First Post, be gentle.

[3ddude]

Hi,

This is my first post on here. I am more an animator than a modeler, however, here goes. Took a lowRes model from work and made two models off of it. There was no real design or anything, just me playing.

The eventual plan would be to morph from one to the other. More of a test than anything else really. I altered the base mesh so much pulling the eagle out of the helmet, I could not get the displacement correctly off of the base mesh, in a quick test I did. Will probably export both of the meshs at level two or three and give it a shot.

Not sure how many pics to post, or what size, so hope these are ok. Haven't really played with the materials and lights yet. I did find one problem with ZBrush though.They need a big red button to tell you when to stop : ) Amazing piece of software. Love the interface too!

Cheers. EvilynRaelin_ThreeQuarter.jpg
EvilynRaelin_BustSide.jpg
LowResCage.jpg

[troy1617]

this is a really good model for your first post could you tell me how you did all those details like the armor it looks really good could you post your light and material settings also i really like the detail alot you have to tell me how you did this thanks!!!!!!!!!!

[alexleia]

amazing!!!
Alex Oliver

[odhinn]

Scary good...
Were are you guys coming from???
I've seen two back to back posts tonight that make me want to stop modeling.
Amazing... top row. Keep posting bro.

[SolidSnakexxx]

This is absolutely awesome! Wonderful models. :tu: :tu:

[Dickie]

Truly excellent modeling and design! Seeing the variation of the same armor and having both of them work is amazing. Also, bonus points for not making
her breasts gigantic. Really nice to see a more normal proportion there.

First time posting and already a projection master master...:D

5 stars and a big vote for top row from me....


Dickie

[Sebcesoir]

nice armors ;)

[ryankingslien]

Sorry, you've been disqualified from the "Be Nice" catagory! These are great models!! Welcome!

`r

[Erklaerbar]

thats cruel!!!! 5 stars:tu:

[stanloshka]

Hi, great armor, nice model I like it

[3ddude]

Hi,

Firstly I would just like to say that this is by far the best forum on the internet. I read back through a bunch of other posts and everyone is very kind and supportive of one another and I think that is awesome. Art is so subjective anyhow. The quality of some of the work on here is awe inspiring.

Gads, my material settings. I'll post them later today in a zip. It was just the basic material with some cavity shading. The light was the default light, I forget what I did, but I did plug that blue sky image from the textures into it as an env thingy : ) Lol, I just click alot of things until something I like happens.

Thanks on the armour, I know it is a bit of a mess design wise. I had no real idea what I was was going to do, I just sort of dove in and started modeling. A guy at work made the lowRes mesh, I just tweeked it.

Ok, you were gentle.......... now you can trash away!!! Here's a few more pics.
Evilyn_BustFront.jpg Raelin_BustRear.jpg

[DarthWayne]

Stunning 1st post. I'm really looking forward to the fully textured and lit version. It's amazing how the general standard around here has jumped through the roof since xmas.

Wayne...

[ichitz]

awesome! gave me great inspirations.. :D

[froyd]

so much incredible detail... thanks for showing!

greets
froyd

[turx]

be gentle? man these are great!
and without any concept? wow!

[capu]

yeah, that´s awesome....
if you are a animator, so I can´t wait to see that mesh animated...

by the way:
animating and rendering in ?

lets us know more and thx for posting your artwork !!!! :D

[monstermaker]

3ddude, you must be one hell of an animator if you don't consider yourself a modeler and do stuff like this. Great first post and welcome. I agree once you start with ZBrush it's almost impossible to stop. I'm looking forward to seeing more from you
Rick

[3ddude]

Thanks again.

Here is the material and light, as promised. Nothing special, I actually came here to grab a few materials and lights, like the GI lights and such. Wish there were more.

What am I going to render it in, lol? Goooooood question. Maya, since that is all I really use. I have expended a stupid amount of time getting a grip on MentalRay SSS shaders and I was going to try that. I do have access to RfM as well, and it does crazy displacement, so I will just have to play a bit more and see. Right now I am on a bit of a ZBrush frenzy because it will actually let me animate lowRes characters and have them look wicked too. Hopefully : ) And it is just so much fun.

I can paint fairly decent textures, so my next hurdle is to get the result I am looking for in Maya and animate it. Some of the stuff I have seen people do on here is daunting, and they obviously have a far better grasp of shaders than I do. I can't even seem to find a node other than the ramp to blend the 16Bit displacement maps in Maya. Seems like it should be an easy thing, but apparently not.

