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Leigh's Sketchbook


LJB
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Thank you!

As to continuing him I think i will take him further yes and render him properly but i will retop him properly first so i get correct edgeflow for detailing to work right. I might even take a previous version and rtop him for rigging, I suppose it depends on how much time i can put down this weekend. Wife and son are away so I could pull a long session of free time work as a workflow practice.

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All that you're talking about here is terra incognita for me, hopefully you'll share more of your knowledge about all these subjects; painting, retopo, using photos for texturing, different pipelines to different programs...

Excellent character, deserves some great flaming scene in the background ala Jeroen Bosch.

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Excellent character, deserves some great flaming scene in the background ala Jeroen Bosch.

SpacePainter - Thankyou, I was thinking maybe some black feathered wings like this awesome piece by Patrick Woodroffe (one of my main insperations, along with Kirby and Bonner), that should really push the voxel boundries.

post-1266-1247771932_thumb.jpg

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Tinker - Thank you, I hope to capture more dynamics with the wings.

Space Painter - Yes Willim Blake is also a great inspiration to me and i can see the simalrity to "The great red Dragon and the woman clolthed in the sun" infact all of his Red Dragon and beast works.

Here is the basis of my idea for the wings, well the left wing at least.

Left_Wing.jpg

Left_Wing_02.jpg

The right wing will Spill back and upward to continue the motion I have in the body.

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Tinker - Thank you, I hope to capture more dynamics with the wings.

Space Painter - Yes Willim Blake is also a great inspiration to me and i can see the simalrity to "The great red Dragon and the woman clolthed in the sun" infact all of his Red Dragon and beast works.

Here is the basis of my idea for the wings, well the left wing at least.

Left_Wing.jpg

Left_Wing_02.jpg

The right wing will Spill back and upward to continue the motion I have in the body.

If I were you, I would skulpt one basic feather and duplicate it as often as you need it, every feather on a seperate voxel layer. Then I would try to pose them to the right position. After this process, you could merge them all together, if you need it. I think, this way should gives you the most flexibility in 3DC. Don't you think so?

Here in your example we can see, at the latest, that a "multi-vox-layer deformation" function is very important and would simplify our work essentially, sometimes. :(

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If I were you, I would skulpt one basic feather and duplicate it as often as you need it, every feather on a seperate voxel layer. Then I would try to pose them to the right position. After this process, you could merge them all together, if you need it. I think, this way should gives you the most flexibility in 3DC. Don't you think so?

Here in your example we can see, at the latest, that a "multi-vox-layer deformation" function is very important and would simplify our work essentially, sometimes. :(

Taros - Yes my friend i completely agree and I have already done so. My only annoyance is transfor tool is a pain cos you cannot (Unless im missing something) reposition the transform axis, Which makes rotation tricky, My first thought was to use seperate layers but due to this manipulation issue i maye just make a mock up of the wing in Silo and rig it out for posing. then when i bring in I can make a quick feather detial brush in psd and detail each feather using the Stamp stroke.

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Actually I would not do every feather on a vox layer I would import a prefab feather to a new layer and use place it the manipulate and place manipulate and place, all on that layer, my reason for doing it that way is Vox Large vox tree hirachial merging is not currently possible so I would hate to have to merge each feather, and i would also have the extra work of creating each layer then switching to it.

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Actually I would not do every feather on a vox layer I would import a prefab feather to a new layer and use place it the manipulate and place manipulate and place, all on that layer, my reason for doing it that way is Vox Large vox tree hirachial merging is not currently possible so I would hate to have to merge each feather, and i would also have the extra work of creating each layer then switching to it.

I get your point. Tricky.

Maybe currently it is better to build a basic object, like the feather, in a tool like softimage and pose it there. This is definetly much faster... then export it as a obj-file to 3DC. Tricky.

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The skull looks good. The problem is renders like Mental Ray have problem with displacement rendering, which is why I'm unconcerned with digital sculpting in general.

