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WillowRaven's latest model/product requests: Legend of the Seeker outfit

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  • M F MM F M Posts: 1,388
    edited September 2013

    AidanaWillowRaven said:
    For this first book, it will be small, in the series logo, but since the author wants high-rez close ups for marketing the series, it will have to be viewable close-up, as well.

    So when given the option, I go for higher quality and larger scale over render speed.

    Is that what you mean?

    Also, if the author specifically only wants four makaras, vs eight (I have not read the actual text description, just have the image she sent me), will I be able to blind some of the makaras?


    Okay, four makaras it is... and this is currently ~138,000 verts, 100,000 faces... hopefully it won't grind your machine to a standstill. Any further changes to shape, or would you like a copy to play with?

    ... ooooh shiny time ^_^ (very quick DS4 render, using DzFire's RealMetals Old Gold shader)...

    vajra003_ds1.png
    1024 x 1024 - 505K
    Post edited by M F M on
  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,023
    edited December 1969

    ...that looks really nice. You do some excellent work.


    My modelling skills are...well...not much to write home about.

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    M F M said:
    AidanaWillowRaven said:
    For this first book, it will be small, in the series logo, but since the author wants high-rez close ups for marketing the series, it will have to be viewable close-up, as well.

    So when given the option, I go for higher quality and larger scale over render speed.

    Is that what you mean?

    Also, if the author specifically only wants four makaras, vs eight (I have not read the actual text description, just have the image she sent me), will I be able to blind some of the makaras?


    Okay, four makaras it is... and this is currently ~138,000 verts, 100,000 faces... hopefully it won't grind your machine to a standstill. Any further changes to shape, or would you like a copy to play with?

    ... ooooh shiny time ^_^ (very quick DS4 render, using DzFire's RealMetals Old Gold shader)...

    Perfect :D She should love it, I do, anyway ... lol. Send me the file and I'll show it to her for feedback :D

  • M F MM F M Posts: 1,388
    edited September 2013

    Kyoto Kid said:
    ...that looks really nice. You do some excellent work.
    My modelling skills are...well...not much to write home about.

    :red: thanks <(^_^)...</p>

    ... practice is all you need - and learning what your tools can do for you in a timely fashion. That last thing is what I'm still crawling up the learning curve on - in 3D, there are _many_ ways to achieve a particular goal, which is to put the verts in 3D space to represent something recognisable. Selection of one tool over another (Blender? Hexagon? Sketchup? Wings3D? TrueSpace? 3DCoat? DS primitives?), then selection of one mechanism over another (bezier curves with bevels? NURBS? voxels? straight subdiv modelling and pushing single verts about in space?). Some of those ways are more time-consuming than others... no "Make Object" button yet (3D printers and scanners notwithstanding... ;-) ).

    The vajra has been a good exercise for me (and I hoped other modellers might jump in and try too...), because it's mostly symmetrical, which means the Duplicate Linked feature can be used to make three of the arms as identical copies of the fourth (when the fourth is edited, the other three automatically change shape to match). I had to use Duplicate Linked here because the arm is made up of separate components, which I couldn't find a way of temporarily grouping together to apply an Array modifier to (modifiers work only on specific objects, not a combination of three curves and a mesh... X). The components that make up the arm use the Array modifier (so there's really only one makara that is duplicated at 90deg intervals - trivial to change that to 60deg intervals, or 45deg intervals) and a couple of curves with custom bevel shapes, the base of the arm and the knob on the end are made using the Screw modifier (the parts that are really just 'lathed' 360deg sections), and the eight lotus petals have also been placed on the base using an Array modifier. In fact, the only thing I really "modelled" there was half of a lotus petal (using the Mirror modifier to make the other side, and then a Subsurface modifier to "smooth it down a bit"). If you think you might find it useful, I can break the construction down with a few screenshots.

    I was quite surprised at how well all these modifiers got through to DS though - I was half expecting to have to apply the modifiers and do a lot of manual cleaning-up, but the exporter turned out something pretty reasonable (^_^)d.

    Post edited by M F M on
  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,023
    edited September 2013

    M F M said:
    Kyoto Kid said:
    ...that looks really nice. You do some excellent work.
    My modelling skills are...well...not much to write home about.

    :red: thanks <(^_^)...</p>

    ... practice is all you need - and learning what your tools can do for you in a timely fashion. That last thing is what I'm still crawling up the learning curve on - in 3D, there are _many_ ways to achieve a particular goal, which is to put the verts in 3D space to represent something recognisable. Selection of one tool over another (Blender? Hexagon? Sketchup? Wings3D? TrueSpace? 3DCoat? DS primitives?), then selection of one mechanism over another (bezier curves with bevels? NURBS? voxels? straight subdiv modelling and pushing single verts about in space?). Some of those ways are more time-consuming than others... no "Make Object" button yet (3D printers and scanners notwithstanding... ;-) ).

