Well done everyone.
I know it's been hard spending time uploading your work to this blog, but I'm glad you all persisted with it and I hope you all got something in return.
There has been some really impressive work presented here and you've all shown a great understanding of modeling and general 3D processes.
Unfortunately I will be away for your Masters Show...I'll be having a few beers on a beach in Australia!
Anyway, I hope the show goes well, good luck with everything and make sure to keep in touch.
cheers
Andrew
Tuesday 11 September 2007
Monday 10 September 2007
Final MA submission
Hi All,
Just thought I would follow Phil's example and post the piece that I handed in on Friday. Pretty happy with it, although there are a few things that I will be amending, such as the square bicep...........I did actually fix that, and then accidentally pressed the wrong button in ZBrush which messed everything up when I tried to render it, so I will do that again. So here is my "One man and his dog":
As Phil has already said, congrats to everyone on finishing and best of luck for the future. Also, thanks again to Andrew, whose advice has been invaluable!
Cheers,
Dan
Just thought I would follow Phil's example and post the piece that I handed in on Friday. Pretty happy with it, although there are a few things that I will be amending, such as the square bicep...........I did actually fix that, and then accidentally pressed the wrong button in ZBrush which messed everything up when I tried to render it, so I will do that again. So here is my "One man and his dog":
As Phil has already said, congrats to everyone on finishing and best of luck for the future. Also, thanks again to Andrew, whose advice has been invaluable!
Cheers,
Dan
Saturday 8 September 2007
Philip Pendlebury - Final Masters Model
Hey Andrew and fellow tired geeks!
wow time flys.
Here are some screenshots taken for the handin..
Apologies for not really posting over the last weeks, my head has been down and its not come up until now. Missed out of some good advice im sure. We handed in yesturday and im still in abit of a daze! the two images were subitted for the project and show where i had got to in the modelling.
This was all rendered in zbrush, and i didnt manage to get the displacements working in xsi in time, so that is my next challenge ready for the show. I also want to work into the texture more, plus sort out a number of sculpting issues with both the armour and the characters body.
I will post a turntable here once these niggles have been sorted :)
Andrew, thanks for all the time and advice you have given over the weeks, its been extrememly helpful and muchly appreciated. Ive herd that you wont be attending our Masters show, which is a shame as i wanted to give my thanks in person rather then over the internet.
well,
All the best,
and Well done everybody !!!!!!!
Phil.
wow time flys.
Here are some screenshots taken for the handin..
Apologies for not really posting over the last weeks, my head has been down and its not come up until now. Missed out of some good advice im sure. We handed in yesturday and im still in abit of a daze! the two images were subitted for the project and show where i had got to in the modelling.
This was all rendered in zbrush, and i didnt manage to get the displacements working in xsi in time, so that is my next challenge ready for the show. I also want to work into the texture more, plus sort out a number of sculpting issues with both the armour and the characters body.
I will post a turntable here once these niggles have been sorted :)
Andrew, thanks for all the time and advice you have given over the weeks, its been extrememly helpful and muchly appreciated. Ive herd that you wont be attending our Masters show, which is a shame as i wanted to give my thanks in person rather then over the internet.
well,
All the best,
and Well done everybody !!!!!!!
Phil.
Tuesday 4 September 2007
Demo Reel Advice
Hey Dan
Good question!
- Keep everything SIMPLE, no fancy camera moves, no out of the box effects.
- Only show your BEST WORK (don't put work on just because you have it)
- Don't show a model or sequence twice. Allow enough time to show what you need without boring the viewer, but never show it again later on just to fill in space. If people want to see it again, they know where the rewind button is.
- Adapt your reel to the skillset you want to apply for. eg: modeling, vfx, rigging.
- Make the first thing on your demo reel the best thing they see.
- Don't add a credit list that says Jo Bloe - Director, Jo Bloe - Animator, Jo Bloe - Sound Engineer, Jo Bloe - Idiot...
The best way to show a model is to do a turntable. This is not always the case, but it is easy to view, simple and this is the way you will show your work on a daily basis at most jobs.
