My first model.

After yeasr of wanting to learn 3d modeling, I just learned to use blender from some tutorials and am working on my first model on my own.

Its a creature that is a mix between a bulldog and a fish, so he can live underwater but can also come up on land.

finished the low poly version.

Now I am working on a high poly version to normal map with. This is what i have so far.

Just want to see what you guys think and if I’m headed in the right direction. Thanks for looking and commenting.

Wow, nice job for a FIRST model! =)

Sounds like your on the right track. UV mapping, Sculpt to Nor Map, etc. Looking forward to progress. Good job

Thanks guys.

little update, hit a small snag trying to get the model to half again and applying the mirror again so i didn’t have to sculpt both sides. Still working on the sculpting but here it is so far.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y158/MustangChris/creature_highres2.jpg

wow, that was your first model. Impressive! My first model was a red cube (i think :slight_smile: Great work.

If you want a critique, the back legs look a little skinny, but the front legs look great.

I would love critique, I appreciate the comment about the legs.

You are right, they do look a bit thin. Thanks!

If this is your first 3d model i cant wait to see you doing the texture, at this rate it should be mind-blowing. A great concept and a beautiful execution.

I don’t like the tail - well I don’t like any of it, but more in a hope-I-don’t-run-into-one sort of way!

Unfortunately googling ‘fish tail’ will probably get car accidents and hair styles.

I used to have this thing called a ‘book’ that would have been perfect - side views of hundreds of fish. But even some of the nastiest fish have pretty wimpy (but functional) tails - looks like you want the opposite.

Those bottom fangs look like an accident waiting to happen, though if they stuck out even farther they’d miss the lip.

Real rear dog legs bend the other way - the joint that looks like it should be the knee is actually the ankle and bends forward.

So basically I’m critiquing anatomy instead of art or concept - if I was playing a game I paid for and one of those jumped out of the water at me I would never guess it was someone’s first model!

Dave Heinemann, 4th year noob

First model yea right. I just have to laugh when I see these threads. I am sure you just downloaded blender and after opening it for the first time without any practice or ever doing one tutorial understand let alone know how to do normal mapping, sculpting etc. ROTFLMAO!!! great joke.

You should be a little more honest in your title.

I think he means his first professional model. He just accidentally named it that probably.

If the whole body is such low poly, is there any point in building the teeth as models?
I’d suggest using a really low poly meshes for the upper and lower teeth with a texture that has alpha transparency.

Besides that, I like the model.
Btw, you don’t have to use a mirror modifier when sculpting on a symetrical model. You can simply turn on “Symetrical sculpting”

Is this for a game?

I have always been a 2d guy so I am looking forward to making some nice textures. Thank you.

Hmm, you are right about the rear legs, well, even though i do have them bend in a more human way I am going to keep it.

The rear tail is very large kinda like balancing out his huge head visually.

I meant first model on my own.

I learned Blender from a 25 part tutorial on youtube. I just built the same man that he did as i followed along, so i guess in a way its not the first thing i have made. Its the second thing, but first one of my own.

His tutorial didn’t go into normal mapping, that one i learned from a website tutorial that explained it. And i still have to read it along while i do it as i don’t know that part outta my head yet.

I felt the low poly model was good enough detail for the character, and since it is so low there is definatly some room to add some extra to the teeth.

I thought about teeth like you are talking but i just felt like it would be fine with each tooth, i dunno.

Thanks I didn’t know about the symetrical sculpting thing. Thanks, that would have saved me some time but what can you do. lol

It is not for any game particularly, I just wanted to use methods that game makers use as I would like to work on real games in the future. Will i be able to get a job at a game company without a degree who knows, but i figured if i could start doing what they do to make a good portfolio then maybe they won’t care. atleast i can dream lol.

ok finished the rear legs and most of the body, now to do the back tail fin section… not really sure how to go about that but i’ll see what i can come up with.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y158/MustangChris/creature_highres3.jpg

Nice work. You might want to take a look at some photos of large predators for some help with the hind legs. To my eye, the calves are disproportionately large.

I’m imagining some kinda bone plating under the skin in his lower back legs. Sort of like protection of his hind legs to sea predators since they would be hanging out where fish usually wouldn’t have anything.

Where is this clay brush i see people talk about? I am using 2.49b is it in there?

I think it’s a new addition to blender 2.5. Sculpt tools in blender 2.5 are very nice, and imho worth the switch to 2.5, you could always download 1 of the latest builds from graphicall.org and try them yourself :slight_smile:

Your model looks good, wish my first models looked like that :stuck_out_tongue:

Thanks Month. I tried Blender 2.5 I found the clay tool in the sculpt section but i couldn’t get it to work right, it would go on some parts of the model but wouldn’t on others, not sure what i am doing wrong.

but anyway, I am about 95% done with this model now, still doing some touch up on the fin, but here is how it looks right now.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y158/MustangChris/creature_highres4.jpg

So i finished the high detail model and baked the normal map. I am getting browish sections that end up appearing clear on the model. Anyone know why?

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y158/MustangChris/normal_map.jpg

not sure how to fix in Blender but i was able to paint the normal map in photoshop and correct it. heres one section that i painted in.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y158/MustangChris/normal_map2.jpg