New Year 2009 (At least it's now 2AM on January 1st, 2009 in Bangkok Thailand) I've been whipping through the turn of the year .....zbrushing........ (^.^) My first year staying in sculpting....at home.

Harmonic:
Thank you, mate. I've been spending quite a long hour adding small hair on his helping arms (around his mouth) I think by morning I should have most of them "placed" in. Will post more soon.


Gohanf22:
Thanks, your words are very delightful and a real honor to hear that. If you have some questions that I may be able to help, by all mean, email me...I'll be more than happy to make ZB-Buddy (if I can answer your questions that is :) ).

Crotalis:
Thank you. As for the toes, I've been sketching his toes to be a bit non-human. At the moment I just place the regular human feet and toes as basis for anatomical reference...I think a lot of changes will be made to the overall body and the legs.

Again, thank you for reading, you all have a great New Year! :lol:

[Gohanf22]

your very welcome solid. your work is an inspiration to i think everyone. i added you to my buddy list and i will gladly take you up on your offer for assistance. thanks man. keep up the good work on mantis man.

[joe55]

that head is looking sick with those mandibles ! love it

[ISK-86]

Thanks for all SolidSnake... i have learned more reading your thread theese three days, than in a month of zbrush class.

People like you are the ones who make cg comunity a really nice one.

Really hope to see Mantis Man as the big prize winner, think you deserve it more than anyone because you sculpt so good and you are really interested in almos all threads in this forum.

Me quito el sombrero ante ti : )

Happy December-January transition

[MonteCristo]

Wow! You've really been going great guns with this one SS. I'm particularly enjoying the assymetry aspect, with on e Mantis arma dn one human. I think that was a very wise decision on your part. :)

[sazar26]

cool technique and gret tutorial, I will use that technique for my characters uniform thanks :tu:

[Fess]

That head is looking really good! Big thanks for posting that tutorial on seamless alpha creation, very useful!

[skullbeast]

SSxxx thats coming along nicely! the face and eyes are killer! some subliminal Ultraman in there! keep up the great work! :tu: :tu:

[SolidSnakexxx]

Gohanf22:
I, too, have added you to my buddy list. And Thank you for your continue encouragement. It's great to have buddies to share knowledge and experience with.

joe55:
I should have the added mandibles today. Will post once I brushed my teeth and all.. (Been a busy night ZBrushing)

ISK-86:
You have such kind words, and I truly am honor that you think that way. This contest is a real fun and for me every thread in the forum is really valuable as the resource to learn. I often ask things I do not know and gain a lot of knowledge through there. That's something great about ZBRushCentral...and frankly speaking I do not see much elsewhere that this level of knowledge sharing exists. So I thoroughly enjoy sharing what I know and willing to learn what I don't from all of us here. Also, "Me quito el sombrero ante ti" to you too.

MonteCristo:
:) Thank you. Again, hopefully with me choosing him not to look too human won't work against me in the end...as the character anatomy will drastically altered for more sick/mutated insect look to support the story. But I'll definately try my best.

sazar26:
Glad to share the technique, man. Let me know if you have any questions, I'll be here to help all the way.

Fess:
(^_^). No problem at all. Knowledge's meant to be shared.

skullbeast:
Thank you. You are right. I just checked out Ultraman stuff..and now I know where I see those eyes before. I'm working on adjusting the eyes a bit and will post some more soon. Your Widow Maker's insane in both story and sculpt as well.

[SolidSnakexxx]

Here comes the morning update...the first day of the year update that is :)

This one's real minor update. I added in the Mandibles and side closing mouth piece and fine tune the bottom part of the face (I'll need to do some more work on this area as well but not too pressing as this part won't be visible too much as its underside)

progress_031.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119741','progress_031.jpg', 1,0))

And here's my goal for today, I shall call today...hair day. At first start of this project, I didn't know Mantis's one hairy critter. But further examination shows that it has lots of (very tiny) hair on the antennae, mouth area and arm. Today I'll be focusing mainly on the head hair area...Gonna be subtool crazy :) This is the rough sketch out in ZBrush

progress_031a.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119742','progress_031a.jpg' ,1,0))

I was asked to explain the proces of which I create quick sketch atop ZBrush model here's my process:


1. Place your model on the canvas as you wish to paint over(Use wahtever materail you want to represent the model).

2. Remembr you can adjust the perspective (Focal Lens) of your model by going to Draw > Perspective. Adjsut the Focl Length to whatever you desire.

