New bear skins experiment
New bear skins experiment
I thought I'd have a go at modifying the new skins to see if I can get them closer to the originals.
It's just for fun, it's not like I'm going to try to get them to use these. Also I'm an amateur and don't pretend I have any real skill at this, so please be kind
Constructive criticism of where I could modify the skins further, is always appreciated.
Re: New bear skins experiment
This is still a work in progress!
For comparison, here's the old model black, and Blizzard's official replacement:
I used their original "black" skin, which was brown, as the base. I didn't start with the desaturated one they're using now (pictured above) as it's lacking a lot of shade definition.
I modified the skin to get it much darker and less red. After that I experimented with getting the lower jaw black instead of brown. I had trouble with that, not being an artist of any skill, so mostly it's filled in using other sections of fur that were copied and stretched/shrunk/rotated to fit. It still needs work. I think it may be a bit too dark.
I think I also need to work on darkening the top lip so it's not such a jarring north-south / brown/black divide on the face.
Close up of the face:
The new fur on the cheeks definitely needs some better lighting. It's just a mass of black at the moment.
I tried to make the eye a bit rounder, like the original, and not so squinted and leery. But I think it still needs some cleaning up.
You'll probably also notice a jarring "cut" stretching back from the mouth, like the bear's cheeks had been cut into. Unfortunately this is the model and there's not much I can do about it. In fact, it's less obvious with my darkened skin than the original. I'm not sure what's going on there but I suspect it was a side-effect of them compressing the skull a bit.
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Re: New bear skins experiment
Personally, I don't mind the super-deep black color on the lower jaw, since it also shows up on the legs. In fact, that's more of my ideal color! The higher bits just reflect more light, so they appear lighter. Your model actually looks more like a proper black bear than the original (which always had white/gray undertones). So my only suggestion in addition to the things already on your already detailed to-do list is to pull the brown/red out of the lighter patches of fur on the shoulders/butt/back legs in favor of some lighter shades of black/darker shades of gray.
Honestly, with that sort of look, I WOULD want Ursa to swap to it. Even the original black bear was never really dark enough for me; it's just what I had to go with.
After all my wailing about the impending swap... It's not that I was against Ursa changing! It's that I was against him changing into something that didn't feel like him anymore. This though....this I would be happy with. Even without the forthcoming tweaks, honestly.
All in all, an excellent recolor, Wain. This is seriously the first time I've actually been able to look at that model and say "Yes, that's Ursa."
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Re: New bear skins experiment
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Re: New bear skins experiment
This may be nitpicking but the lack of definition in the new model in the nostrils is a little bit bothersome for me. I'm sorry but I am weird in that I notice tiny details like that. Even though the original model's nose is black to see definite nostrils. That would be the only thing but it's not a deal breaker just I noticed with the recolor & Blizzards new model.
But over all I REALLY really love your recolor job on the body, nose and ears.
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Re: New bear skins experiment
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Re: New bear skins experiment
I don't know why, but I especially love the brown above the eyebrow and the black is actually dark
The shadows however seem a little cooler/blue compared to the original, but it adds more colour too it as a whole. Just so much better
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Re: New bear skins experiment
Yeah, the exact black of the original will be impossible to reproduce, I think. It's basically a set of black and grey stripes. Short of me painting a realistic light stripe down each tuft of hair I don't think I can get it that close. And that would probably look silly too
I must work more on it though I wish I could get a better range of shades. I think it gets a bit too dark in the middle.
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Re: New bear skins experiment
Yessss, exactly! The brown stripe looks better because it stands out more than it does on the original model - the difference between the black/grey stripes and true black. And it still looks like Blizzard's style because Wain's kept the existing shading scheme.SpiritBinder wrote:That is SUCH a better version
I don't know why, but I especially love the brown above the eyebrow and the black is actually dark
The shadows however seem a little cooler/blue compared to the original, but it adds more colour too it as a whole. Just so much better
Still so happy about this. I'm actually really settling into Ursa looking like this, which is a mistake, since the in-game model is still more brown.
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Re: New bear skins experiment
Just tossing this out there. I wouldn't mind seeing the white bear also be it's original white which, to me, looks lighter on the original model compared to the dirty snow look of the new.
But Wain's recolor. The more I see it the more I love it.
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Re: New bear skins experiment
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Re: New bear skins experiment
So probably something like this:
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Re: New bear skins experiment
But for now, I had an attempt at a white / polar bear skin. This is my first draft. It needs work but I'm happy with what I got out of it in just a short time:
Official white (not mine):
My first draft:
The original white bear:
The eyes still need to be made less squinty and the area around the eyelids needs to be lightened and some of the creases removed, but I'm happy with the progress. They're darker and more like the originals, but most importantly they're lacking that strange, blurry, blue outline. Once they're rounded a bit, and those dark creases lightened I think they'll be OK.
The fur needs more lightening in some areas, but I think it's going in the right direction.
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Re: New bear skins experiment
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Re: New bear skins experiment
Your new white bear looks so much nicer and cleaner than the proposed remodel. That one really is rather bland and dirty looking next to your edited version.
Wain, the only downside of this thread is that I'm falling in love with your edits far more than the ones we're actually getting. ;-;
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Re: New bear skins experiment
This.Vephriel wrote:Wain, the only downside of this thread is that I'm falling in love with your edits far more than the ones we're actually getting. ;-;
Although I keep thinking the white bear needs a makeup remover cloth cause that mascara run is tragic.
Man I love your recolor of the white Wain. That's exactly how they should look. The white diseased bear I can make the concession of the dirty snow color being fine for that model because it's diseased. It's not meant to have a clean /fresh snow look.
Keep it up Wain. *cracks whip*
I kid I kid.
Maybe we should all send a sweet treat & booze gift basket in the hope of bribing the art team. I learned how to make butterscotch peanut butter rice crispy treats today.
Oh my. My tongue is waggling too much.
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Re: New bear skins experiment
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