modelling issues

[reaper]

ive noticed a response to one o my concepts and a few others where people have said that certain things would be too hard to model.

im not quite sure how skilled the model makers here are but it seems a bit restrictive when i see these comments, im just wondering if people can clarify what they mean by things being too difficult to model, it would just give me a little more structure as to whats expected when i create a concept.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Good point. It's mainly about what a modeller is prepared to take up as a task. Some ideas may require highly advanced modding skills and some ideas may not quite fit with the requirements of the mod at the time. I hate things going to waste so I'm eager to have everybody working in roughly the same direction. I know that when I've produced quest ideas for mods in the past that seemed irresistable to me, others haven't taken on the idea. It doesn't mean that the idea is crap, it's more to do with the appeal and convenience of the person doing the work at the other end. That's the problem with writing and concept art....there's a large gap between the idea and the execution.

Don't be discouraged though! I remember your last piece of work on the creature. It was a superb concept and I'd love to see it in-game. It just depends on who's available and capable to consider having a go at it.

[Razorwing]

An experienced modeller can make a chair in four or five hours, a house in two or three days, and so on. But assuming a modeller has the skills to even create an animated creature, which few modellers do (myself included), they're looking at spending many weeks and hundreds of hours creating it. One could say that the more time a modeller needs to spend on a model, the higher the bar needs to be for the concept art he might use. But when it comes to animated creatures I think any concept art can at best be fodder for his inspiration due to the many special restrictions an animated creature has to follow.

[nick_op]

If you're going to do concept art for a creature it needs to meet several criteria to be useful for modelling, in my opinion:

1. Clean lines, simple shading to suggest form and no colour.

2. Front and side views which are in proportion with each other. Back view is a possibility if there is detail on the back that would not be obvious otherwise. Only one side view is required unless there is detail on the other side that is different.

3. Artwork needs to have the creature in neutral, often unnatural pose (bind pose). This is to make it easy to rig the creature to a skeleton.

Also, a visual aid is not enough when it comes to animation - either the concept artist or the animator needs to come up with a detailed personality for the creature. This will help the animator really bring the creature to life.

Finally, there are things that, while not impossible, can make an animator's life hard - long flowing objects (e.g. tentacles) take a lot of time to set up a rig for, and can be tricky to animate convincingly.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Interesting! I know that I need to offer Koniption, for example, as much appropriate art/photographic material as I can in order to get the right results. She does a remarkable job but, from past experience, I can really appreciate how difficult it can be. Many of the things you guys do totally baffles me. :yes:

Concept art can be crucial and inspirational but it's not always practical. I like it best when it's either great to use in a book or when it's laid out as nick_op describes so that it's ability to be practically applied is really clear.