And thanks Rick, I know your work all too well. That may be another ZBrush bug... I am spending valuable animation time modeling instead.

Craig

[Atwooki]

Wow - Great 1st post, 3ddude - as an animator, more so given these exceptional modeling skills :) welcome to the addiction!

Chris

[DarthWayne]

What am I going to render it in, lol? Goooooood question. Maya, since that is all I really use. I have expended a stupid amount of time getting a grip on MentalRay SSS shaders and I was going to try that.
Yeah the SSS mental ray shaders really can be a pain to learn. I have to admit they aren't the most straightforward shaders ever devised by a long way. In fact in the 'troublesome stakes' they come second only to the shave and a haircut plugin when trying to get a messy long hair effect. (I've currently been messing around trying to get a single hairstyle for 2 months!)

It's going to be a pleasure seeig this finished.

Wayne...

[Antropus]

I agree. Very nice models here man :)

Keep it up,
-Kris

[Abyssis]

yaaah, that's not bad, really not, ehh, that's good, I meant really good, I wanna say: that's awsome, man 3Ddude:cool: :cool: :tu: :tu:

[Pestopants]

hey 3ddude,
This is amazing! I love the attention to detail. How many millions of polygons did you get the surface for it to hold this surface detail? Also, if your were planning on morphing between one and other, you could alway do a quick test in zbrush by exporting on high resolution mesh and reimporting into the other and then using the morph tab to see it work. I dunno, just a thought. Anyways cool.

p.

[3ddude]

Well yah, I am one hell of an animator. Just kidding.

So wow. Antropus, DarthWayne, Seb, MonsterMaker, Abyssis, et al. You guys...... are all amazing, So I really do appreciate the kind words. I have been looking at your models for a long time wishing I could do half as well. I think it was Seb's Lord model that finally made me want to dive in and really make something, because it was so insanely well detailed. It was that or just break down and cry : )

Pesto - It was a little over 3.2 million poly's. I think I squeezed out every one. There are a few places where you can see the stress lines. The eagle beak was pulled to like one poly at the end and I could not for the life of me get a nostril to take. There was just nothing left, lol. But the tongue has some useless detail on it nobody will ever see, haha. How stupid is that???
I did export them at level three, around 50,000 poly's I think and did a morph test to see them. It worked like a charm. I also did a test of the displacement from level two and it was perfect except for the eagleHead and the skull on the helmet.

What is a good place to generate a bump from. One division level down from the top or two? Is there any benefit to having a 16bit bump map over an 8bit one? It takes like 4 hours to run one off with this many poly's.

And really sorry to hear about the Shave and a HairCut nightmare. That was why we invented the TD! I just want to create stuff, not have to spend forever figuring it out. MentalRay is amazing but it is a big, giant, timeKilling, lifeSucking, pain in the butt. Especially in Maya.

Cheers, more later. Making a Medusa head now, and I'd like to model this guy sometime. I'll get back to the render nightmare after I generate some maps and gather some more patience : )

Tentacles.jpg

[Frenchy Pilou]

And cool etch rough sketch!
Have happy Zbrushing :cool:
Pilou

[Drummer]

the deatil makes me crazy, great stuff !!
:cool: :tu:

[Pestopants]

wow thanks for the info, I can't wait to see that medusa! Awsome stuff dude.

p.

[3ddude]

Thanks tons.......

Ok, the Medusa thing...... going to go start another thread I guess???? Seemed like a good idea at the time.

[Strannik]

:tu: respect

[monstermaker]

Looking forward to the Medusa, 3ddude
Rick

[baker17]

Stunning detailing, and i too cannot wait for the medusa!!

:tu:

[Atwooki]

Uploaded some tentacle refs to my website for you....
From the 'Giant Squid' exhibit at the Natural History Museum, London, UK this week ;)

here:

Tentacles1a.jpg

Tentacles2.jpg

Tentacles2a.jpg

C.

[3ddude]

Wow, thanks a ton. Those are great. Nature sure makes some creepy stuff.

I actually will tackle it after the medusa head since the whole copying and pasting displacement for similar things seems to work. No way I am modeling 20 tentacles either : ) The snakes worked really well all things considered.

Thanks again. Great reference pics. Bet they smell. The tenatacles, not the pics.

[madrenderman]

if is a first post you are incredible, congratulations.
the quality, richness and fine dectail are amazing.

