Low Poly Liliha Updates #9 FINISH!!.. At least for now
Final polycount: 4981
1024x1024 Main texture: http://konscious.info/misc/Low_Liliha/Liliha_MainTexture.jpg
256x512 Hair texture: http://konscious.info/misc/Low_Liliha/Liliha_HairTexture.jpg
Both textures been shrunk for internet viewing.
I skimped on the mouth and eye area. She doesn't have working eyelids and I remove the teeth and tounge to save time on texturing. If you look at the edges, it's all jagged because it's a screencap since I haven't learn to do renders in XSI yet. Also there is still no lights so it's 100% from the texture.
There's 2 main things I added to the textures that is different from the last update: The texture overlay layer and color variations. Most everything has some kind of textures surface and for Liliha, it's mainly leather and cloth. You can't really see it but there is a leather pattern and dirt overlays on her outfit. I usually put dirt or some kind of wear and tear on all my models. Even clean surfaces have some kind of dust, dirt or grim on them and it makes it more convincing and realistic. As for the color variation layers, there's two main reason: First.. most things have some kind of reflective colors on them. Things are almost never pure red or blue or green... Radiosity is pretty much everywhere no matter how subtle so adding a little different color to the mix will make it look more interesting. Second reason is to give it a more three demensional feel. Warm colors bring things forward, cool colors push things back. We may be working with a 3D model but the texture is still 2D. So on highlights or edges that bends towards you, warm it up! On shaded areas or edges that bends away from you, cool it down! Imagine a sphere, the center would be warmer and the outer side would be cooler. Being subtle is the key since it's a 3D sphere and it can be view from any angle. The trick here is the same as shading a 3D character. That means things to top, front and back should be warmer. Things on bottom and side should be cooler. This is a very loose and general rule with plenty of conflicts and exceptions.. so go with.. "what looks good".. The skin for example, is usually extremely subtle or none at all in this case. Sorry, not a very good explanation. It's just something you get the hang of with experience and experimenting. A good example is on the boots. It's warmer on top and cooler toward the botton. You can also see this effect on spike ring just above the boot as well.
This pretty much conclude low poly modeling and texturing with Liliha. I may continue her again at a later time with rigging and animation but don't quote me on that. Hope it's been fun for you guys too... =D