3D Alien I'm Making In Game Modeling and Animation

This is my alien character Void, which I'm sure some of you have seen now (in my other art thread). This is what I'm working on for one of my classes. We are going to animate our characters soon too, if we have the time. I also modeled a variety of simple items/props for his animation sequences.

I am not a very good 3D artist, as the program is immensely complicated to me (having originally been "taught" by a teacher whose idea of teaching was to sit down at his desk all period, thinking people would simply come to him if they had questions, without ever even explaining how to do things). So, this is not something I would care to do for the rest of my life.


https://2img.net/h/i111.photobucket.com/albums/n152/Syren_Song_Fate/Artwork/Alien3DModel.png

He's very nice. I used to model some for mods (Mount and Blade), but none of the mods went very far, and I mostly did scenery/items. :F I'll see if I can find some stuff again...

What program do you use?

Huh..I've never done something like this, but he looks pretty cool. One thing I found amusing was the fact that you gave him a butt xD Sorry, couldn't help but notice that in the last picture.

Oh, cool! Sure, I'd love to see some of yours.

We're using 3D Studio Max 9. I wasn't sure if anyone here was familiar with it our not. I have version 10 at home though. (Our school is behind! XD)

I'm going to be venturing in to 3D very soon. Looks like a lot of fun I want Maya but B has some thing else for me to try out. Will let you know when I get round to it.

Your alien is VERY cool. I laughed at his butt hehe sorry. Good luck animating him. I look forward to it. I would recommend smoothing the face out but the hands and feet are amazing! <3

Hey, that's really good! You should take a career in 3D!

Jk, jk!

But, yeah, it is pretty good. I don't know if I'd have the patient to try 3D. Ol' fashioned paper and pencil is the style for me.

XD LOL Reffy! Yeah, his butt makes me laugh too lol. Oh, I totally forgot to say, but he's a low-poly model, meaning I had to make him as simplistic as possible, as we had a polygon limit for that class that we couldn't exceed. I had to make things a lot less detailed than they probably could have been, such as adding more vertices around his head to make it a bit smoother. So, that's probably why it looks more lumpy. His hands and feet had to be the most detailed.

Ha-ha Sunni! Thanks. Yeah, it's really frustrating working in 3D -- I think. Stick with paper and pencil.

No matter how much I hate poly limits, they're necessary. :F Perhaps make us a high-res version, 'cause you love us?

Unfortunately, all of my work has gone poof. Probably in a computer clean out, and I can't be bothered to search the Internet for all those threads... I downloaded the program I used, though, and will see what I can do for you guys.

Yeah, poly limits do suck, I agree, but it is true that it's needed, unfortunately, especially if you want to put your character in game. I might try and make a more high-polyed version if I ever get the time, but I doubt it. I seriously hate working in 3D lol.

Aw, sorry to hear you lost your work from your computer, Stion. That really sucks. Oooh, but yeah, it'd be great to see what you can whip up now that you downloaded your program again. ^^

I tried some 3D modeling at one point, though I didn't get very far with it. I tried 3DSM and Maya (though I won't get into the details of how I got those programs...) and to put it bluntly, I felt like a preschool kid trying to wrap his head around Quantum Mechanics. Every time I tried to make a simple change, five other things ended up getting mutilated, and then I couldn't figure out how to fix any of it. I wish I could say that I'll stick with P&P art, but I can't draw a straight line with a ruler, so yeah... XD

The alien looks pretty cool and seems well done for what it is. By that I mean that I find the concept of an alien with so many human traits a rather conceited portrayal that's been propagated by Hollywood to the point where it's the most frequent depiction and nearly a global standard, but again... the artwork itself is quite good, and the amount of time and patience required to create 3D models is deserving of some respect.

Hey! Butts are required for the sitting thing, you know...

And who's to say the alien is anthropomorphized? After all, he's an alien and, in this world, maybe... just maybe... we're patterned after THEM...?

I love your work Fate - I think he's just wonderful, and you know I'm following your Void project with much interest anyway. hehe I am utterly and completely incapable of providing any input on the quality of 3D work, because I don't have the vaguest clue of how to do a single thing in one of those programs. (I seem to recall a conversation, you thought it was kinda funny I only just recently learned there was such a thing as a computer drawing notepad? ).

But to me at least, he looks clean and well detailed, even with the polygon limits. His face - even if you had to use less detail than you would have liked - is still quite distinctive form the "traditional" alien pattern. Even his feet and hands look graceful, not clunky and or awkward in the least. *big thumbs up*

Fate Foretold wrote:Aw, sorry to hear you lost your work from your computer, Stion. That really sucks. Oooh, but yeah, it'd be great to see what you can whip up now that you downloaded your program again. ^^

It's been sooo long... I can't make a decent trebuchet (A catapult, for those who aren't siege-engine-inclined) anymore. xD I'll keep messing around, see if I can get my groove back.

EDIT: Trebuchet.

Not my best work, and no good for animation. :F But... still.

For some reason, FOG likes to not tell me when there are new posts, so I apologize for not replying sooner!

Weiss --
Lol! Trust me - I know how you feel. Any decent 3D program is complicated and ridiculously hard to try and learn yourself. I've nearing graduation already, and I still feel like there are a million more things for me to learn about just 3DS Max alone.

Thanks for the compliment and the thoughts. I actually do believe in alien greys, and it is my belief that we are the ones that look like them...but I won't get into that here. xD


Igraine --
Lol that is a good observation!

Aw, you're so sweet. It's nice of you to to have kept up-to-date on my comic project too! Hehehe! It's okay. We love you anyway!


Stion --
Oh, awesome!! You did make a trebuchet! That's so cool. That's really awesome too that it's so low poly!





UPDATE:
Well, I have an updated version of my 3D alien for you guys. All I changed about him (well, besides repairing a tiny hole that was in the back of his head lol) was that I gave him a texture and I also added in some lighting. A fellow student (who is, by far, the best 3D modeler I've ever seen) gave me the advice to make cold and warm lights - complimentary colors.

Great job, Fate!
I don't know if that means much, since I don't do any 3D, but still... looks awesome!

Lol I still appreciate it. ^^ Thanks, Kalon!

Way cool Lil' Alien Dude just keeps getting better and better.

Aw, thanks, Reffy!

I took a few more renders of my alien with a couple objects I also modeled. They're just simple things, some of them humorous. I even modeled a coffee cup, since I thought it'd be funny to see an alien needing to drink coffee in the morning, but I couldn't get his fingers to wrap around the cup well enough to look realistic, so I don't have that one available.


This is Void with his signature marbles that he usually carries on him. With his telekinesis, he levitates them and uses them for various purposes (most of which I haven't even thought up yet lol), but these seemingly harmless marbles can be shot like bullets, if he needs to.


Here's Void with his briefcase. This would be at a point in time when he was working in Dulce's underground military base, working with Pandora (the first successful alien/human hybrid).


Lastly, here he is with a flash gun/ARMORLUX (it's official name) as it is described in this interview.