CAP 3D Modeling Project

DJTHED

Amateur 3D Animator
is a Top Artist
I think it's because the first set of Pokemon renders used to compare against Cawmodore all had sweeping wing animations, so that difference in animation seemed comparatively prominent. :/

I'd like to finish Cawmodore with this post (with apologies to those who suggested changes), unless I receive a really strong and convincing objection. I can't please everyone. v__v




Here are the model files--again, without the shader/scene. The Maya file has a few variations of the wing animation, as I had originally intended to use a sharper wing animation layer for the render, but that caused some weirder shading on the wings, so I went with my original one.

Think this can go on PS!, Layell?
Hold on. You think you could lower the resolution on the front sprite just a tad? It looks a bit big overall. Bigger than the back sprite. Either lower the resolution or move the camera back a bit.
 

Quanyails

On sabbatical!
is a Top Artist Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnus
I can grant that. I moved the mesh two units in the -Z direction. o3o
->

->


And shinies.
 
Last edited:

DJTHED

Amateur 3D Animator
is a Top Artist
Alright, it's been a while since I've been actively involved with this project, but I have some spare time for at least a little bit so I'm going to try to get something done. I'll go ahead and start the animation for Mollux since BushWhack has become inactive and because Quanyails gave me the go-ahead to start this whenever I was ready. Hopefully I'll have something ready to show soon-ish.
 

DJTHED

Amateur 3D Animator
is a Top Artist


So this is what I've got done so far. For right now it's on hold because QxC4eva has notified me that importing animation data from Blender into Maya can cause serious problems with the shaders and everything else he's done with the lamp in Maya. I'm too unfamiliar with the Maya interface to do any animation there, so either QxC4eva will have to figure out a way to import the animations without too much trouble, or I'll have to pass this on to another animator that can use Maya and redo the entire animation.
 

DJTHED

Amateur 3D Animator
is a Top Artist
I'm going to announce that I won't be continuing the wireframe of Kitsunoh. I don't plan on really doing any more wireframes for CAP for the time being except for Necturna whenever the model sheets or more reference drawings show up. I might do more for future CAPs, but of the current 6 other CAPs that don't have a model yet planned, I'll just not be doing them. Let me know if anyone who is reading this is interested in taking over the current Kitsunoh model to make it better than it is now.

Also on that note, can we get an update on the progress of the other wireframes that are still incomplete and hasn't had an update for a while?

Fidget from KrazyCake or Golui.
Voodoom from noobiess.
Colossoil from Spoiled Rotten.

If we don't get at least a confirmation from the modeler that they still plan to work on any one of these wireframes within a month or so, I would suggest having someone else take over so that progress isn't halted by inactivity.

EDIT:
Note that I still plan to use my current Kitsunoh rig and to animate Kitsunoh's final render. Just not to finish the model.
 
Last edited:

QxC4eva

is an Artistis a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributor
Moderator
except for Necturna whenever the model sheets or more reference drawings show up.
A while ago Yveltal, me and Yilx gave you some sketches of Necturna. Yilx had a few perspectives of the dress, Yveltal had the proportions down and I had a sketch of where things might be (roughly). There's also a lot of paintings by Yilx you can use for reference. That should be more than enough to get you started!

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/cap-3d-modeling-project.3536091/page-9#post-6463709
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/cap-3d-modeling-project.3536091/page-9#post-6463049
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/cap-3d-modeling-project.3536091/page-9#post-6463085

Remember we did them just for you, not for anyone else, so if you don't return us any comments (esp if there's something bothering you) we assume you're OK with it. It's unlikely more reference drawings will show up unless you explicitly ask for them, i.e. by tagging the artist, then telling them exactly what you want. I guess I'll tidy up my drawing but I only wish I knew what you're looking for. :P

Anyway thanks for the update (and on Mollux too, what a cutie!) I'm curious why you lost interest on Kitsunoh? Whatever the reason why, it's good to know you're still up for the rigs and animations!
and I always knew you had a thing for Necturna :)))
 

DJTHED

Amateur 3D Animator
is a Top Artist
I'm curious why you lost interest on Kitsunoh? Whatever the reason why, it's good to know you're still up for the rigs and animations!
I just don't really know how I can make the fur look better than it is. That's the main reason. I know you've given some suggestions but it wasn't enough for me and I'm not confident in my modeling skills to make it look better.

