Disappointed with the ranger general Sylvanas model

[Very Tired]

The face edits mostly just made her look way older, which doesn't really fit on elves that live for thousands of years.

[Torgent]

No s#%@t, Sherlock. Of course they are in a dream-like state. Uther is entering unconscious Sylvanas mind. The cinematic is quite obvious at depicting the setting. Also I'm more than familiar with all the different techniques on how you can achieve a dreamy atmosphere as I do in fact work in the industry.

You don't have to like my edit, that's okay. It was a quick 10 minutes edit on a static screenshot. My point was that they should have kept the glowy eyes typical for all the elves and put more details on her facial texture, as most other characters in the ingame cinematics do usually have more work and effort put into theirs. They should have kept the standard. I love the art of WoW. That's why I'm commenting because I don't think this is the best they can do.

Also, the filters don't really affect her face that much, because her eye texture is pretty sharp if you look closely. It's everything else on her face that is too smooth to the point that you almost can't see details like her nostrils, etc. So it's not about the postproduction and the way that it is rendered. It is a lazy texture work. Let's be also clear that one of the main reasons why they chose the background to be so blurry was just outdated vanilla graphics.

So you simultaneously understand why they made her face look soft and also attack them for it. Sounds like you really just want to be mad. Have fun with that.

[florclorbromiod]

Why would Sylvanas have glowy eyes? She's a Ranger not a Mage. Elf eyes glow because of magic.

[Relapses]

Why would Sylvanas have glowy eyes? She's a Ranger not a Mage. Elf eyes glow because of magic.

I think the fact that Sylv's eyes glow in HotS and the cinematic kinda looks like it was made in the HotS engine is what's throwing people off. I don't really pick up that myself but it is definitely a unique stylistic choice.

[Orange Joe]

snip

I'll take blizzard model over yours any day.

[Combatbutler]

The ingame eyes are pretty glowy to me. The eyes from Wabringer cinematic are completely human and were in fact used as a reference for the actual cinematic model of ranger general Sylvanas. I just don’t get why they had to do it. There are more indications and references that their eyes are in fact glowy, so it feels like a really odd choice to me.

Two of the pictures aren’t showing for some reason.

There never was real consistency for the glow there are plenty of examples of the elves described without it, Lor'themar for example had brown eyes, Alleria emerald green ones, the Sunstriders got blue etc. in essence don't expect consistency from blizz in pretty much anything.

[Relapses]

There never was real consistency for the glow there are plenty of examples of the elves described without it, Lor'themar for example had brown eyes, Alleria emerald green ones, the Sunstriders got blue etc. in essence don't expect consistency from blizz in pretty much anything.

I mean, if we agree that Blizzard is consistently inconsistent then doesn't that mean it would also have been inconsistent for her to have glowy eyes in the cinematic?

[Big Mama]

So you simultaneously understand why they made her face look soft and also attack them for it. Sounds like you really just want to be mad. Have fun with that.

Her face isn’t merged to the background, there’s no reason for it to be smooth to the point there’s barely any details left on her face. That’s a really cheap excuse.

- - - Updated - - -

Why would Sylvanas have glowy eyes? She's a Ranger not a Mage. Elf eyes glow because of magic.

Her sister isn’t mage either and her eyes are glowing.

- - - Updated - - -

There never was real consistency for the glow there are plenty of examples of the elves described without it, Lor'themar for example had brown eyes, Alleria emerald green ones, the Sunstriders got blue etc. in essence don't expect consistency from blizz in pretty much anything.

Lor’themar having brown eyes is something new to me. When and where did they describe his eyes as brown?

[Powerogue]

Picked a cutscene out of a hat from last expansion (who am I kidding it's because I love seeing Wrathion get punched), I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Big Mama]

Picked a cutscene out of a hat from last expansion (who am I kidding it's because I love seeing Wrathion get punched), I have no idea what you're talking about.

Not sure if it’s a reponse to my original post but while still having a smooth skin texture there’s way more details and shading done to it unlike the new ranger general Sylvanas model. He looks awesome.

