Phil Pendlebury - Modelling WIPs

Hey there,

Ok ive been busy modelling a numer of different sections.
Gonna be quite a load of images here, but i will email you .objs for a closer looksy.

Starting off in XSI and building my base topology from there. Here are a selection of images consisting of the pilots helmet, the vehicles canopy section, its main body and legs and the base topology of the pilot herself.


Helmet:
First thing i modelled, will need to go back and edit to match style of other elements, maybe make it less generic and more organic and fit closer to the contours of a human head.





Vehicle Wing/canopy/back:



I want to work on how the wings sit underneath the upper armour







Below is a Zbrush test displacement.. trying to judge how im going to detail. Its difficult to judge how much detailling i will go into without actually doing it. It is fast and easy in zbrush, and my artist brain tends to want to use it exlusivly for modelling..but i must not.





Im going to use this test as reference to further model the canopy section in XSI

a number of questions regarding Zbrush:


- at what point do i create my UV's. Im told its best to create my own uv's rather then use Zbrush for texturing, would you agree with this?

- In the industry, how much is a program like Zbrush used? As you advised in a previous post, i should wait until the very last moment to use it, and use it for Surface detailling rather then changing topology. As a modeller applying for modelling job roles are skills in using zbrush looked down on or do they benefit?

The main body section: especially at the front where the rider/pilot will be placed is unfinished as i couldnt work out how it would be shaped to accomodate a human, so i felt i had to go ahead and design the proportions of the pilot herself.










The pilot: As she is within the ship itself, she will be naked or have some sort of membrane/leafy/root like material over her.. i thought it would be best to model her as a reference model and then i can pose her and reuse the model again for different poses.












Ok, thats all for now :)

Im now finishing off the pilot and posing her in position to fit within the vehicle. In turn i can then remodel the vehicle body so they fit nice and snug.

Modelling the pilot i realised that alot of work can be done very low poly. So i will now go back and tidy/tweak and add the details in XSI.


Any opinions welcome from the modelling geeks!
Cheers!

Phil.