[capu]

hmm, how did you get the eagle on the helmet ?
which technique did yiu use for it ?

can you explain for us a little bit to learn more from you . it´s really soooooo professional.... thank you a lot,
capu :D

[frenzyfol]

Great work, can you describe your workflow?

I would be very keen to see how well that high polygon version would work as a normal map on your low polygon version.

If you have a spare 20 minutes could you do a normal map render for us all..

Cheers,
Adam

[3ddude]

The normal map thing. I would be happy to post the base model and a normal map for you somewhere. Not sure where I can put it but I will think about where. Will need the code for the exporter to make sure I do the correct kind of map. I have almost zero experience with making or using them.

So since I am an idiot, where would I render that? I have applied a normal map to a model in Maya, but never for render purposes. I always use diplacement maps.... sorry for being baked here. Briefly tell me how and I will gladly render one : )

I am just running out displacement maps for these still and trying to get some cavity grabs and such to do the morph anim. Sort of getting sideTracked with the medusa head.

The eagle head....... I made a brush and used projection master to pull out the basic shape, then worked it with the standard tools and alot of the move tool, usually bad I think because it alters the base mesh alot, tons of pinch brush.
Workflow....what workflow, lol? Basically I used the UV's to make a map in photoshop to punch out the square outline on the helmet and fin things, shoulder pieces, collar (level 5). Then just used a bunch of custom alpha brushes to do freaky details and such. Again, alot of move tool and pinching, smoothing. But what do I know??? Each model took about 12 hours.Once it is up there in poly count, most work done in projection master. Big fan of the standard and inflate Dot too, as you can see : )

Let me know on the normal map thang.

Cheers. Gotta' go work on a snake head : )

[frenzyfol]

Everything should be able to be done in Zbrush

If your model started off as a low polygon model and still contains all the subdivision levels all you have to do is rack it down to the lowest subdiv level.
Then create a normal map by going to tools - normal map.
This will generate a normal map for you.
Then all you have to do is grab zmapper plugin and you should be able to view the results using the low polygon model + normal map as texture within the zmapper.
Heres the link.
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=031281
hope you find it useful.

[capu]

eagle on helmet:
you used a brush ? a special brush ? for doing what exactly ?
for me it´s the greatest detail work I´ve ever seen... it´s really amazing and absolut pro. lot´s of congratulations.


But that with the eagle I really don´t understand. At first I thought you made the eagle as extra 3d mesh, and added it to the helmet. Hmm, I thought maybe multimarkers.

But as you wrote, you mean... that you pulled out the eagle from the helmet basic mesh, or isn´t that right ? With the move function, or ?

Hmmm... but than you modeled the eagle out ? part for part, step by step ? still on the helmet mesh ?

would be great to let us know more about .. it´s soooooo fine.
hmm, and one more question with this image:

as.jpg


thank you for every little help,
capu

[3ddude]

Ok. Yes, both models have all the subDivisions intact. I did not know you could view stuff in ZMapper. I have it but have not installed it : )

Will do it otmorrow and post some pics. Just did some work on snakeHead thing..... gotta' crash.

Will get to the alpha stencil eagle head thing question in morning, ok? When i won't fall asleep at the keyboard - will explain in detail. Happy to share. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[capu]

yeah, awesome that´s really great.. can´t await more from you...
we all love you !!!!!! :D

[3ddude]

Ok, to try and be more specific. Yes, the eagle was a 16Bit PSD file that I loaded into ZB and use it in projection master to pull out the basic shape. I think I used the standard brush and just dialed up the projection depth, and turned off normalize so it came straight out.

Then just used alot of the move tool to pull the rest of the form out and then the standard tools to add other stuff. Eyes were the standardDot, etc.

See pic below and I think you will get what I mean. I just wacked it onto a sphere to show you the basic shape that came out : )

C

Make sense?

EagleCloseUp.jpg

[capu]

hi and thank you for your nice reply and image documentation.
that´rocks..... and the idea and technique you used for, is really effectiv.

I will try next week to model an easy helmet... lol; I mena, I´ve tried a few days ago, but my result is not to show.... :o ufff.... looks like a chicken egg; lol;

well, thank you a lot for your detailed description.

One more question:
The sharp and excellent edges on the helmet, are they all made by hand ?
The lines are looking extrem clear.... hmm, I´ve tried around to make such edges, and I´ve used a lot the pinch tool, but never got this result.

