Original character(s) 3D Models

[HobbyPirates]

I have been re-focused on learning to Rig properly this week and found an AMAZING tutorial that I just had to share. I did not understand that Rigify was modular and that you could use Sample sets of bones that they’ve put together so you could create your own rig of ANY creature.

I built this rig using the rigify sample sets of bones. For some reason the ‘super spine’ with tail and head does not work, I had to delete them and re-add the spine and tail, not sure why.
I was able to create the rig for my character so that he works great. Obviously unfinished, but I had to act on what these videos teach to be sure I understood them, and gosh am I glad I did because it really helps pinpoint the spots that are problematic. The videos are a little old, but the lessons can still apply to at least version 3.6.1 which is what I’m still using, but he’s also updating lessons for Blender 4.0. Hope it could help someone else potentially too! I’m super happy to feel more confident in rigging.

[Blender 2.8/2.9] Rig ANYTHING with Rigify #0 - Series Intro

[Miss_B]

Thanks for the link to the tutorial, and I see CGDive has quite a few more tutorials on this subject.

[HobbyPirates]

The paid ones are super cheap in my opinion. This video series is 17 episodes long currently, though they are fairly short too, there are at least 3 videos I would recommend should be watched. Just the first half got me to where I am with my rig.

[Miss_B]

That’s definitely encouraging.

[HobbyPirates]

Wanted to share some animation practice I’ve done with the emo-skunk dog character I created a couple months ago. I am starting the Alive animation course and finishing Grant’s animation course here at gamedev over the next month or two with some free time. Very excited to share what I’ll get to make.

Emo Skunk Dog Adoptable (Animation practice) (youtube.com)
Let me know your thoughts on the animation practice if you get a chance, any feedback is always appreciated!

[zeRgenTa]

@HobbyPirates

Let me know your thoughts on the animation practice if you get a chance, any feedback is always appreciated!

Your animation is looking pretty good, but there is something distracting about the front legs/feet. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but it doesn’t feel like it’s Digitigrade.

I think that it’s because the feet are too stiff; The bottom of a dog’s front foot can easily touch the lower part of the leg it’s attached to.

After looking at some reference (youtube), I think that it might have something to do with the fact that the upper body of your Skunk Dog isn’t moving as much as I’d expect it to; in the reference, every time the dog’s leg goes back it looks like it pulls the chest back with it a little.

Maybe making its feet point all the way back when it picks them up to go forward would help.

I hope that something I said helps you out a little

[HobbyPirates]

Thanks so much for a beautiful reference video! It will be used very soon
The notes are always appreciated. I’ll be continuing courses and improving the posts above over time, I hope you’ll get to see some of them in the future as well.

[FedPete]

Too, me was the movement of the paws and the floor (grass) movement
The underground doesn’t match the body movement.

Animation is hard!
Blender has planned to modify (highly) the animation process. All will be motion layers.
Planned 2025 I believe.

[HobbyPirates]

I shared a frog project I have in progress a couple of weeks ago now, and due to a broken tablet and a lot of procrastination those manage to still be unfinished. I did manage to within a week finish this model of a Cat Chef though! Following the reference and style seen in the 2D art, I tried to recreate it as seen.

Finished 04/25/24

Reference and character/game concepts belong to Siphon Games on Instagram.
Siphon Games (@siphongames) • Instagram photos and videos

More practice following concept arts provided. Blue frog and personal character (Sister seen above) remodel are top priorities to finish asap. Thanks for your time, feedback is important.

[CoreyKnecht]

Cool! It feels like the hat might be angled a bit too far back, but we all know that’s just because of the blue rat under there pulling the strings =)

[HobbyPirates]

Minus the hair, I’ve remodeled my original character ‘Sister’ finally. Finished around let’s just say 05/08/24.

My tablet stopped working, so anything I have in progress that needs texture painting has taken a huge procrastination pill that I’m trying to get over. You might be able to tell Sister’s textures are pretty low quality, but I’m really happy with his mesh. Sadly, with all the blender updates I have to re-make his rig from scratch. Good time to freshen up the skills.

Wanted to see if I could rework his model into a hyena character I have in the same story as him, this ones name is ‘Gemini’. What do you think, is it giving hyena vibes?

Will continue work on: texture painting the frog-scouts outfits ( see original project progress here ), Anime character course, and Gemini’s model. I’d like to pick another quadruped project to complete after these.

[mwparker1969]

Grant Abbitt inspired me as well. He has a really comfortable learning pace in his courses. I’ve not put much thought into character creation. I will start creating concept art and focusing on character development as my skillset grows. It’s persona reminds me of the wolf Honest John in Disney’s Pinocchio. Maybe dishonest, deceitful and conniving, but all the characteristics of a vampire.

[HobbyPirates]

I’m taking part in Art Fight this year, which if you haven’t ever heard of it, I really encourage you to look it up. You can join a team and draw other people’s characters for points. It’s all just for fun, and you see a huge variety of character types, art styles, and mediums.

