Seraphim

[Mr. Jaqe]

I like it, but I see that the "armpit" is moving into the torso, when the arm bends. I like smartskin *wink*

[Scottj3d]

I like it, but I see that the "armpit" is moving into the torso, when the arm bends. I like smartskin *wink*

Ahh but I now understand why we should be rigging during the modelling process. It allows us to "refine" our mesh as we build. By testing it in the chor we can bounce back and forth between the modl and chor windows to tweak out undesirable appearances. This is what I have done simply by breaking the spline running under the pit and hooking it so that I still have the upper part for shape but got rid of the bottom with the cp's that were causing the crease(it didn't matter which bone I gave control to as either caused a crease). There is another spline there that is rendering a slight crease but I am confident that I can eliminate it by modifying the "creaser" the same way I did with the one that caused the bad crease. This has no smartskin or cogs as yet. I'll post a new .mov as soon as I get it worked out.

[Scottj3d]

Here we go. Still refining...well actually I am going back to the actual model.

Refined.mov

[Scottj3d]

OK, here is a test to see the feathers would fold right. I'm pretty happy with it(but not my animating skill's). I had a heck of a time meeting the 1 meg max limit for posting an animation. I have removed the upper geometry of the wing as I am going to use some transparency decals on a less dense mesh to define where these feathers meet the rest of the wing. The guy's in the rigging area are very knowledgeable and patient to boot! I am finally getting a loose handle on rigging and it will change my approach to modelling for movement or just posing for stills. I have learned alot this last week.

wing2.mov

[Scottj3d]

And here I have improved my transparency for the face shield as well as the bad one. I dusted off my head from my first WIP on the forum and fixed some splines(it's cool to go back and see how differently you modelled a year ago) to give this guy a face but I am still re-hashing the head mesh. I had trouble with the nostrils and today when I copied him in it took maybe a couple of minutes to figure out how to fix it.

[John Keates]

That is looking really nice. I don't remember seeing the head - there are so many WIPs here. It looks really nice (what I can see of it behind the helmet).

 

Once you have some texture on the metal this thing is going to look really impressive.

[Scottj3d]

That is looking really nice.  I don't remember seeing the head - there are so many WIPs here.  It looks really nice (what I can see of it behind the helmet).

 

Once you have some texture on the metal this thing is going to look really impressive.

Thank's John! I posted it about a year ago. It was my 3rd attempt at my 1st head if that makes sense. I can see many things I want to fix now (eyes and sockets particularly) and am working on a better decal and have the teeth(also 1st WIP) about ready. The decal is a photo of my face that I have steadily (occaisionally) been improving. You can't see it too well through the shield which I was counting on. I have some bump maps I'm playing with but they are not applied here. I originally thought this guy was going to go together faster but for a change I'm taking my time and learning to use more of A.M than modelling a non-rigged static model(which has proven to be a challenge). As for texture I am not sure how to properly use materials to give the armor the metallic look but will by the time I get this guy into the showcase for my 1st post there(Next Year!!! L.O.L). I'd like to hear any ideas you have on using materials(everybody). This render is using th default lighting. I've downloaded Yves skylight plugin but haven't become familiar with it yet. I pulled the shield off of him for this render to give you a better look.

[Scottj3d]

Finally getting closer to a steel with diffuse and property settings. Now to hammer it up a bit. Revised my head mesh as well.

[Guest RemoteViewer]

*Deleted*

[Scottj3d]

Originally a rotoscope photo. But tonight I resplined it (in spots) freehand. I'll get some comparison wires together and post them. What seemed very hard is seen very differently now.I know these splines well. Still tweaking the decal. I cant wait to see what it looks like in a year. Heh,Heh!

[Scottj3d]

As promised here are the wires. I basically wanted to clean it up a bit. I hated all those hook's. The side show's better what I have done. Old mesh on the left.

[Scottj3d]

And the front.

[Fuchur]

I really like your work... you head looks great, and your arm is although a nice piece of work...

 

*Fuchur*

[Scottj3d]

I really like your work... you head looks great, and your arm is although a nice piece of work..

Thanks Gerald! Well he's getting rigged this weekend after all the practice on the parts last week. I have the armor looking like steel but it's still very clean. I tried some roughness adjustments in the properties window and need to experiment with getting the hammered look right. I have some bumpmap ideas but may only need to do that for close up work. I have a lighter version I am working on as this guy has gained weight in A.M. I'll be removing the wings and replacing them with the hybrid after rigging and testing the body. Joakim...check out that Beer Belly, there is still a slight bulge to the belt but I think it looks better and I think his eyes are too white.

[Scottj3d]

Just for kick's here is the first attempt at the hammering.

[Dhar]

That's some pretty hammering effect. Did you manipulate Roughness & Scale?

[Scottj3d]

That's some pretty hammering effect. Did you manipulate Roughness & Scale?