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The skull looks good. The problem is renders like Mental Ray have problem with displacement rendering, which is why I'm unconcerned with digital sculpting in general.

Cinnamon - Firstly Thank you for your Skull comment, always appreciated.

Secondly I understand it is your opinion which is always valid, however I think your following statement is a little defeatist? Painting on a flat UV in PS will never be as intuitive as painting directly on organic model. It has its uses, but detailling organics (which is industry standard practice in nearly every next gen workflow) requires these steps, I wonder your ambition for use of any softwares with that attitude? There are challenges it is true, but that is 90% of the industry. So if you dont need the Richer by the minute functionality that this product has to offer then maybe look elsewhere? I believe that PS now lets you piant on 3D surfaces out of the box nowadays.

If you intention is hard surface or structural work then PS for texturing should suit you just fine. However if you think you can detail normal maps in PS for organics that actually produce a realistic correct effect you may be in for a suprise, and be prepeared to put down many more hours than working with a sculpting ap' such as this would require.

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The skull looks good. The problem is renders like Mental Ray have problem with displacement rendering, which is why I'm unconcerned with digital sculpting in general.

I don't think this is a flatly problem of tools like mental ray. My opinion is, it is more dependent on the animation software you are using. Some have a good displacement management pipeline to the render part and some not. You can compare it with the problem, that not every software is capable to manage millions of polygons.

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Secondly I understand it is your opinion which is always valid, however I think your following statement is a little defeatist? Painting on a flat UV in PS will never be as intuitive as painting directly on organic model. It has its uses, but detailling organics (which is industry standard practice in nearly every next gen workflow) requires these steps, I wonder your ambition for use of any softwares with that attitude? There are challenges it is true, but that is 90% of the industry. So if you dont need the Richer by the minute functionality that this product has to offer then maybe look elsewhere? I believe that PS now lets you piant on 3D surfaces out of the box nowadays.

Painting directly on a 3D model is much easier and intuitive, I agree even if your knowledge of PS is near if not at an advanced level adding a 3D painting program like 3D Coat will just make your work flow faster and produce better work.

I don't think this is a flatly problem of tools like mental ray. My opinion is, it is more dependent on the animation software you are using. Some have a good displacement management pipeline to the render part and some not. You can compare it with the problem, that not every software is capable to manage millions of polygons.

It is a problem with Mental Ray, I've done a lot of reading on Mental Ray over a short while to conclude this statement. Mental Ray has matured as in it can handle millions of polygons but even then you run into risks.

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Painting directly on a 3D model is much easier and intuitive, I agree even if your knowledge of PS is near if not at an advanced level adding a 3D painting program like 3D Coat will just make your work flow faster and produce better work.

It is a problem with Mental Ray, I've done a lot of reading on Mental Ray over a short while to conclude this statement. Mental Ray has matured as in it can handle millions of polygons but even then you run into risks.

OK.

Here's an update to Devil.

Roughing in shape of the wings. I think for the look I want i will render out Feathers using Syflex Hair, rather than try and detail them here in 3D Coat. so think of them as a rough guide for position.

Devil_Wings_01.jpg

Devil_Wings_02.jpg

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Wow! Fantastic!

You could make 2-3 high detailed feathers of diferent types, than merge them on the wings, bending with pose tool. As for feathers, you can assemble them from thin planes, it will be like hairs groups. Damn, he is going to become just great!

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Wow! Fantastic!

You could make 2-3 high detailed feathers of diferent types, than merge them on the wings, bending with pose tool. As for feathers, you can assemble them from thin planes, it will be like hairs groups. Damn, he is going to become just great!

Yes Tinker that was the plan initially but it was a little time consuming workflow wise, here is what i have found-

If i merge with 3b file i cannot keep the transform gizmo active and it merges to a fresh layer, which is a pain as I dont wont to have the extra step of having to merge each of these layers into one wing layer, My second approach which is better is to convert the feather into an OBJ and remerge it to a current layer that way transform remains active and i can continue to manipulate gizo amd mere multiple times to the same layer wit hthe simple press of the enter key. which is much more managable. So Suggested improvement from this observation would be to somehow allow merging of 3b file to current layer with transform gizmo remaining active.

