JTalbotski Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 Hi all, Here's a render of the new hair from v11 alpha. The image has been softened with this free plugin that I love, DreamyPhoto. You can get it, for Mac and Windows, here: http://www.autofx.com/freeplugins/dreamyphoto.asp?id=7 I still have some things to fix, like the hair penetrating her ear. And since I removed her gloves, I need to add fingernails. Her fingers are also penetrating the gun. It took 4 hours and 47 minutes to render this because I have three wide raytrace lights with 9-11 rays cast, reflections turned on (the gun!), the particle hair and 5 pass multipass. I didn't have the patience for 16 passes. I rendered the image with an alpha channel and so was able to add the soft background colors in photoshop. I'm loving the new hair! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted November 19, 2003 Author Share Posted November 19, 2003 And here's a jpeg of the actual render to show the difference the DreamyPhoto plugin makes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted November 19, 2003 Author Share Posted November 19, 2003 I should have statted that the plugin is a Photoshop plugin, not an A:M plugin. Which leads me to ask, would it be possible to allow Photoshop plugins work in A:M, through the post effects maybe? Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbesch Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 This is by all means one of the finest cg-pictures I ever saw. Absolutely outstanding, Jim! Norbert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachBG Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 I want her phone number. Seriously, beautiful work as usual... Zach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Smith Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 *falls off his chair* Wow. Seeing work like this is the best encouragement to keep truckin'. *at a loss for words* I mean, good Lord, Jim Talbot, where did you learn to render like that?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 There's something to say about a good looking woman that likes guns Nice work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haikalle Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 I'm spechless... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRToonMike Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 amazing render . And the compostition is awesome, too. Well worth the render time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerrazzi Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 That hair is really nice! and as usual, your characters are on target! I like that exaggerated look.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnArtbox Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 Lovely image Jim. The plugin looks like it combines a soften and bloom? One day I'd like to see your character's animated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted November 19, 2003 Author Share Posted November 19, 2003 Thanks for the comments everyone! Someday *I* would like to see my characters animated! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Reynolds Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 What sort of ammunition is she using? I'm assuming bullets with phosphorescent heads that illuminate the inside of the barrel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted November 20, 2003 Author Share Posted November 20, 2003 What sort of ammunition is she using? I'm assuming bullets with phosphorescent heads that illuminate the inside of the barrel. Ha! Yeah, I probably should have avoided making the inside of the barrel reflective. I think it lit itself up. Oh, I did have one light shining right at the front of the gun, darn it. Looks like another long wait for a render coming up. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vong Posted November 20, 2003 Share Posted November 20, 2003 Awesome image... liked it so much that I mad it my desktop wallpaper... That's when I noticed that she has no fingernails!!!!! Other than that, great work once again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lium Posted November 20, 2003 Share Posted November 20, 2003 Great job as always . Show Off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dagooos Posted November 20, 2003 Share Posted November 20, 2003 Hair looks very realistic, luv the style! The mix of realistic and cartoony proportions I think you hit the nail right on the head. nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raillard Posted November 20, 2003 Share Posted November 20, 2003 Hello! This is a great picture! Please submit this one for the mascot contest next year! Sincerely, Carl Raillard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimos Posted November 20, 2003 Share Posted November 20, 2003 JT, You are a modeling genious. Teach me please! With Love:blink: (in a buddy-kinda-hey-pal way) Dimos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francois Posted November 20, 2003 Share Posted November 20, 2003 Hi Jim ... or shall I say "Spline Man" Great work (as always). You must be the guy I've seen who's got A:M best under control. I wish I knew how you get a model in AM so smooth. Are you 100% AM compatible or do you just have the world's patience? By the way, I'm using the same type of effect in my current project (A Music Video), however, in Ulead products it's on board (not a plug-in). Enough rambling... If you hadn't mentioned the finger nails and hair I wouldn't have noticed as I think you are "the Man" and I don't scout any pictures of your's for mistakes. (They are truly few) Great work Francois Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted November 20, 2003 Author Share Posted November 20, 2003 Thanks guys! Francois, if you want your models smooth, try to make all your patches as square as possible and then add the new porcelain. I does wonders, especially to 5 point patches. A:M and I are pretty compatible, but I do have a good deal of patience, too. I hope to have a new render up later tonight with the fixes. Thanks again, Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Posted November 20, 2003 Share Posted November 20, 2003 Good Lord! I have one word.... WOW!!!! Amazing work Jim, maybe one day, you can teach me a few things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zacktaich Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 Thats cgtalk front page material, can I see a wire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazarter Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 That is so awesome. A thousand thumbs ups!!!!! I agree with zack, that is Cgtalk front page material>! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeHart Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 ... and then add the new porcelain. .... Hello Jim, great work here and she's one hell of a b...h New porcelain??? Did I miss something or did you ment the porcelain material that is one the 2003 CD? Greetings Michael Hartlef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex1342 Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 Hello Jim, this is a phenomenal work. I think your style is great. Is it inappropriate to ask you for a picture of a spline-render? I would like to learn how to set up such a wonderful face. To see how many splines are necessary and where to put them, would help me (and maybe many other newbies) a lot. Thank you very much in advance. LX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted November 21, 2003 Author Share Posted November 21, 2003 Thanks again for your comments, guys. I may post this at CGTalk, when I get it right. Mike- Yes, I meant the porcelain from the 2003 CD. Sorry I wasn't clear on that. And are you calling my character a "brush"? For those who wanted to see a wire, here's a combined image of the labeled renders. I turned off reflections to try to save on render time, but unfortunately that also took most of the highlights from her eyes. I should have just turned it off for the gun. Duh. And I forgot to turn on the alpha buffer. Double duh. I don't like the puffiness of her hands and the way the wrist bends, so I'll have to work on that. Anything else that doesn't look quite right? Thanks, Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeHart Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 And are you calling my character a "brush"? no no, I meant bitch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted November 21, 2003 Author Share Posted November 21, 2003 I know what you meant! I was just offering a softer alternative. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted November 21, 2003 Hash Fellow Share Posted November 21, 2003 I like the character. The proportions remind me somewhat of Gerry Anderson's "Supermarionation" characters (minus the strings, a 60's thing). What would ultimately be necessary to eliminate the aliasing of the hair strands? Would scaling down a larger render do it? Also, the geometry on the very top of the head looks unusual (lots of apparently three point patches). Are we really looking at two layers of geometry there; something to do with generating the hair? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted November 21, 2003 Author Share Posted November 21, 2003 robcat2075, Thanks. The 3 point patches you see on the head are actually the guide hairs overlapping 4 point patches. The guide hairs are splines also. So I guess they show up in a wireframe render, too. If I increased the number of passes in the multipass render, I think a lot of the aliasing would be taken care of. I only did 5 pass in this render. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3DArtZ Posted November 22, 2003 Share Posted November 22, 2003 Hey Jim, I'm totally lovin the character! I think the fold in the hip area on the dress is just the best. I don't know so simple but so effective. My only crit from the first image, no the three stacked side by side.... what'shappening with the shoulder? How are you controlling this? It seems like you are just not allwoing any z axis rotation in the joint. Comparing to the latest 3 side by side images. Anyhows... killer! Mike Fitz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted November 22, 2003 Share Posted November 22, 2003 The guide hairs are splines also. So I guess they show up in a wireframe render, too. If you turn off Show Particles, the guide hairs will go away. Freakin' awesome image BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted November 22, 2003 Author Share Posted November 22, 2003 Thanks Mike and Randy! Mike, I actually changed the model that's seen in the first image to fix that issue. I added a second bicep bone that will control the roll of the upper arm without messing up the shoulder. I think the results look better in the triple image. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3DArtZ Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Jim, the second set of images absolutely look better. Awesome stuff. Going to be animated? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nino banano Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 great model and great render, I like a lot... the face has a nice cool expression ... congratulations Jim... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted November 23, 2003 Author Share Posted November 23, 2003 Thanks! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfirestine Posted November 24, 2003 Share Posted November 24, 2003 Fantastic! How the heck do you texture map a model like this? Excellent model, character and composition! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted November 24, 2003 Author Share Posted November 24, 2003 Thanks! I usually create groups of areas to texture, such as, face, back of head, palm of hand, back of hand, etc. Then I hide everything except one of the groups and create a new pose, flatten the group and tweak the cp's so there are no overlapping splines, press shift-z to make the flattened area fill the window and do a screen capture. I will open that in an image editor (Photoshop), and crop it to the window size, save it as a targa file and import it into A:M, which I left open with the pose window as it was. I create a new decal and choose the targa file I just made and when it appears it should be just about perfectly positioned, adjust if needed. Apply the decal and save your model. Then you go back to Photoshop, save the targa file as a layered Photoshop file with the same name as the targa, but with the .psd extension. Then use the screen capture as a template layer, set to multiply, above the other painting layers you create under it. (I usually adjust the levels of the screen capture so that it is just a white image with black lines.) Then paint away to create the textures. Do a "save as" making it a targa with the same exact name as the original targa file you applied to the flattened group. Render that section to see what it looks like. Go back to Photoshop and make any needed changes. Repeat as neccessary. For areas that are difficult to decal I use patch images. Create a group, ie. right ear, and drag an image you've imported of a patch of skin to that group. Done. HTH, Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GCharb Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 Hello Jim! Great work indeed. I was wondering if i should use AM for my next project, that model sure makes me think hard. The way porcelain is handled now sure is much better, but i get plack patches where my 5 pointers lies, tried redo them many ways but no success, any suggestions? hmm, i will have to start posting more to the forum if i want to get rid of that newbie label! Again, love the work, and from your splineage i'd say she'd animate real well, when do we get to see her in action? Gilles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dagooos Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 The only time I ever get black patches is when the normals are not facing out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted December 5, 2003 Author Share Posted December 5, 2003 Thanks, Gilles. Dagooos is right about the 5 point patches with the normals facing the wrong way. Once you flip them they still might not look right but save the project and then open it again and they should be better. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modernhorse Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 Jim - I just saw this thread and am now picking my jaw up off the floor. Simply fantastic work. What a character. Heavy congrats!! I know you're probably a very busy guy but have you thought of doing any tutorials? Modeling and texturing. In fact, take it a step further and I'll bet you could do a training video and I would quickly whip out the plastic. I'm sure others would too. Just a thought. I'm gonna go look at her again now. My goodness!!!! Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GCharb Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 hanks a bunch to both of you, i had not thought about reloading the models. Again congratulation on that inspiring work Jim! Gilles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GCharb Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 Hello again! Made a little porcelain test with one of the cd's model, here's how it turned out to look after some tweaking. Thanks again for the tips guys! http://pages.infinit.net/gcharbee/jane.jpg Gilles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted December 6, 2003 Author Share Posted December 6, 2003 Doug, Thanks, glad you like her! I have considered doing a tutorial about modeling and texturing, but I don't really do anything original. I probably do it the way everyone else does with endless tweaking and flattening and screen captures and all. But I think there are *three* equally important parts to rendering good 3D models. Modeling, texturing and lighting. If any of those areas are weak the whole image suffers. I tend to do dozens of progresive and final renders trying to find the right lighting set up. But I only show the ones I like. And thanks agin, Gilles. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleandy Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 No! Do a tutorial! I went to your website to find something and all I could find was some wireframes- not how you put them together. I would pay a billion dollars- well, that is if I wasn't broke- to do that kind of stuff- especially texturing. I'm stumbling around in the dark with that. And my lighting stinks! Or at least come up with some more pointers. How was it that you were able to have your guides crisscross like you did on the sides of the head above the ears? It seems like the program wouldn't enjoy that very much at all. -Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Keates Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 Wow, I can't believe that I missed this one! Amazing work as usual Jim. Glad to see that she is maintaining her demeanour and looking lovely as ever. This photo.. err I mean render shows of her stylized features more. If only there was a way to get faster and smoother soft-shadows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted December 6, 2003 Author Share Posted December 6, 2003 Andrew, I will *think* about doing a tutorial on texturing, but most of the work I do will be in Photoshop not A:M, since I rarely use materials for textures. They render slower and aren't as controllable as a hand drawn decal. The ability of materials to be resolution independent is important to many people. But I rarely will have a such an extreme close up that I need to show pores of the characters skin. I think trying to be so photorealistic is a hindrance to being creative and getting anything done. So if I did a tutorial, some people might be surprised (even disappointed?) how little detail I put in my textures. Hey Gilles, I don't know how I missed your renders of Jane earlier, but it helps me see that my modeling has improved a little bit. Thanks, Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalbotski Posted December 6, 2003 Author Share Posted December 6, 2003 Hey John, thanks! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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