- Start with a rendered wireframe (one sided mesh)
- An ambient occlusion style render (with displacement if available)
- Finished model (textured/shaded/lighting)
You can break the textured/shaded/lighting one up separately, but it will probably look better on a single still frame.
Feel free to add a checker board texture to the turntable render, maybe after the wireframe. Make sure it looks nice though. There is nothing worse than seeing a model which has a contrasting tile pattern repeated 1000x creating a flickering effect.
If you don't want to show a checker, then you can just as easily edit in a snapshot of your UVs.
Most importantly, resist the urge to do a dozen turns on the turntable. Judge it yourself but don't make it too long.
A couple of other things to remember...
The person watching your demo reel will be very busy and if they are actively hiring they will have a mountain of DVDs to watch. It's brutal, but you can usually tell someone's ability in the first 3 seconds of a demo reel. Show the viewer something that makes you stand out from all the other students! Show that you understand how to model a character and why you chose to do displacement in certain areas instead of bump. If you want a job in VFX, then try to recreate a real world object and show the reference images you used. If you want to do feature animation work, then create a stylised real world object or character.
Remember that the person hiring is going to have a good idea of what to expect from a student, regardless of prior job experience or other artistic skills. So don't feel obliged to put heaps on your reel. I have probably already told you, but I hired a person whose reel was less than 30sec long. It contained a single turntable of a model accompanied by a list of his previous jobs and a nice resume. On the other hand, I have lost count of the amount of demo reels I've received which don't even show any modeling on them...you can guess where they ended up!
I hope that helps!
Keep it simple, keep it short, keep it looking professional...
cheers
Andrew
Good question!
- Keep everything SIMPLE, no fancy camera moves, no out of the box effects.
- Only show your BEST WORK (don't put work on just because you have it)
- Don't show a model or sequence twice. Allow enough time to show what you need without boring the viewer, but never show it again later on just to fill in space. If people want to see it again, they know where the rewind button is.
- Adapt your reel to the skillset you want to apply for. eg: modeling, vfx, rigging.
- Make the first thing on your demo reel the best thing they see.
- Don't add a credit list that says Jo Bloe - Director, Jo Bloe - Animator, Jo Bloe - Sound Engineer, Jo Bloe - Idiot...
The best way to show a model is to do a turntable. This is not always the case, but it is easy to view, simple and this is the way you will show your work on a daily basis at most jobs.
- Start with a rendered wireframe (one sided mesh)
- An ambient occlusion style render (with displacement if available)
- Finished model (textured/shaded/lighting)
You can break the textured/shaded/lighting one up separately, but it will probably look better on a single still frame.
Feel free to add a checker board texture to the turntable render, maybe after the wireframe. Make sure it looks nice though. There is nothing worse than seeing a model which has a contrasting tile pattern repeated 1000x creating a flickering effect.
If you don't want to show a checker, then you can just as easily edit in a snapshot of your UVs.
Most importantly, resist the urge to do a dozen turns on the turntable. Judge it yourself but don't make it too long.
A couple of other things to remember...
The person watching your demo reel will be very busy and if they are actively hiring they will have a mountain of DVDs to watch. It's brutal, but you can usually tell someone's ability in the first 3 seconds of a demo reel. Show the viewer something that makes you stand out from all the other students! Show that you understand how to model a character and why you chose to do displacement in certain areas instead of bump. If you want a job in VFX, then try to recreate a real world object and show the reference images you used. If you want to do feature animation work, then create a stylised real world object or character.
Remember that the person hiring is going to have a good idea of what to expect from a student, regardless of prior job experience or other artistic skills. So don't feel obliged to put heaps on your reel. I have probably already told you, but I hired a person whose reel was less than 30sec long. It contained a single turntable of a model accompanied by a list of his previous jobs and a nice resume. On the other hand, I have lost count of the amount of demo reels I've received which don't even show any modeling on them...you can guess where they ended up!
I hope that helps!