I have rebuilt the right wing in this way but im currently at office and files are on home system, I will update later tonight with new image.

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Update -

Had to rebuild the wing i had built due to crash so here is where i got to tonight. Slow work, once done i will break the uniformity with the move tool.

Feather_Wing_WIP.jpg

Hope you like.

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My second approach which is better is to convert the feather into an OBJ and remerge it to a current layer that way transform remains active and i can continue to manipulate gizo amd mere multiple times to the same layer wit hthe simple press of the enter key. which is much more managable. So Suggested improvement from this observation would be to somehow allow merging of 3b file to current layer with transform gizmo remaining active.

Yes this is the only workaround for a while.

Looks like lot of hard and careful work. Great, LJB! Very nice wing.

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Update -

Had to rebuild the wing i had built due to crash so here is where i got to tonight. Slow work, once done i will break the uniformity with the move tool.

Feather_Wing_WIP.jpg

Hope you like.

Nice.

Have you tried to use the "process"-tab in the windows task manager and add all cores to 3DCoat? This makes 3DC really fast.

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If we could get this working with Haptics you could true sculpt Muscles in one motion that would be so cool. Exciting possibillity there no?
Yeah...the Novint Falcon is pretty affordable, so folks could get one with 3DC, a used 3DConnexion SpacePilot (just bought one a while back and I love it) and it would still be cheaper than ZBrush or Mudbox.

Imagine seeing that at Siggraph or GDC (they have one for Europe also, no?) next year. With a Novint Falcon in your drawing hand, and the SpacePilot in the other (to rotate/navigate....with a host of programable buttons on the pad). Would that not be geeked out or what? :)

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=n...um=6#ps-sellers

http://home.novint.com/

Got one of these on EBay for about $125 USD (extended warranty available for about $15):

http://3dconnexion.com/video/video.php?vid...lot〈=en

http://3dconnexion.com/video/video.php?vid...max〈=en

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Yeah...the Novint Falcon is pretty affordable, so folks could get one with 3DC, a used 3DConnexion SpacePilot (just bought one a while back and I love it) and it would still be cheaper than ZBrush or Mudbox.

Imagine seeing that at Siggraph or GDC (they have one for Europe also, no?) next year. With a Novint Falcon in your drawing hand, and the SpacePilot in the other (to rotate/navigate....with a host of programable buttons on the pad). Would that not be geeked out or what? :)

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=n...um=6#ps-sellers

http://home.novint.com/

Got one of these on EBay for about $125 USD (extended warranty available for about $15):

http://3dconnexion.com/video/video.php?vid...lot〈=en

http://3dconnexion.com/video/video.php?vid...max〈=en

Yes I have a SpacePilot also, but do you not find the axis of rotation a problem here in 3d coat? I have posted my findings with a small video somewhere here on the forum requesting that rotation be locked to the Y axis of world space, Unfortunately I like most users of the Connexion device find it more intuitive if the controller rotates the world space around Y, currently it rotattes the viewport Y meaning any time saving that the 3d connexion device offers is outweighed by the fact that I have to spend most of my time re-centering the piece I'm working on. Not the way it should be implimented!!! Simply locking rotation the same as normal navigation in 3D Coat would correct this and make the implementation usable.

I was tempted by the Novint but I am also looking at a Phantom Omni from Sansable. As the open haptics sdk is included. but i also really like the clay tools package. Now my funds are a bit happier (Clients finally paid up in full) I can consider my options. The price is a little too steep currently i may see what I can wangle, do some dealing. I just love the idea of using the haptics device to draw out voxels I think it would just be so fast and controllable.

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Taros - I have a little application called Process Lasso with that i can control not only the affinity of all 8 logical core on the i7 but also dynamically control priorities of 3d Coat and other applications. nice tool and there is a free demo HERE!!

