Advanced Member alvordr Posted May 24, 2013 Advanced Member Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 I hear what you're saying. I have a demo reel I've had to work on with my own work, because I'm being told to, not because I want to. This is something I would dump as soon as I'm done with it, but I still have to do it. They were saying for me to take out some stuff I put in and, in this case, I'm keeping it in, as I know exactly why I wanted it there. This was one of the few times where I put my foot down on something I knew was a better decision, but otherwise, I usually heed the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contributor Tony Nemo Posted May 24, 2013 Contributor Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 (edited) Tony, animation is so complicated these days. There's no limit, but so much to learn. Did you had a look at this video?: http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/siggraph_2013_tech_papers All that looks way beyond my beans and taters! I do like that one where the vegetation is singled out for movement with a stroke. Edited May 24, 2013 by Tony Nemo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member Garagarape Posted May 25, 2013 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted May 25, 2013 Yes, those foliage stuff are great. I like the fluid simulation too. All that looks way beyond my beans and taters! > Way beyond my tomatoes and peppers too. But interesting to see new technologies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlosan Posted June 1, 2013 Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 Happy Birthday ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted June 1, 2013 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 Yes, those foliage stuff are great. I like the fluid simulation too. All that looks way beyond my beans and taters! > Way beyond my tomatoes and peppers too. But interesting to see new technologies. I am really digging that dragon scene. If I may make one tiny suggestion on the pose....I would always keep his front limbs in a bent state, to one degree or another. As a quadruped raises up, their front legs tend to drop, with their elbows near their rib cage. And as far as lighting, just an idea....not a suggestion...how about a tiny bit of fog in the scene, to emulate dust (that a big beast like that would naturally kick up) and volumetric light instead of a spot or area light...shining some god-rays from behind him. That might add a much more dramatic effect to the look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contributor Tony Nemo Posted June 1, 2013 Contributor Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 I am really digging that dragon scene. If I may make one tiny suggestion on the pose....I would always keep his front limbs in a bent state, to one degree or another. As a quadruped raises up, their front legs tend to drop, with their elbows near their rib cage. And as far as lighting, just an idea....not a suggestion...how about a tiny bit of fog in the scene, to emulate dust (that a big beast like that would naturally kick up) and volumetric light instead of a spot or area light...shining some god-rays from behind him. That might add a much more dramatic effect to the look. He will probably beg to be let go of his dragon as it may take on the quality of a millstone around his neck. Your suggestions are admirable and I, for one, will keep them in mind should I find myself working with a quadruped (oh, I am: a bunch of camels in my current animation!). Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member michalis Posted June 1, 2013 Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 Happy birthday. Your dragon looks beautiful on the video! A proud dragon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member Garagarape Posted June 2, 2013 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 2, 2013 Thanks everybody! Thanks for the advices AbnRanger. Yes you're right about pose and volumetric light + fog. Unfortunately my skills in rendering are limited. And I always use Marmoset Toolbag to avoid having to do tremendous efforts on the rendering. In the end... I lose against people who mastered this domain. I often try to learn something (dowloaded V-ray for Maya, tried to learn about hatch-cross shader and stuff) but then I realize I know almost nothing and don't do it right... Well, at least I'll try to improve (don't know how yet) on the final result of the next work. It will be a fighter from "Macross" ---> Wan't to see what I can do with hard surface type. Any advices welcome about improving on rendering. But I know I have to find motivation (and time!) first. If there is an app or a tutorial that are great to start with, please let me know. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted June 2, 2013 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted June 2, 2013 Maybe let Michalis walk you through a Blender Cycles setup. Don't get me wrong. I like the way it's looking. The SyFy channel here in the US would be envious of that dragon They have a lot of low budget shows with creatures as the centerpiece of the whole story, and I have yet to see them use one this well done. Since you have it rigged, You might look them up and ask them if they could use it. They do have some fairly good shows with decent VFX...like BattleStar Galactica (discontinued but ran for like 5yrs or more) and a new one, "Defiance." http://www.syfy.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member michalis Posted June 2, 2013 Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 2, 2013 @Abn If you want to ask for any help on cycles, please use PM. Or we could start, a dedicated to this subject, thread. A fine render engine, a physically correct one. Not the appropriate for videogame applications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted June 2, 2013 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted June 2, 2013 @Abn If you want to ask for any help on cycles, please use PM. Or we could start, a dedicated to this subject, thread. A fine render engine, a physically correct one. Not the appropriate for videogame applications. A little 3D Coat to Blender (Cycles Renderer, and basic material/shader/lighting setup) Bootcamp would be great. You and Digman can be the Drill Seargents. "What do we have here...a Jelly Doughnut?