by 0xa9c82036372d4d80ddf74013dd51ebc336092db2 (Doki3D)
Should the following $15,000 grant in the Platform category be approved?
Abstract
Hair is our identity- Long hair, bright hair, big hair or even lack of hair- hair can bring about a new identity and with digital hair it’s no different.
With just one click you’re able to change your entire digital identity and it can start from the roots!
This project is to re-create 34 base Decentraland hairs as well as create an additional 4 stylish POC* hairs.
*POC meaning “person of colour”.
Hi hi! I’m Doki, a 3D creator in Decentraland. Over the past 2-3 years I’ve created a few wearables and my most recognised creation has always been hair and I’ve often been dubbed as Decentraland’s Hair Stylist. External Image
Previously I was going to work with the Foundation team on re-creating some hair and adding in POC hairs but due to some difficulties it was found better and easier to push through as a proposal instead.
With the re-creation of the hair, I’m not just re-texturing it, I’ll be restarting the modelling process from the beginning. It’s a high to low poly workflow meaning I create a high poly mesh, I then retopologize said mesh and create a low poly version of the mesh, bake an occlusion, specular and normal map (as well as curvature, position, bent normals and ID) and paint over the occlusion map before then rigging the model.
I won’t just be making the GLBs, I’ll ensure that I’m keeping the additional baked textures, FBX files and blend file in case they need to be used for the new explorer or anything in the distant future. External ImageExternal Image
Creating the hair doesn’t mean I’m just re-making the same hair. I’ll take into account influences of what the hair is called (ie; anime, keanu reeves, punk) and take creative liberties to make sure the hair is up-to date and stylish. Throughout this creation I’ll also be consulting the Foundation team (specifically Shibu) in making sure that the re-creation still holds the original vision and doesn’t differ too far. External Image.
As a POC myself, hair has often been the centre of my identity. Hair can be so important to us and when it comes to a digital space often we lack that representation we so desperately need. With the additional creation of at least 4 new POC hairs, I’ll be making sure that POCs in Decentraland feel that there’s more options to choose from and they don’t need to pick the same cornrows or afros- they can have more diversity with their choice.
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression”
I think the avatar is a users’ first interaction with Decentraland, and ours are nearing 5 years since being implemented. The existing hairstyles were fine to begin with 5 years ago, but in order to remain appealing to new users and brands, we need to refine our options. I have personally worked with Doki to create custom hair, and I feel confident that she will push forward new looks that give us an “Avatar 2.0” just in time to match the Client 2.0.
While I was at GDC I was approached by a woman who noticed that Decentraland also had no hair styles that reflected people of color. Her suggestion was that if we want more people to use the platform, we need better options for all users. I strongly support the addition of more options (POC hairs) as Doki has suggested.
I believe you are the best modeler to remake them. I was unsure if you’d keep the basic GLBs, glad they will keep their shape.
But, I’d like to say that your example with the long hair is similar but a little bit too different on the parts near the forehead. The baked texture also seems a little intense in the example
Voting for.
Oh and if you can fix the weight paint on the curly hair too, that’d be great!
Thank you Canessa. With keeping the baked texture maps, we’ll be able to make sure these work well with the Client 2.0 as well!
I’m still planning on what hairs to bring forward for the additional options and I welcome any POCs to give their input on what they’d like to see!
As mentioned, they’ll be re-created in concept too meaning they might not hold the exact concept as previously shown but will still hold the general silhouette. Creative liberties will be taken with any changes making sure they’ll still have the general feel that was wanted but making them a little more updated and stylish to what people may like to wear. I’ll be consulting with Shibu throughout to make sure this is followed!
And as they’ll be created from scratch, the weight painting will all be re-done so no worries there!
I’m not a fan of deep black AO on some of your hairs @Doki, if it’s possible to be changed to look more natural and less deep black, then it’s good… By the way, you will improve results with handpaint as the last step of texturing, like you did with some of your marketplace hairs? I think handpainted areas will fit perfect with good bakes and natural ao
This two hairs that you made before, my favourite regards handpaint/bakes and overall quality.
Thanks so much Ankou QvQ
As for the hair being too strong on black AO, I don’t think any of my current more recent hairs have that as I usually overlay it with a purple!
However, this texturing will be turned down as it’s Decentraland’s hair and not mine so I don’t want it to be my complete branding but something inspired by it.
Ironically one of the test designs was this where it was a bit lighter: External Image
but I think a middle ground between the two examples (the one here and the one in the proposal) is best.
