Simply Avatar: daverave
 

This is a picture of my dad (I wish). all I can say I have had a hard life (5 kids)..................dave

edit; im half way there my nose is the same size as the avatar

another shot

Hi dave

looks like a decent start......however LOL
just look at the image i have attached

just to summarize:
lips are to big and to low.
nose needs to move up a bit
eyes have the correct height as far as i can tell but they are to far apart.
ears start way to high.

and to comment about stuff that isn't in the picture i uploaded the brow area needs to be more rounded and there is some funky stuf going on around the chin area.

But nice start though, trust me i usually start with a more crappy looking model then you did and they seem to work out alright in the end:beer:

Hi mastone
I did the modelling before I had my daughter take the photo, I did not notice how old I had got. Starting to wish I missed this one out. I think I will take a less tectnical look at my face but try to get the jist of it. does that make sence...........dave

edit: sorry mastone I may have read the brief wrong but I am trying to merge my face with a avatar this mean that my eyes and nose will be out of proportion....dave

I think the things I have mentioned are key to making an avatar version of yourself.
look at sam worington his eyes are relatively far apart and this is translated to his cg /avatar version same goes for all his other facial proportions i am sure of it.

You are of course free to do whatever you like.
I will judge you not LOL

The upper half needs to be more Alien with bigger eyes

the reference is good, Just get it on an image plane in Maya and line them up.

Great start Dave

Jay

It's a great start Dave. Don't say "old", say "distinguished"! Model a cool headpiece and call yourself the chief Avatar! Head of the Maya clan!

Thanks for the kind word of encouragement ctbram, Im not sure where I am going with is "maya or zbrush", zbrush would be the easyest but I think I will stick with maya as far as my modelling skills will go. might have time to do two one maya only and one maya zbrush.........thanks dave

Hello Daverave, welcome ( a little late coming ) to simplymaya!

I really like the progress on your entry. Will be keeping an eye on this.

Little update, done as tou advised mastone. I am struggle a bit working on some one else mesh (nothing wrong with mesh) but will have to get used to it.........dave

Dave

its actually looking like you mate with the avatar upper half, thats just great,well done, keep up the good work!! Im watching....

everyone else be afraid.....

Jay

Sorry THX1138 forgot to say hello. Jay I dont think im there yet but will keep on trying, just a little update, moved the eye in a little and adjusted the ears...........dave

Hi all
I think I will go with ctbram idea for a head piece but have only sean the female with one, is there a male head piece........thanks in advance ........dave

Little update, UV next

Edit: Iris needs enlarging

Just a wire mesh shot

This going the right way I think.
Fix the nose and eyes by making them more catlike.
The lower part of the ear is still humanoid it should be latched in like a cat's ear with some exces flesh at the bottom of the ear instead of a lower earlobe.

Is starting to shape up pretty good:beer:

It's looking really good Dave! Did the chief have a head dress in the movie? I need to check from some references, if I can find anything I will post it in here for you. Go for the chief look!

Jake: "What is he saying?"

female hero: "My father is deciding if he should kill you."

I'm really liking how this Avatar is turning out Dave. Been watching them all but this one has my attention the most at the moment.
I'm liking the way his face portrays the wisdom of age, and yet still retains some youth as well
:beer:

G-man

before doing the Uvs you should try to pull the ears a bit
they are not long enough

and maybe work around the shape of it a bit
http://img.wallpaperstock.net:81/ava...8_1280x960.jpg

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/ja...20091017163722!Jake's_Avatar_with_gun.jpg

Thanks for your kind words of encuragement, Yes mastone you are right about the nose and eyes, was going to try to fix the nose with a bump map along the red lines I have drawn, a bit of tweeking on the bridge in yellow and move the tear duct (green)to be more in line with the nose.Ears I need some more ref at this moment.
ctbram as soon as I can find any ref for a chiefs head dress I will incorperate it, if not I will copy some of the style of the females head dress and beef it up a bit.
legendofzombi alas once I have done the texturing I think all signs of youth will be gone? may be a twincle in his eye.
mikeyduf not sure ears size is wrong at this moment but will keep a open mind.............thanks all for your comments dave

Little update, eyes more cat like? ears more navi like?

Dave

looks good, I think the nose to brow area really needs that defining line that makes it catlike.