Keep it simple, keep it short, keep it looking professional...
cheers
Andrew
Monday 3 September 2007
General Showreel Advice!
Hi Andrew,
Cheers for the feedback. Will try and sort out those two issues, although it might have to be a post hand-in tweak.
I was just wondering what sort of thing you guys in indusrty would like to see on a modelling showreel? At the moment I am planning to show a wireframe, a lambert with ambient occlusion turn and obviously the fully textured model. I have had some conflicting advice as to whether to add in a checkerboard turn as well.
I am sure that all the other modellers would be keen to know what you would suggest as it is coming up to that sort of time.
Many thanks for all your help over the last two terms.
Cheers,
Dan
Cheers for the feedback. Will try and sort out those two issues, although it might have to be a post hand-in tweak.
I was just wondering what sort of thing you guys in indusrty would like to see on a modelling showreel? At the moment I am planning to show a wireframe, a lambert with ambient occlusion turn and obviously the fully textured model. I have had some conflicting advice as to whether to add in a checkerboard turn as well.
I am sure that all the other modellers would be keen to know what you would suggest as it is coming up to that sort of time.
Many thanks for all your help over the last two terms.
Cheers,
Dan
AM - Biker Dan
Hey Dan
This is looking great.
Two simple tweaks I would suggest:
- Adjust the shape of his left bicep near the elbow crease. The lighting shows that the muscle is looking a little too square. A small adjustment here will go a long way.
- Make sure the denim jean material rests flush with the skin of the biker above the hole on his right knee. At the moment there is a gap creating a deep shadow and a floating appearance.
It's always a good sign if the comments are this minor!
cheers
Andrew
This is looking great.
Two simple tweaks I would suggest:
- Adjust the shape of his left bicep near the elbow crease. The lighting shows that the muscle is looking a little too square. A small adjustment here will go a long way.
- Make sure the denim jean material rests flush with the skin of the biker above the hole on his right knee. At the moment there is a gap creating a deep shadow and a floating appearance.
It's always a good sign if the comments are this minor!
cheers
Andrew
Monday 27 August 2007
Dan - Biker WIP
Hi All,
Just been mucking around with lighting and textures for a while so I thought I would put up a bit of a work on progress. The lighting is not final but I do think that I would like to keep it on the darker side..........for me it just seems to work for the character. All comments and crits would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Dan
NB. Obviously, there is no dog in these images yet.........that is kind of my next step. I have also decided to sack off Final Gathering for this render as it is taking too long and the results are pretty average.
Just been mucking around with lighting and textures for a while so I thought I would put up a bit of a work on progress. The lighting is not final but I do think that I would like to keep it on the darker side..........for me it just seems to work for the character. All comments and crits would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Dan
NB. Obviously, there is no dog in these images yet.........that is kind of my next step. I have also decided to sack off Final Gathering for this render as it is taking too long and the results are pretty average.
Tuesday 21 August 2007
AM - Ritchie Medusa
Hey Ritchie
Good to see an update posted.
I checked out the model you sent me and it is in good condition and has the makings of a solid model. I was thinking that if you don't have much time left to rig all the snakes you could do some quick blendshapes to get them positioned, then if you need to animate/rig them later you can morph them back to their original straight pose. I would personally try and get the snakes looking all intertwined and natural before spending too much time rigging, just in case there isn't enough time to get everything completed and you get stuck with an electrocuted looking Medusa :)
Also, if you reduce the poly count on the snakes body and rely on the natural smoothness of subds you will be able to quickly position the snakes and get a look you are happy with.
I would also have all the snake heads facing the same direction similar to the ones on the back of the head. You have rotated the snakes on the top of the head to face forwards, but I would match them to the other snakes, then apply the body twist when you have rigged or are doing your blendshapes.
Looking forward to an update.
cheers
Andrew
Good to see an update posted.