3. Activate the MRGBZGrabber tool , the program will ask you whether you are goign to switch to this tool (Go ahead and confirm it)

4. After selecting the MRGBZGrabber Tool, go to Tool>Modifiers and uncheck the AutoCrop. As leaving this on will crop your image to the exact size of the model you have place. (Which sometimes you want to have extra padding like you have placed on the canvas)

5. Drag the MRGBZGrabber tool (Like Regtangle selection) starting from the top left of the document to the bottom right to capture the enture workspace. Your model will now be imprinted and placed in Texture pallete (Alphas will be sent to Alpha as well, but we'll not be using this)

6. Make sure you have selected the "Flat Color" Material so there will be no color form material that will affect the document.

7. Click on the Texture that's been grabbed. a flyout menu will open at the bottom row simply click "CropandFill" Now your canvas should be covered with that texture.

8. I'd change my tool to PaintBrush (2.5D Tool) and tick off "ZAdd" leaving only RGB on as I'll be manipulating only th color value atop my canvas. At this point you can adjust the RGBIntensity so taht the opacity of the color painted is not 100%.

9. Once finishing with the sketching/paint over simply export out as image by going to Document>Export...that's all

Again, if the process is unclear, please let me know.

[adroit.jr]

you are too good working with this charater.:tu:

[threetails]

looking great, love the eye's. happy new year to you.
this looks like it will be a very slick sculpt have you thought about a pose yet.

[abe_Tamazir]

looking very nice!
comming along the right way, really like the head :) very close to the concept...
keep it up
Abe

[Fractalbot]

looks ridiculously good, solidsnake, well done! What technique are you using to do the hairs?

[maxinkuk]

It's coming out great. Wonderful WIP really.

[canndis]

The details on the head looks good , Hope to see the same through out the body

[SolidSnakexxx]

adroit.jr:
Again, can't thank you enough for your kind words.

threetails:
Happy New Year to you too. I've been thinking a lot about the pose... Just want to get the design out as complete as possible before nailing down the pose :)

abe_Tamazir:
The initial sketch I had I liked it, but I changed tiny details on it basing on the real mantis reference. So now I've added quite a few stubby hair (Not too long).

Fractalbot:
Thanks, mate. I've explained how I created the hair below..but simply just adding in as subtools with lots of moving/ adjusting.

maxinkuk:
Thank you for your comment. Will try my best at this Mantis Man :)


Daily Update:
Whew....hours flew by.....and I didn't get much done....due to the fact that my computer was hanging ...and 2 times happening when I was about to complete the hair bits. The reason I'm adding the hair bits is because I want the hero to look......nasty like what he actually is...a mutated human/insect.

For The hair, I utilize the primitive to create the basic shape. The primitive that I used was Sphereinder3D as it has the tip not completely flat like the regular cylinder. I initialized the sphereinder3D so that the circumference's around 5 and the height at its full size. (Also I adjusted the resolution a bit during the initialize stage so that it won't go insane on the poly count) Then I convert it to a PolyMesh3D and painstakingly placing one after another as subtool. So For each hair I added I had to reshape a bit and rotate/place to the place I want. It's quite a labor work, but quite fun to see the result.

This is what I have so far. I'll most likely add some more atop its antennae and some other places. Please let me know what you guys think your C&C are most welcome.

progress_032.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%27119777%27,%27progress_032.jpg% 27,1,0%29)

[gang]

face is looking awesome man.great work

[SolidSnakexxx]

canndis:
I'm dying to complete the head..then move on to the body. I've quite a few design I want to put on his exoskeleton. Can't wait til the head's just right.........(A bit frustrated as many have passed my state already...feeling slow here.)

gang:
Thank you :)

BTW, as promised the underside of the head's quite complete. So I decided to render out the head view. This time including the bottom view.
The only hair bit on the head now will be on the antennae. But I might move around to do the body first. I've been spending too much time on the hair thing already. Agggggh....:mad:

progress_033.jpg

[ISK-86]

Looking great, your work is inspiring... :cool:
Just imagining the process of placing each hair separatedley :eek:

Looking forward for your progres..., can't wait to see this textured :tu: :tu:

[Teyon]

I really like the way this is coming along. maybe a few scratches or bumps on the smoother surfaces of the head? It would make it feel a bit more...real, I guess and would blend in with the nose area and the area between the eyes.

