Stone Troll

Hey Everybody!
Here is a project I am working on for BlenderGuru’s Character competition. Please give honest critiques!

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Update:

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New Update:

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Update: Please critique harshly!

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Render 11:

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Please Critique!
U12:

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Please critique harshly!

Hi! In my opinion this image doesn’t really match the theme. Andrew Price has written : “Create a character in Blender :slight_smile: It could be a human, an animal, a robot or even a car with a face. As long as it’s “alive””.
I think you should create the troll as a living character, the texture of the stone is not really good, it’s maybe because of the scale of the head (I would see this texture better for a really bigger stone).
But I like the overal mood of the scene and the decor!

Hey! Thanks for the feedback. I will try to make the remainder of the troll. I think I will keep the texture, but I do see what you mean :slight_smile:
I totally agree it’s not quite the theme. I started making this scene before I saw the competition so originally it was going to be just a statue, but I think I will adapt it to match the competition. I have never made a character before (Ever. xD) so this is really exciting. I’m not quite sure how to make the body or the legs…or the arms…or the feet…or the hands…xD but I’m sure I will figure something out.

It looks like you had an idea “a stone troll”, opened Blender and started modeling the head because characters usually have one, and then it needs a stone/rock material.

The competition is a bit out of character* because design is something else than what Blender is often used for. It can be used for that, but have to realize there is a difference between design and 3D modeling. Basically, design process helps producing ideas, usually starting from design parameters, the rest is pulled out of “nothing” (referencing the real world). The end result of that helps to choose and produce those ideas for whatever they’re used for. 3D modeling is a production stage which takes existing designs and turns them into usable 3D models. http://animator.am/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/IMG_88578561594429.jpeg

In a nutshell, if there is no design or you can’t see forms, you shouldn’t be modeling. 3D tools like sculpting and blocking can be used for design and/or for preparing for modeling, but there is a difference and each work stage has different goals.

The competition is about the design and the final product is a visual presentation of it, but doesn’t require a lot of work in production stage if you so choose

You don’t have to flesh out the entire character, head-to-toe either. You can choose to just do the head, and even leave it untextured if you want.

(although I bet it’s a big plus if you do, because everyone likes pretty pictures and even “meh” designs can be more successful if presented well)

I would suggest going back to the point before you opened Blender and first just use your imagination to come up with a backstory. It would work as a tool to pull ideas from and to bring everything together, be it a full scene or just a character design. Doesn’t have to be anything complicated, imagine yourself being that character and figure out who you are, what you’re like (personality, gender if any), what kind of world/environment you’re in, and the situation you want the character/moment captured.

For example, say you’re you, living in a city, you go for a walk. You step on a bottle on a street corner and fall on your bootius maximus. Someone sees that and takes a picture of you with their camera phone. If the photo is framed with even a bit of thought, whoever sees the picture is going to be able to tell a lot from it: it would show you with all your features, if it’s a day or night, the place (street corner), it shows your pose and if the bottle is in the frame the viewer could figure out you tripped on that, the pose and your expression would also show if you’re hurt, surprised, angry. They will form their own story just by looking at the image, and it will be a successful image.

All of that can contribute towards the final shot and/or the character design. If you were to work towards showing that exact story in your final piece, you would know to reference: yourself, the street corner, lighting conditions, materials, object placement, pose, expression, composition even before you even decide what graphics style you want.

If the character is showcased apart from its environment, it still could (should) belong one to be successful. If you picture yourself as a city boy living somewhere in a world at a time of year/day, have to think of hair style, clothes, items on you, your personality and how to relay that to a viewer. The situation you capture yourself can affect those decisions. Whatever those decisions are, they have a reason because you have a backstory, and they will fit unless you completely forget about the viewer.

It’s the same when you imagine a fairy living in some fantasy world, a soldier in todays world, or a stone troll living in a crystal forest. Even such short sentences probably give you some mental images of what you’re supposed to be seeing, and that’s just few words describing some general character without any details that would need to be worked out before jumping to modeling, materials, and other production stuff.

*pun intended

Thanks so much for the advice! I will try starting fresh with this one and maybe drawing some concepts.
Thanks so much again :slight_smile:

It took me a while to visually ‘read’ what was the nose, the mouth, the eye, the ear etc.

At the moment it looks more like a carved garden ornament than a character.

wow nice comment, do you model character or do animation??

Ethereal and lovely, right down my alley!

Thank you Fernhw!
Vince1845, I’m sorry, what do you mean?