I am hoping to do as many characters as possible in 3D during this time, and trying to mix my 2D skills with it where I can. Below are some of the Art fight ‘attacks’ I’ve made in the past weeks or so. I will make a separate thread regarding strictly pixel art in the future, below are images that included some elements of 3D or were entirely 3D.

Characters named “Smiley” a smiley face character, and “Jester” a jester hat character

Character named “The little guy” purple monster with one eye, and a striped scarf.

Character named “Filix” anthromorphic feline, 3D background, and a base mesh was placed. I then painted on top of in a separate program for 2D drawing.

My character Zatch, a black and rainbow monster, this was made just a couple days before July.

Below are just two under 1-hour character creative studies I’ve been trying out.

Punk Dog

Tuxedo Cat

Thanks for your time and viewing. Let me know which characters or scenes you like the most so far.

[FedPete]

I like the last two characters, the cat and dog.
Because they are consistent in cartoon style.
I think because the lack of an environment.

[CoreyKnecht]

Sounds sort of like a mass-collaborative game jam for artists. Cool! Also…

@HobbyPirates

Art fight ‘attacks’ I’ve made

I’ll now have that theme song stuck in my head for the next eleventy-million years, so thanks for that XD

[HobbyPirates]

Two more art fight attacks I was able to make in 3D during the month.

Character ‘Galaxy in a Jar’

Minimalist character ‘The Wizard’

I got a bit intimidated about 3D characters again, so I decided to just do Pixel art for most of the event.

Due to the intimidation I decided to step back and try to follow some tutorials for making characters again to see if I could learn some new things. The first character is below, a very popular youtube blender tutorial. I have at least three more lined up to do, and hopefully after these I will have regained my confidence to try making my own characters in a stylized 3D format again.

Thanks for following along with me still. I’ve been in blender for almost two years now, but the lack of a focused goal with it has definitely kept me feeling like a new-bie still.

[CoreyKnecht]

@HobbyPirates

feeling like a new-bie still

I hope you realize that only people who are without genuine skill are immune to imposter syndrome =)

No stress. Keep doing things at your own pace, and when the time is right, you’ll readily feel more like Galaxy in a Jar here! (looks fantastic btw, neat idea)

[HobbyPirates]

Just a couple of updates from things I’ve been working on.

After making that frog wizard I followed a popular youtube tutorial to make a Rabbit character. Here’s my version below.

I made him into an alchemist rabbit, the original was just a simple animal crossing-esque character.

Some other things I’ve been trying to do.

WIP of Bunny Model:

I want to change the design further from the original concept, but I have not been creative enough to figure out how to change him yet. I thought I might like to put him in a shop trying to sell something, but I haven’t been able to figure out how I want that to look. Below I had started a block out and camera positioning.

Original concept by artist K Hearn. Please see the original post I found at the link below, and if anyone finds an Active page for this artist please let me know, I could not find one active.
Character Model Sheets | Freelancer

WIP of Bird model so far:

Original concept art (AI GENERATED by someone on DeviantART)

I plan on changing the colors and other details almost entirely, but this reference has been behind my model as I work to try and help me get the shape right. I actually do like how its shape looks overall. This was specifically a challenge to try making fluff or feathers stylized and on the characters head/chest.

Creativity and motivation have been particularly difficult lately. Going to try some slow lifestyle changes until I can get back on track of putting out projects I am happier with.

Few weeks ago, my partner got particularly annoyed as I showed them another random motion graphic made with geometry nodes and they noted I should be trying to work on more important and stand out projects for things people actually want to see. It really crushed what little motivation I was able to keep together, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to recover it and just get back to work. It’s so difficult as I already was struggling with what to make, but I felt confident at least that I could make something that I thought was fun to see. I mention this mostly to remind everyone that you’ve no idea how what you say may come off to another person. Remember to be supportive to those you care about.

[NP5]

They look great have you a plan to use all these in some scent together?

[FedPete]

@HobbyPirates

Few weeks ago, my partner got particularly annoyed as I showed them another random motion graphic made with geometry nodes and they noted I should be trying to work on more important and stand out projects for things people actually want to see. It really crushed what little motivation I was able to keep together, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to recover it and just get back to work. It’s so difficult as I already was struggling with what to make, but I felt confident at least that I could make something that I thought was fun to see.

Blender is just a (very technical) tool. But very versatile for creative people and processes.
Doing things differently, just because you can, feeds this creativity. As an artist, you should strive for that, without paying too much attention to what others say. I think it’s good to experiment, try things out, mix concepts, see what comes out. And at some point you see a direction that you feel comfortable with. And you can excel in that.
That doesn’t mean you will be successful in that. Not everyone will appreciate your work, but others will and see it as a source of inspiration.
Receiving criticism is not fun, but it is a learning experience. Because people look at it in a completely different way, with a different vision and experience. It’s all part of the learning process.