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member Garagarape Posted June 3, 2013 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 Thanks guys! Thanks for the SyFy idea (dragon is not properly rigged, only skinned, but why not), and for the idea of a good tutorial made by team-3dCoat too! "Are you ready for a Rendering training?!" "Sir yes Sir!" Besides, I pomise I will eat tons of Jelly Doughnuts, and Jelly torus, and free form Jelly. Prepare for push-ups! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contributor TimmyZDesign Posted June 4, 2013 Contributor Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Ha ha ha ha! But seriously though...the "3D-Coat to Blender" tutorial/thread is a great idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member puntoit Posted June 4, 2013 Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 I like the "3D-Coat to Blender" tutorial/thread idea. Could it be made so that no previous knowledge is needed?. I am keeping an eye on blender for many years now but haven't started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member michalis Posted June 4, 2013 Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Could it be made so that no previous knowledge is needed?. I am keeping an eye on blender for many years now but haven't started. Now, this is more complicated. I don't think 3dcoat is the appropriate forum. You're asking for a blender tutorial, the basic UI. Setting custom preferences and basic navigation, set cameras, split windows. I could add some nice links. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member Garagarape Posted June 5, 2013 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 (edited) Yes Michalis, Some nice links would be a good start. I've heard off Cycles and saw the great results you got with it, but don't even know if it's a part of Blender or something you have to pay for like Vray in Maya. I once opened Blender but was puzzled by the UI. I'm also puzzled by Mudbox now that I'm used to 3dC (Had to make a comparative study of 3dCoat and Mudbox to convince my boss to upgrade the 3dCoat licences we use at work). Anyway, if you have time, some links to start learning + some tips in the "off topics" or even in my thread would help a lot. Probably "Off topic" is better to share informations. And it's only if you have time to do it, of course. Thanks! Edited June 5, 2013 by Garagarape Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member michalis Posted June 5, 2013 Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Hey, everything comes from the blender foundation is free. (donations only) Cycles is the new, modern, integrated render engine. There is also the old one (scan line) BI. This is my idea. A step by step import of 3dcoat, setup a workable environment, setup a scene, light it. Set up the cycles shaders and camera. Render. Later we can talk about rigging and simple animation-set a pose. Blender is a huge suite, we can't talk on everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlosan Posted June 5, 2013 Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Hello Michalis, do you know how Blender handles Ptex textures from 3DC ? Im searching info about it ty. //sorry OT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted June 5, 2013 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Hey, everything comes from the blender foundation is free. (donations only) Cycles is the new, modern, integrated render engine. There is also the old one (scan line) BI. This is my idea. A step by step import of 3dcoat, setup a workable environment, setup a scene, light it. Set up the cycles shaders and camera. Render. Later we can talk about rigging and simple animation-set a pose. Blender is a huge suite, we can't talk on everything. As I stated in the other thread, you can just refer to the basic tutorials for users to get up to speed enough to be comfortable. This would not be a basics in Blender tutorial series. It would be just like a demonstration at Siggraph...just go through the steps and let the viewers decide where they need further training. What I'd like to see is a tutorial by one of the Blender artists, setting up Garagarape's Dragon to blow some fire. It looked like there were some recent improvements in Blender's smoke/fire sim engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member Garagarape Posted June 6, 2013 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 As I stated in the other thread, you can just refer to the basic tutorials for users to get up to speed enough to be comfortable. This would not be a basics in Blender tutorial series. It would be just like a demonstration at Siggraph...just go through the steps and let the viewers decide where they need further training. What I'd like to see is a tutorial by one of the Blender artists, setting up Garagarape's Dragon to blow some fire. It looked like there were some recent improvements in Blender's smoke/fire sim engine. I'll see if I can put the dragon somewhere in order to be downloaded during next week-end (but it is not perfect, and animators would yell at me, may be...