Yes. I've never messed with the settings other than diffuse and specular color and size. I'm still not sure if I like it. It might be cool to try renaming a few groups and combining the smooth with a hammered finish. Smooth around the neck and shoulders. I think I'll try some decals to "dent and scratch" the armor just a bit. It took me a couple day's to figure out the steel so if anyone's interested I'll try to explain it. Diffuse (medium gray)Specular color(White) Specular size(272%) Intensity(154%)Reflectivity(73.33%)presently(50%)and reflectivity(170cm) but there is room to play. Hammered,Roughness(1)Scale(10-15, could be (30) but I have deleted it so I'm not sure). I've seen some nicer metallics on other peoples work but I am happy with this for now. Now back to rigging. Thanks!

[camzilla]

As promised here are the wires. I basically wanted to clean it up a bit. I hated all those hook's. The side show's better what I have done. Old mesh on the left.

I noticed the that you changed the 5 point patches into 3 point patches. Does that cause any problems with the look.

[Scottj3d]

I noticed the that you changed the 5 point patches into 3 point patches. Does that cause any problems with the look.

The head render that Remote Viewer said look's just like me(silver helmet) is after I made that change and it appears to have smoothed out the mesh in that area just under the eye about even with where the nose blends to the cheek. I don't know if this will be a problem animating but I look at it the way it is now and just "feel" it is better than the 5pointer. The 5pointer had some odd effect on the patch making it look indented where the cheek bone would peak. I probably could have adjusted the bias handles but I have no experience doing that so I opted to re-think the way it was splined.

[Guest RemoteViewer]

*Deleted*

[Scottj3d]

One advantage of using 3 point patches is that when you export to a polygon format (3DS, .X etc.) you will not get nasty holes in your mesh. That is why I never use 5 point patches or hooks as I like everything I work on to be able to be used in game engines.

 

So from my point of view, I like the improvements you made to your mesh Scott. It means I have a better chance of seeing your character in a gaming environment. 

 

Maybe you will end up collaborating with FelineWitch on Fata Morgana:Birth of Angels, the RPG game she is trying to create. 

Ain't that a HOOT! I have to admit somehow I feel flattered! I have pictured him slaying a dragon I'm also working on (or re-working on because I lost all but the first stages of the model), or an (Still Image) of him fighting the army of the dead or something. The thought of him as a game character has never even entered the old gray matter. Here is a sneek peek at Drago's. In it's current state it has grain crunching teeth on the lower jaw, as it was originally the Ram skull I use for my avatar. Hmmm...Too much to process!

[Scottj3d]

And here with some attempts at decaling at the point where Windows 98 went squirrely and ate my model(I really like XP) but I know so much more now than I did then. Anyway's back to Seraphim....I am gonna finish him!!!

[Scottj3d]

Ok, just one more....The concept. An airbrush mural I did just because I like Dragons. I'm fighting the urge to work on him! Back to Seraphim..yeah that's it!

[Scottj3d]

Almost there! I have the wings off until I work out the upper feathers.

[Scottj3d]

Still working on it! I have been working on the wing decals for a few days now. This is the spline modification I have decided to go with. Instead of using splines to get the detail I want (and to lighten the model) I am using a cookie cut and a bump decal. The cookie cut gives it the transition from the main wing to the flight feathers. The pic in this post shows the old wing verses the new one and the geometry I have cut back on.

[Scottj3d]

And here is where the decals are at this point. It still isn't exactly how I want it to look but close. I have made about ten or twelve decals to get it here...Apply...render...nope not yet, over and over but it is getting closer. I have the rigging down for the most part and have copied half the model except the head to make all the spline mod's I made while testing and tweaking the older version of the model. Once I have the decal to a point where I am happy with it I'll copy and paste the left half in and hopefully not have to place the decals on the left side... It's a real pain! The wings come off the body at an angle and even flattening them the decals are not easy to line up with each other. This is a side shot to show the "bump" effect.

[Scottj3d]

And the front.

[Scottj3d]

Still working on the upper wingbumps.

[Dhar]

<eyes out of focus - head tilted back - tongue sticking out - drooling - Homer sound ghghghghgh>

 

That is some awsome work!!!

 

A++++++++

[Scottj3d]

 

That is some awsome work!!!

 

A++++++++

Thank's Dhar! I found that hand drawing the decal for the feather's then scanning it back into the PC and editing it from there, helped get the effect I was looking for. I am still trying to improve it but am very happy with the result's using decal's so far.

[Mr. Jaqe]

and to think that I once said it looked like he had a beerbelly(the model)... Im not worthy!

[Scottj3d]

and to think that I once said it looked like he had a beerbelly(the model)... Im not worthy!

Consider it a contribution towards a higher goal! All input is worthy. He's doing crunches regularly now.