Carrara Challenge #36 - Pinups and Cheesecake and Hunks - Oh My! - WIP Thread --Meet Ringo Monfort!

PhilW

​Bunyip - that is looking wonderful - but as it is a pinup challenge, I would be tempted to zoom in to the figure, wonderful as everything else looks!

Dartanbeck

UnifiedBrain said:

Bunyip02 said:

Halloween

Another fantastic setting and use of filters, Bunyip!

+1 

Diomede

I have so much to catch up on!  But here are a couple of quick thoughts.

@Jonstark - thank you so much for the detailed screenshots of the shader trees.  Can't wait until I have more time to go through and examine what is going on.  

@Stezza - a little too subtle for my tastes.  After all, the little guy is one in a million.  

@Head wax - excellent lighting.  Bow tie is a nice touch.  This obviously a formal occasion, after all.

@PhilW - hope EmilPaige and 3DLust get a chance to see what an amazing job you did with it.  Could be a promo!  Camera seems a little far removed for my taste, but that may just be the forum preview.

@Bunyip - love the skull throne fantasy pinup.  Would echo others on zoom level, but again might be forum preview.

@UnifiedBrain - thanks for the reminder on the entry limit.  Think I will reserve my cave project for the PC contest if I can find a caveman/cavwoman item in the PC stuff.  Better to reserve a third project for something more closely linked to Halloween.

 

Off topic.

Yo, Aussies.  Why don't you make a bigger fuss for Halloween?  A neighbor of mine has to be in Australia for business over the holiday, and she told me that the folks she will be working with don't celebrate Halloween.   I could understand Halloween being minimal in most of the world, but I thought Australia had a bunch of the same Celtic Samhain festival revelers that we have in North America.  Lets get a devilish emoji for that.  

Headwax

thank you @diomede and @Unified Brain :)

@Bunyip02, love that landscape - great feeling of depth

@PhilW that looks much better

 

@Diomede, as for Halloween, we look on it as an American thing which is invading our country - keep that to yourself. So Halloween is hand in Hand with McDonalds Registered Trademark.

I think the Irish that got dragged out here by the English as convicts were too busy trying to stay alive at first to worry about being Pagans ;)

 

 

EDIT: Oh here's something 

In my 60 years of being an Aussie, I have never seen Halloween as being high on my list of things to celebrate, even though celebrating is high on my list of things to do.

Most Aussies have come to know about Halloween from the many Hollywood movies that include the Halloween celebration in their movie script.

So Aussies have generally come to view Halloween as a particularly North American celebration that like Thanksgiving and Independence Day, has no real relevance to us 'down-under'. Even more so, by refusing to celebrate Halloween, many of us see ourselves as rejecting a US cultural influence that seems by stealth, to be overtaking much of our independence and home-grown culture.

So it's kind-of-weird to now realise that Halloween is actually a Celtic tradition that was embraced by the USA but not by Australia, even though Australian culture has lovingly embraced most Celtic traditions.

Smarter people than me who have researched this phenomenon have come to the conclusion that it was an accident of history that explains why this Celtic tradition of Halloween was embraced by USA but not by Australia. How British colonialism determined whether your country celebrates Halloween.

See, at a particularly formative time in Australia's history, the then monarch of Great Britain and Australia, Queen Victoria, introduced a strict Victorian social code that among other things, called for a deep disdain for all things that might be perceived as indulgent - like celebrating the Celtic Halloween.

The Victorian backlash against Halloween just happened to coincide with the colonization of Australia but was at a time that was well after the American colonies had broken away from the British crown.

So it appears to be just an accident of history as to why Australia did not embrace or celebrate Halloween. Methinks that the push back against perceived American cultural influences, kids wandering the streets at night and the high-sugar rewards, continue to keep Halloween from gaining mainstream popularity in Australia - despite its beloved Celtic origins.

 

that's from here https://www.quora.com/Why-dont-Australians-celebrate-Halloween

 

Stezza

On the bright side you can tell her the cricket will be on 

Diomede

Thanks for the link, HW.  Very interesting.  Apparently, Queen Victoria inspired more lasting virtue than the Puritans.  Sort of goes against the general reputation of Australians, though.   Can definitely see the point of the anti-sugar folks.   And Stezza, I'll let her know about the Cricket.  She is a sports fan..    

 

I now return you to your regularly scheduled WIPs.  Nothing new to post from me, yet.  "Art Frahm in a kilt" is still on my agenda.  Have thrown together a quick elevator set, but still need a formal top for G3M to go with the kilt.  Do you think it would be better to have a one-man scene with his drawers around his ankles (and celery), or multiple guys in kilts (and holding celery), only one of whom has his drawers around is ankles while the other guys look at him like he is not supposed to be wearing anything underneath the kilt?   

Diomede

So here you go.  Lukas G3M of the Highlands in a variety of render formats.

I used Carrara's dynamic hair modeler to make a classic male part-on-the-left style.  It was made on a hair cap to fit Vyusur's Lukas character for Misty's G3M in Carrara item.  I saved it to the browser so the dynamic hair can be used for some renders.  I then used Philemot's plugin that converts dynamic hair to obj, remembering to reduce display mesh and hair width.  I saved that to the browser so that I have a prop hair that matches the dynamic hair.  I had to reverse the hair normals for the NPR render.  Not sure if that is a general thing or just came up this time.

 

I happen to own the clothing set Casual Style for G3M.  In Studio, I used Edit : Figure : Rigging and then converted triax weightmap to blended.  I saved that as a figure support asset.  Did that for the shirt, vest, tie, and shoes.

 

I modeled a kilt (actually modified the Roman warrior uniform that I made for a previous project).  Need some socks and "that thing that hangs in front." 

 

So here are test renders with minimal settings of several styles.

Photoreal - used dynamic har

NPR - outline only - used prop hair

NPR - diffuse only - prop hair

Toon III Pro - prop hair

GMIC Pencil - prop hair (could have used dynamic I think)

 

Diomede

Edit:  "That thing that hangs in front" is the sporran.  Get your mind out of the gutter.  

UnifiedBrain

Awesome, Diomede! 

Diomede said:

Do you think it would be better to have a one-man scene with his drawers around his ankles (and celery), or multiple guys in kilts (and holding celery), only one of whom has his drawers around is ankles while the other guys look at him like he is not supposed to be wearing anything underneath the kilt?   

I think it would be better to have a couple of ladies in the elevator.  One is pointing, and the caption is "I knew it!" 

 

Dartanbeck

Very cool, HeadWax! Love how the eyes cut through the Noir!

EDIT: Forgot to say that the melted cross turned out great too! Looks awesome!

Dartanbeck

Nice job Diomede! 

Diomede

Thanks, Dart and UB.  There will be a woman in the elevator, as per the Frahm piece I am being inspired by.  Did the elevator give it away?

.

 

UnifiedBrain said:

Awesome, Diomede! 

Diomede said:

Do you think it would be better to have a one-man scene with his drawers around his ankles (and celery), or multiple guys in kilts (and holding celery), only one of whom has his drawers around is ankles while the other guys look at him like he is not supposed to be wearing anything underneath the kilt?   

I think it would be better to have a couple of ladies in the elevator.  One is pointing, and the caption is "I knew it!" 

 

 

Headwax

wow Diomede Men in dresses, what's not to like.

This one after Hans Bellmer - I find him sordid but he made a living pressing other people's  buttons.

Its a WIP. Bellmer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Bellmer

 

 

Vyusur

"Fillette a la citrouille" ( Girl on the pumpkin)

https://www.wikiart.org/en/pablo-picasso/girl-on-the-ball-1905

namtar3d

Hi there! Wonderful challenge! I'm working on this image of Liv Tyler as Bond Girl. I've always seen Liv Tyler as a perfect Pin Up girl (just watch her new lingerie campaign to see what i'm talking) Hope you like it. Great works everyone else!

UnifiedBrain

Diomede, I should have added, thanks for posting all those examples.  Very helpful and inspiring!

The hair/G3M workflow was also much appreciated.   I actually understood most of it, but I havent yet used those procedures.

UnifiedBrain

HW - the Bellmer-inspired piece was technically wonderful, yet it also definitely pushed some buttons.  I don't think I have ever before written the word "sordid," so thanks for the new experience!

Vyusur - very clever!  Thanks for posting the Picasso, or I wouldn't have understood your source of inspiration.  Some of us are not well-versed in classic art.

Namtar - Appreeciate you joining the party!  Liv + Bond = pinup heaven.

Vyusur

Bunyip02

UB - will have to choose the best 3 for the entry stage.

PhilW - re-did so that it makes better use of the space.

Dartanbeck - thanks

Diomede - zoomed in

Headwax - thanks, but a zoom in removes the landscape feel I was initially after.

 

magaremoto

here is my image of a modern pin-up for the challenge, her name is Monserrat, chica gitana

 a bit of color correction and chromatic aberration in post

Diomede

Magaremoto - extremely realistic!

Bunyip - Looking pretty warm down there, but I bet the coffee is cold.  Like the detail in the part of the skulls in view in this version.  

