Happy Halloween

[monstermaker]

lab with doc small.jpg
Hi all, I've been filming a lot lately doing crazy hours but in the film business there is a lot of hurry up and wait, so in my waiting hours I have been modeling and animating stuff on my lap top. This is far from finished and I still have a great deal to learn but I thought that I would post it since it's close to halloween. I know the pose on the mad doctor is lame I haven't finished rigging him yet ,but I couldn't wait to stick him in his lab which is far to clean at the moment. I still am having trouble getting good displacements waiting for the Mac version, hint ,hint. Anyways enough excuses. Happy halloween,
mm

[andreseloy]

great work MM!!
Andreseloy

[Giantsun]

Very cool scenario, the reflection on the balls looks great. The "thing" on the right looks like something out of Metropolis...wich is sorta theme on this forum lately. :D Cant wait to see this progress.

[Davlin]

I think it would be really interesting to see how you paint textures for non-organic stuff, such as the apparels in the backgrounds. :)

Well, you found a great thing to do waiting between takes, wish I could have done the same ! I'm looking forward to see what will become the little hommage to the old monster movies. ^_^

Happy Halloween to you,

Bye !

[bicc39]

Nice work, would like to see a closeup of the dear and glorious physician.
Welcome back.

[Sebcesoir]

Nice to see you back Monster!

HOpe you can find more free time to kill us with freaking artworks...

Promissive.. Hop to see it animated soon...

[realityengine]

rick, do you have a personal website? i tried finding cinovation as well but had no luck.. id like to follow up on both yours and cinovations progress..

anyway.. if not.. coughimawebdevelopercough

[Dickie]

Heya MM: Is this a Z-Brush render? If not, is it a LW render. I was wondering how you got those reflections if it is Z-Brush. Either way, it's looking sweeet...:D Hope the hours on the gig aren'y too crazy...


Dickie

[sirquadalot]

Happy Halloween! Looking forward to the final image.

[lemonnado]

Cool. Is he saying: ' Hey Frank, come back... we can talk about it....'
:DLemonNado

PS:
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?p=235965#post235965

[Moochie]

Love the use of light and dark .. great atmos, lack of grime not withstanding. Good to see you back. No stars 'til you finish it to your satisfaction. :D

Are you at liberty to tell us what you're currently working on?

[monstermaker]

many docs copy.jpg
Hi, Here are some frames from an animation I did using different morph targets. Yes Dickie they are LW renders and thanks for the advice on using the bump map. The Zbrush model is highly textured these are a poor approximation but at least with the bump map there is a little detail.
Anderseloy nice to hear from you again.
realityengine, no I do not have a website for myself or business do you want to build one for me?
I'll try and update this when I get the time
Thanks mm

[Antropus]

Great job with the facial expressions MM!

Please, keep it coming ;)

Kris

[Frenchy Pilou]

:cool:
Pilou

[joe_seig]

Hello Mr. Monster Baker,
Seems like you're having fun these days!
Really great face you've sculpted.
Good to see the displacements aren't holding back your powers.
Happy animating!

[lemonnado]

Oh, great poses! This is how I remember Ray Walston. The actor who played 'My favourite Martian'. Hillarious!
http://us.imdb.com/gallery/mptv/1096/3073_0006.jpghttp://i.imdb.com/mptv1.gif
http://i.imdb.com/mptv1.gif
:tu::tu::tu::tu::tu:
LemonNado

[Moochie]

Great expressions. Okies .. stars.

[Suzana]

Beautiful work for the face expressions.
Best luck.
:D

[Drummer]

hi friend !!
nice to see from you ! I love your facees :D
great as always
see you soon :tu:

[monstermaker]

mad z.jpg
Here is the ZBrush version
mm

[Jason Belec]

Beautiful! Ah the memories. ;)

[javierloredo]

Very nice detailing on the wrinkles!
I have a question. What other software did you used to model this character or you just used zpheres? Another thing, with what brushes or tools you use for those small details and stuff? I've heard of this Deco brush for those type of details or just a regular brush with a size of 2 for example. Would be nice to hear some of your techniques and methods. Thx and have a good one!:D

Javi.