I’m not sure if I can get Aisha’s quality in because of the RGB overlay on DCL’s hair and Aisha’s wasn’t RGB meaning I could have a larger range of colours in her brown but I’m working on emissions for blacks to pop more so if I do that, that might help compliment it hair and appear a little similar to Aisha’s for example/
Thanks for your input! I’ll make sure it take it all into consideration. <3
I also wanted to state with my budget that with an average of 38 hairs being created this equates to about $394 USD which in GBP (my local currency) is £305 (at the time of writing this) and £300 is usually what I charge clients in Decentraland with base designs in 2024.
For me, this isn’t any bigger than my usual budget so that’s why I settled on the amount I did.
Plus, you may notice the use of “at least 4 additional hairs.”
I don’t question your capabilities. I do have a question or two however. Does this include the male hair as well? Also, this is probably not a question for you, but I’m going to start it here. I would love to see the color
dropper added so we can easily select a color from an image to change the color of hair and eyes.
It is all of the hair! The male hair is especially harder because the more spikes/points it has in, the more difficult it is to retopologize but luckily I have had practice!
As for the last half of your message, I think you may need to post that request on canny as I can’t help with that unfortunately, I’m just a 3D artist qvq Good luck and let me know how it goes!
I vote Yes. Yes, as a “Person of Color” I want hair too. Also want to continue getting more hair with age instead of losing it if possible. Also @Doki been making amazing 3D molds over the years I been watchin so def the person to do it.
$15K for 34 base hairs for a platform that has less than 100 DAU, besides there is already plethora of cheap L2 hair styles to choose from
(idk how to tag you, sorry I tried @ but nothing is coming up.)
36 of the (124) plethora of “cheap” L2 hair currently up for sale (not counting ones off sale) have been created by one creator; myself- either published under me, under my charity account or under other clients. That means 30% of the current hair on the marketplace up for sale is being created by myself and worn by users which if anything I think shows the constant dedication I put towards my said craft as I don’t just post hair wearables (and I’m not counting ones currently off the marketplace).
Not to mention that even if the platform only has 100 DAU that can increase and I’m sure prettier base wearables can always help as it’s the first thing people see when picking out an avatar
Here is also my previous comment on my breakdown of my budget.
I also wanted to state with my budget that with an average of 38 hairs being created this equates to about $394 USD which in GBP (my local currency) is £305 (at the time of writing this) and £300 is usually what I charge clients in Decentraland with base designs in 2024.
For me, this isn’t any bigger than my usual budget so that’s why I settled on the amount I did.
Plus, you may notice the use of “at least 4 additional hairs.”
To quote Ash/Bit 's second comment on his second vote:
Having all these base wearables prevents users from purchasing from other creators. I believe the base wearables should be kept to minimum.
There were 34 base wearables to begin with, I’m creating an additional 4 hairstyles that are POC hairs (there are currently only 5 POC hairstyles from my knowledge and one is a repetition of another one with additional things).
I’m re-creating the current ones and adding 4 POC ones, the base wearables are being kept to a minimum, hope that helps!
This is not a Platform upgrade. It does not help the use case of the platform. It only gives people more options to choose. It doesn’t meet criteria.
Also if these hair pieces are soo good and people need them, they would buy them. The problem is there aren’t any users. This will not bring in users, nor will it bring in creators. The platform needs a huge upgrade to be competitive against any other metaverse and it continues to fall behind.
As our VRM export is used in more and more places, the quality of the avatars matters greatly as an external ad to the quality of Decentraland and the avatar builder.
This is a great first step to raise the quality of our avatars, and I think should also raise questions around what other platform changes we could have to improve avatars further, such as:
Bumping polygon limits as we improve performance
Adding Shapekey support (And upgrading base avatar expressions and locomotion).
I think Doki is one of the most knowledgeable creators in terms of both the traditional 3D space and the Decentraland wearables/avatar system.
Voting yes as a clear value add, as well as hoping this can lead to even more improvements in the avatar system that will be necessary for VR or future avatar integrations as a ‘metaverse engine’ once the platform evolves further.
Personally I don’t think it fits any other category but Platform. It’s not just giving more options (I’m creating an additional 4?) it’s upgrading the current ones there.
I’m not wanting people to buy my hair pieces, people already do that. What I want is to improve the base hair so when someone logs on for the first-time they’ll have something more visually pleasing to look at. Ontop of that, I’ll be keeping texture maps to make sure that when the client 2.0 comes in, they’ll have PBR based system and work with the new PBR style (ie having roughness, metallic and normal maps.)
If not a platform upgrade, I’m not sure what else it is.
I agree, I’m pretty sure shapekey support will honestly make a huge impact! I’ve been begging for tri count changes but it won’t happen until the actual client is updated and can run things like that.
To also add onto this, I did suggest that I could also do hair spring bones but Shibu said that they’re not at a point that it can be implemented yet so I’m not really able to do that QvQ
If there is a way somehow, I’ll HAPPILY add it into the grant.