It´s really an eyecandy......
okay, so bye for now and take care,
capu

[3ddude]

No problem, glad to help.

Yah, to do it with the pinch brush, dealing with that many poly's..... I can't see it being that crisp. I'd never say never, but this is way easier, faster, and the line is crazy sharp!

I used that trick in the ZB User Guide where you import an image and use it to displace the mesh, by pressing the mode button and applying it. Went to level five and imported a grey scale, 16Bit image I made using the UV's as a guide in Photoshop. The biggest key to that is use 16 bit files as they really are infinately smoother. It is hard to edit them, but for something like I did, it was just all middle grey, with some black and white lines and shapes. Even I was surprised how crisp it was. Great way to add the tiniest noise to the surface too.

You could project the edge too, in projection master, but then there is the distortion issue to deal with, and makeing edges meet, etc.
Go to Photoshop and make a 512 square pic, fill 50% grey. Put your initials with text tool in middle, make text white. Use layer option to put stroke around text, make it black. Flatten, save as 16Bit grey PSD file.

In ZBrush, load that file. Get a polyplane or sphere or whatever, and tesselate up to something crazy, like a million polys. Then use that meathod (happy to tell u if you can't find it) to take image and displace the mesh using it. The edges will be sooooooo sharp. Hope this helps : )

[capu]

okay, I will try it.
You´ve talked about the ZB User Guide ?

Do you mean the Welcome Guide ?
I´ve searched on zbrush.com but couldn´t find the guide you wrote.....


would be nice to get the direct link...
thank you sooo much, you are the best !!!!!

capu

[vivien]

hello,

fantastic first post, good for you. i also love the drawings...are you planning on texturing? 5 stars obviously :)

[3ddude]

Sorry, Capu, the practical users guide. The ZB bible. There is a tutorial in there, near the end, on doing a hand. Tells how to load a model and project displacement back on to it. At work now, but will give you page number if you can't find it.

Hi Vivien. yes I will texture them eventually. I find painting photorealistic human faces daunting. Well, modeling too, and for whatever reason (????) alot of people seemed to like this model..... there is just nowhere to go but down now : ) I think I am afraid to paint it, lol.

Wierd what turns people on. I am doing this Medusa head thing (different thread) which I think is easily as cool as this model.... and I don't think it even has a tenth the views / comments this thread does.

[capu]

thx , your are really great.

well, I´ve tried to make the 16bit grayscale psd file you wrote.
but if I do that, I can´t load this image into zbrush.

I get the error: "Unable to read".
Why that ? I´m sure that I´ve all done right in photoshop.

the 2nd thing:
pressing the mode button..... hmm.... well, I´ve searched for the mode button, but can´t really recognize which function you mean ?

In the Stencil Mode, I can finde the wrape mode..... hmmm, well..... I´ve tried to do that you wrote, but I failed...... :cry:

What I´m doing wrong ?
okay, and now I will read in the pracitcal guide.....

bye the way:
icq: 221-219-437

thx for every little help,
capu

[3ddude]

Ok, photoshop. BTW - I don't think I know enough to give a tutorial, lol, but here goes. Most stuff already posted on here by other people.

Make sure manage color is off in photoshop. Image has to be grey scale 16bit, no rgb. Yours was likey RGB. Also, to be safe for now, flatten and kill any alpha. Has to work.

Mode thing. Get model and alpha in ZB. Click make texture with default settings, white color good to show displacement. Turn off quick edit. Under tool go to display properties and set smooth to 1. Go to displacement tab, also under tool. Click mode button, it's under create dispmap button. Try different values under intensity, you will see effect. When happy, click apply.

Then go backwords.... turn off mode button. Smooth back to 0. Turn on quick edit.

Hope I didn;t miss anything : )

[capu]

yeah, now I recognized the power of that way....
thx a lot, it works....

hmm, I only thought about how to bring all the details on your mesh..
isn´t it the best way to paint at first a simply texture on the helmet, with a raw imagine of the parts I want to get on... yeah, and if you do have this texture unwrapped and opened in photoshop, you can paint your own detailed displacment map in greyscale modus......:idea:

hmmm, isn´t that the best way ?
I really can´t imagine a other solution for positioning the single elements .....

so, I mean painting at first a raw texture, to know where I want to make edges and ornaments... and after that, I have to copy this on a layer in photoshop and painting a grey (white/black) 16bit displacement map....