Look on the original challenge thread, a few of the guys have posted some great links for refernce


Jay

Done as suggested Jay is it looking better

just a side shot

Shape from the profile is good, but it needs avatarness.

Check refs on the challenge page mate should help.

Jay

Seems that its becoming painfully obvious that while you look at an image of an Avatar they are beautifully different from a human, but at the same time its hard to lay your finger on just what makes them different "Ears aside obviously".

I think dave, that.. with your's it needs to have more of a ...'unibrow' structure to the eyebrow area....i think the cheekbones need to be shaped a bit different,...More defined, but not more prominent...if that makes sense.

i think the nose is getting there... But still needs a bit of work.. if you'll notice the avatar nose still has the.....almost sharp curve between the top edge of the nose and the front (would be the wet fleshy part of a cats nose) area, and the front area is a bit broader and flatter then a human nose.

Unless you're going for the Sigorney Weaver look anyway ;)

G-man

Quote:

Seems that its becoming painfully obvious that while you look at an image of an Avatar they are beautifully different from a human, but at the same time its hard to lay your finger on just what makes them different "Ears aside obviously".

you are kidding right?? Nose like a lion and huge eyes like a lemur?? So obvious!!

J

latest update

LoL mate, if its so obvious, then why is everyone missing the essence of it? I could see them missing some edges and verts here and there and needing a tweak to get it right, but everyone is making them so human mostly aside form the ears that. make sense what i mean now ?

G-man

Hi legendofzombi
cannot see the wood for the trees, I think I am getting the nose on the right track, there are things like the cheekbone there im getting conflicting referances need to pin something down, you are right he is looking to human.....will keep on trying dave

Hope Im not borring you guys with this, last update today. Time for a largar....dave

DAve, i don't have a tablet so doing a red line for you is neigh impossible, i tried.
Instead i did the next best ting, i thought that possibly if part of your last image, and a reference image from Jake Sully ( jays challenge forum pic form the first post he made) Namely to start, the nose's of both were side by side you might be able to see better.

Notice yours the septum falls low very human like on the nose.
Where as Jake's septum is almost square with the botom of the nose, a very subtle difference that woudl add a slight angle to the nostril plane on his nose, but not very much of one.


The next part, i think you are very close with the width of the nose, the top edge of it along the length...
But i believe it is too round, you need to flatten it out more, again see the Jake sully nose posted in the attached image right below your last update's nose.
[edit]
also notice how the bridge of the nose doesn't thin down like human nose would, it fans out and integrates its self into the bulge of the brow bone.
I'd almost get the image of like a bone shield forming over the tear duct the way the bridge of the nose fans out, if i didn't know better then it being that way, if that makes sense?.. like a swooping curve down form the brow bone, strait into the squared off sides of the nose.

Gah, i need a new tablet, much easier to show you with red lines. its just impossible to do with a trackball, for me anyway.
[/edit]
hope this helps.
G-man

...forgo the image, sorry

G-man

This is what it looks like head on..........dave

@Zombi, Yeah I know mate, it was sarcasm at its worst, I think some paint overs are in order soon. We have a while yet on the comp so....

The nearest so far is perfecto, he only has to sort the mouth on his once his rferences are in. He has the nose sorted already, but the hardest part is the human aspect on the mouth and cheeks.

J

LOL I added the top half too so you CAN see the difference.

the idea of the top features is essentially feline. study the cat an Neytiris face, they are pretty similar, its the same for Jake and the other avatars.

hope it helps and clears the trees

Jay

Update, I can see where you have done the paint over and have tried to copy you but I think the hole face would need to be re-aranged in doing so I think I will loose my part of the face in doing so, the eye are temp..........dave

Thats the idea of the challenge mate. You've got loads of time so no rush.

It looks much better mate, keep pushing yourself, great stuff


Jay

One interesting thing about the Avatar's vs. the Navi is that the Avatar's carry over some of the genetic traits of their gene source (human).

For instance the native Navi have 3 fingers and a thumb while all the Avatar Navi have the human 4 fingers and a thumb.

Look at the nose on Sigorni Weaver's Avatar. It maintains more of the human shape as compared to the other Avatar and the Navi lion like nose.

Haha, don't get me started on the genetics of the movie. For the sake of a hollywood device, I have no choice but to let it slide. *sigh*

Keep up the good work Dave, it's taking shape.