Star Trek Builders Unite 8: THE REBOOT

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  • RedfernRedfern Posts: 1,603
    edited October 2021

    randym77 said:

    My attempt at T'Ana, using Melody as a base. T'Ana doesn't have a tail. And has plantigrade feet. She even wears boots, unlike M'Ress.

    I wil assume you have not yet seen any episodes from the second season.  It's not really a spoiler to note she does, indeed, have a tail after all.  True, in the first season, we had a few shots of T'Ana from the back, her lab coat "billowed" from her body and there is no hint of a tail.  A fan claims that the show's creator originally intended for her to lack a tail and there would be a reason for that.  But at some point along the way, they changed their minds and so in an early episode from this summer, we see a tail.  It's roughly a third the length of M'Ress' with no tuft.  Imagine the tail of a lynx or bobcat.  And yes, her feet are clearly plantigrade  because there at least two episodes where we see her without the boots.  Actually, in the episode "I, Excretus", we see her, well, butt naked!  I kid you not!

    BTW, in the new "kids" series "Star Trek Prodigy" which debuted yesterday, we see a Caitian "kitten"...being sold into slavery by a Kazon.  She's wearing monk-like robes with a hood that get pulled back to reveal a cherubic, adorable face.  No, from what I gather, she is not part of the main cast, but already viewers are hoping she will be rescued in a later episode.  What's the meme?  "She must be protected at all cost!"

    Oh, sorry, I meant to say you really cost the "Grumpy Cat" essence of T'Ana!  She certainly proved to be one of the 'breakout" characters from the show.

    Post edited by Redfern on
  • randym77randym77 Posts: 276

    Ah, interesting. I've only seen a little of LD. I kind of like the idea of her being like a Manx cat with no tail, or a very short one.

    I must see that Caitian kitten!

     

  • randym77randym77 Posts: 276

    Okay, I saw nekkid T'Ana in "I, Excretus." We don't see much, but she appears to have two boobs, like a human. Not 8 like a cat. And her back and tail are striped, unlike the parts of her we can see when she's clothed. (That makes sense, actually. All cats are striped, the stripes are just much more noticeable in some cats than others.)

  • RedfernRedfern Posts: 1,603

    randym77 said:

     

    I must see that Caitian kitten!

    Here's the best still I've so far found.

    https://blog.trekcore.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/gwyn-caitian.jpg

    In a short clip I saw, we see a diminutive figure in a hooded robe, the hood obscuring the features.  A Kazon pulls it back to reveal the wee fluffy-wuffy child.  My heart melted.  Cuter than Baby Yoda in my humbly biased opinion.

  • randym77randym77 Posts: 276

    Ooh, cute. Maybe Gumdrops Cupcake as a base?

  • randym77randym77 Posts: 276
    edited October 2021

    Caitian kid, using Cupcake. Unfortunately, a lot of the textures and stuff made for the figure are no longer available. I am going to pick up the Capsces morph pack eventually.

    Prodigy seems like it would have a lot of potential for DAZ/Poser stuff, since it's all done with 3D modeling.

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    Post edited by randym77 on
  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 2,348

    randym77 said:

    Caitian kid, using Cupcake. Unfortunately, a lot of the textures and stuff made for the figure are no longer available. I am going to pick up the Capsces morph pack eventually.

    Prodigy seems like it would have a lot of potential for DAZ/Poser stuff, since it's all done with 3D modeling.

    Looks pretty good to me as is, but if you wanted to make it a little less cute (not sure why you would want to do that) you could reduce the size of the head to bring it a little more in line with Melody, I think.

    Haven't watched Prdigy yet, but plan to watch this weekend. From the trailer, my initial impression is that it answeres the question, "What if Disney made a Star Trek series?".

    -- Walt Sterdan 

  • ericolsenericolsen Posts: 350

    Still thinking about the SC20 Botanical Garden and how it could be used as an interior for those Ptolemy-style transport containers.  (The scale is just right, it's too fun not to play around with.)  It struck me that if you cut a few holes in the floor, it could be used as a hangar for your favorite shuttles or fighters or whatnot.  You just need to add a sub-level that serves as the actual egress point for craft, unless you want to mess with the botanical garden a great deal, which I didn't.  I just made two cuts in the floor and added some cargo pods and a few other knick-knacks.  I think it's an interesting environment in this capacity as well.

