One of the great things about being involved in a project like Nectar is that I get to play with really cool programs such as Z Brush. I've never done any modeling before (not like this anyway) so there was a bit of a learning curve. I won't bother showing you some of my early attempts, but this image (left) is a good example of what one of these 3D models looks like at first.
You start out with a sphere that you can pull into cylinders and cones. At any point you can add spheres to each shape and manipulate those as well. The structures can be moved at the newly created joints and can be enlarged, shortened, or removed entirely. So with very little effort one can generate a basic skeletal structure. This guy is to become one of the game's baddies.
Once the structure is completed it's time to model the character. This is done by adding and carving into "clay" Z Brush has a symmetry feature which allows me to render the details of the spider equally on both sides. So essentially I only need to model half a spider... In this snap shot you can see my in progress. Notice the joints on the front legs and texture on the head. It's in these details where I can enjoy implementing my style.
Now that I have a finished model it's time to start painting. For this I spend a lot of time looking at photos. This particular spider is a Garden Spider. This is my interpretation of what I gathered from several photos.
Check out this awesome Ambush Bug modeled by my partner Malachi. My task was simply to paint it. It was difficult landing on a color scheme and patterns because these guys change color to blend into their environment. It may be necessary to paint several variations of this predator depending on what flower it will be hiding in. Anyway, I chose to make it brown and green, obviously two very common colors in our game. It's hard to believe this creature really exists. Seems made up to me!