I checked out the model you sent me and it is in good condition and has the makings of a solid model. I was thinking that if you don't have much time left to rig all the snakes you could do some quick blendshapes to get them positioned, then if you need to animate/rig them later you can morph them back to their original straight pose. I would personally try and get the snakes looking all intertwined and natural before spending too much time rigging, just in case there isn't enough time to get everything completed and you get stuck with an electrocuted looking Medusa :)
Also, if you reduce the poly count on the snakes body and rely on the natural smoothness of subds you will be able to quickly position the snakes and get a look you are happy with.
I would also have all the snake heads facing the same direction similar to the ones on the back of the head. You have rotated the snakes on the top of the head to face forwards, but I would match them to the other snakes, then apply the body twist when you have rigged or are doing your blendshapes.
Looking forward to an update.
cheers
Andrew
AM - Biker Dan
Looking good as always Dan. Sounds like you've been playing around with your displacement maps a lot which is great. Don't be afraid to use bump mapping, it's obviously not a s effective as displacement but you can use it for pores if necessary.
The displacement on his face is looking a little strong and in sharp around the nose and on his cheeks. Tone it down a little and let the shader take care of the rest.
I'm not sure what your plan is for the dog, but it would be great to pose him slightly. Maybe have him leaning away from the biker, but restrained by the bikers hand on his back plate. You could even have his head turned towards the cigar with a worried expression...
Anyway, it's looking great, so keep it up...
cheers
Andrew
The displacement on his face is looking a little strong and in sharp around the nose and on his cheeks. Tone it down a little and let the shader take care of the rest.
I'm not sure what your plan is for the dog, but it would be great to pose him slightly. Maybe have him leaning away from the biker, but restrained by the bikers hand on his back plate. You could even have his head turned towards the cigar with a worried expression...
Anyway, it's looking great, so keep it up...
cheers
Andrew
Friday 17 August 2007
Ritchie's OBJ
Hello everyone! I've put a few pics for you to have a look at andrew. The connections for the snakes has turned out well. So far shes modeled, rigged up and I'm on with the texturing. I'm doing a 4k map for the body and a 4k map for the snakes and i'll downsize them when it comes to rendering. I've sent you another obj also if you could have a look for me its much appreciated. Thanks again.
Thursday 16 August 2007
Dan - Biker WIP
Hey All,
Right.......having played around with ZBrush for a bit, my attention has turned to trying to recreate the displacement in XSI with varying success. Mental Ray keeps running out of memory and crashing when you try to get the geometry resolution to go low enouth to get any of the really fine details. Either that or the wrinkles that I have added seem to inflate at rendertime.........it looks pretty wierd! At the moment I am struggling to get the pore detail on the biker's chin and head to come out. I have tried using a combination of displacement and normal maps, as well as exporting out a higher res mesh from ZBrush. The problem seems to be a Mental ray one, but it is all to possible that i have over looked something.
At the moment I am thinking of sticking with the dispacement that i have and trying to add a bum map to the mesh to hopefully get those elusive pores........does that sound like a good idea???
Also, whilst trying to give my brain a break from pondering displacements,I have started to add in some textures.......so here is some of that as well:
mesh with displacement and a normal map (normal map just taken from the last few levels of subdivision, in order to try and pick up the fine detals only.
Right.......having played around with ZBrush for a bit, my attention has turned to trying to recreate the displacement in XSI with varying success. Mental Ray keeps running out of memory and crashing when you try to get the geometry resolution to go low enouth to get any of the really fine details. Either that or the wrinkles that I have added seem to inflate at rendertime.........it looks pretty wierd! At the moment I am struggling to get the pore detail on the biker's chin and head to come out. I have tried using a combination of displacement and normal maps, as well as exporting out a higher res mesh from ZBrush. The problem seems to be a Mental ray one, but it is all to possible that i have over looked something.
At the moment I am thinking of sticking with the dispacement that i have and trying to add a bum map to the mesh to hopefully get those elusive pores........does that sound like a good idea???
Also, whilst trying to give my brain a break from pondering displacements,I have started to add in some textures.......so here is some of that as well:
mesh with displacement and a normal map (normal map just taken from the last few levels of subdivision, in order to try and pick up the fine detals only.