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted June 6, 2013 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 I'll see if I can put the dragon somewhere in order to be downloaded during next week-end (but it is not perfect, and animators would yell at me, may be...). I wouldn't make it available publicly. Perhaps just to a Blender artist (with skills and experience with the smoke/fire/fluids simulation tools) who will volunteer to do a tutorial showing him breath fire, in that scene you have. In both cases, these could show off what Blender is capable of and allow those of us, sitting on the fence, to get off of it and get into Blender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member Garagarape Posted June 10, 2013 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 Thanks AbnRanger. Didn't make it (the model upload). I spent almost all the week-end outside in Yokohama with my family and went to a rugby game with friends... The dragon is still on my hard disk. No problem to give it to someone. I'm planing to make a better dragon, because the previous one is not impressive enough as a dragon. The more I see it, the more I wan't to change it all. But better start from zero and don't give the new one a dynamic pose when sculpting it. I have to think more of the use of camera to give a dramatic feel to the scene, as you suggested before. I'm also planning to reproduce a mecha from "Macross"; I'm building a very complicated figure with full of pieces these days to understand its structure but it is very time consumming. Here is a male body base mesh started a few monts ago. I hope I can re-use it for a realistic knight or something. It is only 5 953 924 polys yet, and it's probably time to refine details by using LC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member alvordr Posted June 10, 2013 Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 I suggest bringing the waste in and making the handles and feet a bit smaller. Smoothing out the back of the head might help, as well. I would taper the sides and back of the knees a bit. It's a great base mesh to work from. I can see how you could go either older or younger with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member Garagarape Posted June 10, 2013 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 True! The feet are kind of massive. I didn't noticed that, but now it's obvious. There's something weird with the shoulders too. May be the lack of flesh around them. Will fix this during tomorrow lunch time. Thanks for the feed-back! By the way, do you now this web-site?: http://www.3d.sk/ There's full of free good human pics that are great references to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member alvordr Posted June 10, 2013 Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 Yes. I've used references from that site before. I wouldn't worry too much about fixing a lot of things at this stage, except proportions. From my experience with figure sculpting, it seems that starting with blocked out forms and large-form proportions is paramount, and then working the medium details, and finally the finer details. If you're going to do any clothing, etc. then I would obviously do those last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member Garagarape Posted June 15, 2013 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 15, 2013 Refined the male basemesh here and there. May be time to add details with LC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor digman Posted June 16, 2013 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted June 16, 2013 Go for it, The human form does not need to be perfect, It is the conveyance of emotion and life through human form which impacts us the most. Now before someone tells me, I that I do care about anatomy, that is far from the truth, but if the men of old, the cave dwellers waited for perfection, we would not have their lovely cave paintings, connecting us to them and their lives... Your end pose will affects us the most and we will fill in the details... just like a 2D painting... An interesting site on human form, mostly Zbrush work but applies to 3DCoat as well. Scroll down to see more human form. http://www.scott-eaton.com/category/digital-sculpture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member Garagarape Posted June 16, 2013 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 16, 2013 Digman, Wow! There's a lot of great sculpts on that page! I like those studies a lot. As an aim, it is probably a little too hard for me and my machine, but it is very inspiring. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member Garagarape Posted June 20, 2013 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Little enhancements on the male base mesh on general volumes. I had a bad experience with LC today. After a while adding details, I noticed some black dots here and there. They happened to be little holes in the envelop... Had to go back to voxels and lost all the little folds in the skin and other details. Anyway. I'll have one more try. I wonder what causes this problem. In voxel mode, when using the "move" tool, I often have issues; like if I lose the focus (when "alt+tab" to another app, or just lifting the stylus) and come back into the view-port, the move tool stretch one model area. At this point, If I ctrl+z to erase the weird spikes built unintentionally by the move tool, I sometime get thin voxel lines arround the model. Not a big problem because I can erase the floating lines with "grow" inverted tool. But I wonder if it has an influence on the conversion when switching from voxel to surface... The black dots where located near a place where I previously found those thin voxel lines... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor digman Posted June 20, 2013 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Yep, LC still has a few lingering bugs... I have not posted at Mantis about them yet. Sometime, I will have to run some test and make videos for Andrew to help track them down, but right now not enough mental energy to do so... Save often when using LC... I just do manual multiple saves myself with my own numbering system, old habit... Now if you are saving often, try to use "cleanup memory" every once in a while under the voxels menu. Here's how... When you get a black hole, Then use Ctrl + Z to undo. Next run "CleanUp Memory" Try sculpting again to see if the problem was fixed. You don't have to wait for a problem to appear to use CleanUp Menory. At one time you wanted to avoid cleanup memory because it caused mesh explosions but it is a lot better now. It does fix some problems but is not a failsafe routine and if it causes a mesh bo-bo then you have your saved backups Again, I would not want you to lose any work, so backup often your 3DC file whenever using LC. By the way, the male figure is coming along nicely... How many polygons or voxels is he at now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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