Namtar - Good to see you.  Liv makes a great Bond girl.  Now I'm trying to remember if she ever starred in one.  If not, will join the lobbying campaign to get her the role.

Vyusur and Head wax - thanks for including your inspirations.  Both images inspire deeper thought, although in very different ways.

 

So, here is my current WIP and its inspiration.  Used the GMIC plugin.  Inspired by the master of absurd pinups, Art Frahm.

EDIT: Note - I also rendered an NPR outline-only and I rendered a shadow pass (and many other), so this is not the final version.

EDIT 2: Replaced Frahm image with link to site about Art Frahm.  

http://www.lileks.com/institute/frahm/art6.html

 

 

 

Diomede

And here is the version with adjustments from the NPR outline-only, and for the shadow pass in multipass rendering.  

Diomede

And here is a color version.  This uses the GMIC paint filter and adjusts slightly with a native Carrara Toon III render (but with line effect set to zero).  I keep changing my mind on whether to use the black and white or the color version.

EDIT

Below is a color version that composites Carrara's native NPR at 50% with the GMIC paint.  I think I like this best so far.  Need to address the white flecks, some of which are due to my NPR thickness settings, which is fine, but I think some are due to having the back of some normals visible in the woman's hair, 

 

UnifiedBrain

Diomede said:

 

Below is a color version that composites Carrara's native NPR at 50% with the GMIC paint.  I think I like this best so far.  Need to address the white flecks, some of which are due to my NPR thickness settings, which is fine, but I think some are due to having the back of some normals visible in the woman's hair, 

Excellent work here Diomede!  You've discovered a setting that looks very Frahm-like, and pinup-like in general.  Gotta remember this one down the road, thanks!

Wonderful quality in characters and scene setup.  Here are a few extra (unsolicited) suggestions:

1.  Fix the reversed hair in post.  You can do it in Carrara, but what a hassle!

2.  The kilt looks too much like a skirt to me.  Maybe it needs to be darker and more tartan-like (partly to match colors with his top).  Are you going to add the pouch on the front?

3.  His facial expression is not adding much to the mood.  More shock, maybe?

4.  His celery needs to be sticking out a bit further.  Hey, get your mind out of the gutter!

Dartanbeck

magaremoto said:

here is my image of a modern pin-up for the challenge, her name is Monserrat, chica gitana

 a bit of color correction and chromatic aberration in post

She's beautiful! And I really like your GUI colors in Carrara! I might just have to mess with mine - set the mood, so-to-speak! ;)

Dartanbeck

Vyusur said:

"Fillette a la citrouille" ( Girl on the pumpkin)

https://www.wikiart.org/en/pablo-picasso/girl-on-the-ball-1905

Very cool!!!

Dartanbeck

namtar3d said:

Hi there! Wonderful challenge! I'm working on this image of Liv Tyler as Bond Girl. I've always seen Liv Tyler as a perfect Pin Up girl (just watch her new lingerie campaign to see what i'm talking) Hope you like it. Great works everyone else!

Yes! But one should never look at Liv through the barrel of a gun!

Dartanbeck

head wax said:

wow Diomede Men in dresses, what's not to like.

This one after Hans Bellmer - I find him sordid but he made a living pressing other people's  buttons.

Its a WIP. Bellmer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Bellmer

 

 

I see what you mean! But, yeah... nice painting, HW!

Mistara

Diomede said:

And here is a color version.  This uses the GMIC paint filter and adjusts slightly with a native Carrara Toon III render (but with line effect set to zero).  I keep changing my mind on whether to use the black and white or the color version.

EDIT

Below is a color version that composites Carrara's native NPR at 50% with the GMIC paint.  I think I like this best so far.  Need to address the white flecks, some of which are due to my NPR thickness settings, which is fine, but I think some are due to having the back of some normals visible in the woman's hair, 

 

 

this how el commando was invented?  

Dartanbeck

Diomede said:

Below is a color version that composites Carrara's native NPR at 50% with the GMIC paint.  I think I like this best so far.  Need to address the white flecks, some of which are due to my NPR thickness settings, which is fine, but I think some are due to having the back of some normals visible in the woman's hair, 

 

Sweet! Now I gotta get you (...and Not just You!!!) into working at giving those darned hands and their fingers some sort of natural pose! ;)

Some folks find it easier to buy hand-pose packs for the target figure. If the pack is made by someone whom really understands hand poses, it might be a decent way to begin - but never be put-off to grab those individual joints and work with them!

In any case, very cool image! love the effect, too!