Anyway the main thing I was looking for with Necturna was a model sheet with proper proportions. I've completely forgotten about Yveltal's sketch, but it looks really rough and hard to follow, but I guess I could work with it.
 
Yes Fidgit is in the works... Unfortunately I don't have anything to show you yet because I forgot to save my model but don't worry Fidgit will be done shortly
 

QxC4eva

is an Artistis a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributor
Moderator
DJTHED !! Big post for you :P

First off here's the revised model sheet. Let me know if there's any problems!



I'm no expert but here's what I noticed about your Kitsunoh and modeling:
  • I think you tend to overuse the model sheets. For Kitsunoh all you really did was trace Quany's drawing, there wasn't much you added in terms of artistic rendition to the model. So okay, there's a technical side to modeling but don't forget the artistic side too! I think focus more on that and try not to get too caught up with trivial stuff, like keeping a low polycount and such.
  • It may help to look up some tuts on how to model fur in Blender. Modeling fur as in like, not using the particle system. You get what I mean... :P
  • Have you tried modeling with ZBrush, Sculptris or Mudbox before?
  • For Mega Cruci, you copied the hair on Yilx's model sheet instead of making your own. That hair only looks good in 2D but not 3D. If you look at the renders (esp back view) it looks more like a cloth waving around than actual hair. You also left out details like the cracks in the pot and crown which is a bit hacky to fix with textures. I'd say don't limit yourself to what the model sheet is showing - use some artistic judgement as well.
  • The Mega Cruci's body shape tells me you need to get yourself familiar with human anatomy. Not sure how well you can draw, but practicing it will certainly help! Draw naked things :D and remember to show me afterwards :D:D
  • We're not making models for a game engine. There's no need to follow exactly the technical build of the official models. A slightly detailed / higher poly one will render much better than the compromised models that GF uses...... I guess it's a preference thing too but the way you're doing it doesn't seem very efficient to me. Mega Cruci had important details cut off for the sake of polycount, and I also think Kitsunoh's one might be too simple to get you some decent looking fur. Not sure about the workflow you're using though. Just my 2 cents anyway. No hard feelings! <3

Oh and tips for Necturna!
  • Try to do more than copy my drawings this time. Model sheets are only there to help block out the proportions, the little details like the eyes or teeth on the dress (assuming you'll add some instead of leave it all to the texture artist) is up on you to make sure they look good in 3D. There's also plenty of ways to tackle the shirt and the thing on his head than what my drawings can show.
  • The hands and dress should be able to open and close. No leaving it to the textures! The dress should also have thickness so that the inside and outside can have different UV spaces.
  • His head is no perfect sphere so let's see it looking organic this time :| Also pay attention to the bulge coming out the nose down to the chin.
  • I suggest look at this drawing for the back where the spikey thing attaches. Try not to follow the sprite cause it's wrong :P in fact I suggest don't follow the sprites for anything

Normally I'd say anyone can go ahead and start modeling (regardless of their skill) but you as an elitist, must face the reality: I don't think you're ready to model Necturna yet. It's quite clear if the model is to be "elite standard" you're gonna need a lot more practice first. I think Voodoom, Arghonaut or Malaconda will fit better for your skill level. If you really want the best for this project, please know your limits and save Necturna for someone more capable - someone like Yveltal or koldrage etc. So yup. That's the elitist side of me :\

....... ahahahah FALSE ALARM i was kidding~
of course you can start on nec ;D

(but I hope you get my point about elitism)
 
Last edited:

QxC4eva

is an Artistis a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributor
Moderator
Posting a Tomohawk WIP so you guys know I'm still working on it!
but expect delays coz.....I got a job c:



I finally worked out how he's supposed to move, I think. His arm goes through the middle of the wing into the glove, but there's also a hidden "stick" just above it so that part droops down kinda looking like he's controlling the wing from above, even when his arm goes through the middle. When he's flying, the stick loses weight so the wing will bend naturally as it flaps. Decent workaround I guess? XD
I moved on to doing the binds just now (he's got 688 joints)
 