If I wrote right in this thread, it seems to be that this technique you used for... hmm, okay, very often I have to convert my 16bit to a 8bit psd file to edit the displacment.......

okay, if it´s the right way, please let me know, I hope so..
by the way, I´ve tried around, and I can only import a 16bit.psd file into my alpha , but no 16bit.tif file...... maybe I´m the only one out here with this ....

Thank you so much for all your nice help,
that´s fantastic...
we all love you and your amazing talent !!!!!! :D

little capu

[3ddude]

Still working on the ZMapper thing........ haven't forgotten.

Here is a quick texture test. Comments welcome : )

TextureTest_Side.jpg TextureTest_SideB.jpg

[capu]

yeah,,, hehe, really nice painting..... can´t wait to see the full model with the helmet and all the rest of it.....

go, go, go.... we are all waiting, it´s really fantastic....


okay, so bye for now and take care,
capu :D

[capu]

oh yeah, I forgot one thing !!!!

which uv settings did you use for making your displacments ?
GUVTiles ? or spherical, or cyndrical uvw mapping ?

Hmm, because for me it seems to be impossible to make a displacment map from a texture I´ve created with GUVTiles......

thx a lot,
capu

[3ddude]

None of the above : )

No, I do not like the GUVTiles either. They work fine, but I like to have all the UV's laid out flat, and where possible, a perfect mirror. When I have half the head Model done and mirror it over, I also mirror the UV's over.

I try to use as much of the UV space as possible, with as few pieces as possible, until I run into distortion. Try pelting tools if you use Maya. It is a free plugin, I have not tried it yet but saw a demo, and it lays out uv's really cool.

C

[capu]

now, I don´t use maya, I´m on max.

you wrote:
".... but I like to have all the UV's laid out flat...."

yeah, that´s the point, that is what I want, but I have no clue how to get such a result from a zbrush tool ? You modeled your mesh in zbrush, so how did you make the uv´s laid out flat ????? not done with zbrush ?

hmmm.... I really don´t understand now...
thx a lot for every little help,
capu

[slocik]

wow, i love the texture, its to scary ;] cant wait full the final version :]

[3ddude]

Capu, nooooooo problem. Unless ZBCentral kills us off... lol...... happy to answer any and all questions or offer any help I can give you.

Max? Why? Just kidding, Max is cool. No, you are correct. I lay out all the UV's in Maya. In my case it is really easy because I can toss OBJ files back and forth between ZB and Maya. "If" I used ZB to make a mesh, I could still easily dump out an obj file and do the UV mapping in Maya, then send back to ZB.

I don't know Max really, but I think there is a plugIn for OBJ files. So make base mesh in MAX, use UV unwrap or whatever tools max has to do the UV's, and export OBJ file. Also, Deep Exploration could transfer Max file to obj.
From what I have heard, Max has some great UV tools now.

No, I have never made anything just in ZB. I always have imported some obj file from Maya..... as I know it really well and can make low res models really fast in there. I can upload a UV grab if your want.

Slocik - thanks. I think it is kinda' dark, and I did a few others Iwill post and hopefully get some feedback on. Need to try that appLink thang!!!

I did a normal map and it looked pretty wicked in Maya. Because there was ALOT of extrusion off the mesh, well, the eagle head and such obviously falls apart from the side and that, but wow..... normal maps are pretty amazing. Would be happy to post result if anyone interested.

[capu]

okay, so now I do understand, thx a lot. So I have to take a look how I can make my uv´s in max.

yeah, of course we are interested to see your images made with normal maps, please post it for us.... thx a lot, :D

capu

[3ddude]

For sure Max has this modifier called UV uwrap that lets you do a bunch of stuff, but apparentley Max8 has some real cool new UV tools too. Sorry I can't be of more help there. I don't even have a copy of Max I could boot to help yah.

Will post that normal map in a bit..... : )

[capu]

okay, so thx a lot.. and we are waiting for the images...

byae for now and take care :D
capu

[3ddude]

No.......... you're waiting : ) What we? Lol.

Ok, here are a few screen grabs. The normal map was 2048 square, default settings in ZMapper. Took image and just dumped on mesh in maya.
Looks surprisingly good. Wish I knew how to make more use of a normal map. It falls apart where I would expect it to fall apart..... on the crazily displaced areas : ) Far more planning would be need to pull this off in a game engine but I am reall yimpressed wit hthe speed it can generate a map an dthe amoung of detail it retains.

Hope this what what you wanted : ) Cheers.

fullSide.jpg fullBack.jpg faceSide.jpg

[3ddude]

Tried another texture test all in ZB.