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Taros - I have a little application called Process Lasso with that i can control not only the affinity of all 8 logical core on the i7 but also dynamically control priorities of 3d Coat and other applications. nice tool and there is a free demo HERE!!

I see, the tool looks good. So you already profit by your multicores? :)

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Yes I have a SpacePilot also, but do you not find the axis of rotation a problem here in 3d coat? I have posted my findings with a small video somewhere here on the forum requesting that rotation be locked to the Y axis of world space, Unfortunately I like most users of the Connexion device find it more intuitive if the controller rotates the world space around Y, currently it rotattes the viewport Y meaning any time saving that the 3d connexion device offers is outweighed by the fact that I have to spend most of my time re-centering the piece I'm working on. Not the way it should be implimented!!! Simply locking rotation the same as normal navigation in 3D Coat would correct this and make the implementation usable.

I was tempted by the Novint but I am also looking at a Phantom Omni from Sansable. As the open haptics sdk is included. but i also really like the clay tools package. Now my funds are a bit happier (Clients finally paid up in full) I can consider my options. The price is a little too steep currently i may see what I can wangle, do some dealing. I just love the idea of using the haptics device to draw out voxels I think it would just be so fast and controllable.

Yeah...it's a bit awkward, but I've just been keeping my cursor as the axis (Andrew brought this up, so I've stuck with it). It takes some getting used to, but I get to where I don't even have to think about it after a while. I do wish Andrew would take your advice on this, though. I'm really intrigued by the prospect of rotating the object with one hand (Space Pilot) and sculpting with force feedback in the other. If Andrew can coordinate with the folks at Novint to where they could mount a Wacom stylus to it, and he can include support for it in the near future...I could see him getting some free air time on G4. It doesn't get more geeky than that :)

Think of how threatened the folks at Clay Tools would be with that.

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Yeah...it's a bit awkward, but I've just been keeping my cursor as the axis (Andrew brought this up, so I've stuck with it). It takes some getting used to, but I get to where I don't even have to think about it after a while. I do wish Andrew would take your advice on this, though. I'm really intrigued by the prospect of rotating the object with one hand (Space Pilot) and sculpting with force feedback in the other. If Andrew can coordinate with the folks at Novint to where they could mount a Wacom stylus to it, and he can include support for it in the near future...I could see him getting some free air time on G4. It doesn't get more geeky than that :)

Think of how threatened the folks at Clay Tools would be with that.

Thanks for all of the tutorials BTW...I'm new to sculpting and that's a really informative facial muscle anatomy lesson...as well as technique.

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Yeah...it's a bit awkward, but I've just been keeping my cursor as the axis (Andrew brought this up, so I've stuck with it). It takes some getting used to, but I get to where I don't even have to think about it after a while. I do wish Andrew would take your advice on this, though. I'm really intrigued by the prospect of rotating the object with one hand (Space Pilot) and sculpting with force feedback in the other. If Andrew can coordinate with the folks at Novint to where they could mount a Wacom stylus to it, and he can include support for it in the near future...I could see him getting some free air time on G4. It doesn't get more geeky than that smile.gif

Think of how threatened the folks at Clay Tools would be with that.

Thanks for all of the tutorials BTW...I'm new to sculpting and that's a really informative facial muscle anatomy lesson...as well as technique.

I wish he would think about the axis thing also. If i did not already use the 3D Connexion device in 3 other application in that way i would persevere with what we have now but as i use it in Maya, Max and XSI I fail to see the logic in training myself in a technique that goes quite heavily against the grain of other applications. I just feel it undoes any benifit that the 3D Connexion controller offers, feels unantural.

As to the novint if andrew would look into it id be glad to help in anyway. Mock up a stylus and give advice?

And as to the tuts, your welcome I never intended them to be so in depth but as i worked i really enjoyed them so I will continue in free time to produce more. Thank you.

There are many more muscles that structure the face underlying those shown but they really donot effect the form of the face so I did not include, opting only for the main groups which affect the surface.

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