Modeling A Robot Game Character With Blender
- Block Out
We gotta start somewhere. This stage is merely generating the basic shapes from which our robot will be forged.- Getting Started with Image Planes-6 min
- Blocking Out Panels-10 min
- Blocking Out the Leg-12 min
- Block Out Continued (Timelapse)-6 min
- Block Out Finished-13 min
- Sculpting I
I always try to get into sculpt mode as fast as possible with characters. At this stage we begin shaping rudimentary forms.
- Sculpting the Thigh Guard-9 min
- Sculpting Knee & Shin Panels (Timelapse)-4 min
- Sculpting the Leg-21 min
- Sculpting the Foot (Timelapse)-9 min
- Sculpting the Arm (Timelapse)-10 min
- Sculpting the Torso-20 min
- Sculpting the Abdomen-20 min
- Sculpting the Head & Hands (Timelapse)-13 min
- Sculpting II
Further refinement of sculpted forms. The goal here is to sharpen edges and smooth surfaces to the point that they appear "hard-surfaced".
- Refining Proportions-5 min
- Refining the Thigh Guard-12 min
- Refining the Torso-19 min
- Refining the Abdomen-5 min
- Refining the Front Pelvis Panel (Timelapse)-7 min
- Refining the Arm (Timelapse)-22 min
- Retopology I
Since digital clay is never going to appear perfectly hard-surface with a machined quality, this stage converts the sculpture to a subdivision-smoothable polygon model to achieve true hard-surface quality for our robot.
- Retopologizing the Thigh Guard-21 min
- Retopologizing the Forearm I-17 min
- Retopologizing the Forearm II (Timelapse)-9 min
- Retopologizing the Torso (Timelapse)-15 min
- Boolean-based Kit Bashing
Till this point, fine details have been ignored in favor of smooth, sharp-edged major shapes. For this stage, we'll use those major shapes as our canvas to add fine details like bolts, construction lines, and other robot-y details. We'll also use this stage to fill in any model gaps that have proven easier/more efficient to model with traditional polygon tools rather than sculpting + retopology.
- Kit-bashing Overview-12 min
- Bool Tool and the Thigh Guard-11 min
- Finish Detailing the Thigh Guard-21 min
- Detailing the Abdomen-15 min
- Kit-bashing Compilation (Timelapse)-9 min
- Retopology II
Another retopology. But this time it's the low resolution version that will be used in-game. This stage will leave us with 2 versions of our character: 1) A high-resolution version and a 2) low-resolution version.
- Game-res Character Model Overview-5 min
- Game-res Thigh Guard I-9 min
- Game-res Thigh Guard II-8 min
- Combining Objects with Retopology-4 min
- Detail Simplification-3 min
- Tapering Shapes, Tapering Edges-3 min
- Trick Silhouettes-2 min
- Icospheres and the Power of Normal Maps-4 min
- Game-res Conclusion-1 min