[Gohanf22]

i really like the hair effects you have put on the head is very realistic. i like it very much solid. your model keeps getting better and better. i agree with teyon too that maybe some scratches or some sort of indentation or extractions of a bump would make it more realistic. overall this is coming out well. :D

[skullbeast]

Thats one Killer update on the head. That look sweet! I left an answer for the hair. It may help you.

[Fractalbot]

cool thanks for the update on the hair. I think it looks much better than snakehook, etc. keep it up! :tu:

[zeke3d]

the head has really come together, nice work solid!

[MindFX]

Your design looks great! It reminds me of a Mask Rider.

[Seavannah]

incredible detail as always. Love his face. What a great character. He is already looking like he has the soul and intelligence of a mantis in his eyes. Can't wait to see this finished. :cool: :D :cool:

[SolidSnakexxx]

ISK-86:
Thank you. The hair plugging is quite time consuming..Now I know the pain of regrowing human hair by plugging each strand individually.. But now in the future I'll take Skullbeast idea for hair clump.


Teyon:
You are right. I'll be adding some more irregularities to the head...but most likely after the re-topology phase. I'll be posing some more after this's done :)

Gohanf22:
Thank you, yes I'm going for the semi-realistic disgusting looking hero. I want him to be one scary hero...as when he show up to help the world, people won't even know whether he's a good hero or one of them baddies.

skullbeast:
Saw your technique and will incorporate into my work flow. This forum is such a great place for this type of knowledge sharing. BTW, the ZTL posted couldn't be opened, would you mind re posting again?

Fractalbot:
While the snake hook's quite good (Which I do use numerous times) the single hair plug allows me to place and adjust very precisely...So I'm going for the time-taking route but more rewarding in the end (Also once done, they are of their own subtools so I can alter or remove at my own will)

zeke3d:
Thank you mate, I still envy your villain, Wrath,...holding the hottie hero :)

MindFX:
I used to watch that show when I was 8-10. It was one exciting show(s) I didn't think of Mask rider when I started this guy but now I can see their similarity....I think the Riders were originated from ants or something right? I recall their uniforms/masks were very techy. While that's quite cool, I've been trying to go for a more organic and yucky look.

Seavannah:
Thank you. Before the contest I saw a mantis in my backyard...and yes this little insect do look very intelligent. Looks like he's always having something to think about..

[Hamilcar]

Fantastic work! I'll be watching this thread. Head looks great. Look forward to your next post.

[SolidSnakexxx]

Hamilcar: Thank you for your kind comment. I'll try my best at this hero.

Daily Update:
Not quite a visual update. But I've taken Skullbeast advice to organize the hair pieces. This is a great way to select clumps of hair as well. I set the hair groups as subtools; the hair on the face, the hair on the mouth, the mandibles, and the 2 side limbs. This is the result (Thanks skullbeast):

progress_035.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119849','progress_035.jpg', 1,0))

[MindFX]

ISK-86:
MindFX:
I used to watch that show when I was 8-10. It was one exciting show(s) I didn't think of Mask rider when I started this guy but now I can see their similarity....I think the Riders were originated from ants or something right? I recall their uniforms/masks were very techy. While that's quite cool, I've been trying to go for a more organic and yucky look.
Your design is totally different and so organic... that's is why it is so great. Just those antennas and eyes remind me of them. Those mask riders are actually originated from mantis, and the power of the belt makes them transformable from humans to mask riders with those techy costumes and masks. I love how organic your design is... Please keep updating...

[DAnconia]

Wow this is looking great! How did you get that texture on the eyes so uniformed?

[Kerwin]

Excellent sculpt! I really like your attention to detail on the head!
-Kerwin

[Harmonic]

O man that is looking sweet. The head is looking so refined. Once you bring the rest of him up to this level it is going to be awesome.

