Behkrit of the Seelie-Navih Fey (Now with Massive Walk-Through)

[Mentat7]

Just thought I would give you all a glimpse at my next project. I already have several more major features developed for it. It is definitely different from my usual head studies and I am planning on taking it to another level. I am pushing myself in a new direction and you will be able to see that in the final rendering.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1020907406qqc.jpg

[RC]

A nightmare comes alive!
This image rocks Mentat! :tu:

[Kathy]

WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:
Thanks for the peek!!!!!!!!!

:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[Belleski]

Scary...Spikey....Colourful...and it has lots of eyes. It will be a treat to see the finished product. :cool:

[burningbright]

Very cool. I love the Wolf Spider type eyes. Fantastic modeling too. :tu:

[MrBraun]

Good work Mentat!!! Your style are very good !!!
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:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

[[EA]Krippler]

i love your style already i cant wait to see the change.

[DM]

Neat work and the colours are great. :) :tu: :tu:
Dave

[hitch]

very nice teaser, i suppose your going to have us hang out for weeks to see the final image ;) can't wait to see it

[drjjwow]

a sneak preview of greatness mentat..cant wait to see this one..

[jelee]

I'm looking forward to this one Mentat7.
I like the sheen on the shell-like skin and the beady eyes. Good work. I have a softspot for the design of insects and crustaceans.
jelee

[s o u t h e r n]

A true purple nasty. Can't wait to see the final result......

[Viral Blue Box]

Love the texture - can't wait to see the finished work.

[ztevie-rae]

"U goooot Yooouur MOJO wooooorkin ,and it
woorkks all ovvvvvvvver YOOUUUU !!!!
OOOOO yeAAAH !!!
Mentat JJJJjust left the BIULllllllldinG !

Stevie_rae.
P.S. Im bring my guitar round your house in da morniiing,OK buddy !!!!

[Mentat7]

Okay. I started this thread as a teaser into my next project. Now at the request of another forum member (Fish Slayer) I have decided to try and give you a step by step treatise on what I am doing. Now first off let me explain that many times I do not sketch my work. I have such a clear idea of what I want that I just jump right in and do it. Other times I work up a number (sometimes a lot!) of what I call working renders. I will work on the model. Texture it. Position it. Render to see how it looks. Come back later, change it etc. I will add elements such as props, backgrounds etc. I usually do this at a screen size of around 800 x 800. The reason is because of render speeds. At this size all I am doing is setting the scene to see what changes I want to make, to see how the materials will interact, and more importantly to gauge the lighting. After this step (and I can wind up with several dozen working renders!) I move on to a much larger work area...usually around 1500 x 1500 or larger (depending on what I am doing I will opt for 2500 x 2500). It is at this stage that I do my fine detail work. I tweak the models. Detail the textures. Add even more elements. Shift the colors around and add more lighting (if for some reason I find it weak). The following image is one of my working renders. Here you can see where I have begun to work the piece with a background. I did this because I now must achieve a synergy between the color/lighting of the foreground object with the color/lighting of the background. It's not as easy as it may appear. I had specific ideas about the tone and shading of this insectoid but it didn't work out with the background I envisioned. So as you can see I began changing the coloring of the creature. The creature will have much more in the form of body parts than what you see now. Right now it is just a head. There is a full body in the works. The creature may even change as I progress. I am already reconsidering the shape of the claw-like mandibles. The head is made of one single Sphere. Yes that's right just one single sphere. For the newer members out there let me say this. The deformations menu can be your very dear friend! Get used to using them. You can accomplish a lot with those sliders! The mandibles are each made from one sphere and are in fact identical. That may change. As I progress on this work I will attempt to relate the tools used, materials, light settings, and other pertinent information. I am presenting this in a rather Laissez Faire manner so if you have any questions or observations please feel free to comment. I will let you in on my inspirations for this piece as I go along. Now the mushrooms in this image were inspired by Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1021084512nma.jpg