Wednesday 15 August 2007
AM - Ollie
Hey Ollie
Malcolm is coming along nicely!
I've got a few notes for you regarding your model...
The bulge under his pectoral muscles seems a little sharp.
The waviness on the bottom of the pants seems to be incorrect. Remember that when it was made in the local sweat shop the length of the fabric would have been the same. It seems to me that you have tried to give it a natural wavy fabric appearance but in doing so you have changed the overall length instead of just scrunching up and pulling in/out. Once you apply some UV you can slap on a checker texture and make sure that there is not stretching. Also, it could really look great if you made the elastic on the short a lot tighter so that it sticks into the skin and creates an indentation.
The ankles need a little work. They are really close, but I think they would benefit from a little more attention and comparison to reference. Don't be afraid to add a little resolution here.
I have attached an image of the head with some of the areas I feel could do with some tweaks.
In order to make your life easier try and spend some time matching the camera better in XSI. Don't forget to look at the meta data on your photo and check the focal length you used, then use this in your 3D scene.
Overall though, he is looking great. There has been some good thought put into the topology and I'm sure this guy is going to look really impressive with the lighting setup you are considering.
cheers
Andrew
Malcolm is coming along nicely!
I've got a few notes for you regarding your model...
The bulge under his pectoral muscles seems a little sharp.
The waviness on the bottom of the pants seems to be incorrect. Remember that when it was made in the local sweat shop the length of the fabric would have been the same. It seems to me that you have tried to give it a natural wavy fabric appearance but in doing so you have changed the overall length instead of just scrunching up and pulling in/out. Once you apply some UV you can slap on a checker texture and make sure that there is not stretching. Also, it could really look great if you made the elastic on the short a lot tighter so that it sticks into the skin and creates an indentation.
The ankles need a little work. They are really close, but I think they would benefit from a little more attention and comparison to reference. Don't be afraid to add a little resolution here.
I have attached an image of the head with some of the areas I feel could do with some tweaks.
In order to make your life easier try and spend some time matching the camera better in XSI. Don't forget to look at the meta data on your photo and check the focal length you used, then use this in your 3D scene.
Overall though, he is looking great. There has been some good thought put into the topology and I'm sure this guy is going to look really impressive with the lighting setup you are considering.
cheers
Andrew
Tuesday 14 August 2007
AM - Emma WIP
Hey Emma
Your scene has the makings of something great and you are on the right track.
The approach you took with the ground is correct but you could save a lot of polygons by subdividing more locally to the areas you want resolution. This approach can leave the other areas very low res and light weight.
Another quick method other than using Zbrush or Mudbox would be to use procedural maps and generate a displaced ground plane to use as a starting point. You could even paint a complete environment map in Photoshop using everything from procedural maps to real world geographic maps and aeraial photographs and use this to generate a displaced ground.
If I was to do this I would create a base mesh in Maya/XSI using the local subdivision approach, then take it into Zbrush/Mudbox for additional detail. I would export a resolution that represented the overall volume and shape of the ground and output this for my scene. I would then use the remaining finer resolution divisions to use as a displacement map.
The important thing is that there are a number of ways to approach this, both procedurally and artistically but the most important thing is to put detail where you see it. At the moment your camera doesn't get too close to the ground and you could get away with just a procedural displacement on top of your current mesh.
Are you going to be matte painting in some background mountains to add depth to the final frame of your scene? It will really help the overall look and scale of the scene.
Don't be discouraged by how long the ground has taken, it is looking good and you've obviously learnt a lot from the task. Spend some time now adding a nice subtle displacement and working on an impressive shader which really helps describe the surface eg: wet, dry, mossy, dirty...
cheers
Andrew
Your scene has the makings of something great and you are on the right track.
The approach you took with the ground is correct but you could save a lot of polygons by subdividing more locally to the areas you want resolution. This approach can leave the other areas very low res and light weight.