    (Had to put a Caitian on the "catwalk" with all this cat-talk -- and thanks about the Melody heads-up, I picked her up for cheap).

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  • randym77randym77 Posts: 276

    @Redfern - I've been thinking about the "style" of Trek a lot. With the old animated series, Lower Decks, and now Prodigy...they all have such different styles, it's hard to combine them if you wanted to show some of the characters from different Treks together.

    For Prodigy, Lady Littlefox's Star! might be a better base than Aiko. So tall and skinny.

    @ericolsen - Nice work! I would never have looked at that set and seen a hangar. Love the Caitian on the catwalk!

    Just about all the Melody and Micah stuff is on sale today for 60% off. Might be time for me to pick up that morph bundle.

     

  • ericolsenericolsen Posts: 350

    @randym77.  Thanks, and yes I've got my eye on those morphs, too!

  • RedfernRedfern Posts: 1,603

    randym77 said:

    Just about all the Melody and Micah stuff is on sale today for 60% off. Might be time for me to pick up that morph bundle.

    If you desire the morphs for both Melody and Micah, then get this set...

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-bundle

    If you desire those for just Melody, then this set...

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-for-melody

    If you desire those for just Micah, then get this set...

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-for-micah

    Please, note, however, the above packages are just the morph injections, no textures.  Everything listed below are texture collections with "facial pose'presets'".  The "presets" will not work properly without the core "Furries..." listed above.

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-furs-fisher-cat

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-furs-chihuahua

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-furs-bast-and-anubis

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-faces-dog

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-furs-red-panda

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-furs-rabbits-and-mice

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-furs-chipmunk

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-furs-lynx

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-furs-bears

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-furs-tigers

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-furs-fox-and-wolf

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-furs-skunk-and-squirrels

    The following three do have a couple of special morph injections not included in the core "Furries for..." sets to achieve the unique facial structures.

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-faces-equine

    https://www.daz3d.com/furries-furs-cows

    https://www.daz3d.com/deer-for-furries

    The "Deer" set even come with some antler props.  (Mix these with the "Rabbits & Mice" set to create a jackalope.)

  • randym77randym77 Posts: 276

    That time when Captain Janeway dressed up as Arachnia for the Voyager Halloween party...

    Happy Halloween!

     

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  • randym77randym77 Posts: 276

    Thanks for the summary, Redfern. I am now the proud owner of the Furries Bundle. I got the Fisher Cat, too. It's just so cute.

    I think I'll also pick up Daio's Cattitude texture. I remember using a similar one she made for...V1, I think? I like the somewhat realistic textures combined with a toony figure. I've wishlisted the others for now.

  • RedfernRedfern Posts: 1,603

    Ah, the "Fisher Cat" is probably my favorite of the texture set because compared to the rest, it's the most "realistic", having all sorts of subtle tones and shading.  the others are more "toonish".  I used it as the basis for an OC I created in 1985, a character meant for a cyberpunk narrative (that I never really developed beyond a few vague notions).

    Daio's "Cattitude" is a nice set based upon photographs she snapped of her favorite cat, Mimi.  Indeed, this was a revision of an older set she created, but it didn't date to Victoria version 1.  Rather, that package, called "Felis Sapiens" was meant for Victoria 3 and Michael 3.  As such Aiko 3 could sport the "pelts" without modification.  Knowing that, I used them upon my A3 based M'Ress.  Really, the only thing Daio had to change for the "Cattitude" verion were the head textures to map correctly to melody.  Oh, and she added a pattern that would apply to the tail.

  • randym77randym77 Posts: 276

    Nice expression! It's hard to get good expressions on a cat face.

    I think Daio added another texture or two to the Cattitude pack. Some are just color adjustments, but there's a calico texture I don't remember seeing in the old pack.

    I tried using the calico texture on the lion tail, but it ended up looking just too silly. :-D

  • RedfernRedfern Posts: 1,603

    You're tight!  I forgot about the Calico pattern.

    Also, thanks about the expression.  I have an online acquaintence who is usually quite distainful of CG efforts (not just DAZ Studio or Poser, but polygon based imagery in genral), but even she appreciates the effort I try to put into my characters' facial reactions.

  • Redfern, did you use a bump file to simulate fur on that one?  I've been wondering it you could use something like Oso's fur package with Melody to get a good fur effect. Although her nose is part of the same texture region so I'm not sure that would look right without some work. 