[Ron Harris]

that kicks major buttage Lonnie master Z....and I am kicking myself coz somewhere I missed this original thread....grrrrrr....I love that top model and the colors etc...very onerous looking beasty....and from the depths of my scaly Z heart I thank you for taking us thru the process...cant wait to see more...I bookmarked this bad boy for sure...
FS :)

[Stonecutter]

Pretty cool, Lonnie, and thanx for sharing your approach...(By the way, on the spelling, you were really close... ;) Laissez Faire...You just missed one 's'.)
That's a really nice chitinous surface characteristic you developed, and this thing looks more alive than any sane person would want it to actually be! :eek:

(Oh yes...I see you really liked the 'Fish Slayer' handle, C-Man! :D )

[Mentat7]

Thanks Mike! I corrected the spelling! :D

[[EA]Krippler]

now thats what im talkin about. man that texture is right up my alley. I LOVE IT!!!

[ztevie-rae]

Always the Top-shelf bro !!! :cool:
And u call me a sick puppy !!! :confused:
:D

Stevie_rae.

[Digits]

Well, your talent as well as all the preparation you do really shows in your work Lonnie. It is well worth the outcome, this one is going to be great.

on a side note, how is Elder Scrolls III? I was planning to get it this weekend. Is it Multiplayer? I have been playing Dungeon Siege which is a pretty good game.

[MrBraun]

I haven't the word.... Mentat u are very best in zbrush!!!! :) :) :) :)

[wenna]

I agree with everyone else.. I just don't have the words! This is really good and I love looking over your shoulder.. keep us updated please!

[juandel]

a wonderful project. that you are taking us along is priceless. :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

- juandel

[Kathy]

:eek: :D :tu:

LOVE that atmosphere!! Those mushrooms rock.

The second render is killer. Thanks for the peak into your brain. ;)

To me, the MOST valuable part of this forum, outside of the trust, fairness, and general sence of respect, is the openness to share.

Posting artwork you've spent long hard time on.

Talking details; the how's why's and what for's.

Posting ZTLs, MTLs, PDF's, Tutorials.

THIS is the richness of ZBC.

(sorry Mentat, your thread just kinda kicked this tribute out of me)

I've been to MANY other BBS's in my time. People complain, pick on, degrade, make fun of, pick apart, and generally are so patronizing, divisive or smartass, that no one comes or goes feeling better about themselves or the software.

ZBC is the epoch of software forums. The precedent setting event.

It's not how many dots or stars that are by your name. It's how many times you've shared a thought, a tool, an idea. It's how many people you help in a thread. IT'S WHAT YOU HONESTLY ADD to the forum.

Thanks Mentat for being one of many who are the pillars of our little community.

[WingedOne]

Thanks for the insite into your working process, Mentat. I'll be looking forward to the finished piece. I can already tell it's going to be awsome. :tu: :tu:

[robotalk]

Nice work !! --the landscape in the second one looks very Frazetta--that's a compliment I hope :D you do super stuff!! :tu:

[[EA]Krippler]

a great post Kathy, i couldnt agree more. thanx mentat7

[Zoid]

I like how the strangeness of the creature matches the strangeness of the landscape. Strange is good! :rolleyes:

Kathy, that was a very nice statement.

[Mentat7]

Well I was able to squeeze in a good half-hour to work on this some more. Here you can see where I have finished the modeling of the torso. Notice the sketch in the background? Normally I don't have a need to sketch but in this instance I needed to have a guide for the flow of the body. I originally had the head and mandibles visible when I drew the sketch on a seperate layer. I deselected the head layer and began working on the torso. You will notice I have continued to experiment with coloring/texturing. I will continue to do that right up until I bring the piece together. I am very close to deciding on the final color scheme and have found the lighting that I want to use (although not evident in this picture). I have some legs and the beginnings of the abdomen to post as well as some more of the background. It is coming together just fine. I will try to get some time to post an update tomorrow.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1021170912jkf.jpg

[Stonecutter]

Wonderful work, Lonnie, and totally AMAZING texturing...!!!
Oh, sorry, I'll quiet down now... :(
Fantastic job, Lonnie, and I'm looking forward to the updates...Way to go, buddy!
:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[Ron Harris]

