Stylized Cat Warrior

[Efrye]

Why do I always find out about these contests so late? I guess a week should be enough to get it done though, so off I go!

User Level: Intermediate (...I guess)
Applications of Choice:
- Maya for modeling, rigging, animation, shading, rendering
- Mudbox and Photoshop for texture painting

In contrast to most of the other entries I've seen so far, I want to go into a more simple and stylized direction. I probably can't really compete with the realistic high-poly sculpts of other participants this way, but I think this contest could do with a little cute and silly.
I'll also try to stay around 15000 tris to keep the character game engine compatible



Quick summary of the background story:
This cat belongs to a tribe of warriors inhabiting the forest in the valley of a large mountain range. For generations, in order to protect their lives and homes they would have to fend off dragons descending from these very mountains each year during the winter solstice. All of that had changed two years ago, when a strange visitor offered them to take care of all their troubles. Since then, the dragons stopped coming and the once mighty cat tribe became dull and lazy.

Only one of them, the father of our hero, tried to maintain the fighting spirit of his kindred. But he soon disappeared without a trace, leaving behind nothing but his trusty spear. With this weapon strapped to his back (since he cannot hold it with his tiny paws), the son set out to find his father and investigate what had truly become of their scaly rivals...

[timeRemapper]

Awesome concept! I admire your drive and the ability needed to work to completion in such a short time-frame! Great idea about making your model game-friendly. You must be involved in game dev.

[feebled]

I hope you're ready to pull some all nighters This concept looks like a ton of fun to do. I look forward to seeing your progress shots!

[Efrye]

Thanks for the encouragement!
It's definitely gonna be a close call, but hey, regardless of whether or not I can finish it, at least I'll be productive for once!

Great idea about making your model game-friendly. You must be involved in game dev.

Not involved in a game dev, but I have had a concept for a game stuck in my head for years now. It's a tad too ambitious for a one man project, but maybe if I go at it little by little, I'll be able to make a first episode one day. (As unlikely as it is...)

Anyway, I started off with a complete body mesh, since I might do variations of those cat thingies later on.
I'm not entirely sure yet how to make the fur while still preserving the stylized look and low poly resolution. I'll probably just use planes with transparency maps here and there - I'll see when I get to the texturing. But before that: detailing and adding the outfit.

[feebled]

hehe nice! Great start! and I know what you mean about the animation, haha.

[rebazcg]

Looks great . Looking forward to receiving the final image.

[Efrye]

Thanks again. ^^

Added some definition and started with the head armor. The feet still look a bit weird - I'll try to have it fixed by the next update.

[Efrye]

The cat is naked no longer and his spear is beginning to take shape. Now if only I could find a way to attach it to his back in a somewhat convincing manner...

[feebled]

Yes! Looking great so far! Really like how this is coming out.

How is he going to hold that spear with his baby paws though D:

[Efrye]

How is he going to hold that spear with his baby paws though D:

In story terms: Not at all (for now), since the secret art of holding things has not yet been passed down to him!
In technical terms: I'll probably make the whole paw more flexible by starting the finger bones in the middle of the palm. That should be good enough to make it look like he's able to grip something.

As for today's update: The mesh is almost done; I'm just missing the fluffy parts here and there. The UVs are about done as well, but I'll probably start rigging first and keep the texturing for last.

[gg_022]

You work really fast! Great looking model. Love the baby cat paws

[Efrye]

Thank you ~
I don't think I really work all that fast though, I just have a lot of time on my hands at the moment. The great pleasure of being unemployed after finishing university...

Anyway, I didn't quite meet my goal of completing the rig today. I really wish I was better at rigging - I'm still having a hard time whenever I can't do everything by the book. Finding a decent setup for his feet took me ages for example, and the tail will probably pose some problems as well. That being said, I think I already learned a lot from just following Delano's rigging tutorials. So keep 'em coming DT, they're great!

Finally, although not too exciting, here's todays status report:


(I'm kinda scared of doing the wrist controls next. I don't think I've done a single rig without running into trouble with them...)

[DjVoyager]

This is friendly reminder to inform you there are 5 days left til the deadline. If you haven't already, please start moving into the lighting and rendering phase of your project. Be sure to post your final render in the Final Submissions forum to qualify for judging. PM me if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you.

[Efrye]

I finally finished rigging!
I knew weighting wouldn't be fun, but oh boy, was that an ordeal...



The pose in the picture is just for fun by the way - I'm planning to go with something different for the final submission. It's questionable whether I'll have the time to create a background though, so the result is probably going to end up a little dull.