Advice on stylized modelling / texturing

[Lukesmith123]

Hi,

I'm working on an interior bedroom scene and trying to create a stylized, cartoony feel to the scene but I'm having some difficulty.

Can anybody give me some pointers / advice?

The sofa and mattress have a little baked ambient occlusion but not much shading on the rest as it will be lightmapped/lighted in a game engine.

[gdebello]

Don't model straight lines. Get rid of the vertical lines on the couch. Give the lines a slight curve. The kids movie, Back at the Barnyard is a good example of stylized. They tried to not have any straight edges throughout the models.

Alessandro Baldasseroni has some good stuff to study. He has a DVD at http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/ ... nK5xvmshk4 or check out his personal site http://www.eklettica.com/. You have to search the site for the stylized artwork, it is mixed in with the realistic work.

I hope this helps.

Glen

[Lukesmith123]

That was great advice thanks.

I got rid of some of the straight lines like you said and threw some curves in there and its really brought some character to the scene:



Still needs some work, and some more props etc but I think its coming along well and given me a good direction to move towards.
(Still need to break the straight lines in the door too)

Id appreciate any further advice you guys have on the stylized modeling / texturing.

Thanks.

[gdebello]

Doors are a funny thing in a stylized universe. A door that is too rounded looks like it belongs in the Dr Seuss universe. Sometimes just rounding the door frame around the outer corners gives it a softer stylized look. Good Luck!
Glen

[Lukesmith123]

Did you mean rounding off the top corners of the door? I tried that but I wasn't into it. I also realized that adding to much curve to the vertical lines of the door causes big when animating opening/closing so I'm not quite sure what to do with it.

Have added some more props etc. Any thoughts?

[gdebello]

Looks good, maybe a lamp on the nightstand, maybe not. The scene looks good without it right now. Sometimes less is more for cartoon/stylized type scenes. I have a mock up of the door I was thinking about. The outside door frame corners have a slight bevel to it. You can raise the corner a bit to break up the straight lines if needed, but it's just an idea.
The scene is looking good! Keep it up!

Glen

[telepatam]

I really recommend checking out AndyH for cool examples of stylized 3d

http://cghub.com/images/view/152482/

and also this guy http://storm.cghub.com/images/

[gdebello]

I really recommend checking out AndyH for cool examples of stylized 3d

http://cghub.com/images/view/152482/

and also this guy http://storm.cghub.com/images/

I've been trying to remember that guy Andy H for a while. I love his stuff! Great stuff, thanks for sharing!

Glen

[myara]

I'd recommend to use 2D references too. Your renders make me remember something of day of the tentacle or sam & max, both old Lucas Arts' games, and the last one having a 3D version too from Telltale Games.

[Lukesmith123]

I see what you mean with the door, though I dont like smoothing the corners out at all, theres just something about the sharp angles that makes me feel good! I cant explain it. I tried adding a lamp to the table but your right it was a bit too much.

Heres an in-game screenshot showing the kind of angle the door will be seen from, I think it works OK from this angle. Also boosted the saturation (perhaps a little too much) which I think helps overall.



I love those artists you linked, though I find it hard to relate character work onto environment modelling.

@myara I love both those games. I haven't played the 3D Sam and Max version, I'll definitely check it out for some inspiration, thanks!

[gdebello]

I love where this image is going, good job so far. The modeling is good but the character is not too focused. The background sticks out more than the character. Not sure the plan on the color scheme but just noticing that.

I use http://colorschemedesigner.com/this at work to get me started on some color ideas and then adjust from there. Good luck. Looking forward to seeing more.

Glen

[Lukesmith123]

Thanks for your feedback I really appreciate it.

I'm still playing around with the lighting/shading. I see what you mean about the background sticking out more than the character. I want the scene saturated, but not particularly 'bright' or warm/happy. So this may help with that (see screenshot below).

I have to say I didn't really put much thought into colors, have you got any suggestions that might improve the scene?

[gdebello]

Hmm, what comes to mind is changing the outfit and hair color. Play around with the hair a bit. Make it a bit lighter, closer to a brownish-blonde. The shoes are very dark. Change the color of the shoes, pants and shirt a bit. Make two or three outfits and then have the characters stand next to each other in the scene and see which one looks best.
The skin tones are great, I really like those!
Glen

Edit* My office mate suggested to look at The Simpsons and see how their outfits compare with the background.

[Lukesmith123]

Ah I thought you meant about the background environment. I didn't make the characters but I'm pretty set on the color schemes for them, but Ill play around with them and see if I can make any improvements

Yeah I've been looking at various 2D sources, Simpsons is a good one for strong colors. I think they have the advantage of using thick outlines and no shading which helps.

I seem to remember reading something by Bill Tiller on the very subject of designing backgrounds so that characters stand out. I'll have to scour the internet for it.

[telepatam]

Looks much better now. The style reminds me of an adventure game called Ceville a bit.
The ambient occlusion looks very dark in the last pic maybe you could try making the effect a little less visible?