Aera Species Sketches

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DarkVixen
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Aera Species Sketches

Post by DarkVixen »

Here are some sketches of Aera and Aera body parts, please let me know what you think and how well you feel they fit into their intended look, I based their look on http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/wiki/Species:Aera

I also labelled "equivalents" for human anatomy.
aera_head_20esy_male.jpg
Hi Res https://www.dropbox.com/s/cqqjrv9k0tmrx ... y_male.jpg
aera_body_12esy_female_southern_subtundra.jpg
Hi Res https://www.dropbox.com/s/i8w7qn2ekuy4t ... tundra.jpg
aera_body_profile_male_adult.jpg
Hi Res https://www.dropbox.com/s/smcldohk7nof9 ... _adult.jpg
aera_hand_adult_front_right.jpg
HI Res https://www.dropbox.com/s/wnr4ujavsb4dc ... _right.jpg
area_forefoot_right.jpg
Hi Res https://www.dropbox.com/s/rwe6wudmxb9hw ... _right.jpg
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DarkVixen
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Re: Aera Species Sketches

Post by DarkVixen »

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ezee
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Re: Aera Species Sketches

Post by ezee »

woaw !

good job , you have exploited very well the details , and the inverted eyes positions
seem more acceptable to me now.

I like also the poses you made .
One thing i REALLY want to see in pose , is how they fit in the cockpit of their vessels .
That point is very important for the game , 'cos now they are only like primitive lizards .

The Aera , when they will be entirely defined graphically ( with their environment ), could exist in an animation stage. ( in their ships , base etc ... )


You are a 3d artist also , will you try to port them 3D ?
I use blender , and i know how to animate vertex and bones .
So if you look for some partner , think about me .

GOOD JOB !
:wink:

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DarkVixen
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Re: Aera Species Sketches

Post by DarkVixen »

Thanks, I will try to get Blender installed and possibly make some 3d models.

I have not used Blender in quite some time and I had left 3d for a few years to pursue other forms of art, but hopefully I can get back into that. I remember years ago the time sitting at the computer doing 3d models was just driving me crazy and I had to get out of the tech world for a while. :)

Oh and yeah, I probably need to sketch up a cockpit with an Aera pilot at the controls next.

I'm also thinking of taking on the Rlaan species, they need to be more visualized too since they are an important faction in the game.
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Re: Aera Species Sketches

Post by ezee »

I'm also thinking of taking on the Rlaan species, they need to be more visualized too since they are an important faction in the game.
It's a good idea .
I have blender installed , i can try to make a 3d model from your recent sketches .
yeah i will try that today .

Please , do the cockpit , that is very interesting .
I like animation and cinematics , we could try to make an introduction video to vegastrike
with that strange races .

Your sketches could be reused as textures in the page of a book inside of the cinematic .
Like the booklet of a space explorer , something like that .

Ok , i go try the first tests .
I will send you the .blends of course .
Nice day to you !
:wink:

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 if (!track.HasWeapons())
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                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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ezee
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Re: Aera Species Sketches

Post by ezee »

This is my first attempt .
Fingers are longer than in the sketch but i like it .
Please comment dear artist !
:wink:

Image

I will post new pictures from different point of view .
I suggest you to give me an idea of the textures you want for the skin .
Or make one that i could use .

Image

Image

with texture

Image

toon shader

Image

better texture wrapping :
Image

one pose with armature :
Image

One stick for that pose :
Image

test with render cycles
Image
Image
emergency light
Image
ok , enough for testing purpose , i will try the head now .
Last edited by ezee on Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:24 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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 if (!track.HasWeapons())
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                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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jackS
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Re: Aera Species Sketches

Post by jackS »

so, to comment briefly , the eyes are still on a different part of the head than I was hoping to express
( see 2.c in my comment http://forums.vega-strike.org/viewtopic ... ead#unread -- eyes not on either jaw)
The intention was to have them closer to where you've labeled the voice box being, and the vocal "rumblers" to be in the area where you've labeled "tympanum" and the tympanum to be where you've labeled vocal fibers.

Image

Since my verbal clarity seems to have failed me, I've taken the liberty of inflicting my subpar GIMP use upon you all (I apologize in advance)
Reading over my old text for the wiki, it seems one of the key pieces of confusion was that I never mentioned the plunging lip line at the rear of the Aeran mouth that I'd always intended, which made the location of the eyes easily mistaken for being on the lower portion of the jaw, rather than merely having a center point below the peak of the upper jaw line.

FWIW - there are actually a few quite good 2-D profile sketches of Rlaan about, and at least one done in sufficient perspective to properly interpret the 2-d profile sketches (which only show 2 of the 4 sets of limbs in order to be able to see what would otherwise be obscured.)
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Re: Aera Species Sketches

Post by ezee »

Hi boss !
:lol:

Nice to have you in this party .
Since my verbal clarity seems to have failed me
yeah now i remember that you said that the head was inverted ...
So i will wait for the new sketches before doing the head ...
And start to play with the body ( but animate a quadruped won't be easy :mrgreen: )

The previous pictures were quick modeling , it is possible to add a lot of details and better weight paintings .
( i used the auto weight for speed test )

I am open to your observations/suggestions .
The actual .blend is attached below ( blender 2.67b )
feel free to modify , use etc ...
:wink:
Ooops , the upload din't worked .
dropbox : https://www.dropbox.com/s/6ker56r8e9wpycp/area2.blend

WIP :
Image

Code: Select all

 if (!track.HasWeapons())
            {
                // So what are you going to threaten me with? Exhaustion gas?
                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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Re: Aera Species Sketches

Post by loki1950 »

Nice first draft ezee :D as you mentioned the tricky thing will be the rigging/weighting but having a finished model will be very useful to have but will need Ogre3D support to be used in-game but till then it can be used in externally rendered cut scenes.

