3DArtZ

rendered this character with a shirt and jeans image from Abercrombie and Fitch.... and to think I wasted time modeling buttons and shirt pockets!!! lol Only quickly put this on the front of the model, but with a little photoshop work, online clothing stores could really help with an animation project!!! http://www.3dartz.com/vids/jeans&shirt.mov Mike Fitz www.3dartz.com

wow! looking great Ken! added some nice stuff like the roof lights! Mike Fitz

Mark, you might consider physically modelling some of the surface disruption that would happen when the whales come up out of the water like that. With some creative placement of the sprites, you could probably get what you're looking for. Also, Im sure you're aware, there would be water coming off the front flippers as well. I think it just needs more surface disruption then what you have. Mike Fitz

Mark, considering all elements of the image, I liked the first one the best. I felt RobCat was right with the ice looking the best int he first one. the splash is going to be difficult and Im interested to see how you pull it off. I really like the grey sky and the look of the water you have! Mike Fitz

pretty cool! the tops of the mountain like area in the 2nd image could pass for pretty good dino skin too!

She's got a tramp stamp!!!! nice.

Mark why dont you do us all a favor and stop taking pictures of real trees and trying to pass them off as 3d renders!!!! lol! very nice stuff! Mike Fitz www.3dartz.com

he's 4.5 inches tall. I used a company called vaupell http://www.vaupell.com/ they are in Massachusetts.

I had this guy in like 2005 or so, produced via stl, that I exported from A:M as an obj. Had it painted and sprayed with a clear coat. It was kinda pricey, but it helped get me some good work prototyping for a couple toy companies.... so it easily paid for it self... Mike Fitz www.3dartz.com

I did that to someone once:)!!! kidding! that was great!

this looks good. But there is no way in the world that his leg would be able to slide out like that during that kind of lift. If you are going to keep that leg move, then the body has to react to the impossibly heavy weight by falling to that side and regaining a foothold and new center of balance. dont take my crit in the wrong way. overall its pretty slick! Mike Fitz

you can either just turn the ball visibility off at the last frame or just have the ball go further past the camera. It would just be like if the dino thingy threw the ball a little faster

Why is the model legs mesh so dense? is that to aid in the cloth simulation?

I dont think that there are any tutorials... but it basically uses the built in tools.... what you do is put jaw bone in and attach control points that you think accurately make up all the control points for lower jaw. then do the same for the upper jaw and nose. then do the same for the other areas of the head you think you will need to move control points for. Eyeballs get bones put in so that you can move them inside the head, like typical eyeball bones. All children of the head bone(so that if you do a distortion on the whole head bone all the children/control points will distort relatively.) then, select the model, create new pose, select the lower jaw bone control points, lock rest of them and hit the dbox icon. the desired control points will be put into dbox mode. You can also apply the dbox to be parented to the actual jaw bone, but to my knowledge there is something not working as expected there so your best bet is to just turn on dbox(at top of window,dbox button) mode with the appropriate control points lock/unlocked. the # of dbox control points can be adjusted to suit your control needs. This is really just a quick way of making a pose, moving individual control points. But I find with the dbox(or even magnet) you can quickly move large number of control points and keep the mesh pretty smooth all the while. You're milage might vary depending on how you like to work... Hope this give you an idea... Mike Fitz

Pretty cool Mark! maybe ur thinking this, down the road, but how about a texture map or something to change the color(darker?) of the skin under the hair??? Mike Fitz www.3dartz.com

U know what I meant:) no but seriously I mean the poses, when I said morph targets. Im not rigging the dboxes anymore as I have not been able to get them to work in that way for a long time now...

Honestly... the fastest and easiest way is to use d-boxes to give you the morph targets. I used to spend a lot of time trying to creativly rig bones in the face to get desired results, but its much easier to have 1 bone make up the lower jaw and mouth, one bone to make up the upper mouth and nose and one bone for each eye, all children of the head bone.(so that if you want to deform the whole head and have all elements deform intact u apply it to the head bone) then apply a deformer for each region and shape. A:M is great at creating smooth blends between multiple morph targets. Im sure there are downsides, but if your out to quickly get it going, then thats what I recommend. Mike Fitz www.3dartz.com

Hmmm, I remember missing out on the first one... maybe I can get involved in this one!!! is it cool to use v13 or v14???? Mike Fitz www.3dartz.com

Wow that has made a big jump! Cool!

can u do something to darken the sand that is in contact with the water line? like the point where the water meets the land line and then gradually have it fall off to the normal dry colored sand. I think it would add some nice detail to what you have going... Mike Fitz www.3dartz.com

the splines look pretty good to me. I cant see any area that has too many splines, based on the shape. Maybe the nostrils/nose could be cut down a bit, but looks like you were using the bare minimum. cool! Mike Fitz www.3dartz.com

Looks cool! A little like Jar Jar Binks or maybe his long lost cousin!!! Can we see a shaded wireframe???

I know this is an OLD guy, who is probably stiff from age:) but try getting the lower back and hips involved in the body action! nice model

Draagn! thanks for the bday wish! very much appreciated! as far as the product, I also say go for it! Maybe a small run at first to see interest levels. If you can get the product into a Walmart or other type stores, you could very well make a nice profit!