[Malleable man]

This is one of my favorites. Those eyes are stunning! The progress and level of detail are top notch. Congrats on this wonderful entry.


Regards, James.

[dustbin1_uk]

Awesome work!!!

This is really amazing work!!!

[hdrop]

Wow, fantastic design! Great detail. I love it.

[SolidSnakexxx]

MindFX:
Thank you. I can barely recall those shows... but it was really fun ...I remember they had to encounter so many villains. So it was the belts that able them to transform. Today I'm doing some body design which I'll post here.

DAnconia:
The eye texture, I utilize the stencil feature which is really fluid as it allows the pattern to wrap around the curved shape of the eye quite well. The full details on how I dud it can be found here: http://www.pixolator.com/zbc/showpost.php?p=517461&postcount=152

Kerwin:
I'll try to give the details to all parts of his body. Hopefully it won;t take too long as I'm far behind many contestants, some have already going to the posing stage.

Harmonic:
Thank you, sir. Yes, The body.....how I long for doing the body.....Will get to it eventually. Sometimes, I wish there are more hours in a day...and no need to do other things..except...ZBrushing.

Malleable man:
Glad to be one of your fav, Malleable man. Thank you for your kind words as well. I'll definitely trying my best at this hero contest.

dustbin1_uk:
Thanks, mate.

hdrop:
Thank you. I've been spending too much tiem on teh head...but today onward I'll leave the head for a few days and continue on the body, let's see how it goes.

Daily Update:
Today it's pretty much the planning day, after a long and boring new year shopping. My mind kept wandering back home to do the ZBrushing....and glad the shopping session is over! So I can back to my desktop. So I did a screen grab of and do a quick design by painting over. This time, like I have stated I will focus more on the overall body. It will change a bit here and there but ultimately I want it to still be natural like the head design itself.

Here's what I have so far, Your C&C are welcome.

progress_034.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('119873','progress_034.jpg', 1,0))

[dustbin1_uk]

Ahhh! there's a dilema! Wings or not???

Do be more like the Mantis I guess he needs them..... though he's pretty cool with out them....

That one arm shows his mutation is not well controlled so I guess having the wings is a part of that......

Dunno what your colour intentions are, but I guess making the wings insect transparent is not easy in ZB as you would have to use layers and manually place them each time. And a turnable would have to be done with them solid....

But I dunno though... the wings do give him an even more insect approach..... :confused:

ok with!! no..... no.... without....... wait!!! no I was right..... without!!!! so it's settled then..... WITH!! :confused: :D

EDIT:
Sorry, my bad humour, I meant I think you should try it with the wings then see if they work out or not.

Seems your pacing yourself pretty well so you could maybe allocate some time to do this?

[Moni-Poroni]

Hey :) I would love to see Mantis-Man with wings...;)
But no matter how you decide
Your model is soo amazing...:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:
Don´t know what to say...I thought about it the whole time^^
but nothing came to mind

I´m at a loss for words;)

[Webhead]

He's really coming along well. Love the details in the eyes and face.
I just wonder if his left arm looks too big compared to his right, and the rest of his body. Still, great modeling. :tu:

[Fractalbot]

well I think the hairs are worth the extra time! Much better than any snakehook resullt I've gotten... :tu:

[DAnconia]

Great sculpt man. The suit is looking great. Cant wait to see what you do with the legs cause that is going to send this sculpt over the edge!

Thanks for the tut on the eye detail. I remember seeing that in the Meats Mier Zbrush DVD but couldnt find it. Cant wait to use that on my suit. Its gonna be sweet!

[Lucky_1]

Great sculpting on his head/face Yong !
Keep it up.

[smeagol]

yeah ! really awesome face and great details !

keep it up !

[chindian]

WOW man - this model is really coming together nicely from when i first started following this thread!!!

Excellent work on the detailing of the face... really liking the feel and form so far... just keep it up! Lookin forward to your updates!

[skullbeast]

Looking kill'r! I say wings....how cool... some mid air leaping shots with the wings a buzz'n and arms ready to pounce. Dynamic! :tu: :tu:

[threetails]

wow, this is looking frick'n sweet, keep it up. love it.