Enjoy the Choice :)
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DarkVixen
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Re: Aera Species Sketches

Post by DarkVixen »

Ah ok, let me redo the Aera head sketch to where the sensors should be.

The texture for the skin should be something close to a birch tree, right? grey/white cloudy with darker grey striations? Please don't use the sketch for texture, it'll look bad. I am still trying to get Blender re-installed, our two post comps are a Mac and a Ubuntu Linux, I'm installing Blender on the Linux.

The hand 3D model seems to be a bit slender for the fingers, it should be a bit "fatter", as at least that is what I envisioned it. The hand is rather similar for all ages of Aera and sexes. They are a bit slender for the newborn.
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Re: Aera Species Sketches

Post by ezee »

Thank you Loki !
:wink:

Yeah , i have choosen to take a little distance with the hands , just to show you that possibility .
But it's perhaps too much humanoid like this .
You should be able to sculpt the mesh , i have level 2 of subsurface but it is not applied !
So you have the low poly to play with .

The weight is not hand made , i make the choice to simply use the automatic weighting for blender .
The artist is then free to paint the volumes ...

I will try to make it myself , stick to ypur vision .
Now i go to the rear members with your detailed sketch .
cool .
:D

edit : I forgot to say that the texture/picture are packed in the .blend
Just unpack and you have your sketch loaded in the ortho view .

WIP :
Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Code: Select all

 if (!track.HasWeapons())
            {
                // So what are you going to threaten me with? Exhaustion gas?
                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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Re: Aera Species Sketches

Post by ezee »

Hello , i have a new " hand " model design :
_ better nails
_ Fingers more like the artist's draw
EDIT : Oops , i just realized you indicated 8 cm for the little finger ...
' will fix that too .

wip :
Image
Image
Image
Armature and deform
Image
little finger is now ... little :lol:
Image
anim test :
<------rest
Image
<------pose
Image

test with the body :
Image
Image
pub !
Image

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 if (!track.HasWeapons())
            {
                // So what are you going to threaten me with? Exhaustion gas?
                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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DarkVixen
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Re: Aera Species Sketches

Post by DarkVixen »

Good, the hands look better. :)

Just a note, I'm not 100% sure on how the nails/claws should look (since they were not mention on the VsWiki).

So leave them generic for now.

Also, Aera finger lengths vary, just like human fingers, everyone has different sized hands and fingers, so keep that in mind.

The mid and hind legs also hinge similar to Earth felines, note the placement of the patella is very similar to felines. The knees can often hyper-extend 5-15 degrees as well.

Edit: New Aera head sketch. Let me know if the placement of everything looks better.
aera_head_adult_male2.jpg
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Re: Aera Species Sketches

Post by jackS »

Great job!

Ultimately, feel free to take some ownership of the visual aesthetic (you're active, I'm... having underattended office hours this semester?) so please, please take anything I say as advice rather than a demand.

My comments -
I'd envisioned the eyes themselves a little larger and the turret area slightly convex rather than concave, with the skull in general extending a little further to each side than it appears to do here (the latter in order to provide sufficient allowances for the pocket where the rear hinge of the jawbone moves to have substance to the side of it on the head -- doing some sketches where the upper jaw is in the open position will probably help to figure out what the relevant implications are) When going to 3D, be sure to examine whether you have the eyes in the sockets so deeply that they can't look up, or the turrets so extended that they've moved from chameleon-style eyes to shrimp style eyes, as both have some implications (in the latter case, acceleration-flimsyness) Similarly, top down pictures can help show (intended/actual) sight lines, blockages, and the size of the stereoscopic region.

It might be nice to show/design some of the skin folds/sags around the rear of the top bony jaw plate where it moves relative to the fixed portions of the head.

I envisioned more protruding lip around the breathing cleft (visual indications of the capacity to close said cleft by tensing/relaxing lips?)

I tended to mentally picture the rumblers wandering somewhere closer to "second chin"/wattle territory, but they're fine where/as they are :)

Cross-thread answering a bit from the 3D thread this spawned:

I believe it's stated somewhere that the eyes are milky-green? This can be changed if it gives you a better color palette.
Remembering that it's a bit dim where the Aera developed, but the Aera are still visual creatures, the maximum pupil size is probably fairly large.

Personally, I'd avoid over-weaponizing the tail too much, or otherwise making it too big a feature. It's there for balance. If you're looking for inspiration for pre-technological Aeran tooth-and-claw level engagements, my internal model was usually something along the lines of "semi-arboreal, pack-hunting jungle ferrets" (if that makes any sense to you).

For the cockpits -- great seeing that, by the way -- also recall that the level of fine motor control goes front limb digits >> hind limb digits > mid limb digits

For body articulation, (I wish I could remember where the relevant posts were) I believe there's a discussion somewhere about Aerans not being mono-vertebrates (4 primary vertebral structures with interleaved floating ribs in a bilaterally symmetric configuration and interesting hip-joint connections). If no one can find it, then, it may well vanish, as no one will probably really notice either way.
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