Scared Silly Entry by Michael Docking

[XSI Apprentice]

Hey, this is my first entry to a comp here, so i will see how it goes.

Details of pic:
What i plan on doing is, It will be trick or treat night, there will be a mummie opening the door to give candy, and there will be a monster (like werewolf or demon) playing trick or treat, they will be dressed in a suit with bulging material showing their muscles and a bit ripped at the seams, like a shirt that doesnt fit, and wearing a human mask, someone well known, such as george bush. The mummie will jump back scared with arms in front of their face, candy flying everywhere, and maybe the bandages scared off. The view will be from inside the house, looking out of the door to the street.

I had a couple of other ideas as well, but thought this would make a more funny scared silly entry. Let me know what you guys think.

I plan on creating base meshes in XSI and ZB depending on object, then doing all texturing/sculpting etc in ZB. Seeing how it goes, maybe the final render in XSI, and after composited in PS.

I will post a sketch soon.

[sirquadalot]

I like your idea! It has alot of possibilities based on who or what could be in it, as well as veiwing angles... ;)

[XSI Apprentice]

Thanks sirquadalot, yeh it does, you can pretty much put any sort of character in and change the angles etc, i think keeping it to some pretty common characters will be a good way to do it, i had a think about the angles, and in my head thought that to be the better one, the one that could see all the actions in the one frame.

[XSI Apprentice]

Here is the sketch for the scene i have in mind for my entry. Drawn in ZB. Let me know what you think etc etc

[Seavannah]

like this concept. Like the mummy family house lol. Just a thought maybe do a side view with the scary monster outside and the mummy stepping slightly out side to give the candy and looking up as if realizing it is not a little kid but a big monster in george bush costume. that way maybe you can see both faces and the monster doesn't look like it is breaking and entering. can't wait to see this one all fleshed out.:tu:

[Disco Stu]

hehe neat idea looking forward for more

[XSI Apprentice]

Thanks Seavannah, I was wondering other ways i can get a good view, i think you have just given it to me :).

Thanks, i hope i can get it to look the way i want :D

[sirquadalot]

I was thinking about moving the camera so you could see from the interior out, viewing the trick or treater from inside the house...through a window perhaps?

[XSI Apprentice]

I have done a quick mockup of the scene, just trying to work out some angles etc, let me know what you think and any ideas etc. Im thinking of number 5 myself, but let me know. Thanks

[XSI Apprentice]

I was planning on doing the base in XSI, but thought i would have a go at the zspheres ZB. Took a few hours to get it to something i liked and had pictured, let me know what you think, this is the base mesh im working on after converting to polymesh3d. Crit more then welcome :D

[sirquadalot]

Hey, I like like the 2nd and 5th camera tests. It would be interesting to see a window in the 2nd test with the monster inside peeking out. And in the 5th have the monster inside cowering behind a closed door. Either would be cool! The monster you are currently modeling, is he the trick or treater?

[XSI Apprentice]

Hey sirquadalot, thanks, i like your idea with him cowering behind the closed door, whilst the camera view looking through the window. i could also maybe place the trick or treater at the window looking in to see if anyone was there :), and maybe making him a smaller kid monster, add to the humor as well as the curious type being a kid and all. At the moment i was gonna make the monster pictured the trickster, but i could picture him cowering behind the door, and playing with his eyes giving him the shock/scared value as they will be biggish.

[XSI Apprentice]

Here is a new scene thrown together with sirquadalot idea, thanks, i could probably play with dif poses, i had better keep goign :)

[sirquadalot]

That seriously made me tear up laughing! :D Keep playing with the camera angle a little bit more though, and I think you might have hit it spot on. I had to look at your sketch again just one more time to see if it made me laugh, and it really did! I like the almost commatose, drooling monster...with it's tongue hanging out! It would be really funny and emotive if he was in the fetal position sucking his thumb! I could see that!:cool: -Brian

[XSI Apprentice]

Thanks :D, yeh after i drew it the angle was a bit too high and far out, i was planning on having it lower and a lil closer. the modelling is going good, but im gonna take time on the transpose, cos its still pretty new to me. haha i didnt think of having a tongue or him sucking his thumb, but i think its a goer :). Thanks again :)

[XSI Apprentice]

Here is the progress of my scene. I FIIINNNNNALLLY managed to get some decent displacement maps for the house out of and into XSI. I also have the door, hinges and handle all displaced, door has a normal map on it, which if i get time i will change to a disp map, maybe depending if it is needed. All colour maps painted in ZB, and imported to XSI. scene with one spot (moon) and one point light in the room on ceiling. Plan on adding curtains, glass window, and maybe flowe[/url]rs in a vase, along with monsters of course :D

[url="attachment.php?attachmentid=73235&stc=1"]
(attachment.php?attachmentid=73235&stc=1)

[XSI Apprentice]

scene 02.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('73237','scene 02.jpg',1,0))

[XSI Apprentice]

For some reason the image doesnt upload into the main msg window :S oh well, have to place as thumbnails. here it is :D

[XSI Apprentice]

Here is my scared monster all detailed up and the start of the colouring :D

crit more then welcome :Dmonster col 02.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('73433','monster col 02.jpg',1,0))monster col 01.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('73432','monster col 01.jpg',1,0))

[XSI Apprentice]

I have been having some render problems in xsi with mental ray, for some reason the maps and sizes and the subds seem to continually make xsi crash at render. I managed to get in a low res render which i will post tonight. I still have some work to do, mosnter with mask, vase and curtains, but im hoping it will get done tonight :D

[sirquadalot]

Hey Micheal glad to see you are getting things accomplished! Your scene is looking good, but I think the color of the floor and wall should be different. They currently make the room look as if it's constructed from one material. Also try adjusting how the texture is tiled. The tiles on the floor might look better if near the wall they were full sized. (thats if your using a tileable texture) If not just move the floor plane a little past the wall. Sorry to here about your rendering woes, I had to switch to Zb 2.0 to do my Zsphere modeling due to crashes. I try to check in often tonight to see how things are going. :D

[UncleZ]

that is nice he look good

[XSI Apprentice]

Hey thanks guys, for the floor i actually started a new scene, placed a plane and subdivided a few times, then i painted tiles on with the tileablitliy repeat function then drew on using a square alpha with drag rec brush. i then saved the alpha of doc(mrgbgrab i think) then used stencils and painted on the floor the tiles. The whole room is one object, so floor, window, walls and ceiling are one. it was hard getting it how i wanted from xsi, as i wasnt sure of how or even if zbrush could do it. and i think doing it as a whole was better for painting.

you say a dif colour for wallas/floor? any ideas? in the render i will post tonight it looks a little different, it all sort of looks like clay/mud, but ideas would be good.

as for the monster, he is finished now with texture map, nails/claws, cavity map, and eyes, tho i will retouch the eyes in zb when the final image is complete.

Thanks :D

[XSI Apprentice]

Oh also, with the tiles, it being one object, it will be hard for me to alter that now its done, (i think) i just had an idea, and if i get time i will try it out. i just thought i didnt want it to look so "neat" and "human" as its a monsters house, if you get me :S

[sirquadalot]

Hey Michael, I'm not really certain about your work flow. Was the last scene image you posted a Zbrush render? I was kinda assuming you were doing the final render in XSI.

Edit: looking back, you did render that in XSI...So I'm guessing you have one UV map for the interior of the house?

[sirquadalot]

And another thought, just a lighter color for the floor, or walls... just break it up a little...and use your lights!

[XSI Apprentice]

Hey Brian, hehe yeh twas rendered in xsi, :). you guessed right, only the one texture map for the interior, i will go back and change the floor and wall colouring, ive been thinking of a light blueish for the wall.

Here is my scene with low res house. high res monster and door etc

test 04.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('74335','test 04.jpg',1,0))

[nightwoodwolf]

your last scene looks nice ... good luck :tu:

[XSI Apprentice]

Well here is my final render for my entry. Comments/crit welcome :D
Thanks for the cool contest. I had fun and learnt a whole lot both of Zbrush and XSI. Look forward to the next one.
SSFinal_MichaelDocking.jpg (javascript:zb_insimg('74796','SSFinal_MichaelDocking.jpg',1,0))

[dustbin1_uk]

This is a nice effort XSI, there are many who started this comp and never even got close to finishing. you should pat your self on the back for finishing in good time.

Id be tempted to make a couple more concept drawings next time around and then try your best to stick to the one you chose. The trouble with this scene is that it is difficult to see what's actually happening. the monster on the floor looks like he is scared and the moster at the window looks like he wants to get in for some reason... but that's it. Maybe a trick or treat bucket on the vamp would cure the whole story?

Don't get me wrong, your use of 2.5D tools is admirable and your modeling skills are good. you just need to try stick to one concept as you go along and only change if the story is lost in the scene.

Well done for finishing. you have the potential to become a great 3D artist and this effort just proves it. Keep it up! :D:tu:

[XSI Apprentice]

Hey dustbin1_uk, Thanks :), i wasnt sure if i would actually finish, as i had a lot of problems trying to get the scene to render (was trying for 4-5days) and i was reading up a lot of searches trying to fix the problems, so this happening i didnt get the chance to do a few extra things, eg trick or treat bucket as in the orginal sketch. hehe, it isnt actually a vampire hehe, it probably is hard to tell, he is a kid monster with a george bush mask :), tho like i said with the rendering, i had to use what i managed to get to work :(

This is my first full scene achieved, so i have already given myself a pat on the back, haha, thanks for the kind words :D much appreciated

[sirquadalot]

Hey Micheal, way to go! For your first full scene in XSI, that's not half bad. :cool: