Cryll character challenge or help
Retro Lad
Posts: 471
Time to make my first creature model in Hexagon, and then rig it in another program so that I can pose and animate it.
I chose as a model one of my favorite alien creatures from an old American DC comic series published in the 1960s when I was a teenager. The creature is Cryll from the Space Ranger series.
I snapped a picture of my Hexagon layout for modeling Cryll. It is just the beginning but I would like to know from those of you who are experts in character modeling whether I am starting right. I began with a 20 faceted sphere and sweep extruded the left arm and leg. Maybe I could make the arms and legs separate and weld them onto the body sphere.
Anyway, any advice from you would be welcome, and maybe you could make a version of Cryll yourself and then explain to me the method you used.
Thanks
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Comments
Looking forward to how this turns out; after Cryll, you should try Zook!
-- Walt Sterdan
Cryll had the ability to morph himself into any form he chose, so he was way ahead of his time in the 1960s.
First mistake I may have already made is to bend the arms and legs at the beginning. If I eventually want to rig Cryll the arms and legs should be straight out, right? I can start bending them later.
Today's efforts to model the alien critter. It's getting there ... bumbling along but learning too.
The hands and feet I will fix up later, but at least they are there to fiddle with.
Hey @FlashGarcia, I like the model. For animation purposes, I would add additional edge loops going up higher on the shoulder and into the collar bone. That way you will get better deformation when you raise (and lower) his arms. Something I do when modeling a torso, is make it shaped like a tank top t-shirt then extrude the arms and necks out of the torso. Helps me get better edge loops in the arms and neck. For the hips, model the shape like supermans underwear and then extrude the legs. Also make sure to add extra edge loops at all the joints.
Good luck with his progress.
richmclean, Thanks for your advice and help with my modeling of Cryll.
I am working on this "off and on" because I am also learning how to use Carrara which will now be my main scene construction and completed image rendering program.
Instead of modeling Cryll's entire lower body, minus head, with extruded legs, feet, and hands, I decided to model the hands, feet, arms, legs separtely and then group or weld them together later. The basic head will be be one piece with extruded snout, antenna, and the eyes and eyebrows added later.
Animating and giving expressions to Cryll is something I may not be able to do, but I will try my best to learn how do do it. Of the following three programs, which would you suggest is best for ease and a beginner at this, Daz Studio, Poser, or Carrara?
Hi @FlashGarcia,
Out of those 3, I have only used Daz. I really like Daz for rigging and rendering and I am trying to get my head around animating in Daz now. Daz is not setup (yet) to do things like walk cycles because it does not allow a reverse foot rig (or similar). For doing still images, I think Daz is powerfully simple. You can get some pretty cool images without nearly the effort it takes in other 3d apps. I hope you give it a try.
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Nicely done Selina.
Would you think about posting your renders in the galleries, here and DAZ's main one.
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/6884/hex-gallery#latest
One day the powers that be may make the Hexagon Gallery a stickie :)
richmclean,
Last year, or the year before, I decided to give Daz Studio 4.8, and 4.9 a serious try out. I even bought Luxus Renderer for IRay and I viewed a lot of Valdamer's (name escapes me) videos. The quick setup and rendering possibilities with Iray were interesting but I am not a photorealistic enthushiast, and prefer non-photorealistic renders that look kind of painterly. Also, I found it a pain in the neck loading any version of Vicky higher than V4, and I loath that Dson bridge thing for Poser.
Truth be told, and believe it or not, I prefer V4 and Aiko 4 models to any higher version and find them a lot better looking than the higher versions. I moved on from Daz Studio to my Carrara 8.5 pro version which I bought many years ago and rarely used. Well, this time I forced myself to master Carrara, and now I am off and hobbling with it.
My Vicky 4 models load up great in Carrara, and I was able to copy my fine Poser light setup for the gals to Carrara.
Selina,
I don't even know if the Luxus Renderer version I bought for Daz Studio works with Carrara too. I will check. The Carrara/Luxus render looks grainy compared to the realistic clarity of your Daz Studio render, but as you say it could be because you didn't use the Carrara LuxCoreRenderer, whatever that is. Lol
I like Carrara's "inhouse" lighting options choices and may skip using a render plugin for it. Maybe, maybe not, Further testing and learning.
And now for the latest on Cryll. The whole body is one piece now, but needs detailed refinement, and of course his trunks are next using s method I saw in one of Gary Miller's videos. The basic head features are finished too.
.
Selina,
I checked and it wasn't Luxrender that I bought a few years ago but another external renderer named "Reality" for Daz Studio that specialized in using Daz's IRay rendering options. My computer took too long to render IRay images in Reality, and I wasn't all that enthusiastic about photorealism, so I stopped using Reality and it has been gathering digital dust since then.
I have a Luxrender version, but the file date says 2010 and I don't remember using it, or when I sstopped using it, or if I ever used it. Foggy memory for the past these days.
I finally did a bit of testing today with Carrara's Non-Pholorealistic Renderer and it looks like what I want to use for most of my renders.
Cryll is on the digital operating table having his n-gons, and triangles, removed. He is being grafted with Quads replacements. I still have a lot to learn about this modeling stuff and it's weird terminology.
Here is a screen pic of Cryll's full body minus his eyebrows, which I am too tired to model today. He is almost finished, but I am not sure how I am going to texture him since this is just a learning excercise for me, and not a commercial or artistic project. He will require some further work such as his head being welded to his torso, and torso muscles and so forth.
This is my first attempt at character modeling and it took me a long time because I had to learn all the steps. On the front panel Cryll looks at my model and says, "Huh, do I look like that, slander!"
I finished the basic Cryll body in Hexagon, loaded it up in Carrara, and then experimented with attaching an arms and legs skeleton. The limbs bended but there are a lot of distortions and so forth, so now I am learning how to fix all that. I forgot to place eyelids on him.
Eventually I may get his snout and antenae to move about, and his eyes may require retracting to a flatter look. I may even get him dancing like Fred Astaire to a Lex Baxter tune.
The screen capture is of the runt in Carrara.