[JUPITER]

Awesome!!! i think wing's would be awesome...maybe a little transperancy?
how would that work?looks great so far man.. :D :tu:

[fishadder]

This ones all kinds of cool!

Great idea and insane detailing!!!

I like the wings maybee make them more like a cape and i imagine him in a really dynamic pose maybee using that big arm as a shield!?

Can't wait to see this one done!

Favourite so far.

[SolidSnakexxx]

dustbin1_uk:
No problem mate, I like the humor. I'm going for the wings...but as the limitations gos, it might not be transparent but I'll try out something... Don't quite know yet..

Moni-Poroni:
Thank you. All right with wings that is. (^_^) I'm also happy that you like the character.

Webhead:
You might be right. After the body alterations, I'll definitely have a closer look at over all proportion. Thanks for your comment :)

Fractalbot:
Thank you, yes I do plan to add hairs on his body and raptorial blade too. Let's see how it goes....

DAnconia:
The leg one's going to be quite fun to do, At the moment I just layout the rough exo plates..but the lower legs I'll definitely make them less symmetrical. (Haven't complete yet). Also Would love to see the Alpha technique on your suit too.

Lucky_1:
Thank you :)

smeagol:
The face still needs quite a bit of details, wait til I've done topology and then I'll go crazy there. (Now it's just less than 300,00 poly..so there are still quite a few poly short)

chindian:
Thank you. I'm glad you have followed my thread and see this mantis progress. if you have any C&C please let me know.

skullbeast:
Thanks man, I'm going to sketch out the poses soon. Your stuff's great and dynamite too ;)

threetails:
Thanks, mate.

JUPITER:
Another vote with wings... :) Yes, I'll make a pair for him.

fishadder:
Thank you for your kind words and your pose suggestions. I'll try to sketch out and post them here and see.


Daily updates:
Again, not much updates....as I've been away most of the day shopping ...:( ..and studying insect plates. Anyhow, what I did was laying out the rough exo plates over his lower body and the sectioning around his crotch. Again, this is very very rough. My idea is to incorporate some more organic elements into his lower legs (Hence it's not shown in here just yet.) After this part is completed then I'll concentrate on the back and wings...and then the details on the raptorial arm itself.

progress_036.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('120043','progress_036.jpg', 1,0))

[jp_smith]

Snake, have you thought about making the lower leg more bestial looking, more like a dog's leg, with insect-like talon-ish feet as opposed to straight up human legs? Just an idea.

[SolidSnakexxx]

jp_smith:
I've been thinking about one leg being half transformed between fully covered with exo plates and the other side's more like twisted human leg with spikes and stuff. Still a lot of things to think about. Your idea's quite interesting also... Thank you so much.

It's such a slow day for me (Just got back from Saturday work-more of a meeting.) So I'll get started for the lost times I should be spending ZBrushing.

[SolidSnakexxx]

What a slow...day.....today my goal was to complete the layout of the frontal exo plates. But still in the process of doing so. I've added the foot claws which still need a a bit of refinement.. I'm leaning toward more symmetrical in the legs at the moment (But all could change once the initial sculpt is complete.)

So far I have yet to put the details on the hands/arms and fingers. teh Raptorial arm also has not been touched for qutie sometime (Needs lots of detaisl there as well)

But I havestarting to put some wears and tears around his exoskeletoan plates. The legs area still need some works. I've incresase the size of raptorial arm a little bit to make this bio weapon more menacing in the final pose.

Enough ranting from me here's the slow progress so far. Your C/C are most welcome.

progress_037.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('120070','progress_037.jpg', 1,0))

[MINTY]

I think this is looking great. The exo-skeleton is coming on nicely. I love the way you have introduced those hairs into the character, you must have the patience of a saint lol!

Looking forward to seeing more.:tu:

[Moni-Poroni]

Wooow amazing details..:tu: :tu: :tu:
the hair..the eyes..the exo-plates...
And I love his feets...
Could write you 10 pages full of compliments..:D

[BARON_3D]

Great Work !!! Very Nice Detail. :tu: :tu: :tu:

[KiVanDi]

It***8217;s very good work. I really think you are the one of the victory candidates.