I agree with Kathy's comments...mr. pillar of the forum community :) I know you are a busy man in the real world also and I appreciate you taking the time to share with us. That body bugs me though....(it's a joke get it..."bug"s me..snicker..so I am lame) I love it big guy and can hardly wait ot see you bring it all together...
Can't wait for the next posting... :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[Belleski]

Fasinating and inspiring! Thanks for sharing your working method with us. Love to see it all forming and coming together step by step.
It really helps us relatively new ZBrushers to see how more complex projects are tackled.
The texturing truly is amazing... It promises to be one scary insect beast.
Cheers. :tu: :tu:

[The Saint]

You've really come a long way buddy!

Every new piece you make keeps on getting better and better.

Keep it up!

[Mentat7]

Well I'm a day late on the update but work and family had to come first. ;) In this image I have just about finished with all the body pieces. I have several smaller pieces to create and I will make adjustments in the legs so that the "knees" rise higher above the abdomen. There are several layers here...head, front sword arms, torso, abdomen, rear legs. When I do the final image I will place the parts, bake the layer then continue with the next. This will allow me to avoid the awkward shadows created from the interaction between the various parts (a prime example can be seen on the front of the beast under the head where the mandibles and sword arms cast strange crossing shadows.) This is very close to the final coloring...I am quite pleased with it. I have found that I can pick out detail by using a small black brush to sketch around the edges of intersecting pieces. It is a basic illustrative style that seems to work well with this image. I am using the Spherical Blend material for the chitinous texture (no way I would paint in all those scales myself! :D ). I have been progressing with the background as well and hope to have an update on it soon. I have created several more props...mushrooms, plants, small creatures...to flesh out the background. At this point the image is about 60% complete. The abdomen is made from a single sphere and each leg is made from an elongated sphere (with tons of deformations....one of my favorite tool menus).

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1021343287eca.jpg

[Slosh]

Magnificent!!! You've worked very hard on this, and it shows. Can't wait for the finale.

[DeeVee]

Excellent my friend. I am anxious to see the final image!!

[Stonecutter]

Wonderful work, Lonnie!
:tu: :tu: :tu: :cool: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[sTiNg]

!!!WoW!!!... :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
Thatz amazing :tu: :tu: :tu:

[Ron Harris]

thnx for the heads up Lon :tu: :tu: :tu: I have been lookin forward to this update....reallllllly realllllly kewl....the body sorta reminds me of the bug creature in Men In Black...you could do concept are for Buffy the Vampire Slayer with this style for sure....I luvs me bugs :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[juandel]

kudoskudoskudos!!! absolutely stunning update! i cant wait for the finale (and another wonderful Mentat-story to hopefully come with it ;))

- juandel

[[EA]Krippler]

oh sure Mentat, i make a dinosaur and you completely show me up. if any has pulled the rug out from anyone, then you just pulled it out from me. that is an amazing image so far. there is so much detail going on there. its amazing the kinda image you can get out of Zbrush in just a single day, and this just shows what you can do if you spend a little more time on it. i should have lotsa questions for you when this is done. amazing!!!!!
:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:
Coop

edit - can i say amazing a few more times hehe

[MrBraun]

Wauuu!! Mentat!!! Is so real !!! Good work !!!!
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:cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

[Mik]

Holy crap! How on earth did I miss this one!
Fantastic modelling and the textures are spot on too. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

[DM]

Texturing and Modelling are first class. :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:
Dave

[Mentat7]

Here is a little composite work...I did some clip and paste with the exported renders in Photoshop to see how the creature would rate with the background. I shall begin work on the large image in the next step. Probably around 1500 x 1500.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1021375644qra.jpg

[The Namek]

I havent been online much lately and I seem to have missed this thread , sorry mentat :)

I'm glad I saw it this time , because this looks like a very promising project :)

[gRek]