  • randym77randym77 Posts: 276

    Ethin has free bump maps for Melody and Micah at ShareCG:

    https://sharecg.com/v/96383/view/11/Poser/Better-Fur-Bump-Maps-For-Melody-Micah

    Also includes cat pads for their hands and feet.

  • randym77 said:

    Ethin has free bump maps for Melody and Micah at ShareCG:

    https://sharecg.com/v/96383/view/11/Poser/Better-Fur-Bump-Maps-For-Melody-Micah

    Also includes cat pads for their hands and feet.

    Ah thanks, yes!  I like those better than the ones I was just putting together.  I'd also like to find some good whiskers to use with Melody, along the lines of what i used here, which are from Oso's feline folk.  Have you come across any good simple prop whispers along those lines?

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  • randym77randym77 Posts: 276
    edited November 2021

    Why not just keep using Oso's? They look pretty good!

    There are several whisker props for sale at DAZ and free at ShareCG and Rosity. The ones for sale are mostly dForce, so DAZ Studio only, unless you want to convert them. Here's some free kitty props at ShareCG:

    https://sharecg.com/v/98187/browse/21/DAZ-Studio/Lolo-Kitty-for-Lolo-Hai

    I converted the whiskers to Poser; Melody is wearing them in the attached image.

    For Poser users, there's this:

    https://www.daz3d.com/catgirl-for-aiko-4-and-victoria-4

    Made for V4, but I imagine they'd work with Aiko or any other figure. You'd just have to pose them manually.

    Daio's texture pack also comes with with bump maps and cat pads. However, it's a really old product, and you'll probably have to adjust the settings, for Poser or DS.

    There used to be free whiskers for Melody at RDNA, but so far as I know, they're not available any more.

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    Post edited by randym77 on
  • Thanks, I'll check those out!  Oso's only work with Genesis 8, if you unparent them they freak out and lose some transparency settings, and you get a face full of whiskers.  I just have Gen 8 turned invisible in that render.

  • And it's not just about turning nodes visible, the geometry gets wacky. Maybe I'll just make my own. I'll put them up on sharecg with my other stuff if so. 

  • So I did get Oso's fur shader on sale right now and started fooling around applying it to Melody.  I can see it's something worth spending some more time on.

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  • randym77randym77 Posts: 276

    That does look pretty good!

  • RedfernRedfern Posts: 1,603

    ericolsen said:

    Redfern, did you use a bump file to simulate fur on that one?  I've been wondering it you could use something like Oso's fur package with Melody to get a good fur effect. Although her nose is part of the same texture region so I'm not sure that would look right without some work. 

    Yeah, I used bump maps for the effect.  When I composed this image, what I had available were the bump textures from the base Melody set (for the head) and those from Merge3D "Visible Cat" package (now gone from DAZ) for the bodies.  Since that time Ethin has released his freebies at ShareCG to fill that gap.

    It seems you've answered your second question concerning Oso3D's shaders.  I wouldn't have been any help there as I'm a Luddite still using Poser.  Plus I recently had to "lobotomize" my PC (bought in 2010) so it's little more than a web browsing tool.  (I'll need to get a whole new machine before I can do more than check e-mail and forum messages.)

  • ericolsenericolsen Posts: 350
    edited November 2021

    @redfern: Yeah, I recall doing the switch from Poser back in the day, it took me a while to get used to DS!

    Oso's fur shaders do allow selective length of fur on a single surface, so that answered the concern about keeping the nose free of fur etc.  Here I've added longer fur to her muzzle and inside ears, for example.  The second picture exaggerates the effect.  When it gets too long and she definitely looks like she's having a bad hair day.

    Edit: hmm, problems attaching the pics.  I'll try that again later.

    Post edited by ericolsen on
  • ericolsenericolsen Posts: 350
    edited November 2021

    Okay, here are the pics (hopefully).  To me, in the picture with the green background, the fur effect looks about right.  If you look at the top of her head, the effect is set to practically zero, but the texture looks much more convincing as fur to my eye.

    Edit, nope, attaching images still not working.

    Post edited by ericolsen on
  • Okay here they are.
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  • randym77randym77 Posts: 276

    I like the green background better, too!

  • randym77 said:

    I like the green background better, too!

    Haha yes!  She still looks like a stuffed animal, but it's fun playing around to see how far you can push towards realism. If I wanted to start pulling my own hair out, I could fire up that Look At My Hair...I never really did figure out how to use that thing!!

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