Still not totally happy. Needs more contrast, maybe more color? Too close to other one? Texturing is not my strongest skill. Love the tools though : )

Anyone ever morphed displacement maps in Maya. Ideas, suggestions?

Evilyn_DiffuseTest2_Side.jpg Evilyn_DiffuseTest2_Bust.jpg

[DerLandvogt]

nothing to say. JUST GREAT!
cool character!

[Nemoriko]

GREAT WORK AND NICE TEXTURE!:tu:

[capu]

the normal mapped low poly mesh is really amazing.
Can´t say anything other about that... your work rocks :D

and as you said you are a animater, we all will see your character animated to.
lol; you are really damm good :tu:

thx for your great post here and special thx for all your informations and help !
capu

[3ddude]

Capu,

Yah, normal maps are cooooool.... wish I had a use for them. Skull really fell apart but that kind of detail is nuts!!! I was really impressed with how well normal maps look.

No, you are just toooooo nice...... I'm a moron really : ) But I doooooo love to create stuff. I will show you something in the way of animation for sure. Before long. I am trying to get a webSite together so I can post animations. Need space!! Lots of space. Plus I am still trying to paint all this mess, and my Medusa model. And someone from on here asked me to make a few models on contract for them (?????), work, kids, it's all just a disaster... lmao.

Back in a few hours with a few pics of other chick. I actually attempted painting a human face - GAD! Texturing all this detail is a nightmare. Haha.

Thanks for other replys too. Cheers : )

[tuben]

3ddude this is truly breathtaking I tell you, such an eye for detail you have and to be able to put it out there on the screen :o
You're an inspiration for a newcomer in the 3d-scene like me.
I'm sorry if this question has already been answered in the thread but what background in 3d do you have? What other apps and for how long?
:tu:

[3ddude]

Here are a few quick paint jobs on the two sets of armor........ still a ways to go.

Forgive renders, as in....... can't seem to control shininess well (I can't) yet, and have alot of little tweek thangs to do : ) Still trying to get displacement maps to morph in Maya dang it.

Tuben - no worries mate. Not asked or answered. No training in 3D or art of any kind unfortunately, wish I had taken some painting courses and maybe color theory or something. Have my diploma in classical animation, my only formal training.
Software really likes me : ) Seem to learn very easy, and as far as other programs my only real program really is Maya, and some other stuff for compositing or painting. Hope that answers your Q. And thanks for kind words.

C

armourTexTest_EvilynHead.jpg armourTexTest_RaelinHead.jpg armourTexTest_EvilynBody.jpg armourTexTest_RaelinBody.jpg

[Corrino]

Hi,
Great models and really, really great texture, although renderings seems a little too dark. But in Photoshop when I increased Contrast and Brightens Your images look amazing. Especially the orcish style character and his armour.

I have some questions about alpha You made. How did You do alpha for the chain armour for woman character? I mean, did You make it in Photoshop, from picture, convert to greyscale, increase contrast etc. or made it by hand in Zbrush or Photoshop? (Could You post that alpha?) And that is general question about alpha You made, for instance the eagle and spider on the chest ( I assume You made that spider using technique You had described about the eagle, I mean making alpha then use Projection Master to pull out basic shape and then tweaking it with standard Zbrush tools. Did You do that in that way?)
PS. I hope this thread is not already dead.

[3ddude]

Thank you for your comments and kind words : ) My poor poor dead thread. Sniff. Well, it did me proud..... seems to be lots of views.

Yes, I tend to go dark, must be that dark cloud that follows me around. The girls looks too pink to me but so much can be done in rendering and I have not really ventured down that path with these guys yet.

Which alpha? The actual chain links on the girls arm? Sure I will come back later and post it or email it to you.

Make your brushes in ZBrush. Gives awesome 16Bit maps as well as there are lots of basic shapes to work with. A few torus' and boom, killer chain link brush. At work but will post alpha later.

Redid textures, will try to post new ones too.

Brightness contrast huh? Will have to try that.

[Corrino]

Thanks for your reply. So you did your alphas in Zbrush ?!?! Wow, amazing. I didn't realize that it is possible to do such a complex alphas in Zbrush. Apparently I have to learn more this powerful application.
Yes, I was asking about alpha of a chain-mail on/under girl's arm. It is great that you're going to post or email it. And maybe you could show us any other alphas? You did one of the best Projection Master projections I've seen.
Girl's face too pink?? I don't know, it is alright to me.
And about increasing contrast/ brightness maybe this will help what I mean. Post by low_stres in this thread :http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=22944&page=3&pp=15
PS. A few torus' and boom you say, I'll try, LOL!!
Corrino

[3ddude]

Looked at link - WOW.

