Bartek Gawel's TW2 Concepts

[dragoonlordz]

How this technic / tool / program is applied to the Witcher characters? I mean what are the next steps / phases in the evolution of theses models in regard of skin, facial expression, clothes, colors, etc. Can this be done with ZBrush as well?

ZBrush do a 45 free trial no features are locked for that period so you could try it, I personally don't have enough free time right now due to my own job to find out myself though.

 

[Dona.794]

How this technic / tool / program is applied to the Witcher characters? I mean what are the next steps / phases in the evolution of theses models in regard of skin, facial expression, clothes, colors, etc. Can this be done with ZBrush as well?

Quoting Bartek from zBrush forum:

I can't give you an answer about how many polygons and subtools were used for each character because I'm not a regular character artist and I don't remember. On this project, I was working as a lead concept artist and these sculptures were treated rather as concepts. When I've finished the head, guys from the character team did the magic tricks and threw it into the game. So my knowledge about the technician part is very basic. I ask Pawel Mielniczuk - lead of the character team and I will give you an answer about the polygonsand yes, those super detailed stitches were made as separate subtools.

And I guess he never got to talk to Pawel

Now, I am not super knowledgeable about 3D - if anyone else here is, please correct me and add more info :> AFAIK polygon count is extremely important when making games because video cards have limited memory and can display only a certain number at the same time (this is why having more characters/objects on screen can slow a game down, and then you have to think about other things like textures and alpha maps that also take up video memory). So the character team had to modify them, add bodies (assuming someone else did the bodies), textures, animations and so on, and probably not using zBrush. There was a picture somewhere of a guy who animates faces for CDPR... hold on, I have it, my apologies because I forgot his name and where it was posted:

Anyway, zBrush is awesome because it allows you to sculpt like you would with clay, giving you very smooth and nice results. It also allows you to display polygonal version and edit it. Programs like Maya and 3Ds Max don't work in this organic way, I think they are polygon-only. It's down to what program will work better when exporting models to your engine. Textures can be done with zBrush and people like that feature because it allows you to paint textures directly onto the model. The problem is texture map itself, if you've ever seen one you know everything needs to fit on a square of certain size (512x512, 1024x1024 and so on for higher res). I heard zBrush makes messy maps, so you have to re-arrange and re-map things yourself. I've never done this so I cannot tell you if it's true and how time-consuming it gets. There are several texturing techniques that can be done with different programs, it's down to what the person doing it is most comfortable with

 

[petra_silie]

You are not super knowledgeable about 3D? At least you know much more about it than me. You know an amazing lot about this subject. How does it come?

 

[Dona.794]

I haven't done it much myself, so I'm telling you what I read over the years, therefore some of the information may be false. Learned mostly by hanging around CG forums for a long time and watching videogame making ofs. I tried learning it a few times - 3Ds MAX and Maya felt so counter-intuitive with their polygon pushing and pulling. zBrush is wonderful, but it's something completely new and takes time to learn if you can't think in 3D like I can't. I sort of know how components work together to create a functional video game, but don't know enough to tell the process in greater detail.

 

[secondchildren]

Dona's right about the polygons. I used 3DS max years ago for small animations and it requires a huge memory (far beyond my pc could handle) so I most of the time used it to build 3d models only (not animated).

I'm not sure about it coz I don't know much about Zbrush (I've tried only bryce coz it's freeware) but afaik, you can put the texture on models with it. Animation can be done only with 3DS Max or Maya (or else). I think they use autocad to build maps and buildings. Never used autocad btw.
Building a good 3d model is the most difficult part. Animation is pretty straight once you have a good model.

I should give a try to Zbrush one day. Mehhh... too many things to do...

 

[Dona.794]

It's possible to add "bones" bith zBrush and pose your model, but I am not sure if you can animate with it :/

 

[petra_silie]

I haven't got any reply from Bartek yet. So you both are welcome to edit the general explanation about ZBrush in the Wiki article. At any rate it's better than mine.

 

[Dona.794]

Hey, look what I found. A process of making Geralt vs Assassin ad, with really nice creation steps. All people who worked on it are listed on top:

http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Witcher-2-Duel/468253

 

[petra_silie]

yes, I know

 

[Dona.794]

I'm a slowpoke

 

[siklara]

I'm a slowpoke

Nah, you're amazing, I had no idea you know so much about these softwares.

I didn't write it earlier, but thanks for this thread, the early scoia'tael concepts remind me of the pagans from Thief 3.

 

[Zi0.306]

Wow very nice models imo, what does CDPR use to create models for their games? (I'm a Maya user myself)
These models look very anatomically correct to me, also the level of detail on the faces is done very well.
I would like to see some ingame models in wireframe mode!!

 

[Dona.794]

Concepts for that badass intro [source]:

 

[Corylea.723]

Thank you so much for gathering all this information and posting it! Here, +1.

 

[not_slimgrin]

I think it's safe to say Bartek has some talent in doodling.

 

[Dona.794]

I think it's safe to say Bartek has some talent in doodling.

Yeah, he has some potential.

@Cory
:bows:

 

[soldiergeralt]

I think it's safe to say Bartek has some talent in doodling.

it took you this long to say this, and then downplay it to "doodling"?

the guy's one of the best artists in the industry.

 

[username_2093396]

These are amazing I especially love the Christmas card Thanks for finding this, Dona

 

[not_slimgrin]

it took you this long to say this, and then downplay it to "doodling"?

the guy's one of the best artists in the industry.

This was my not so subtle attempt at sarcastic understatement. Blasted internets...

Trust me, I think he's one of the best illustrators I've seen of late, not just in the video game industry.

 

[Germanicanus]

I wish he would release concepts of The Witcher 2 characters. The heads made in Zbrush were awesome but I would love to see whole bodies with clothes too!