    The vajra has been a good exercise for me (and I hoped other modellers might jump in and try too...), because it's mostly symmetrical, which means the Duplicate Linked feature can be used to make three of the arms as identical copies of the fourth (when the fourth is edited, the other three automatically change shape to match). I had to use Duplicate Linked here because the arm is made up of separate components, which I couldn't find a way of temporarily grouping together to apply an Array modifier to (modifiers work only on specific objects, not a combination of three curves and a mesh... X). The components that make up the arm use the Array modifier (so there's really only one makara that is duplicated at 90deg intervals - trivial to change that to 60deg intervals, or 45deg intervals) and a couple of curves with custom bevel shapes, the base of the arm and the knob on the end are made using the Screw modifier (the parts that are really just 'lathed' 360deg sections), and the eight lotus petals have also been placed on the base using an Array modifier. In fact, the only thing I really "modelled" there was half of a lotus petal (using the Mirror modifier to make the other side, and then a Subsurface modifier to "smooth it down a bit"). If you think you might find it useful, I can break the construction down with a few screenshots.

    I was quite surprised at how well all these modifiers got through to DS though - I was half expecting to have to apply the modifiers and do a lot of manual cleaning-up, but the exporter turned out something pretty reasonable (^_^)d.
    ...let's put it this way. my modelling skill is so bad, it makes Hanna Barbara .look like ILM. I'm used to getting a lump of clay and turning it into something. 3D Modelling proggies still deal with concepts that are less than intuitive for the task at hand.

    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    Need an androgynous character for V4 (not just a male v4 -- don't want muscles) ... links, anyone?

  • Carola OCarola O Posts: 3,823
    edited December 1969

    M F M and Aidana, thank you so much for letting me play with the bone staff. I finally got a render where I could use it here - http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/28536/P30/#425933


    Love it and will play more with it in the future too :) already thinking of ideas *smiles and hugs*

  • M F MM F M Posts: 1,388
    edited September 2013

    Carola O said:
    M F M and Aidana, thank you so much for letting me play with the bone staff. I finally got a render where I could use it here - http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/28536/P30/#425933

    Love it and will play more with it in the future too :) already thinking of ideas *smiles and hugs*


    Hehe... I'm probably biased, but that looks great! (^_^)d - glad to hear it's inspirational for you ^_^. If you need any changes to the shape, don't hesitate to ask :)
    Post edited by M F M on
  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    Carola O said:
    M F M and Aidana, thank you so much for letting me play with the bone staff. I finally got a render where I could use it here - http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/28536/P30/#425933


    Love it and will play more with it in the future too :) already thinking of ideas *smiles and hugs*

    It looks awesome :D

  • Carola OCarola O Posts: 3,823
    edited December 1969

    Thank you both :)

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    M F M said:
    Here's a quick example using an older version of the staff. I'm not claiming these are the "best" UV layouts, but they were what I settled on.

    The first shot shows what happens when "everything" is selected - the UV maps are all on top of each other.

    The subsequent shots show what happens when you select just the parts that belong to a particular map - and these are how the textures will have to be produced.


    The author shared this image, copyrighted by another artist. How hard would it be to alter just the upper staff portion to look more like forearm bones, like this, but not like it enough to look like a copy? Keeping all else the same.

    If super hard, I'll tell the author it can't be done.

    Sword-and-Staff.png
    201 x 188 - 31K
  • M F MM F M Posts: 1,388
    edited September 2013

    Basically, the "hole" is a whole lot 'taller', and the "bones" should be more like the radius and ulna, rather than carved from a single piece?

    (short answer: 'not too hard' ^_^... if you can give me more specific direction on how you would like the shape to be, I should be able to work up something fairly easily).

    bone_staff002a_ss1.png
    1912 x 1168 - 310K
    Post edited by M F M on
  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    M F M said:
    Basically, the "hole" is a whole lot 'taller', and the "bones" should be more like the radius and ulna, rather than carved from a single piece?

    (short answer: 'not too hard' ^_^... if you can give me more specific direction on how you would like the shape to be, I should be able to work up something fairly easily).


    How do you do that? Your freaky-amazing ... and fast ... lol. This is perfect. Thanks :D

    Sorry for the revision, though. It's always amazed me how authors can't always describe what they mean considering their world is word usage ... lol.

    And the other version will still be useful for other images, too :D

    How soon will this be ready?

  • M F MM F M Posts: 1,388
    edited December 1969

    AidanaWillowRaven said:
    M F M said:
    Basically, the "hole" is a whole lot 'taller', and the "bones" should be more like the radius and ulna, rather than carved from a single piece?

    (short answer: 'not too hard' ^_^... if you can give me more specific direction on how you would like the shape to be, I should be able to work up something fairly easily).


    How do you do that? Your freaky-amazing ... and fast ... lol. This is perfect. Thanks :D

    Sorry for the revision, though. It's always amazed me how authors can't always describe what they mean considering their world is word usage ... lol.

    And the other version will still be useful for other images, too :D

    How soon will this be ready?
    :red: ...okay, I'll just check the UV-mapping and then do the export again... maybe another half-hour or so? (^/\^).