Posting a Tomohawk WIP so you guys know I'm still working on it!
but expect delays coz.....I got a job c:
<image>
I finally worked out how he's supposed to move, I think. His arm goes through the middle of the wing into the glove, but there's also a hidden "stick" just above it so that part droops down kinda looking like he's controlling the wing from above, even when his arm goes through the middle. When he's flying, the stick loses weight so the wing will bend naturally as it flaps. Decent workaround I guess? XD
I moved on to doing the binds just now (he's got 688 joints)
I just wanted to stop by and say that that looks really cool! Great job everyone, we all love the work you guys are doing! :D
 

QxC4eva

is an Artistis a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributor
Moderator
Thank you :D Have another update I guess. The mouth is rigged so I added some teeth and also a tongue, and now he can eat the cakes in poke amie. But I messed up the throat UVs so there's not enough res to give him a dangly "punching bag" thing in there though, woops! why did I leave it all to textures >.< curse you polycount rule Here's the updated UVs maps and textures.


The other weights should be done soon™ :P
 
im interested in learning how to do this. can anyone point me in the right direction to learning how to make some fakemon with blender? and the outlines that are around the official models, does that have to be added?
 

QxC4eva

is an Artistis a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributor
Moderator
Nathaniel98643 learning Blender is really just finding tuts and going through them till you get the basics down (which can take like a week or so, but it's the only hurdle to being a modeller) My fav resource is this noob to pro wikibook, it won't babysit you on making fakemons but it'll get you the skills. For video tuts, the best ones I can find are either not free or slightly outdated... >.> From what I heard CGCookie has a good crash course but only the basics part is free. Also this and this, both are free and pretty good too but a few versions behind. Oh well that's a few options out there I guess, anyway good luck!

The outlines are optional, it's stylistic call but we do them since the pokemon games have them. It's a 2D effect most image editors like photoshop can do. Basically run a sobel ("find edges") filter on the depth and normal pass, then merge it on the cel shading pass.

+ {edge detection filter} -->


+ {edge detection filter} -->


+
+
-->



You can read more on the technique here:

Umm oh yeah Quanyails I promised to do a tut on this but life happened, it's still on my to-do list though :3
 

QxC4eva

is an Artistis a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributor
Moderator
idk who's been deleting the questions but I really prefer to answer them here (not PM) if possible, they're FAQs anyway so it's gonna save me and everyone else's time.


Nathaniel98643: if you got it from the models resource, I think they had some problems ripping the model from OR/AS. The streams on MegaRay would certainly have joints there as well, just that they're missing from the file I think. A similar mon with those features would be Mega Diancie if you want some reference :P About the effect, you can do it by animating the U and V offset for the streamers - which will get you the moving pattern, then animate the joints to get the swaying motion. If you're starting out btw, I suggest avoiding mons with special FX cause it's gonna make compositing harder (and compositing already is a weird concept to grasp anyway)

as well as how do you create the color, or texture maps? for new pokemon, is there a guide i can follow?
Texture maps are just plain image files (png, gif etc) so you can make them with programs like Paint or Photoshop. If it's a new fakemon you have to unwrap the UVs and the coloring guide youself. For example, the UV map of Tomohawk looks like this and when colored is the Diffuse 01.png image in this folder. You can also paint textures in 3D using Blender under the Texture Paint mode.

-----
p.s. I finished the skinning for Tomo. Have a test pose so you can decide how much (or little) I know about his anatomy :I


 
The 3D model's anatomy makes more sense than the website's artwork. I really like how this turned out.
 

DougJustDoug

Knows the great enthusiasms
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Artistis a Programmeris a Forum Moderatoris a Top CAP Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnus
Moderator
idk who's been deleting the questions but I really prefer to answer them here (not PM) if possible, they're FAQs anyway so it's gonna save me and everyone else's time.
I have been clearing questions if they turn this thread into an all-purpose 3D tutorial thread. I realize CAP is pretty much the only place in Smogon where this kind of thing is done, and this thread helps people learn about 3D modeling and animation, with the hope it will lead to future contributions to CAP models. But lets try to keep this relevant to making CAP models.

If we want to do tutorials, or if the same person wants to ask a series of how-to questions (which is what was deleted), even if its good basic information for other newcomers, we should find a more appropriate place for that stuff, like Smeargles Studio.
 
idk who's been deleting the questions but I really prefer to answer them here (not PM) if possible, they're FAQs anyway so it's gonna save me and everyone else's time.