[realityengine]

hey rick, im up for it. just email me the ideas you have for the layout of your site and ill get going on my end. i can be contacted at frank.diaz@realityengine.net

Ill send other methods through email.

Ill make you an account to upload assets to my server so we can get going on the design. If youre looking to get these going, id advise registering your domains.

I host if you need a host.

[punchatz]

This is the coolest thing you have done since you started posting!!!!
Very expressive, facial expressions you've created. He is so alive, and I love the style. It's kind of a cross between your work and Spitting Image. I always love those puppets that they created. Such great caricatures, with really bold designs.

Are you using lightwave to animate in?

Is lightwave of holding you back from using displacement maps? Or zbrush? From my understanding, you should be able to generate your displacement maps from the Mac version of zbrush. You just don't have access to the new plug-in that makes it easier. But I believe you should still be able to generate your displacement map.

Let me know if I can help in anyway.

Greg

[Ctrl-Z]

I'd be less concerned with layout as functionality. What is it you need your site to do? For a personal gallery, it's not a big deal, but the business side of things gets interesting.

If you're looking to move some of your business functionalityonline, (ie: project management tools, secure password-protected areas a client can see their comps, track changes, make notes, etc.), the company I work for builds a lot of high-end web applications. Their content-management system is particularly neat, as it lets you make frequent changes without bugging anyone else about it or knowing HTML yourself.

That stuff can get pricey, and it's more than most people need, but if you think transitioning some of your administrative tasks online will attract more jobs and earn real money, it might be worth it.

In the meantime, Blogger (http://www.blogger.com) can post files to your website, automatically chained together, and anyone with a Blogger account (or an account from any other OpenID-supported site) can make comments. Build a nice looking template, and your gallery's interactive.

(I'm a big fan of the free-alternatives-to-hiring-us. Don't tell my boss!)

Anyway... That was insanely off-topic.

I love the morph poses, and definitely want to see that guy in motion. He's very expressive. Not sure I'm sold on the ultra-high detailed version, though. The wrinkles below his eyebags seem very pronounced, and I'm not seeing the form to support them. Still, I am looking at this without texture -- that usually makes all the difference in the world.

Welcome back!

[realityengine]

i can do all of that and more. ive been working in the music industry for over 5 years developing for record labels.

[lemonnado]

And I can fly Helicopter!

PS:That last Model looks even more than Walston..... Cmon.... Rick... put some Antennas on his head! :D

LemonNado (who is hiding his models in the basement...)

[tiktok]

MM-
it's great to see your progress with all this stuff. That alien is going to be great once you get the displacement right!...it already looks great!

you seem to be getting better and better...
Can't wait to see more and more!

Have you tried normal mapping? Lately I've had more success with a detailed base mesh and a normal map...plus render times are a flash!
-tiktok

[Ctrl-Z]

RealityEngine: Cool. (So long as MM gets the site he needs, I don't care who develops it. ;))

Lemonnado: Even cooler. I wanna fly a helicopter!

[aminuts]

Hi MM,

The stills are cool! Hopefully Pixologic will get that PU going soon for ya.

I love the detailed one. Just the right amount of creepy to make one's imagination run wild. Reminds me of a cranky old neighbor we used to terrorize as kids and make up evil horror stories about. Ahhhh the good old days.

Glad you have a few minutes to do some creating for yourself!

[jantim]

These animation stills from the model look super..its crappy to loose all the detail that is in the Zbrush model :( ...but the next version of Lightwave will perhaps have the micropolydisplacement that you need to transfer all these wrinkles
to the Lightwave model !?

jantim

[realityengine]

i hear the new softimage has a gigapolygon core, but i havent fooled around with it yet.