Another quick method other than using Zbrush or Mudbox would be to use procedural maps and generate a displaced ground plane to use as a starting point. You could even paint a complete environment map in Photoshop using everything from procedural maps to real world geographic maps and aeraial photographs and use this to generate a displaced ground.
If I was to do this I would create a base mesh in Maya/XSI using the local subdivision approach, then take it into Zbrush/Mudbox for additional detail. I would export a resolution that represented the overall volume and shape of the ground and output this for my scene. I would then use the remaining finer resolution divisions to use as a displacement map.
The important thing is that there are a number of ways to approach this, both procedurally and artistically but the most important thing is to put detail where you see it. At the moment your camera doesn't get too close to the ground and you could get away with just a procedural displacement on top of your current mesh.
Are you going to be matte painting in some background mountains to add depth to the final frame of your scene? It will really help the overall look and scale of the scene.
Don't be discouraged by how long the ground has taken, it is looking good and you've obviously learnt a lot from the task. Spend some time now adding a nice subtle displacement and working on an impressive shader which really helps describe the surface eg: wet, dry, mossy, dirty...
cheers
Andrew
AM - Phil WIP
Hey Phil
Your rider model is looking cool, there are some really good signs of understanding topology and anatomy. I agree with you that the head still needs a little work. I would be interested in seeing what photographic reference you are using. From the looks of things I would say you are just using the wrong camera focal length or reference which uses a wide angle lens eg:28mm
When selecting reference its best to try and find images that feel flat and have been taken with longer lenses. Most photographers will shoot with a prime lens and not a zoom which means your best options for matching a camera lens would be 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm.
When we shoot digital doubles we have a lot more control over our images and measurements are taken of everything and we create Canon lenses in Maya to match the on set camera. We also de-warp our images to completely flatten our photos to remove any distortion from the lens. It's a completely different approach when you just grab images from the web, but it's important to find images that will make your life easy.
Anyway, if possible try and get a few more images that show different angles of a female head, then try and lattice the general proportions to get a more realistic model.
The approach you are taking for the wings is a safe approach. Modeling in the veins will help if you have any close-up shots. Plus the resolution of the mesh isn't going to hurt at render time anyway. Just make sure that when you create your texture maps that you concentrate and painting a seamless blend between the modeled veins and the wing so they feel combined and natural.
cheers
Andrew
Your rider model is looking cool, there are some really good signs of understanding topology and anatomy. I agree with you that the head still needs a little work. I would be interested in seeing what photographic reference you are using. From the looks of things I would say you are just using the wrong camera focal length or reference which uses a wide angle lens eg:28mm
When selecting reference its best to try and find images that feel flat and have been taken with longer lenses. Most photographers will shoot with a prime lens and not a zoom which means your best options for matching a camera lens would be 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm.
When we shoot digital doubles we have a lot more control over our images and measurements are taken of everything and we create Canon lenses in Maya to match the on set camera. We also de-warp our images to completely flatten our photos to remove any distortion from the lens. It's a completely different approach when you just grab images from the web, but it's important to find images that will make your life easy.
Anyway, if possible try and get a few more images that show different angles of a female head, then try and lattice the general proportions to get a more realistic model.
The approach you are taking for the wings is a safe approach. Modeling in the veins will help if you have any close-up shots. Plus the resolution of the mesh isn't going to hurt at render time anyway. Just make sure that when you create your texture maps that you concentrate and painting a seamless blend between the modeled veins and the wing so they feel combined and natural.
cheers
Andrew
Sunday 12 August 2007
Dan - Biker ZBrush WIP
Hey Y'All,
Just been on to the blog and seen that everyone seems to have chucked some stuff on so I thought that I would do the same!! Have been playing around with ZBrush for the last few days, got pretty close to a look that I was happy with and then, when thinking that i should test it to see if it works as a displacement map I found out that my UV's had shifted slightly.........this put a tiny bit of the leg over the edge of the UV tile and made everything go mad...........so make sure that you check and double check your UV layout!!! So after spending some time working out wither I could transfer the deformation onto a new mesh, I decided that it would probably be better to start again.