Grrr Mentat excellent work! Fantastic, its remind me to an hydralisc ;) not all but is close, a really really great work man, the background is excellent and the model damn great, bravooo :tu: :tu:

kisss

[Mik]

Looks good on the background, I can just imagine those mushroom things being life size and this little critter is about to crawl up your trouser leg and bite your nads! :D :D

[MrBraun]

Good work Mentat !! This model are right on all type of background !!! Very very good model !!!
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:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[Scougall]

Thats bloody cool bro. Is that all one solid model? If not how many peices is it made up of?


unbeleivable

[Mentat7]

Hi Scougall and welcome aboard! It is made of many pieces: Head, 2 Mandibles, Torso, Abdomen, six legs, two fron sword-legs. There will probably be at least four to five more pieces by the time it is finished.

[Scougall]

thanks for the sweet info bro. I'm yet to do a complete model. I sort of did one earlier (simple simon), but ive just been kickin back with making heads. I mainly use the program to block out my future scuplture projects (im studying sculpture, 2nd year) before i set them in stone (or latex for that matter).

thanks for the info once again, its a bloody terrific monster you have there. very insect like.

[Kathy]

BraVA! :D :tu:

He fits PERFECT in the environment! 8)

or is it a she!?!?!? ;)
GREAT material use, and texturing. Those pointy claw feet rock!

[DeeVee]

What can I say that has not been said before.
Awesome :tu: :tu: :tu: :ex: :ex: :tu: :tu: :ex:

[Ron Harris]

well Lonnie, you are now the official wallpaper for the rest of the week for sure....my kids are gonna love this also when they get home.....they always ask...Daddy did you do that?.....today I will bow my head in shame and say NO.... ;) You assmebled this goodie together very well....all this last image was missing was a little ground shadow...cant wait for the next update you mad genius you :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :eek: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

[Mentat7]

Hehehe...Ron the last image wasn't a render. I took a short cut and pasted the rendered critter on top of the rendered background in photoshop. Thus no ground shadow (although I did darken up the ground a little under the creature while in photoshop) ;)


A sidenote about the inspiration for this piece. Just before I started work on this I had watched Men In Black again for the umpteenth time. So it is probably safe to say there was some subconcious nudging from having watched MIB. I didn't purposefully try to create the bug in that movie and that was never on my mind while creating this creature. Actually I wanted to create a mean nasty critter and complete what would become my first full body character with rendered background to boot. As mentioned about StarCraft....all I can say is I haven't played it in about a year but again it is possible that my subconcious desires had a hand in that too.
:D Personnally I think it looks like an Anhkeg or Remorhaz from Dungeons and Dragons. I am going to be renaming this thread soon as I finish up the piece so it will have a proper title. I am thinking of "Behkrit of the Seelie-Navih Fey" but that may change. :D

[Grub]

Realy fantastic work Mentat7, the textuting is suberb. Those mushrooms look good in the background too. Oh and congrats for reaching 1000 posts :tu: :cool: :tu: :cool: :tu: :cool:

[ztevie-rae]

A "Masterpiece" in the makin !!! :eek:
Brilliant work with the mats,Exquisite
lighting also Lonnie ,and the composition is perfect.Welldone Bro !
:cool: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

Stevie-rae.

[Sarum]

good work :tu: :tu:

[Ron Harris]

O I realized that it was a composite Lon meister from yer post...I was just saying that as a composition that all it needed for that scene was some ground shadows painted on 2d style....and the MIB bug was one kewl critter...regardless if it ispired you or not, you sure came up with a good original mean beasty from the lower peripheree of hell...Great job Lonnie...can't wait to see you put it into a scene of your chosing :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[Mentat7]

I have been working on the final image now for the last two days. It will be 1500 x 1500. The first image below is the new background. All the shrooms are made from sweep profile tools. I have a few more things to put into it and some tweaking but it is nearly finished. Soon I shall be reconstructing the bug. The second pic show what the creature will look like superimposed on the rendered background. A quick photoshop cut and paste on that.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1021510953wmo.jpg


http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1021511050kwo.jpg

[RC]

what an ugly bug!
great job :tu:

[Sarum]

i like the way you were able to render that grass.

