Christmas Tree

[JohnArtbox]

Some fun for our studio Christmas Card...

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[johnl3d]

looks like a great team effort..

[trajcedrv]

Way too cool, John, as always!

 

Great job!

 

drvarceto

[KenH]

Way cool. That guy looks like he could be so dopey but turn on you in a second. It looks like two of them forgot to turn up in the center of the tree.

[JohnArtbox]

Next stage... I think I need to graduate the colour on the bg to frame the star correctly, adjust some of the poses and then start to individualise the elves

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[NancyGormezano]

These elves are absolutely great - love how you have them arranged in the second one - I prefer the white background (or some other color than the yellow, and yes a gradation might work better). Also loved the HA in the first image, added another enigmatic interest point (looked to me like they were starting to spell Happy ... but then they got distracted by scrambling to make a tree)

 

very very cute & appealing & HAPPY ...

[Zaryin]

Haha. That is hilarious!

[DanCBradbury]

that is awesome. you should have the star anchored to the elves some how though.

 

Very nice.

[JohnArtbox]

Thanks for all the replies..I had a few dead hours of computer time so I thought I'd set up a radiousity render. Interesting results with a relatively low render time time(just over an hour).

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Nancy: you're probably right about the yellow background colour, I just feel like I get stuck on the white backgrounds sometimes, they're such an easy option.

Dan: I'll link the star in soon(probably on a stick), it's still pretty early stages.

[Mr. Jaqe]

HAHA! I love it! My only crit is that every single elf has straight fingers, not a single one has a bent finger

[robcat2075]

Looks Great!

 

If you don't want to do white, a light blue gradient background would be wintery.

[KenH]

Cool. Love the pressies too. I see a few heads poking through hats. Can't wait till you give some of them angry (or some different expression) faces.

[DanCBradbury]

your backdrop confuses the senses... you should extend the ground untill the shadows drop off... and then bring it up... but other than that... awesome setup.

[Paul Forwood]

Ha, ha! This is great fun, John. Nice concept. I look forward to the final version.

[JohnArtbox]

I don't know how I did it, but somehow my wireframes are no longer appearing. The Scene still renders correctly but the choreography window appears blank, and remains so when the program is reloaded. I knowI've p;robably hit the wrong button, but I'm not sure how to reverse it...any ideas?

[Paul Forwood]

I don't know what is causing your wireframes to vanish but I have noticed in the past, in various versions, that if perspective mode is enabled, (key: \), that the model would vanish and I couldn't view it no matter what I did. I haven't noticed this problem for some time though and it is probably dependent on all kinds of other variables.

 

If all your efforts fail do a reset.

[JohnArtbox]

Thanks Paul, I'll try a reboot now that the next render has finished. I've altered the light setup to try and improve the background, although it still needs work. At the same time I've individualised the elves' happy faces, altered their hands, and fixed the head/hat intersections. The lighting is proving a bit of a radiousity learning curve.

Ken: faces and hat's fixed . They're still all happy(except for the falling elf) because, after all, it's Christmas.

MrJage: got around to hands

Robcat: I comped in a pale blue green which worked nicely,but the radiousity is darkening the bg more than I'd anticipated.

Dan:you're right about the BG, I was trying a softbox like setup, but it needs to be modified further.

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[Rodney]

John,

I'm loving your pic. Great character in there... lots of them even.

 

I do think your star is upside down which symbolically could be problematic.

Might I suggest the stick be stuck between the legs of the bottom two triangles and tilt in the direction of gravity/motion (i.e. the direction the elves are falling/moving/tilting).

 

No biggie in any case... cool image as it is!

 

A quick sketch of what I mean...

[JohnArtbox]

Card variation for my brother's accountancy practice.

[attachmentid=12114]

I can't believe I missed the Christmas card competition

That's two competitions in a row that I had images for and then forgot to enter.

Rodney:I know the star is typically drawn your way but I felt it fitted between the two elves better at an angle.

[NancyGormezano]

I like! - turned out very well - yes you should have entered.

[Rodney]

Rodney:I know the star is typically drawn your way but I felt it fitted between the two elves better at an angle.

 

The 'upside down' star actually works as a subtle element to the chaos of building the elf tree.

Its as if they just haven't quite got it together yet... which is otherwise clearly demonstrated. The angled/upside down star supports that theme.

 

The angle didn't bother me as much as the origin of the bottom of the star... the stick.

On the other hand, what do I know about elves, christmas trees and stars. I do know I like your pic though.

 

As Nancy says this would have made an excellent entry.

Attach notes to your desk/bathroom mirror/throughout the house to remind you about the next one!!!

 

Rodney

[Zaryin]

I really can't believe you didn't enter either. YOu would have had one of my votes easily with this one. Very creative and beautifully done.

[gsellis]

I like the backdrop cloth too. Thanks for turning that light on.

[DanCBradbury]

simply amazing. Nice render.

 

but all i got for christmas were internet popups... WHY WONT THE LEAVE ME BEE!!!

[Gorf]

Why not have the topmost elf holding the star's stick - as if it's a magic wand? That way you could give it a bit of an angle...