The Memory Box (Inspired by Impending)

[aurick]

I've been wanting to really play with the Spiral3D for a while now, and seeing Joe's most remarkable tooth gave me a double inspiration. First, I saw new possibilities for how to mess with the materials modifiers. Second, the transparent burlap effect got the ol' cognitive gears going to figure out just exactly how he did it.

Thank you, Impending!

Since the spark that led to my being able to create this image at all came from him, I thought that it was only fitting to create a scene that was reminiscent of his style: Simple elements, yet profound details.

This one was probably the most fun yet out of anything that I've done to date. I also couldn't resist the urge to give a double meaning to the name by adding in a couple memories of my own. The photograph is my first really good Poser image. The postage stamp is none other than "Bubbles."

The only post render work that has been done on this was to give a gaussian blur to the very edge of the envelope. For whatever reason, it just refused to antialias in ZBrush.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads0/user_image-998469334xsz.jpg

[Digits]

Most remarkable Aurick and a nice tribute at the same time. :tu: :tu:
I like the fine detailing such as the mother of pearl inside the shells and the overlapping of the mat in the background

I love Ms Lockwood's address ;) Anywhere near La La Land?

[juandel]

makes a story forming in my head - another wonderful impending-effect ;) very very well done, aurick! among the other wonders memory souvenirs i’d love to praise the ornamental-paper-flower-hide-points-thingie down below, if i only knew what is the word for it in english :) :D

muy bien!

- juandel

[Kathy]

Great illustration.
Tells a story, guides the eye, feeds the mind.

:) :tu:

[Nikko]

Outstanding illustration, Aurick! I love that lacey thingamabob that's underneath everything else. How did you make that? A custom alpha over a 3dPlane inflated with hidepoints activated?

I have a feeling the work of Impending is going to inspire more than a few of us to reach greater heights of realism!

[robotalk]

Beautiful work--It tells such a story that it would make a good book hardcover--and the names you made up on the letter-very cool--and quite creative after all who would really be named Matthew Yetter???....Oh wait...?? never mind--

-grandma would have called that fabulous thingy below a "paper Doily" KUDOS Aurick excellent job !

[Kruzr]

'Morning Aurick . . . :)

Now this is a little different from your usual work, but it is indeed very nice. I like the way you've created your "patterned mesh" type thing-a-ma-bob, underneath the shells & picture. I also like the way you've directed the whole focus of your work towards the inside of the wooden box. ;)

I can see that you just don't run out of new ideas, for your images. Heheheh. Have a good one . . . :cool: Mark.

P.S. ( Is that a picture of you with one of your very close female friends??? HHHMMMMMMM! ) :rolleyes:

[impending]

Hi Aurick, your kind words embarrass me :p

Great image, lotsa nice touches. First is the story that can be inferred - 10 people would tell you 10 different interpretations ;) The doily is very delicate and a feminine memento. The envelope is great in many regards from the address of Pixolator, CA to the stamp to the crowning touch - the postmark. The shell atop is very dimensional.

My favorite part however is the photo - this looks exactly like a faded polaroid. Don't know if you've ever done this but if your hands are in the way when you take a polaroid and the photo jams when ejecting - you get those light colored lines exactly :D

Thanks for sharing!!!

jd

[thelonious]

Well what else is left to say? I like the walnut wood texture, and the envelope texture, the doiley is very mysterious.

How can I say this, I feel the envelope could have been a little brighter given the hard shadow. How can I dare to make such a small criticism. Well of course it isn't a criticism at all it is merely a comment.

The better the illustration the finer the comments.

[aurick]

Giving credit where credit is due, the wood should be recognized by Mark -- I used the "burlwood" texture that he so kindly gave to me recently along with some other woods.

This image was unusual for me in a lot of ways, the style included. Most especially, I used a lot of textures in this one, where I normally let the materials do the majority of the work (again, Impending, you turned a light on for me when it came to those).

In all, there are X textures in this scene:
:b3: the burlwood
:b3: the doily
:b3: the stamp
:b3: the address and return address
:b3: the postmark
:b3: the photograph
Egads!

Believe it or not, the shells themselves were created exclusively using the materials supplied with the program. I simply tweaked the hell out of the modifiers.

The "secret" to the doily (sp?) was pretty simple, really. I just created the texture in Photoshop as a black and white image. When I imported the texture into ZBrush and applied it to a Plane3D, I clicked the "transparent texture" button. As a result, everything that was black in the texture became invisible. The slight pattern in what's visible was caused by my material settings, which show through any texture that you apply to an object. The addresses on the envelope were applied in the same way.

Hope that helps anyone who wants to try similar stuff. Transparent textures are an amazingly powerful technique, especially when combined with material modifications.

[Vikki]

As usual, it's awesome!

You never run out of ideas and they are always something new! Great stuff!