Master Mascot mess

[Paul Forwood]

Congratulations to the Mascot Competition winners!

 

Funnily enough I had made a start on a 'Sorcerer's Apprentice', themed entry also but ran out of steam and time. I was unable to get the look that I was after in the time that I had allocated so it got shelved.

 

This is all that I achieved this time...

 

Needed lots more work and the hair is not yet groomed.

[jamagica]

It looks pretty good. I'm intersested...what method do you use to make the face?

[hypnomike]

If you dress him in red you could use him for the Christmas contest!

 

He'd work as a santa with existing hair.

 

I think the deadline's 15th Nov.

[Paul Forwood]

If you dress him in red you could use him for the Christmas contest!

 

Yes, I'll look into that, Hypnomike. I think he would need fattening up a bit though.

Maybe I should send him to the same place that I have sent my 'Z-man' model'.

Coffee, doughnuts and no excersize.

[modernhorse]

Paul,

I think the sorcerer looks swell so far. Hope you can get back to him.

 

But man oh man, those sketches for ZMan are fantastic ! The one where he is sitting down - the expression on his face, is so good. Reminds me of a Truman Capote type. This must be done !!! Or have you already?

 

Doug

[Paul Forwood]

This must be done !!! Or have you already?

 

 

Thanks for the positive comments, Doug!

 

This character is still developing and is based on my wish to represent some of the spirit of one of our very own online characters. A guy who, as far as I know , is mortal but is a bit of a superhero on the quiet. He's a guy who would go to great lengths to help anyone and who always charges the forums with humour. I don't know this guy any more than you but my character is based on my idealised perseption of his web presence. (I just want to make it clear here that I am 100% heterosexual, got a wife and two lovely kids. So put those thoughts out of your mind.) Back me up here, Vern. I've never sent you flowers or perfume, have I?

 

The Z-man character was started earlier this year when evryone was sending birthday greetings to Vern. I quickly modified another model that I had been working on to make a rough Super Vern but ended up missing the deadline.

I posted a walk cycle of this character some weeks back and was informed, by the man himself, that he needed to pile on a few pounds so I started messing about with the model but didn't like the results. I decided to go back to the drawing board so I scribbled a few sketches in search of a stouter, but still agile, form.

I don't know how far I want to take the development of this character though because I feel kind of uncomfortable about openly basing it, at least in part, on someone who I wouldn't want to offend. I will do something more with him though.

 

These are some of the sketches:

[Paul Forwood]

Oops! I hit the wrong button. You wouldn't want me working at any nucleur reactor would you?

 

Right let's try again:

[Paul Forwood]

more...

[Paul Forwood]

and more...

[Paul Forwood]

and more...

[Paul Forwood]

And finally a different character who shares my aching back.

 

Hope you enjoyed.

I must have used up my quota of Hash space for a week or two. Gulp!

[hypnomike]

Nice artwork Paul!

 

I use matchstick men myself.

[HeadlessBill]

I do like the Z-Man concepts. When I was looking at the images before I read the posts, I was thinking 'He looks a hell of a lot like Vern.'

 

I like your wizard, as well. I'm not certain what is wrong with it.

[Paul Forwood]

I use matchstick men myself.

 

Matchstick men can be all you need for some storeyboards, especially if you are going to be animating matchstick models.

These sketches were just to help me find the look of the character.

 

I like your wizard, as well. I'm not certain what is wrong with it.

 

Well there's lots wrong. (The nose is too sguare, he is too thin, the hair has

way too much specular intensity, ( at least I think that's what is causing the overly bright and hard look ), hair also needs to be thicker at the base and needs grooming. There is some bad splining in the face which will cause unsightly creasing in some poses. The skin and garments need textures to be made and applied. It needs rigging too.) That's just the wizard. There was also meant to be an apprentice, a cat, a toad, an owl and a set filled with strange scientific instruments. On top of that there was the lighting, which is so important, and with which I am a complete novice. The biggest mistake that I made was not planning the character first. If you sketch out your character on paper first you then have a reference and a rotoscope to work from.

 

You could say, I over stretched. But I don't mind it was fun and it won't be wasted.

[hypnomike]

the hair has way too much specular intensity, ( at least I think that's what is causing the overly bright and hard look ),

 

Hey Paul, I've come across just the info you may need, apologies if you already know this.

 

This is taken from Vern's Happy Bear thread: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showt...=60entry57099

 

Vern said:

 

Yes, the "tinsel" wig look can be overcome by using higher multipass settings. It is the aliasing artifacts that give that look.

 

Hope this helps.

[Paul Forwood]

Thanks for the pointer, Mike.

Yes, I have been following Vern's progress with hair and he is right about multipass. as you can see below, but specular colour, size and intensity also has a dramatic effect on the results. I'll do some test renders to demonstrate later.

 

This is self explanator:

[heyvern]

Sorry dude!

 

I completely missed this thread! I tuned in very early a while back when you posted the wizard image but missed the Z-man stuff!

 

I have to say the versions that look frightening like me are the first one and the fourth one... in the order you posted. Any one of them though still works.... uh.... where the hell are you getting your reference from? Is my avatar really that good?

 

I am truly honored and flattered to be presented in this way... I will have to shave more often of course to maintain the likeness... I tend to shave every 3-4 months... when I start to lose bits of food and CDs in my beard I decide to shave it off.

 

I do make jokes about my hair but just so I don't mislead... I have hair on my head... on the sides and back... I am only reletively completely bald when I use the clippers... usually around the same time I shave my face.

 

I am thrilled that someone thinks I offer some usable advice inbetween my silly comments.

 

Oh man! I must be a very well adjusted person to be able to look at this stuff and feel good that it looks like me!

 

I love this stuff!

 

Thanks Paul! You have no idea how much I appreciate it. I almost don't feel worthy.

 

p.s. There was few oddball friends in college who called me "The Z Man!". It never caught on.

 

Vernon "Z-Man" Zehr

[hypnomike]

Thanks for the demo Paul, I'll be looking forward to your test renders.

 

BTW I notice that the hair is the only thing to significantly improve between 1 pass and sixteen. Is it possible or practicle to have the software do multipass on the hair and one pass on the rest?

 

If you could choose, ie hair/shadows multipass the rest single it would save a great deal of time.

 

If you can't it's maybe one for the wish list.

 

Keep those posts coming!

[turbokitty77]

Cool character designs!

I like the Z-man especially.