Ronin - Early Design Phase

[FoxHound1984]

Hey everyone!

First off, happy new year to everyone!

I am finally in my last semester, which means that I get to work on my final thesis project (which will be an animation).

I figured I’d get a head start and work on the main character a bit before the semester actually starts. So here are some very early concept sketches of my character Ronin (it is still a very rough design, and consists only of one afternoon’s work):

I am basically going to shoot for a Western with animalistic characters. Ronin will be the hero and I am going to create a gorrila-esque character for the villain.

Please, feedback would be really appreciated as I intend to make this final project as good as it can be! I will be updating this thread as I continue to work on the project over the course of the semester!

• Ralph

Attachments

[Dggava]

very cool ,. like the style ,.

[FoxHound1984]

Thank you very much!

[FoxHound1984]

Here’s the current state of the model with normal maps in MAX (not too concerned with the poly count as his pants and other accessories will be fairly low-poly):

[FoxHound1984]

Here’s a quick posed MAX render:

[FoxHound1984]

Did some more work on Ronin (mainly his face and manes).

Here are some more shots:

Please let me know what you think of him so far! Honestly, your feedback can/will make this a better project

• Ralph

Attachments

[midost]

I love your style! Very strong, and the details are nice and clean. Can’t wait to see him finished!

[FoxHound1984]

I love your style! Very strong, and the details are nice and clean. Can’t wait to see him finished!

Thank you ever so much! I plan on finishing him in the upcoming week

[kmkenpo]

Please, take this with the whole salt shaker, not just a grain… I do not like the way the hair and beard went from “clean” to spiky or messy. Something about it just doesn’t look right. It may be due to me having a very trimmed beard and a shaved head, but it just doesn’t look like a “refined” character. I know, this is your project, and who am I to be so blunt… remember the salt shaker thing earlier… just my opinion.

-kmkenpo

[FoxHound1984]

Please, take this with the whole salt shaker, not just a grain… I do not like the way the hair and beard went from “clean” to spiky or messy. Something about it just doesn’t look right. It may be due to me having a very trimmed beard and a shaved head, but it just doesn’t look like a “refined” character. I know, this is your project, and who am I to be so blunt… remember the salt shaker thing earlier… just my opinion.

-kmkenpo

You’re not blunt at all! I was asking for crits and it is exactly what you gave me

I agree about the hair being a bit too spiky at the moment. I think I will tone it down a notch or two and maybe give it a little more finesse by using alpha planes in the rendered model.

He needs to look a little scruffy though, it being a Western and all

[t.i.c]

I love where this is headed! Really strong style and development so far. Love the details around the eyes and nose. You may not have done a detail pass on it yet, but I feel that the mouth and chin would benefit from a similar level of detail - at the moment, the lower half of his face feels younger than the top half, if that makes sense!?!
Keep it up - going to be a great project!

[FoxHound1984]

I love where this is headed! Really strong style and development so far. Love the details around the eyes and nose. You may not have done a detail pass on it yet, but I feel that the mouth and chin would benefit from a similar level of detail - at the moment, the lower half of his face feels younger than the top half, if that makes sense!?!
Keep it up - going to be a great project!

Thank you very much! I think you’re spot on about the chin feeling too clean compared to the rest of his facial features. Will work on that and post some more shots soon!

Thanks so much for the feedback!

[FoxHound1984]

Hey guys!

I did some more work on Ronin. I decided to ditch the spiky look for his manes. I detailed his chin further (will still do the torso, arms, etc.). I also started to rough in some of his clothes.

Here’s what I have so far:

Please, let me know what you think of him so far!

• Ralph

Attachments

[kmkenpo]

REALLY shaping up. I have to say, this is impressive, making me (and I am sure there are others) want to push my skills further. Simple, yet, really comes across well.

Have a blessed day,
-kmkenpo

[FoxHound1984]

Thank you so much for your feedback and kind words! I can’t wait to post the finished model soon!

[FoxHound1984]

Here’s a current version of Ronin in MAX with normal maps applied. Still needs a lot of work, but I’m starting to rough out the torso musculature:

Please let me know what you think!

• Ralph