Richard Zryd - Sketchbook

[zerd_sword]

I didn’t get much response last time after showing my work in progress, but I’m going to try it again I suppose. Here’s my new WIP, I’m calling the Ghost Soldier. When I’m done he’ll be next-gen game res, but today I’m going to try to finish up the high res sculpt. Btw. I know he looks a little like Duke, but in the end, when I paint the skull makeup/camo onto his face that shouldn’t be an issue. There’s also my concept sketch below. It was just a quick paint over a male zbrush figure. Still on the job search btw, so feel free to hit me up if you like what you see!

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[neozerahan]

Very nice work bro…kEEP it UP!!

[zerd_sword]

So here is the next-gen game res version of this guy who I’ve named Ghost. He’s a non specific soldier/mercenary character. I made a M1014 combat shotgun for him that I might post later. Anyway, all of his specs are in the images below so he should be self explanatory. Onto the next project!

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[Sparky3d]

nice end result with the ghost guy

[zerd_sword]

So I’ve been meaning to post this guy for a while now. I’ve been deep into UDK for a bit and it consumed me. I modeled him after Luke Cage, the Marvel superhero. Base mesh created in Maya, detailed in Zbrush, then retopo’d him in Topogun, maps made in Xnormal with a little help from Crazybump. Photoshop was in the mix the whole time too. Marmoset for the final renders. This, I have found to be the best workflow for creating high res game characters for next-gen games. Each tool is specifically picked out for it’s contribution to the recipe. Still looking for my break into the game industry btw.

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[arabas]

Nice works guy.

Do you use only a half texture of your model?
What software do you use to preview you low-res model?
Why does the model show normal map texture without seam? How can you erase the seam?

[zerd_sword]

Arabas: Yes, I do like to use overlapping UVs. This can give you a lot more resolution for texture detail in you map (virtually double). The head is one area that I might shy away from using overlapping UVs because there might be a very slight seam and you can break symmetry a little which can help with realism. I’m not sure as to what you mean by “preview the low res mesh”. Finally there’s no seam due to the application you are viewing it in. In Maya you have to select “use Maya derivative” in the preferences or else you’ll see a seam. In Marmoset it just does this for you. I do not make my maps in Zbrush btw, all final maps are done in XNormal. For static meshes in UDK you can have overlapping UVs, but have an extra UV channel for the light map without overlapping uvs.

[arabas]

@zerd_sword : Thanks to you for your kind answer.

[zerd_sword]

Hi everyone, it’s been a few since I’ve posted anything here. I’ve been pretty busy though and have a stockpile of new stuff made with Zbrush to show. Most of this stuff is next-gen character stuff, with the primary tool of creation being Zbrush. I don’t see much video game stuff on ZBC (I know this place isn’t centered around it), but I hope some people will appreciate my work. I’ve been really geeked lately by the Gear 3 stuff I’ve seen here on ZBC that showed their game models.

Anyway, most of the characters are between 11,000 and 15,000 tris with 2048 diffuse and normal maps. Specular maps are kinda a toss up on size because I can get away with smaller sizes usually. First off is my version of Rocksteady from TMNT. I always thought in the cartoon he was just a little to dumbed-down and I wanted to redo him as a hardcore mercenary type. He’s 12,536 tris with 2048 maps for Diffuse, Spec, and Normal Map and one 512 map for emissive. I’ll try to post wireframes soon.

[chalkman]

Whoo … I love this character! Can’t wait to see more!

[RAGHAVAN]

CoooL Character ! Only critic is the nerves on hand looks not right to me. Overall nice job !

[zerd_sword]

Thanks for the responses everyone. It seems that overall, most people don’t care for the veins I use. I kinda like them, but maybe I’ll rethink my approach. Anyway, here here’s the wireframes for the Rocksteady model and some greyscale shots as well as the maps I used. More stuff still to come!

[sarakawa]

Your work is pretty solid. I think the spec maps could use some work. On the 2nd guy, his skin is looking pretty plastic and there appears to be spec on his jeans which shouldn’t be there. The black wife beater also is too mirrored. You should do the chest asymmetrically since that area usually attracts the most attention. Your texture sizes are large so you can pretty much afford to make the entire character asymmetrical which will let you add much more interest. I also feel like you should take your characters the extra mile and pose them. It really does help bring the character to life and I feel makes a big difference in presentation because the character will have so much more personality than in a static T pose. Also, posing would include a facial expression cuz right now they all are just static blank expressions.

[Renderluz]

Good work! also I agree spending sometime doing a simple rigg to posse the characters would be good idea

[zerd_sword]

sarakawa: Yes, you’re probably right about both things. Sadly I have a strange aversion to posing character for some reason. I guess I’ll just have to get over it.

Anyway, here’s another character of mine that I did a few weeks back. I know that he’s not posed, but I’ve moved on to new projects and just want to post the images of him now. The Undead Samurai is the highest tri count model I’ve done so far, weighing in at 14,980. Modeled in Zbrush and Maya. Normal maps produced with XNormal. Textured with Zbrush, Photoshop, and BodyPaint 3D. Retopologized with TopoGun. Crazybump used for extra normal map details. Two 2048 maps for Diffuse and Normal Maps and two 512 maps for specular. Screenshots are straight out of Marmoset Toolbag (no Photoshopping). Wires coming soon!

[ezekiel6]

Great characters, especially love the Rhino and the Ghoul, details and texturing are great. You’ve got some great work there.

[zerd_sword]

Hey all! Been away for a while working on a new game that will hopefully drop soon. Can’t wait to post my new work from it! In the mean time though I wanted to post the wires and texture maps of the zombie guy. Hope you enjoy and I’ll have more soon. Also, I’m looking for a new project to get on so if you are interested just drop me a line and let me know! (My website is on my signature)

[Interu2x]

Very cool character What do u use for retopo?

[zerd_sword]

I use Topogun almost exclusively. Love that program. No offense to Zbrush, and maybe it’s better now in version 4R2, but the topology was always hard to see in ZB and when I used to try a workaround technique it would crash a lot. This was version 4 btw.

[nicksc]

Fun stuff here enjoyed looking around.