[dustbin1_uk]

Those armour plates on the body look amazing!!

seriously this is way up on my top 3, well done so far dude!

[Gohanf22]

my god man. i think your head is going to explode from you being too dang good. i love the armor look for you mantis man. very very detailed. i love it. cant wait to see when its done. :D

[JUPITER]

Cool !!wing's will rock this character!! ;)

[SolidSnakexxx]

MINTY:
Thank you.The hair will start to spread to other areas of his body where needed :)

Moni-Poroni:
Thanks :) You are so kind with your compliments.

BARON_3D:
Glad you like the character, man.

KiVanDi:
I feel honor to know that you think like that. I'll try my very best at this.

dustbin1_uk:
Thanks :) Again, real honor for the character to be one of your fav.

Gohanf22:
Hahaha, thanks man. The details are still not placed in yet...need to do the retopology first. Then the detailing time would be fun.

JUPITER:
Will start the wings today and post for your C&C

Daily Updates:
Yesterday was a very hectic day for me as the internet at home went down. I was spending my entire afternoon trying to pin point the issue.... But to no avail. Anyhow, late afternoon got me focused on the model once again. This time I work out the arm a little and sculpt out the finger form.

Here's what I have so far:

progress_038.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('120330','progress_038.jpg', 1,0))

And the subdivision view:

progress_039.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('120331','progress_039.jpg', 1,0))

My short term plan would be continuing on the back of the model then adding the wings.. Hopefully this can be done by today.

[maxinkuk]

Great work SolidSnakexxx. He's coming out a beauty.

[Hamilcar]

great work! It will be interesting to see it with the wings, it also looks great without them.

[GregStrangis]

Great job so far man like it alot, awaiting the detail on his arm and the addition of the wings :tu:

[dismantled]

yes definitely looking good even with out the wings..

[Harmonic]

Wow SolidSnakexxx, that is looking sick! :tu:

That's what I have been waiting for.
One miner crit, I think foot would look better a bit wider. It looks like you are trying to make it very mantis like, witch is cool, but it doesn't seem big enough to support him.

[MindFX]

Very nice details, and I love it. Although, I have to agree with Harmonic, but the rest are working pretty well for it. Keep updating, Yong.

[goldo_O]

I really like what you did with the legs. It's really taking shape, can't wait to see his back :)

[Gohanf22]

well this is the last time i guess ill be seeing your model solid before i leave. good work on the stuff you done and i was a fan of your work. take care solid. you've done well. :)

[SolidSnakexxx]

maxinkuk:
Thanks man. He's one challenge for me....I'm trying to devote at least an hour a day with him. It's tough having to work full time and additional part time work then coming back to ZBrushing. But again it's the most rewarding at the end of the day coming home to ZBrushing.

Hamilcar:
Thanks for your kind comment. Let's see...about the wings. if in the end the wings seem to get into the way of good pose, I might ditch them but for now my plan's to add them on.

GregStrangis:
Thank you for your support :)

dismantled:
Wings wings wings..soon I'll have time to sculpt thee...Can't wait for the wings to be attached to his back.

Harmonic:
(^_^) I like that word "sick" yes he's one sick hero.... And thanks for your crit on the foot size. The main reason I kept them small is because I want it to be of difference..and more insect like. However I see why you suggested a bigger ones. I do agree as well. I'll do some alterations and some little mutated foot tonight.

MindFX:
Thanks. The foot got to be a bit wider, I'll make sure of that. Your comments are really great and allow me to better my model. Again thank you.

goldo_O:
Just a bit of back sculpt today. just preparing for wings attachment.

Gohanf22:
I hope it won't be your last post, man. You've got to stay on and complete yours. I'm sure it'll be one pleasant and full of knowledge experience!

Minor Update:
This is the update to the back of the Mantis Man. The back view's not fully defined just yet. Still a lot of plate planning as I want the plates to be meaningful to his body action. Also I've added some more hair on his 2 helping arms.

progress_040.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('120377','progress_040.jpg', 1,0))

[dustbin1_uk]

As ever looking really cool!!