Nathaniel98643: if you got it from the models resource, I think they had some problems ripping the model from OR/AS. The streams on MegaRay would certainly have joints there as well, just that they're missing from the file I think. A similar mon with those features would be Mega Diancie if you want some reference :P About the effect, you can do it by animating the U and V offset for the streamers - which will get you the moving pattern, then animate the joints to get the swaying motion. If you're starting out btw, I suggest avoiding mons with special FX cause it's gonna make compositing harder (and compositing already is a weird concept to grasp anyway)


Texture maps are just plain image files (png, gif etc) so you can make them with programs like Paint or Photoshop. If it's a new fakemon you have to unwrap the UVs and the coloring guide youself. For example, the UV map of Tomohawk looks like this and when colored is the Diffuse 01.png image in this folder. You can also paint textures in 3D using Blender under the Texture Paint mode.

-----
p.s. I finished the skinning for Tomo. Have a test pose so you can decide how much (or little) I know about his anatomy :I


I feel bad giving critique because your amazing and have out in so much effort, but i think the beak-fur object on tomahawk's head needs some work. Its far smaller, and has far less volume then shown in the art, and it also seems rather rigid compared to the designs fur-beak, in simplest terms it doesn't look like it is made from fur / feathers.

Even still, breathtaking and cant wait for the final product.
 

QxC4eva

is an Artistis a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributor
Moderator
Thanks for the critique :D I scaled up the mohawk a bit:

It still looks a bit solid I guess. Back then I added some texture lines at the tip so it looks more like fur, but ended up deleting them cause they look terrible in the big renders, even in the sprite sized ones they only looked good in a few angles. I'll look into it again if it affects the sprite (though I suspect having some animation will fix that up). Gonna finish reading on dynamics, then I'll make the controllers soon!

Also here's how the sprite looks in that pose.
 
Thanks for the critique :D I scaled up the mohawk a bit:

It still looks a bit solid I guess. Back then I added some texture lines at the tip so it looks more like fur, but ended up deleting them cause they look terrible in the big renders, even in the sprite sized ones they only looked good in a few angles. I'll look into it again if it affects the sprite (though I suspect having some animation will fix that up). Gonna finish reading on dynamics, then I'll make the controllers soon!

Also here's how the sprite looks in that pose.
really impressed man, your very talented, and although the fur-beak isn't perfect, its been improved, and in sprite form it looks just fine. In the later animation process, maybe it could bounce with tomahawk or something to show the fluidity, or rather lack of rigidness or the piece of the design? Not sure if thats possible tho.
 
Last edited:
Working On Syclant.

Some of my previous work:
http://lhylton.weebly.com/3d-art.html

This can obviously be tweaked later; but I'm obligated to go ahead and ask, how do you want the transparency handled? (I mean the ice crystals appear partially translucent in some of the official art and as if there are substructures inside, do you want a model within the outer model? or it to be textured onto the outside?)
 

Quanyails

On sabbatical!
is a Top Artist Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnus
Hey, Bcadren! Always nice to have 3D modelers on board. :D I'm thinking Syclant's crystals should be like how the following Pokemon handle it: non-translucent, but using a phong material to give it that shiny appearance (this is looking at Bergmite's model).


Edit: Oh, yeah, Mega Diancie also has great crystals for reference.
 

QxC4eva

is an Artistis a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributor
Moderator
Bcadren awesome! I marked you down for Syclant :D

Well it depends who's gonna render it so either way is fine. For me I like doing the ice effect by shaders and composition, so having one mesh is suffficient. But if you feel like putting something in there that's fine as well :)

Loving your Combeequen fusion~


p.s. Not sure if it's just me, but Bergmite's ice seems to have a "facing ratio" effect.. oO
 
The thing I was most concerned about that I brought it up was in most the art of Syclant including the official sprites currently used there are these little smaller crystals inside the main crystals that kind of look like eyes on peacock feathers.

Most the links for additional art on the front page are broken so here's a couple of what was linked there:

And I don't think just texturing them on would work very well. I'm probably inserting a tiny separate model for them to be seen through the translucence slightly...layering two seperate renders might be necessary for them to show well without making the crystals too transparent.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 2)

Top