[Combatbutler]

Lor’themar having brown eyes is something new to me. When and where did they describe his eyes as brown?

Blood of the highborne, pre fel and tides of darkness.

https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Tides_of_Darkness

https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Lor%27themar_Theron

[Big Mama]

Blood of the highborne, pre fel and tides of darkness.

https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Tides_of_Darkness

https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Lor%27themar_Theron

Thanks for pointing that out and educating me on the subject!

[Powerogue]

Not sure if it’s a reponse to my original post but while still having a smooth skin texture there’s way more details and shading done to it unlike the new ranger general Sylvanas model. He looks awesome.

Still not seeing it. Your edit doesn't look like an improvement. Here's some with Sylvanas and feminine elves in general:





Looking at her, pre and post SL graphic update, the distinctions between her face and someone like Anduin is just that she's a female elf. They have naturally smoother features.

[Big Mama]

Still not seeing it. Your edit doesn't look like an improvement. Here's some with Sylvanas and feminine elves in general:

If you don’t see it, then you don’t see it. I am not going to try to change your mind. You either see what I’m talking about or you don’t. It’s okay.

[Torgent]

Picked a cutscene out of a hat from last expansion (who am I kidding it's because I love seeing Wrathion get punched), I have no idea what you're talking about.

She also doesn't know what she's talking about. Just mad. Her "improvement" was just to make Sylvanas look like a super old elf for some reason. Cus "texture!"

[corgo]

Sorry... theirs > yours.

[Big Mama]

She also doesn't know what she's talking about. Just mad. Her "improvement" was just to make Sylvanas look like a super old elf for some reason. Cus "texture!"

You are free to dislike the edits but the changes are nowhere near so dramatic as you are trying to describe them. And despite my username I’m not a “she” but “he”.

[RobertMugabe]

While this may not be in fact a huge issue to many and I might really be in minority here, the more I look at the newest cinematic and the pre-banshee, ranger general Sylvanas model that appeared in it, I cannot help myself and think it's one of the worst job ever done by the ingame cinematic art team so far.

First, they gave her non-glowy, human-like eyes (the explanation for this on twitter was the artist working on that model got inspired by Sylvanas from the BfA Warbringers cinematic). Getting rid of the glowy eyes in Warbringers was somewhat understandable though, because it would probably lessen her facial expressions and those were important to capture, especially in a stylized cinematic that is based on handpainted images.

But aren't all elves in Warcraft universe supposed to have glowing eyes? And if they are not, why isn't there a single elf with human-like non-glowy eyes ingame to this very day?

Also, the textures on her face and hair are extremely smooth and blurry. Smooth to the point there are almost no details on her face. The model is very well-done but the textures are lazy and look like they are from one of those mobile games, where the models look like they are made from kiddie clay. Or even worse, it looks like it's from those old barbie movies.

While WoW ingame cinematic models were never really realistic, you could at least see the beauty of the carefully handpainted textures.



And my edit for comparison (it's not even some heavy edits, these are just minor changes):



A gif comparison:



I am not sure what happened but imho this cinematic looks way worse than most Legion, BfA and SL cinematics.

I like the original. It fits very well with WoW's comic style.
Sorry, but your "corrections" look like shit and do not fit at all. They make her look older and "fake". The elves are supposed to be human-like and not complete abominations

[Proskill]

ngl, the first time i saw this cinematic i thought its fanmade or something. wondered why her face felt off. way too smooth

[BarosanuNr1]

If you don’t see it, then you don’t see it. I am not going to try to change your mind. You either see what I’m talking about or you don’t. It’s okay.

Both Sylva and Alleria look more... mature (=/= old) in that second cinematic, which is appropriate, imho, given the elves' long lifespans. I'm not an artist, so I can't put my finger on the details that bother me, but something in the new cinematic makes Sylva look like an immature teenager instead of an experienced ranger general.

I also notice that Alleria has glowy eyes in the BFA cinematic. Sylva's eyes are less glowy, but they appear enhanced by her classic war paint, which is absent in the new cinematic. Perhaps you could make a version of good Sylva with warpaint on, so that we can compare the effect?