Hello everyone. This is my first WIP at BA, and I’m still fairly new to blender, but I’m getting more comfortable with it.
I found this beautiful character model sheet on deviant art a couple of days ago. The character’s name is LeoLani Feng Gryphos. Here is the model sheet I used for reference:
It was made by a really nice and talented artist named Liger Nekoka. I got permission to build Lani in Blender and…this is what I have so far:
I’m pleased with the geometry at this point. I’m doing some research to learn how to give this model the proper texturing it deserves, although, I’m not sure if I will need to seeing as I would like the final render to appear cel shaded.
All copyright goes to Liger Nekoka of course.
And here’s a link to Liger’s DA page and the original hi-res model sheet. (Note you have to click the download button on the left side for the highest resolution). She’s got some nice model sheets available, and apparently more to come. You should ask for permission of course before modeling them.
Oh, and I’m doing this in Blender 2.49 if anyone cares. Did I mention how much I love this character design or Blender for that matter? I am really enjoying this project so far and I hope you enjoy this WIP.
Very, very nice. Excellent idea. I bet Liger is pretty happy too. Thanks for sharing and being a good example of how to give credit where credit is due. I also agree with Blackcat, at least what it looks like with edges. Please keep posting.
looking good so far, you have a natural flair with modelling XD i wish i could make models this detailed yet retaining a low-res mesh.
my only quib with the model is the arms, if you follow up the arm in the clothing version, after you hit the cloth bulge, the natural line it falls back to is further in if you compare to below it. or is it actually just the sleeves bulging around the top of the arm bracers? my bad if it is.
i dont think the model needs much textures if you are going for the anime look. it would be good for details tho (like the fabric crossing on the hair tie on the back, or the yellow bandage around her midriff).
i cant wait to see this model with the shaders and lines working XD i recommend freestyle for the lines (lol, i know i know, im like recommending freestyle everywhere i go, but its brill for toon/anime lines) and i can offer a few suggestions for the toon settings if you’d like.
really tho, my mouth dropped when i seen the model and my jeolousy kicked in ^.^;; brill work undur!(thread subscripts) i bet liger is really happy!
@ Blackcat : Thanks for the input and your help including screen captures. Toon renders are on the way. I’m studying Johnathan Williamson’s cel shading tutorial at cgtuts, and I want to check out Holly and T.K.’s input as well.
@ Gally : Thanks for the welcome to the community! I checked out some o f your threads. I like your artistic skills.
@ Holly : Great minds think alike because I agreed about the arms. I’m making many small edits to Lani’s proportions and topology. As you suggested I wanted to texture the hair, waist and arm ties, but I’m seriously considering modeling them and using next gen techniques to generate the textures. I’d love if you would recommend some settings for the freestyle renderer, but first, can you tell me where to get it, and how to install it? LOL. Just kidding, I’ll find out how to install it, I’ve just never installed a renderer before. Also, as you already know, I’m a fan of your work as well, so naturally I appreciate your input.
Small update…I’m using more concept images of Lani from Liger’s gallery to work on Lani’s proportions and likeness. I’ll be back soon with a decent update. Here is what I have for now
I noticed your geometry has some faces that have more than four sides (more than 7!). Two on the face, and one big one on the top of each arm. I could never get Blender to create faces like that. How do you do it?
@ Yodaman921: Heya bud! Nice to see you’re here at BA too! Thanks for the kind words! I haven’t forgotten about your pokemon project. It’s looking awesome so far! I’m gonna check out your other project(s) at BN soon. As you can see, I’ve been keeping busy.
@ Ahuri: Thx!
@ Joleo: Blackcat is correct. I’m doing my best to keep a clean mesh. As a result this model of Lani contains all 4 sided faces. It’s just a quirk with the way Blender displaces wireframes that makes it seem as if there is N-gons present. This model of Lani was made entirely in Blender 2.49b, which doesn’t support n-gons, so I assure you there aren’t any faces with more than 4 sides.