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    M F M said:
    AidanaWillowRaven said:
    M F M said:
    Basically, the "hole" is a whole lot 'taller', and the "bones" should be more like the radius and ulna, rather than carved from a single piece?

    (short answer: 'not too hard' ^_^... if you can give me more specific direction on how you would like the shape to be, I should be able to work up something fairly easily).


    How do you do that? Your freaky-amazing ... and fast ... lol. This is perfect. Thanks :D

    Sorry for the revision, though. It's always amazed me how authors can't always describe what they mean considering their world is word usage ... lol.

    And the other version will still be useful for other images, too :D

    How soon will this be ready?


    :red: ...okay, I'll just check the UV-mapping and then do the export again... maybe another half-hour or so? (^/\^).

    Did I mention you were AMAZING!?!

  • M F MM F M Posts: 1,388
    edited December 1969

    Assuming the PM system is working, it should be in there now.

    (had a couple of retries and a relog before the message would go to my 'Sent' box X).

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    M F M said:
    Assuming the PM system is working, it should be in there now.

    (had a couple of retries and a relog before the message would go to my 'Sent' box X).

    Was working :D ... Just responded.

    Thanks again :D

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited September 2013

    I need a few mesa land/rock formations that would look good in FMs Easy Environment Eternal Sands (Or does someone recommend a better setting for mes landscapes)

    How hard would this be?

    I have attached a few photo references, and a link to many more: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Mesa+Landforms&FORM=RESTAB

    mesa_3.jpg
    334 x 188 - 27K
    Post edited by WillowRaven on
  • M F MM F M Posts: 1,388
    edited September 2013

    Hmmm... making a shape is easy... finding a decent texture to put on it... much harder >_<.</p>

    (this is basically just a cylinder, with the base scaled outward fractally, and then smoothed a bit to simulate "erosion"... dropped into Eternal Sands with a rock shader plopped on it with tiling turned up 16 horizontal 2 vertical... and then DOF blurred beyond recognition X).

    It would probably look better using a texture that corresponded to a real mesa - ie the layers of different coloured stone...

    test_mesa001b.png
    1024 x 1024 - 1M
    test_mesa001a.png
    1024 x 1024 - 1M
    Post edited by M F M on
  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited September 2013

    You mentioned something about being hard ... lol. It looks like you have it ... lol. I really like the bottom one ...

    What kind of variety could be accomplished?

    Post edited by WillowRaven on
  • M F MM F M Posts: 1,388
    edited September 2013

    Pretty much anything you like -- I'm happier with the shape of this one, but still haven't got the colours quite right yet. The colours are coming from a texture map, and could probably be replaced with a shader, if you have a nice "layered rock" one to hand (I couldn't find any just quickly in my collection X).

    Note - this is actually a landscape object generated in Vue and exported as a .OBJ, with a certain amount of manual painting and sculpting to get it to look something vaguely like your mesa sample. I made the "gulch" in the middle of the mesa to give some variety when you spin it around the vertical axis. When you're happy with the overall shape, I can bundle it up as a .PP2 and send it to you - changes in shape are reasonably easy, thanks to the tools involved ^_^. The render and screenshot below are all in DS btw.

    mesa003a_ss.png
    932 x 1096 - 246K
    mesa003a.png
    1024 x 1024 - 1M
    Post edited by M F M on
  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    M F M said:
    Pretty much anything you like -- I'm happier with the shape of this one, but still haven't got the colours quite right yet. The colours are coming from a texture map, and could probably be replaced with a shader, if you have a nice "layered rock" one to hand (I couldn't find any just quickly in my collection X).

    Note - this is actually a landscape object generated in Vue and exported as a .OBJ, with a certain amount of manual painting and sculpting to get it to look something vaguely like your mesa sample. I made the "gulch" in the middle of the mesa to give some variety when you spin it around the vertical axis. When you're happy with the overall shape, I can bundle it up as a .PP2 and send it to you - changes in shape are reasonably easy, thanks to the tools involved ^_^. The render and screenshot below are all in DS btw.


    You continually amaze me ...

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    more mese photo examples: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=mesa+formations&qpvt=mesa+formations&FORM=IGRE

  • patience55patience55 Posts: 7,006
    edited December 1969

    For texturing the ridge ... some stripe results might be achieved by "0" the tiling for one of the 2 directions [depends on the original texture as to which].

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    I'm in need of a goat, bull, or cow skull often seen in Native American art or African magic rituals. Any ides?

  • scorpioscorpio Posts: 8,403
    edited December 1969

    There's one in this set

    http://www.most-digital-creations.com/devils_ridge_desert_scene_poser_daz_studio.htm

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    Perfect ... Thank you :D

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    I'm in search of a Haitian or voodoo priest character for M4. Anyone have a link to direct me to?

  • Lissa_xyzLissa_xyz Posts: 6,116
    edited December 1969

    http://www.daz3d.com/raw-voodoo ?

  • WillowRavenWillowRaven Posts: 3,787
    edited December 1969

    Looking for the traditional white face painted voodoo Haitian native. Thanks, though. Cool character and saved for later use :D

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