Soraka Remodel and Face Rig

Azylin·5/6/2018, 7:35:27 PM·54 votes·16,140 views

I've rebuilt 's game model so I could fit a more advanced face rig into it, for the purpose of making cinematics. This system would work in a game engine as it's 100% joint based, but I don't have any game dev knowledge. I thought I'd share the end result and the type of expressions it can pull off.

Expression Sheet: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/395324611488776192/442775841123074048/soraka-comp.png

Somebody needs to explain to me how DanteAxe makes this seem so easy. Took damn near 2 months just to develop the systems to even make the face rig in Maya.

Accepted criticisms:

-Fangs inappropriate for unicorn/goat hybrid. Fangs relegated to temporary use in special expressions only. -Ears should not fold far from the base -Avoid the rig's extreme poses in actual animation

For the rest, fite me.

51 Comments

Soraka Rules5/6/2018, 8:06:00 PM16 votes

She reminds me of a Draenei from WoW with those expressions lol

Mama Soraka5/7/2018, 12:12:05 AM7 votes

That's a nice job. The fangs make sense given how Soraka steals health from enemies so she is clearly a vampire.

[sg-miss-fortune]

Bottom Laner5/6/2018, 9:39:09 PM7 votes

Why did you add fangs to her though? None of her skins show any signs of Soraka having fangs

Faliandra5/6/2018, 10:07:21 PM4 votes

Nah, I'd rather stick to the original. Her eyes look nice and calm. Your rework made her eyes/facial expression more...hmmm ...sly. And that does not fit her character.

Also, the fangs? just why? I'm not exactly a lore specialist but her legs make her look like she has goat-like features, and goats definitely do not have fangs. It also just doesnt suit her. Sorry, I know you put a lot of work and all, but I honestly feel like you made her look like an evil sly blizzard character thats probably 1/3 draenai, 1/3 troll and 1/3 orc.

Simply put: it's not soraka.

edit: downvote me all you want. I'm used to the snowflake community on the boards. You show something off to the boards, you get feedback. Good and bad. Lying about it wont help anyone. I stand by my opinion: I do not like it. It does not look good to me. It does not look like Soraka's serene and calm character. And whoever said "it basically looks the same", go see your eye specialist, I'm worried. She got a nose job, her eyes look different enough to make her come across as a different personality and her horn got reworked to look angular on her forehead rather than round and smooth like the original is. She wouldnt even do those completely overdone facial expressions like that. I love Soraka and I do not like what you turned her into. Deal with it :) PS: please link me something regarding primordial saber tooth goats. I'd love to read about it

Sukishoo5/7/2018, 1:02:07 AM3 votes

Very nicely done :)

immafukthemoon5/7/2018, 5:26:54 PM3 votes

Very impressive rigging, well done. You did a great job with making such vastly different expressions possible on her character model. I'd recommend making her brow not so flexible however, it would better sell her horn and give you a better opportunity to show emotions with her eyes i.e. squinting and not just shoving her brows down. [sg-kiko]

Banbutsu Sozo5/7/2018, 6:24:24 PM3 votes

-Fangs inappropriate for unicorn/goat hybrid. Fangs relegated to temporary use in special expressions only.

I dispute this criticism. Fangs are appropriate for this unicorn/goat hybrid called Soraka. Her heals cost her own health, yet her Starcall "steals" the health of her enemies like a vampire. This goat lady is dead and not breathing. She is feeding off the life force of others (namely "the living") to sustain herself.

I've always thought that there is a thematic divide between her lore and her abilities, and the only rationalisation I could come to was that Soraka is indeed a vampire; we just don't know that truth yet.

She's a vampire that can heal others, which is unusual, but she spams Starcall on her unfortunate enemies and takes so much health. She can still also be celestial.

Think of her like Vlad.

Soraka

ForgottenLuck5/7/2018, 4:19:03 AM3 votes

Kepp the Fang!!

TheHobbits5/7/2018, 3:31:54 AM2 votes

Aww. I was hoping for the emote face too

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/5/51/Everything_is_Okay_Emote.png/revision/latest?cb=20180322145328

Ah well. Great work.

Renipuff5/6/2018, 8:46:57 PM2 votes

Woaaah great job! RIOT should totally hire you!!

Elohaven5/6/2018, 11:22:28 PM2 votes

Fangs are a horrid addition in my opinion. Her character model doesn't have them and she literally has no animal traits that suggest she'd stem from a line with fangs (hooves for feet, horn on head), her character is calm, nice, and individualistic with her gestures not being menacing. Flat teeth for a herbivore/omnivore. Fangs are excessive.

Other than that, great work.

Krinu5/6/2018, 11:59:19 PM2 votes

Yes... "cinematics..."

/cough

Real talk, though, Nice work on the rig. I absolutely loathe doing rigging work and foist it off on other people whenever possible.

One thing I will critique: Most animals' ears are cartilage controlled by muscles around the edge of the skull and or otherwise relatively rigid, minus some spring from the inherent flexibility of the cartilage itself. As such, it's pretty much impossible for them to droop/perk up like you've rigged them here. In most creatures, the ear doesn't move like that (it would instead rotate up and down along the side, since that's where the muscles can attach) and it wouldn't bend in the middle (all the flex would be at the base where it attaches to the skull).

Aside from that, nice work!

warmcorntortilla5/7/2018, 6:14:47 AM2 votes

Oh my god I'm just impressed with all the facial rigging and animating!! Link twitter?

ˉˉˉˉˉˉ5/7/2018, 4:46:09 AM1 votes

>snaggletooth

yes

ThePikol5/7/2018, 5:26:23 AM1 votes

Can you tell me where did you get model from? Can I download League models and textures somewhere? Or did you make it?

Banbutsu Sozo5/7/2018, 6:31:22 PM1 votes

(tl;dr:) Please keep the fangs. <3

Moonshade5/7/2018, 6:36:48 AM1 votes

Fangs would make more sense if Soraka had a more Vampire vibe to her, but she's more divine goat child

Pucércsigusz5/7/2018, 6:46:10 AM1 votes

Personally I love the fangs! She looks all nice and calm, but just try to make your support mad and she’ll show you her true fangs! Besides, you’ve clearly put a lot of work in this, you sir have my respect!

TyroneWatermelon5/7/2018, 1:48:45 PM1 votes

Riot are too cheap to actually update their champions properly, you gonna have to wait a few years for a chance for a visual update

Summonah123695/7/2018, 2:59:26 PM1 votes

Where's the banana horn!?

Hextech OwI5/6/2018, 10:22:11 PM1 votes

she's scary

AquariusGine5/6/2018, 9:00:37 PM1 votes

I thought Soraka was one of the good guys

Azylin5/6/2018, 11:42:21 PM1 votes

Sounds like y'alls don't like the fangs. They'll not be in the base model anymore, these will only be used in my movies for reactions to behavior that makes support players really, really mad.