[bicc39]

Believe it is time for a name change?

[fizzy]

Rick have you tried exporting the mesh from Z-brush at a slightly higher level,say 2 0r maybe even 3 steps? Obviously render times will increase but at least you'll keep all your detail .

Pete B

[Ctrl-Z]

Forget render times, Pete -- have you tried to rig and animate a mesh with that many polygons? (that is (http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showpost.php?p=236124&postcount=12) the goal) Remember, they quadruple with every subdivision!

[lordbinah]

here is my halloween post a litle ghoul but its nothinc compared whit the work of MM im practicing a lot to get into that level !! i have realy big problems whit the normal maps in lightwave if someone know the correct way of zbrush to lightwave please help me !! enjoy my ghoul
ghoulman.jpg

[tiktok]

I just thought last night that you're using lightwave to render displacements? I'm not totally positive about this...but I'm pretty sure lightwaves native renderer doesn't support 'micro-pixel' displacement. That's probably why your last two previous attempts only had a touch of displacement, but not all the fine details. If you want something that renders displacements very easy and is built around lightwave (it use to be a plugin for that, then became a standalone app), and is quite inexpspesive and easy to use, perhaps you should try out messiah. I think the website is http://www.projectmessiah.com

Otherwise, if you have maya, I'd drive all the way up to burbank just to help you out and see what one of your animations looks like. BUt I assume you have all kinds of people there who could do the same...:confused:

goodluck
-tiktok

[realityengine]

dont increase the polygon count through zbrush, keep at a subdivide level where it keeps the basic shape and use your alpha maps

[SS810]

Hi Monster Maker,

Its fantastic that you, (as one of the finest sculptors on the planet) are able to transfer your skills into this medium and keep all your style and energy.

A few years ago, I thought computers and cgi had killed real sfx, and the sculpture and craftsmanship that I loved. Now I realise it is just the next step.

Your work looks as good as ever.

Zbrush is great isnt it!

[GhostofMacbeth]

Very nice and just in time for the season ...

[madrenderman]

Mr Baker,
i'm pleased to see a Mith like you here.
i start when i was a teenager to sculpt clay and play with latex after i see some old good movies like wolfman and frankestein, but, for a werewolfs' fan like me An american werewolf in london is a legend and ispiration for a long time.

finally i can exchange with you the favor, waht i leanr from a photo of your work, working in progress dvd, and more, all what you give me during these years, i give you some info about lw and zbrush, and if you have any other question about lw, i'm very happy to help you, don't forget to send me private message or email carlo@macchiavello.com.

For lightwave (i understand correctly that you use it on mac, right?) you can use a free plugin for displacement that work better than original newtek, it's called normal displacement and you can find http://lynx.aspect-design.de/plugins/normal_displace_info.htm

it's faster and more powerful than original plugin, after download, you can see on list of displacement plugin like NormalDisplacement without space between word, the plugin that you can see like Normal Displacement is old newtek plugin.

here http://amber.rc.arizona.edu/lw/normalmaps.html
you can find a normal plugin for mac and win, that help you to have better dectail on lower mesh, pay attention to obj and scene size, be cuase it's very sensible to size, very large obj cause bad shadow on surface. but generally if you work on lw in correct world size, all work fine from ik to dynamic simulation to light, to every other part.
an humanoid creatures that are tall 2 meters work well, an humanoid that are 50 meters tall could cause you some headheace on setup.

i hope that help you in your digital adventure.