[Scougall]

Holy cow this is terrific. If I dont stop seeing so many good peices of art Im going to have to staple my eyelids shut just to regain a lil self confidence :D

Kickass work bro

[MrBraun]

Fabulous and fantastic job Mentat !!! I have'n the word.... !!!
__________________________________________
:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[Mik]

Wow man, the grass on that background is lush. A beautiful storybook scene for that mean critter to wreak havok on.
All in all an excellent thread giving us all a valuable insight into building up a ZBrush image with a truckload of useful hints.
Cheers Ton... I mean Lonnie :D :D

[[EA]Krippler]

your blowin me away mentat7. im in awww over this one.

[Nemo]

I totally agree - Mentat you're the man.

I hope you will give us some info on how you did it.

Keep it up

[Le Discot]

A really good work,man!!!!!!!!

A little bit more integration with scenery should be better. ;) :) :) :)

[Mentat7]

I have been working on this again today. Just so you wouldn't think I had abandoned it here is a little update. Several important things have taken place at this stage. First the image is now being rebuilt at its final resolution size which is 1500 x 1500. Second the creature has been slightly modified (the legs) and is now resting in its final pose. The first phase in the final work will involve the painting of the creature. I will leave the material active so that I can see how the colors will interact with the material as I apply various hues. The second phase will involve placement of several more props and tweaking of the background. I will then begin to add the grass back in. The third and final phase will involve light settings and final tweaks and rendering. Once I have completed the project I will post all the various parts in a step by step along with a few tips as well as some comments on the things I learned along the way. By the way Behkrit in the language of the Seelie means Rehmorhaz. I will have a story to go along with the final image.
http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1022816570prv.jpg

[Ron Harris]

love the change Lonnie...the meatier legs go well with it....keep us posted :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[Stonecutter]

VERY nice, Lonnie!!!
Looking at this, and contemplating what you intend for the final, I can see this will be a great one!
:tu: :tu: :tu: :cool: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[PusGhetty]

OUTSTANDING modeling! Great work on this Mentat... Can't wait to see the finished piece!

[MrBraun]

Very very good work Mentat !!!
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:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[cneofotistos]

definitely star-craftean.
and cute :)

[juandel]

perfecto, Mentat! quantumleap-update!!! i love the creatures materials in monochrome... at first sight it reminded me of Dürer’s rhino (http://www.ifi.unicamp.br/~ghtc/rhino1-e.htm) but looking at both pics right now, i know i prefer yours :D - cant wait to see its finale grandioso!!!

- juandel

[Mentat7]

The painting of the creature has been completed. A few more elements have been added to the scene. Next up is the grass and shadows.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1022893642wal.jpg

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1022893708scc.jpg

[Ron Harris]

outstanding Lonnie!!!!!! and love the little man in the background...keeping his eye on the bug or stalking the bug? :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :tu: :tu:

[Bamboo]

That is really an incredible job. I'd totally freak if i met him. :D

[Stonecutter]

Beautiful Lonnie...I particularly like the material appearance on the lower legs...
:tu: :tu: :tu: :cool: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[aurick]

I've been blown away by the project with every step, but you've ramped things up something fierce with this post. You've been working on it for a long, long time, and the care is obvious. Every detail is perfect, and believable. Super work!

[Mentat7]

The Seelie-Navih Fey are a proud tribe of Seelie entrusted with the protection of the curtain realm...a cooridor of sorts that seperates the realm of the Fey from that of our own mortal realm. To this end they have magically altered and domesticated numerous beasts including the voracious and nearly unstoppable Rhemorhaz or Behkrit as they are known in the language of the Fey. Together the Seelie and their watchdogs patrol the borders of the curtain realm always on guard against the encroaching desires of the darker creatures of Fey...the Goblins and Trolls and most of all the devilishly mischievious Gremlins who would like nothing better than to have free reign upon the mortal world............