So here I am, I have just overtaken the point which I had reached previously, but have built in some flexibility this time so I can tweak some of the details........3D layers are cool!!
Anywho, here are some screen grabs of the model as it stands:
Laters,
D
Just been on to the blog and seen that everyone seems to have chucked some stuff on so I thought that I would do the same!! Have been playing around with ZBrush for the last few days, got pretty close to a look that I was happy with and then, when thinking that i should test it to see if it works as a displacement map I found out that my UV's had shifted slightly.........this put a tiny bit of the leg over the edge of the UV tile and made everything go mad...........so make sure that you check and double check your UV layout!!! So after spending some time working out wither I could transfer the deformation onto a new mesh, I decided that it would probably be better to start again.
So here I am, I have just overtaken the point which I had reached previously, but have built in some flexibility this time so I can tweak some of the details........3D layers are cool!!
Anywho, here are some screen grabs of the model as it stands:
Laters,
D
Phil - Wing W.I.P
Hey, heres where im at with the wings. far from complete but i managed to work out a quicker way to at least get them roughed out.
After testing dispalcements on flat planes, using alphas and bumps they all looked pretty bad.
to get the detail i want i would have to build each cell. I decided to use Zspheres in zbrush to fleshh out the shape. Heres my result:
These two images show the Zsphere rig. I constructed them on top of a reference dragonfly wing image.
Now im going to connect everything so its all closed and tidy it up, plus create the lower wing, which is slightly different to the top, but ill use this existing zsphere rig and move it about.
il then create two poly planes and make them the same shape and slot them in as the inner membrane, with some transparency. Fingers crossed it looks good.
Cheers
Phil.
After testing dispalcements on flat planes, using alphas and bumps they all looked pretty bad.
to get the detail i want i would have to build each cell. I decided to use Zspheres in zbrush to fleshh out the shape. Heres my result:
XSI render: So heres where im at currently. I have to connect each strand where you see a gap. This is becuase you cannot weld zspheres together. So if you have the start of your zshpere chain, you cannot link it to the end. Silly! Shouldnt take long :D
heres my wire frame, this is as low as i could go in zbrush. Although i think there are some settigns where ic an reduce things, ill also try that with xsi.
heres my wire frame, this is as low as i could go in zbrush. Although i think there are some settigns where ic an reduce things, ill also try that with xsi.
Heres the preview of the geometry in zbrush. You can switch between polymesh view and the zspheres below.
These two images show the Zsphere rig. I constructed them on top of a reference dragonfly wing image.
Now im going to connect everything so its all closed and tidy it up, plus create the lower wing, which is slightly different to the top, but ill use this existing zsphere rig and move it about.
il then create two poly planes and make them the same shape and slot them in as the inner membrane, with some transparency. Fingers crossed it looks good.
Cheers
Phil.
Friday 10 August 2007
Ollie, Malcolm so far...sorry it's late!
Hey Guys,Sorry I've been a bit lazy with the blog recently! Anyway this is what I've been up to...
As you guys know I'm modelling Malcolm for this project 'semi-realistically'. I want to capture him looking as natural as possible, and plan to pose him relaxing in a chair (Which will possibly be red, like the above picture). The lighting I'm going to use will be similar to the Caravaggio below. With a fixed light allowing me to bake final gather into the texture.. I think! The rest of the images show my progress so far, but I really hope you can give me some feedback on likeness, mesh flow or anything really! Before I begin UVing, and setting the pose.
Cheers dudes!
Details:
The Body and wires:
Trying to capture likness...
Zprojections test:
Story so far..!
Tuesday 7 August 2007
emma enviroment update
Hi Andrew, and fellow geeks, I hope all is well with you.