@ Blackcat: Thanks again for the kind words!
Lani’s back!
I made a lot of changes. When I first modeled them from the sheet, I didn’t realize there were more images of her in Liger Nekoka’s gallery. Some changes include:
Lighting
Proportions
Color
Added undergarments
Added toes
Added definition to the hair and hair tufts
Modeled bandages for waist, arms, and ponytail
Modeling is pretty much done, but it could stand to be tweaked more. I’ll get some input from the artist make changes and move on. Soon I can concentrate on lighting shading and maybe texturing. More to come soon. Stay tuned.
Here’s a montage of images of Lani:
Early Stages:
…adding hair
…adding clothes:
…color
Some Renders:
Heh, I just noticed I spelled her name wrong in the stamp, lol.
I don’t like Blender’s default edge renderer. I’m trying to learn to use Freestyle for the ink, and Blender’s shaders and material nodes for the paint. I’m studying T.K.'s posts and looking for information that will help. So far, from T.K.'s posts on vimeo, I learned that you can get flat colors for the paint aspect in cel shaded renders by enabling shadeless on Blender’s materials panel.Now I need to learn how to add tonal values like the ones seen in these bubbles:http://www.vimeo.com/7825918
Hey Unhurdof, I’ve been working on ‘cel shading’ and I got an effect that might work, you need to add a color ramp and have the different levels of color. Then just add the toon edge to it. So that’s something you might just want to look into.
Very nice model and renders, Unhurdof! As Yodaman921 pointed out, you may want to look into color ramp to achieve cel shading. The movie clip of bubbles has also used color ramps to get the red and blue tones in 3 colors each. Some other parameters I used are: Input = Result, Method (Blend) = Mix, Factor = 1.0. If you use the shadeless option, all you get is a flat fill in a single (diffuse) color – no shade and no shadow of other objects. I hope this helps.
@ Yodaman921: Thanks for the tips, and thanks for the demo file you pasted at Blendernewbies for me!I’m having a look at using nodes now. I’m still so new to blender, this is an area I haven’t explored much. As a test, I just made the simplest node setup in the world! I mixed a red and a blue material to make a purple one and render it. I’m so proud of myself! haha.
I’m going to explore both the file and the freestyle pynode you sent me. Thanks again!
@ averil:Thanks for the kind words, and thanks for your interest!
@ T.K. : Thanks for the kind words and the tips! I was wondering how you could achieve tonal values on a shadeless object, lol. I thought Blender had a special trick or advantage that I was unaware of. Thank you for clearing that up for me. I will be posting the results of your tips and Yodaman921’s tips soon. I’m still just so new to nodes, that I need to learn more about the basics first.
I made final modeling edits to Lani’s mesh. I achieved a likeness that I am satisfied with, is true to the model sheet, and the artist’s general style. I’ve also prepared Lani for rigging. Now that I have some reference to learn from for freestyle and blender, a ‘real’ cel shade render should follow shortly. Please stay tuned. There’s more to come soon.
are you going to animate it??? :eyebrowlift:
why? i dunno…
I’m trying to learn to use Freestyle for the ink, and Blender’s shaders and material nodes for the paint. I’m studying T.K.'s posts and looking for information that will help. So far, from T.K.'s posts on vimeo, I learned that you can get flat colors for the paint aspect in cel shaded renders by enabling shadeless on Blender’s materials panel.Now I need to learn how to add tonal values like the ones seen in these bubbles:
![http://blenderartists.org/forum/%3Ca%20href=http://img195.imageshack.us/i/orangepainting1.jpg/%20target=_blank%3E[IMG]http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/9488/orangepainting1.th.jpg](http://blenderartists.org/forum/%3Ca%20href=http://img195.imageshack.us/i/orangepainting1.jpg/%20target=_blank%3E%5BIMG%5Dhttp://img195.imageshack.us/img195/9488/orangepainting1.th.jpg)