Not that I think it looks bad! It's still one of the best here, I just wondered how it would look do you think with the big insect arm is a little smaller? I think it's personal preference, but maybe try it smaller to see how it looks?

I know this things are large on the mantis anyway, but hey you have artistic licence! ;)

Just something to try...... hey I had to try and offer a C&C on something!! There is so much good about this model it's hard to find anything to pick on! LOL :D:tu:

[wethand]

hey,

thanks for your kind reply in my entry-thread.
and just have to say, your work is brilliant. not only the progress but your other works, too! just awesome! hope to get to your level of skill one day...

just one little note: the link to this thread in your signature doesn't work. maybe you'll check it.

[SolidSnakexxx]

dustbin1_uk:
Thank you for your advice. At first my aim to have the large Raptorial arm is meant o be for both defensive (Like shield to his softest spot, belly) and for semi-long range weapon. However, you do have a point. Tomorrow I'll try to scale it down a little and post for you to see.

wethand:
Thanks, man. I'm a big fan of monsters by nature already :) and yours could be quite a fun one. I must say how I'm honored to know you like my entry as well. ZBrush is about practicing....and if you can get an hour a day of doodling you'll get used to it real quick. BTW, thanks for notifying me about the dead link, it's now fixed :)

Daily Update:
Finally has some time to continue with my Mantis Man. This time around I decided to give him the freedom of flight...by adding 2 pairs of wings. Of course using the great ZSphere. This time around I adjust the Mbr value in the Adaptive skin submenu (Membrane Cruvature to the max to get the flatten effect). The idea is to have a filmsy insect wings that help him glide when needed. with 2 inner ones smaller and the outer wings larger (I'll also make the larger wings thicker as well)

The ZSphere Construct:
progress_041.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('120391','progress_041.jpg', 1,0))

The Polygon Version:
progress_043.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('120392','progress_043.jpg', 1,0))

[dustbin1_uk]

yeah I like him with wings. definitely gives him a more buggy look!

[gang]

with wings its looking great

its just a suggestion , the character will look more realy with a leg like mantis or any bug .
it will stand out more with that .
just a suggestion


any ways it looking great
great job

[Captain Sensible]

This is really coming along. I like the details a lot. I think where the large mantis arm joins the shoulder seems a little skinny. Especially from the back view. It loses its look of strength in that area. Other than that, great stuff man!

[SolidSnakexxx]

dustbin1_uk:
Glad you like his wings. Now he's the insect hero :)

gang:
I'm giving quite a heavy thought on adding some more stuff to make it even more organic. Again thank you for your valuable inputs.

Captain Sensible:
You are right. That's the area that needs attention. I'm thinking about insect like shoulder piece. Hopefully this will give him some more "buff" look to the shoulder muscle.

Sketch for Update Plan:
I've incorporate some suggestions from Harmonic about the foot. I think I'll make one of his foot not completely "turned" so he still has small fingers bit with sharp nails.

Also I will reduce the size of the reportorial arm a tad bit per dustbin1_uk suggestion. Adding some hair strands to certain areas to make him more organic and add a shoulder piece. This is the sketch plan so far. Let me know what you think.

progress_045.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('120405','progress_045.jpg', 1,0))

[rasmusW]

hey yong!

man... -this is just getting better and better. thanks for all the "how to's".
i'll sure keep an eye on this.

-r

[KrakenCMT]

I like the sketchover of the shoulder you did in your last post. The design is much more organic and fills in his form better in the shoulder area. The wings are a nice touch. Though, I think I like the form of the wings better in the sketch you did in post #193 on where they looked much more alive.

But this is really looking quite awesome!

[Kerwin]

Even better--very nicely executed!
-K

[SolidSnakexxx]

abyss103:
Thanks you...:) I'm glad my mini tutorials are helpful. Should I be unclear in any steps please let me know.

KrakenCMT:
I'll definitely follow through with shoulder pad, thank you for reaffirmation. I do like the wings I sketched better also. I will most likely have the wings adjusted as it's relatively easy task to accomplish. Can't wait for the over all design's set so I can start retopologising!

Kerwin:
Thank you . I'm glad you like it.