The pictures above of how the environment is developing. I need to dress it a bit more and randomise everything slightly, scruff it up a bit and make it look a bit more lived in. This is a link for the big shot of the environment, so I am now working everything for this shot. (I plan to tone down the green)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7GclYXN0rCU
The pictures above of how the environment is developing. I need to dress it a bit more and randomise everything slightly, scruff it up a bit and make it look a bit more lived in. This is a link for the big shot of the environment, so I am now working everything for this shot. (I plan to tone down the green)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7GclYXN0rCU
The biggest difficulty I’ve had is in creating a convincing floor, I originally thought it would be a quick job but has really eaten into my time and I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve built it. The pictures below show the wire frame, shaded and textured view of the displacement map of the current floor, I will develop the displacement map. after trying lots of different methods this was modeled with the paint push tool which is not the best for this sort of detail. I’ve not had any luck finding terrain type tutorials for this specifically in XSI, but plenty for other software. A similar technique is used in alot of them in which displacements maps are layered on top of each other. I’ve not managed replicate this method in XSi as I can’t seem to mix the textures. Although I'm not that happy with the floor its time I moved on from it, but if I have time I think I will have another go at modelling a basic terrain shape starting from a grid, and putting a displacement on. I’ve also thought about using Z-Brush, I’ve played briefly with it but wonder if it could take some time (that i don't have) to get used to it. Do you have any tips on a good, quick, simple way to go about this if I have time to do it again? My next step is to start texturing.
Saturday 4 August 2007
Phil Pendlebury - Final(ish) Pilot Topology
Hey geeks
Andrew, i hope your time away was productive, i can imagin it being quite a mission to get all the things done out there, plus resist the temptation of chilling as if your on holiday. Prague is definatly somewhere i want to visit one day.
Here is the final topology of my pilot before being posed. i wanted a solid figure underneath so the rest of the work fits well.
There are still afew tweaks to do, and any suggestions at this time would be greatly appreciated. im still iffy on the face. ive used alot of referece and it matches up against real heads, but when viewd without it still seems alittle bulky.
Ah yes, there are no ears, the final model will not show the ears as there is a skin tight skull cap thing with sensory wires coming from the ear area. You will see a bulge suggesting the ear underneath. I do want to create them just in case i want to show them, but at this stage they are no priority.
Ive rendered these in Zbrush just for speed and the use of a handy skin shader, but i only used XSI in the modelling.
Andrew, i will be sending you the obj file of this mesh shortly
Well now im busy creating all the biotech armour and wing pack.
Im thourally debating how to create a decent dragonfly wing. Andrew do you have any tips regarding realistic looking insect wings? Ive starting building each individual vein/cell on the wing, it takes time but im sure it will look pretty good and react well to lighting. Is this the best way to go?
I can now dress her accordingly and then after will pose her.
Im doing it this way so it forces me to consider how the armour reacts to a mesh which could be animated.
Well back to it i guess :)
Phil
Andrew, i hope your time away was productive, i can imagin it being quite a mission to get all the things done out there, plus resist the temptation of chilling as if your on holiday. Prague is definatly somewhere i want to visit one day.
Here is the final topology of my pilot before being posed. i wanted a solid figure underneath so the rest of the work fits well.
There are still afew tweaks to do, and any suggestions at this time would be greatly appreciated. im still iffy on the face. ive used alot of referece and it matches up against real heads, but when viewd without it still seems alittle bulky.
Ah yes, there are no ears, the final model will not show the ears as there is a skin tight skull cap thing with sensory wires coming from the ear area. You will see a bulge suggesting the ear underneath. I do want to create them just in case i want to show them, but at this stage they are no priority.
Ive rendered these in Zbrush just for speed and the use of a handy skin shader, but i only used XSI in the modelling.
Andrew, i will be sending you the obj file of this mesh shortly
Well now im busy creating all the biotech armour and wing pack.
Im thourally debating how to create a decent dragonfly wing. Andrew do you have any tips regarding realistic looking insect wings? Ive starting building each individual vein/cell on the wing, it takes time but im sure it will look pretty good and react well to lighting. Is this the best way to go?
I can now dress her accordingly and then after will pose her.
Im doing it this way so it forces me to consider how the armour reacts to a mesh which could be animated.
Well back to it i guess :)
Phil
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