Here is the final image (I believe) although it is possible I may tweak it slightly in the coming days but I believe it is now "done". I will post the full process/walkthrough shortly- it is going to take a while to put all those pieces together in one document (I believe there are around 40+ objects). I will share some insights with the walkthrough as well. The Fairies in the foreground and the Gremlins in the background are imported Poser Daz3D figures. The lizard was made in ZBrush.
http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1023032346pwa.jpg

EDIT: I made a small update to the image.

[thelonious]

A supremely well done image.

[Stargo]

:eek: :eek: Really beautifull, Mentat :eek: :eek:

stargo

[insanesooner]

Looks kinda like my old lady............on a good day. Great Job!!!!!!!

[Ron Harris]

way ta' go Lonnie....I hope you are as happy with the end product as I personally am viewing this wonderfully crafted piece. Great job buddy :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: And thank you for sharing the insight into the creation and upcoming walkthru....that is most extremely gracious of you :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[jibberish]

C'mon people! let's put a few more pages on this huge thread...this pic definately deserves it. great job, Mentat...this guy's really cool. i love all the fairies and gremlins and everything. those big double mushroom things are really cool. this came out looking really good.

josh

[Sarum]

i still really do like the grass :)

[Grub]

Mentat, you have really out done yourself with this image, it's absolutley brilliant. :cool: :tu: :cool:

[Stonecutter]

Beautiful job, Lonnie, and I am anticipating the germination of inspiration from a detailed trip through its creation...!
:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[Mentat7]

Please forgive the enormity of this post. I am sure the images will be bumped soon enough so please bare with me. Hopefully a few people my walk away with a little insight and maybe even a smattering of inspiration.

This proved to be my most ambitious and challenging project yet. In all it took me probably 20+ hours to complete. Many times I only had a half-hour here and there to work on it and I suffered from boredom, which is why it took so long to complete. Here is a breakdown of the basic elements:

9 Layers
8 Materials
3 Lights
40+ objects
Fog and Render Depth were selected in the Render panel

I shall begin with the terrain. It was created in three separate layers. The first layer was the foreground terrain. Layer 2 contained the background terrain and layer 3 contained an intermediary rock configuration. The terrains were created from Plane3D’s. They were put into position and rotated then I created the raised/recessed features and added the bump noise. The rocks were created in Bryce 5 as plain mountains and imported as objects. They deform easily within Zbrush and with a large brush size and low ZADD/ZSUB settings I was able to get the smooth facings created. All the terrains were filled with a base color then dropped to the workspace. I completed the color work from that point. The background sky was created on another layer with an alpha brush in the form of a large dot pattern. I initially used an RGB setting of 4 and a ZADD of 2 and painted in the sky. Afterwards I turned off ZADD and continued to color the sky.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1022979157oto.jpg


Next I created the Mushroom layer. The large two-tiered shrooms were created from SWEEP-PROFILES with the profile drawn so as to close the tops and bottoms. The inspiration for the shrooms came from Morrowind (an RPG game I recently bought for my PC). The smaller shrooms were created in a similar manner. When forming them I used symmetrical editing with radial editing. Once they were in the form I desired I turned off symmetry and began to push and pull them out of symmetry into the shape you now see. I applied a base color and again dropped them to the workspace and completed the color work. That is why some of the color images below seem to be missing color in some areas- those areas were covered by the terrain. I kept the shroom layer, as the active layer while the terrain layers remained visible. That way I could paint the shrooms in relation to the terrain without worrying about painting over the terrain. Ironically many of the smaller shrooms are not visible in the final image due to the fact that the creature obstructs the view.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1022979215bdx.jpg