[monstermaker]

d3 frame.jpg
Hi everyone, thanks for your comments, here is a little quicktime of this guy in motion,
http://www.momoshare.com/file.php?file=44854cf1dfbd96e99a3e6ae349773b7e, hope this works.
This guy was originally modeled and textured in ZBrush I made the morph targets in Modo and animated him in LightWave.
madrenderman: thanks for the info I will try it out and probably contact you with a lot of questions.
realityengin andCtrl-Z thanks for the web site info I'll be finished filming in about a week expect me to contact you then.
Anyways Remember I'm new at this. Would really like to get this displacement map deal worked out and frankly I'm just not getting the whole rigging part of this> I know that this is a zbrush site but if there are any LightWave users out there who know where I could learn more about rigging in LW I would really appreciate it.
Again Happy Halloween
mm
Ok to view video go to the above site and you will see the homepage screen and push the continue button, as shown below, and it will load the quicktime

[joe_seig]

It's alive!
Brilliant!
Highest respects.

[Baryonix]

Great job Monstermaker !

PS: I can't view the vidéo. That steers me towards the momoshare's home page ! :confused:

Edit: I can view now the video. It's a really freaky moment. :tu:

[realityengine]

thats a pretty friggin decent animation. pretty quick production time.. he goes from an evil grin to narcoleptic sleepyness.

As far as design, ill be waiting man.. i got some ideas and a quick mockup done. Got some other ideas you might be interested in... who knows.

[MACMaN]

MM, I was looking around for tuts on Maya Displacement and I found this posing for LW! I hope it helps!

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=21078

Good to see your work here! I really like the detail for the scientists head!

Shoot! I could do that! :)

[lemonnado]

Nice, haha, I'm already scared of what's next...
:tu::tu::tu:
LemonNado

[billrobertson42]

Please take this for what it's worth, because I know nothing about animation/rigging, but I've looked at a number of demos and videos of the various packages out there and I think that Messiah:Animate is the slickest and easiest I've seen.

They have a number of demo movies on their website and a demo program as well. I don't know if they have a mac version or not.

[madrenderman]

Dear MonsterMaker
when you want, i'm here ;-)
ready to answer to all questions.

good resource for lw rigging are a couple of book of a great artist called Johnny gorden, ones for character modelling, ones for rig and animation with lightwave.
you can find on amazon at this address,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1556222548/qid=1129971877/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-0599165-1022438?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/155622253X/qid=1129971877/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-0599165-1022438?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

in that
book you can find simple and clear text to understand the basic of animation rig for LightWave and solve many mistake and misanderstanding of Lightwave.
anyway for every question i'm here.

for the near future, i will post a tutorial about lightwave - zbrush - lightwave to optimize and show a full workflow where i show all pass to report all dectail from zbrush to lightwave render, i hope to work on it in during the week end, and will finish it, but today i must finish other work for new week before to finish it.
have a nice day.

p.s. i miss to tell that animation and character are very nice, and ... yes
it's alive !!! it's alive !!!
;-)

[pinkarman]

for what i have seen so far this looks like a high-quality thread..
and so i know i shouldn't be here, so forgive me.. :rolleyes:
however, hope you like it. 100% zbr
halloween_2.jpg
i also made a similar version for MattHHH Halloween thread..

[joostbouwer]

beautyfull render, Pinkarman.

[Logick]

thats actually very cool pinkar
i'd like to see that coming from a more "smokey" looking fog
with maybe more red or more "specular" in the under light
the teeth look a little wide for the eye sockets, however if that is what you are going for maybe a little accented brow (above the eyes) for that more primal skull look is pretty spooky.

either way, you don't have to down talk your own work, although you have room to develop it more, it is actually very good!

keep it up

[pinkarman]

Logick, i'll try to follow your suggestions..
however, don't think i have got no self esteem, it's only a nice render, nothing more.. my skills are lower than what they seem..

[fizzy]

Hey Monster Maker. I've got some good rigging videos. I'm the same as you I've always modelled and textured and only started animating a few weeks ago. I downloaded a few free rigging tutorials by William Proton and I found they really helped me out. I can email them to you if you want?


Pete B

[Jim McPherson]

Fantastic Rick, really impressed with those blend shapes. Can't wait to see more.
Best,
jim

[deity]

so is this the halloween thread then? :lol: if so HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

aliens.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('20910','aliens.jpg',1,0))