The difference is awesome.
Post mine here that you altered so I can see it! It's fine to post here, me no mind.

Ok, here is a JPG of the brush. Mine was a 16Bit psd file, but I can't post a psd here until later (will zip it and send it to you)

This will give you an idea of why it works though: ) 16Bit much smooooother.

Cheers,

C

I get a notice when someone posts here, so I will always try to answer q's and answer.

ChainMail_002.jpg

[Corrino]

Sorry, but I've been away for a week and a half and that's why I did't respond to your post and email. My version of your images? Sure, here they are. Nothing too fancy, like I said before just increasing contrast by adjusting levels, a little saturation increase and to the orcish style character I've added Hi Pass filter to achieve a little blur/ foggy effect. Characters seem to be more bright now ( I think they tend to be toooooo much bright now, LOL) and I can see all the really great details you've made.
Like I said, an hour ago I saw your alpha and I did a quick test of it in Zbrush. Wow. It worked!!! I thought that to get a sophisticated result in Zbrush you must have a very sophisticated/detailed alpha, and now I see I was wrong. You were right, a few torus's and it is possible to make pretty good chain mail in a few minutes. Hmmmm, I must think of making a little more complicated alpha.
And I still would like to see your final 16bit version of chain mail. It would be great to see it and compare with this 8 bit/ small version. And maybe you can show any other alpha? BTW, how you made spider on the chest? I mean alpha in Zbrush and pull out shape in Proj.Master? Hmmm, I think I have more question but I must go now.
See ya!!
PS. I don't know either how those guy at link did exactly his work but he achieved GREAT result. (HiContrast Filter - what is that !?!?)
PPS. BTW, my personal email. sard@wp.pl
PPPS. Sorry for poor english, I should have learned it ages ago.

[3ddude]

Hi again,

No worries. we all need a break sometime.

Ok, my only complaint would be that they got a bit washed out - maybe some contrast too?

I found a really cool photoshop tip in a book about that hiPass filter you mentioned. It said to duplicate the layer and make it softLight as the transfer mode (or hardlight) and then run the highpass filter on it (setting from 2 - 10 depending on image). I tried it and it really makes details pop out without affecting the image color.

Anyhow, thanks for your time mate. Cheers.

[3ddude]

Been making blendshapes in ZBrush for these two ladies........ this program is amazing for making blendshapes!!

Here are a few quick renders........

And yes, I'm still going : )

blendTest_001.jpg
blendTest_002.jpg
blendTest_003.jpg

[Frenchy Pilou]

...doubt is possible :D

[DigitalDreamer]

Nice expressions, and texturing. Just took a look at earlier pages of this thread, and WOW! Don't know how I missed this. The eagle helmet is just fantastic, so is all the armour! Five stars from me.

[Braincell]

The face looks like it has been rigged really well, nothing looks unrealistic. The renders are nice so it really looks like a boney skin of some sort! I like how the side of the lip reacts realisticly to different mouth positions. I still need to learn that, so it folds like that. Everything here is really top notch. Would like to see it animated too.

[3ddude]

Wow there is some scary stuff on here.......... as in scary amazing. Every time I log in some new sculpture is posted. Very inspiring.

Thanks for comments. Actually rig is VERY simple right now. Just a bone for jaw and blendShapes...... not happy with shader itself, but since I only really care about animating it, good enough for now........ someday I will meet someone that feels like sharing all there MR for Maya knowledge with me : ) Still using a freaking ramp to morph diplcement map between two main meshes. Can't believe Maya can't morph a 16bit file in a more efficient way.

And what do you mean Pilou? Are you implying that this is no lady.... lol. How about we settle for "female" then.

Thank you.

[Corrino]

To me "she" is a beautiful lady, he, he. LOL!!! Really cool blendshapes, maybe some animations at least to "her" face could you made? I see that you changed textures a little. Well done !!

PS. Btw, still waiting for your promised alpha

[3ddude]

Send me an email again - to 3ddude - with your email addy and I will send alpha to you : )

That ok?

[SajNT]

3ddude, its not just the great works that makes an artist wonderful. But the ability to share or to withhold what he knows. I've benefited alot from this thread,which I just stumbled upon today. Hope we can exchange some ideas in future, as I'm quite new to the zbrush-Maya workflow as well ; j

Keep the good work up!

[3ddude]

It's not so bad - the whole Maya/ZB thing. There are definate limitations, and I can see why the high end movie guys may have a few issues....... but for an idiot like myself, that just wants to make things I animate look cooler, ZB is the best thing to happen to Maya since Maya.

So, soes that mean the wonderful artist keeps a few secrets to themselves, or that the truly wonderful share it all : )

[cyberman2]

hey 3ddude, i really love your work. i used some of the facial expressions images as my desktop wallpaper

im actually trying to do a facial animation myself and i wondered how did you animate her face? can i see some screens of your animation setup? do you know some tutorials?

thk u

[3ddude]

Wow, thanks.

Sure, give me a day or so and I will post a pick...... but it is beyond super basic. I did do a fair number of morphtargets and stuff.

I will screen grab rig and post it.

Hyper Real facial setup is good start for rigging a head I think. Never watched it all as I have come up with most ideas myself over the years. but definately some good ideas and stuff in that DVD. Worth the coin.

Thanks, will post rig pic tomorrow for yah : )

[cyberman2]

thank you man, im looking forward to see it

[3ddude]

Here it is mate.

First is XRay shot of head, second is with some morphs.

Very very basic.... but I tend to have some morphTargets with clusters as well, or maybe another set of bones for lids, or wire deforms....... whatever I need to make it happen...... then feed it all into the main head as blendShapes. But by that time there is so much to mix and match I can get alot of expressions. Then when I find something I can't make it do that I need - I add it on.

Hope this helps a bit : )

Rig_JointsXRay.jpg
Rig_Morphs.jpg

[cyberman2]

hey thank you alot for all this!

unfortunatly i dont understand much about it since i'm kind of new to rigging... :cry: i don't even know what are clustlers and blendshapes :(

but i noticed the number of polys on your head, i wonder is that is necessary to get a good rig since i tried to have the less possible number of polys on mine lol. i show you: http://membres.lycos.fr/cyberman2/coppermine/albums/userpics/10001/selfwire.JPG

should i add a lot of poly?

[womball]

You tend to add polys for details. However maya doesn't handle sub-d's nicely so to get a smooth surface you have to use a smooth function. This can be moded to to not sub-divide the mesh and keep it smooth. However its not the most obvious thing to do. For rigging though, the areas that move you generally want to have more polys there. Especially for bending parts such as elbows.

[3ddude]

Lol - oops, your pic is here : ) I went to link you sent.

As for polys - if u look back, that head of mine had only a quarter that many. I smoothed it once in Maya and "then" dumped it back to ZBrush to make morphTargets. It is still low poly by many peoples standars these days!

To get wrinkles around eyes and on foreHead, mouth, etc., you just need a certain number of polys. And unfortunately that is usually alot : ) Smooth (divide, whatever) your mesh once and that will at least give you more fidelity around the mouth and eyes.

Hands tend to be the same, and feet, like womball mentioned - elbows. And the more age you pack on the more wrinkles there will be. Flesh is just a big pain in general : )

And Blendshapes are you new best friend. You need to open Maya, pres F1 and search for that especially if you want to do facial animation. Clusters are a big help too.

Hope this all helps : ) Cheers.

[cyberman2]

ok thank you again for the explanation mate, i'm actually using 3ds max but i'm going to take a look at the user reference about these terms :p

[cyberman2]

Hyper Real facial setup is good start for rigging a head I think. is that what ur talking about: Maya Techniques™ | Hyper-Realistic Facial Setup (http://store.alias.com/dr/v2/ec_MAIN.Entry10?SP=10023&PN=1&V1=652171&xid=41807&CID=0)?

isnt this one better: Maya Techniques™ | Hyper-Realistic Facial Rigging II (http://store.alias.com/dr/v2/ec_MAIN.Entry10?SP=10023&PN=1&V1=797255&xid=41807&CID=0) ?

i don't know which to buy and which is good, do you know some place where i can find reviews about those and all the other dvds? i searched on google but didnt find anything

[3ddude]

Hey Cyberman

The first one I have seen most of, second one I have not seen but I bet it is good too.

Most of it is just ideas or ways of doing stuff, and although it is directly aimed at Maya, principles apply to Max or Lightwave or whatever.

Let me know how it go : )

C