Next came the building of the Rhemorhaz. The head was created from a 3D sphere as was the abdomen and the mandibles. The long trunk-like thorax was created from multimarkered spheres, as were the legs. I only needed to create one leg and then duplicate it to get seven more. However as I worked on it I decided it needed two different looking legs…one for the front legs, which would be used as weapons, and another for the remaining legs. Thus another leg type was born. I used the SphericalBlend material for the entire creature. One note about this material.: Glen had shown how to adjust the material to get smaller scales and thus paint subsequently smaller scale areas into the model. I found that you could achieve something similar by making sure the HVScale and Radial Scales (found in the S1 channel of the material modifier) are significantly separated. The setting I used was HVScale of –40 and Radial Scale of 60. Note that the closer those two values are to one another the more uniform the scales will look. The farther apart they are the more size variance you will get as the material flows from large surface areas to smaller surface areas. Each piece of the creature was brought into the workspace and positioned: Head, mandibles, thorax, abdomen, rear six legs, front sword legs.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1022979320ujx.jpg

Finally I created and imported several organic props. I made a quick lizard from a multi-markered set of spheres. I did not attempt to go into great detail with the lizard because I knew it would be small and the detail would be lost. A quick color fill and a quick texture created in TextureMaster completed the lizard. I applied a grainy material and it was done. I imported a fairy and a gremlin from Poser 4. I first created several poses then exported the figures as .obj files. After importing them into Zbrush with the POLYMESH 3D tool I applied a basic material and a base color fill. Then with just RGB selected in edit mode I applied a few highlights and shadows. The Gremlins were going to be in the background and partially obscured by the fog so I did not dwell on detailing their texture. Likewise I applied the Glow material to the fairies so any extra detail there would be compromised as well.


http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1022979375gtn.jpg

The post work was completed by rendering the image and then exporting it as a .psd file. I then imported it as a texture, created a new layer, selected the flat material, and filled the new layer with the texture. I then worked on this flat picture and added the grass and vegetation. The vegetation was created with the hook brush and the dot alpha. I used the highlighter and intensity tools to adjust the lighting and the shadows of the grass and I used the shading enhancer set with a –12 value to draw in the shadow under the creature.

In all it has been a joyous learning experience (and tiring one lol!). And I thank you all for coming along for the ride. If anyone has any specific questions please fee free to ask!

Also...There is a larger image posted in my Renderosity gallery (1200x1200)

[Stonecutter]

You couldn't have done a more coherent walkthrough Lonnie! :tu:
Thank you for presenting me, and I am sure many others, with a Cornucopia of new ideas!

:tu: :cool: :tu:

[Grub]

Thanks for putting the time in for the ace walkthrough, plenty of tips to digest. You should do a pdf version like the one for the Balrog. :cool: :tu: :cool:

[Zoid]

This is a true masterpiece which has been very fun to watch develop over all this time. Is the shadowing painted in? I can't tell , it looks so natural and it really anchors him (her?) down on to that cool terrain. You really excel in texturing and coloring. Awesome :tu:

[Mentat7]

Thanks everyone! Yes Zoid the shadowing is painted in under the creature with the Shading Enhancer brush set to -12.

[jelee]

Way to go Mentat7! I'm glad you persisted through this project. It was great to watch this piece evolve to the image it now is.
It just kept getting cooler with everything from the skin texture you settled on to the final body proportions which definitely give more weight to it.
A Memorable Mentat7 image.

jelee

[burningbright]

This is fantastic work!! Diligent modeling-believable/incredible textures-astute combination of elements. Thanks for sharing your insights and this fabulous piece. Terrific!

[drjjwow]

what a awesome project mentat..and thanks for the brilliantly explained walk through..

[Ron Harris]

great walkthru Lon, I have loved this image since yer first posting of the basic head....You put together one helluva scene and it's paid off nicely. Obviously everyone has the same concensous about it. I think you might have just earned yer master Zwings :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[hitch]

wow, from the begining posts I think that every one knew this was going to be somthing special, but I don't think i could have thought it would be somthing this spectacular. you have really pushed zbrush on this one Lonnie. :tu: ::, ps I know I've already replied on this topic, but I thought I'd make it an even 100 replies, Is that some sort of a record :qu:

[PusGhetty]

Hats off! An Amazing image... Thanks for the walkthrough too. Great illustrative work!

[cynwulf]

Looks like the images are no longer up? are you able to re-link please?

Thanks :)