Last Update Tonight:
Although I couldn't get myself to complete the foot expansion and the reshape of the wings, I have managed to mutate one of his feet to have little fingers equipped with nails. These are super minuted change...but just want to note it into my change log. The idea is part of his right body still didn't get fully mutated to bug form, so he still has his semi-human right arm and the right foot also inhabit some sort of human (sharp) nails and stuff. The next few days I will try to wrap up the main forms....I'm getting envious of those who are starting the texturing fun or even posing fun!

Here's the minor alteration:

progress_046.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('120443','progress_046.jpg', 1,0))

[gang]

foot is looking nice man

[tuh3008]

Yeeh! I like foot.:D

[antisymmetry]

Great work! It reminds me of a takayuki Takeya sculpture.

[hdrop]

Yes, those extra pointy things on the feet are much better. Makes the feet look less like pig feet.
I too think the mantis-arm is to big. Maybe you can balance the character by adding some weight to the right side of the body. You could make an extra large plate on top of the right shoulder.
Are you going to retopologize the character or is your basemesh good for posing? Have you tested posing the model? It seems to me that you might have to redo much of the sculpting later on. (Sorry, I’m just trying to learn something as you are clearly a ZBrush wizard.)
Mantis Man is my favorite super hero!

[DAnconia]

WOW WA WEE WOW!! This is looking great. Love the armor plates. Rough and gritty.

[raguyarts]

Excellent work and nice detail :tu:

[VitorFerreira]

Wow dude, slow down :D This is looking fantastic so far. Don't have any critics to give.

Have you tryed some poses yet? Just worried if the plates won't get too messed up.

[Moni-Poroni]

Danconia says it right
WOW WA WEE WOW from me too
-and an :ex: extra :ex: wow :D
I´m happy to see Mantis-Man has gotten his wings today:)
and your sketch plan is amazing...
I wonder every day how you manage to improve you even further:D

[MindFX]

Very nice update, Yong. Somehow, I still think that his left arm still too big, but overall is coming out great. Keep it up!
CHEERS!

[Gohanf22]

solid you never surprise me. well maybe a little. lol. your doing one heck of a job and im liking the wings a lot. its becoming very authentic of its look. very well done and refined. im really looking forward to the final pose and look of this guy when its ready. :D

[Darukin]

Wow SolidSnakexx this is looking amazing so far, I love it!

Keep it up!

:tu: :cool: :tu:

[SolidSnakexxx]

Good morning everybody. Glad the Mantis Man's well accepted...even for an ugly hero. Thank you so much for you all support.

gang:
Thank you man. The foot will change a bit here and there.. Will see how it may fit with the rest of the body.

tuh3008:
Aren't we all foot fetish :) just kidding.

antisymmetry:
Thanks for your support. I'll check out that name you mentioned. Is he a digital sculptor?

hdrop:
:) I'll try out something to off balance his upper body. Also I'll be retopologising all the way once the design's semi set (The details and stuff will be added in after the topo's been fixed) So bear with some glitches and not so clean lines at the moment. And thank you for being one of your fav heroes. I'm grateful for that.

DAnconia:
I'm so flattered DAnconia, your "WOW WA WEE WOW!!" has made my day.

raguyart:
Thank you. I'm still trying to refrain from putting too much details before retop. Can't wait to get back home from work to continue this.

VitorFerreira:
Thank you, VitorFerreira. I have some poses in mind. Will do a couple of sketches first and of course retop, coloring, and then actual transpose master session. Still a long way to go.

Moni-Poroni:
So now he can fly.... :) But I'll adjust his wings to be preoperly designed more. In general, I do a lot of daily planning prior to jumping in sculpting as during my daily work day, I have only like an hour or so to actually be on sculpting. And weekends only couple hours as I teach computer classes on Saturdays and Sundays. Other than that just I'd just be on a computer station with no ZBrush..so all I could do was checking out other entries..and learn from them.

MindFX:
Thank you. Will check the size again for certain.

Gohanf22:
Hopefully I can get the base sculpt out of the way, Like I've said seeing other characters in poses makes me want to jump ahead.....But Mantis Man will get his turn....:)

Darukin:
Thank you for your kudos. :) Much appreciated.

[skullbeast]

You have some fantastic updates! :tu: :tu: :cool: