Lieutenant William Bligh. FINISHED 11-14.

[DM]

This is a project I am not certain whether I will proceed with so I haven’t called it a wip. It is Lieutenant William Bligh the rank he still held when he was put in command of HMS Bounty of the mutiny fame. The other images are what I have been working from, the painting depicts him when he was still a midshipman, the engravings are much later in life, so when he was in charge of the Bounty at 33, I have presumed his hair was still dark.
At the moment I am not too sure that I am happy with the progress, plus I have about four wip’s going, my staying power is not good at present.
Dave
http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1034111110jfd.jpg http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1034111149mwx.jpg

[MrBraun]

Interesting job DM !! Well modeling !!! :D :tu:

[DLee]

To me the head is amazing, but I love the outfit!

[zerobugetgamemaker]

Keep going, I say, DM

[banez]

looking good DM i like how you zsphere the coat :tu:

[Flycatcher]

I hope you do continue with it DM - it's off to a very good start. :tu: :tu:

[Mik]

Yet again you've achieved a very good likeness, great modelling and a nice texture on the skin.
I thought I was bad for getting things finished, 4 WIP's? :D
:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :)

[Fouad B.]

good work..
question : are you modelised them with 3dsphere or alpha ? (I talk about head)

[Nemo]

:tu: great work on the modelling - you really captured him well

:td: the stance might be too sterile (in my eyes his posture will look a bit boring)- give him some dynamics

:tu: texture work on the head is very good :)

PS. my first try at a 121

[Ron Harris]

well don't trash him Dave...looks pretty good to me...it would be kewl to get some tips from you on doing the clothing...you are one of the clothing and detail masters of the forum to say the least...Clothing hsa been a hot topic with alot of people here lately so any input and insight into your technique I know would be deeply appreciated by all. Hope yer feeling better :tu: :tu: :tu:

[DM]

Thanks everybody for the encouraging comments comments.
Fouad, the head is modelled from a sphere.
Nemo, the pose is I suppose a bit boring, but it depicts a pose often shown for commanding officers, whilst watching their crew at work. I can understand the feet apart, it would be to steady themselves whilst the ship was rolling. The hands behind the back is often used by people in positions of authority, but what it indicates I don't really know.
Ron, I am getting something sorted on the clothing creation, I just hope I can make it clear enough.
Dave

[Stargo]

Great modeling and texturing, DM :tu: :tu: :tu:

Stargo

[Grub]

Almost missed this one due to ISP frustrations, really good modelling so far Dave, definatly keep at this one. So you've got about 4 wips on the go eh, looks like you're in a similar boat to me at the moment lol.
:tu: :tu: :tu:

[DM]

I’m not going to try to pretend this is a tutorial, because it’s not, I’m not very good at writing out how I do things. It’s just a few hints as Ron had asked me to give some idea of how I did clothing. It was only when I was working on it, I got to thinking that the reason there probably hasn’t been much about modelling clothing on the forum, was because in general I couldn’t actually think of many Z images that required complicated clothing and folds. There was one by Adman that is in the gallery, some by Lediscot, Grubs circus series, I think some by the Saint, particularly Pinocchio. Come on folks it looks like we need some serious clothing practice. :D The following images are just to give an idea of the progress from the Zspheres followed by some details.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1034296376iwx.jpg

The first row just shows how I got the basic shape of the clothing with Zspheres. Figures 1 and 2 from the left in the second row show the same stage of development, where I mask the areas that need to be smoothed and then inverse it, the second figure having been inversed. The smoothing to get rid of the deeper indentations between the groups of Zspheres takes quite a number of repeated smoothing operations. The 3rd figure is inversed masking again to inflate the central chest area.
To arrive at the bottom figure it is then a case of using deflate, the setting obviously depends on the on the degree of deflate that you want. Areas such as the bottom of the coat I used deflate on and where I wanted sharp edges, e.g. the edges of the coat down the centre etc. The areas for inflate are the lapels, collar, pocket flaps and lower part of the waistcoat. Obviously during these operations you also have to mask areas and use smooth, as the inflation and deflation leaves some rough edges you don’t want. When you reach the stage of the bottom figure the rest is down to sculpting most of which for me, is push and pull. I use draw only for the smaller folds on the sleeves, I have RGB intensity at 10 and Z intensity at 5 when I use draw. I do use masking when sculpting such e.g. round the ankles when shaping the shoes round them. A script would not really be feasible for this work, to the point I am at now took about four hours, and it’s still not finished. I am afraid I know no other answer to getting the results I want other than time. Well how’s that for pathetic instructions. :D
The image below shows the present progress. Thanks Stargo and Grub.
Dave
http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1034296464hkx.jpg

[Ron Harris]

thnx DAVE!!!!!!! made alot of sense to me for sure...and the images are very helpful....get well soon buddy!!!! I know I sure appreciate you doing this.

[DLee]

Great instructions, DM. Thank you very much for the tips.

[WingedOne]

Thanks for the Tutorial, DM. Some great tips there. :tu:

[Felderin]

This is really quite amazing. I need to build an Elizabethan-era jacket for a project that I'm working on, and I was going to do it in Rhino, but now I think I'll give it a whirl with ZSpheres. Nice technique!

[DM]

Thanks for the recent comments; I think the possibilities with the Zspheres are enormous once we have all had longer to practice with them. It is very probable that in time I will be able to improve on the initial Zsphere object so that there is less work to do with the skinned version. Even so, though it has taken a bit of time doing the sculpting work, it is still less work than I would have had making the same thing in separate pieces.
Dave

[curaduk]

Dave! All I can say is that these re superb. Brilliant work. :tu:

[DM]

Well I didn’t find the Bligh pic easy going, my attempts at sea in Z, kept resulting in something that resembled aluminium foil. In the end I decided that I would do the background in Vue d’Esprit, so the ship is Boolean modelled in Vue, the textures/materials were my own creations apart from the sea and sky, the sea was an adjusted off the shelf material the sky also off the shelf but with lighting adjustments. The rope, I experimented in PSP, painting textures until I got one that looked reasonably rope like when imported into Vue.
The next failure came with the skinned Zsphere body, trying to import it into Vue; the high polygon count was giving some problems. I optimised it then in an attempt to improve things but lost too much detail. Then the tiling texture wasn’t working well in Vue and when I textured the hat with texture master, as soon as I picked up the texture, the brim disappeared. I decided to make the best of a bad job, so painted Bligh in Z, took him into PSP as an image, selected him and placed him in the Vue background.
That's all folks.
Dave
http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1037316797wwz.jpg

[zerobugetgamemaker]

Nice one Dave! How long have you been working on this piece? I remember seeing it weeks ago, i think...

:tu:

I suck at water too in ZBrush
lol

David

[curaduk]

Well it looks like you had a few problems to surmount but the finished pic is very good. Well done with this.

[Rafael Hernandez]

Great Image! Your attention to detail really shines. Kudos.

[Fouad B.]

really nice Pict DM !!
all is very nice :tu: :tu:

[DM]

Thanks for the comments folks. A friend made some legitimate comments from his viewpoint on the ship, or at least what can be seen of it. I thought I would put my reasons for approaching it in the way I did, and also for those armchair sailors like myself, some historical background.
On May the 10th 1787 the Navy Board advertised for a suitable ship for the breadfruit transportation, and out of five offered the Berthia a two and a half-year-old merchantman was selected for the job. Because of the nature of the work, £4456 were spent on alterations, which was more than the cost of the ship, and then the ship became the HMS Bounty. I have black and white plans of the Bounty but had to seek more information on the net even though only a small part would be included in the image. For any colour detail all I could rely on were models, and on that point many differed, so I settled for the majority view. The fact that there aren’t ropes strewn around the deck and the cleanliness of it, is based on my information on Bligh as a commanding officer, he was scrupulous in making his crew keep the vessel, ‘ship shape and Bristol fashion’, as the old saying goes. He would not have tolerated a littered deck unless it was absolutely necessary, also the fact that it was not likely to be a battered and generally dirty ship, was because of its relative newness, also the considerable work that had been done to it.
As a matter of interest regarding William Bligh, he was actually a very talented seaman and by contemporary standards was not particularly brutal, many officers that never had mutinies, used flogging to a far greater extent than he did. His problem was man management; he nagged a lot and generally wore people down that way. Unlike the man he did learn a lot from, Captain James Cook, he failed to learn how to deal with people which Cook seemed generally good at.
There has been many views about why the mutiny occurred, in recent years it’s been suggested that Bligh and Christian had a homosexual relationship, then when Christian fell for Mautua, the chiefs daughter on Tahiti, Bligh became angry. They had been great friends, Bligh had originally helped Christian along in the Merchant service, but in my opinion though, the homosexual suggestion is a nonsense. Even some of the crew who went with Bligh in the launch after the mutiny did not particularly like him; they just did not want to risk being involved in a mutiny. Homosexuality carried the death penalty in the navy, had the suggestion been true, Blighs enemies would most certainly have accused him of it.
His navigational skills were proven by his voyage in the Bounty's launch after the mutiny, almost 4000 miles from Tofua to Timor in 43 days. After spending longer than intended on Tahiti, with Tahitians girls flocking to them, the crew many of whom would have had pretty miserable lives back in home, would have been so fed up going back with nagging Bligh, that no other answer is needed to the mutiny, that's my opinion.
I perhaps should not have used so much haze on the horizon; it is actually above the top bar.
Dave
Anybody who orginally read 1897 for the date, my mind time machine was set wrong, and was 110 years fast.
<font color="#949494" size="1"> November 15, 2002 Message edited by: DM </font>

<font color="#949494" size="1"> November 15, 2002 Message edited by: DM </font>

[Mik]

Very well finished despite all your troubles.
The detail on the clothing is very impressive.
:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :)

[Digits]

I am glad you have overcome technical difficulties to bring this project to fruitation. The amount of detail and realism you have created in this image is astounding. Thanks also for the history of the man and his circumstances. His journey in the lifeboat from the Bounty was indeed remarkable and a testament to his seamanship and his iron-will. We shall probably never know exactly what transpired but it is a story that has always transfixed me.

I'd be proud of this one Dave
:tu: :tu: :tu:

[JOHNVQ3]

:) fantastic image :tu: :tu: :tu:

[Grub]

Sterling work Dave, fantastic job on the clothing. :cool: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[DM]

Thanks for the comments, you can tell how much it puggeled my brain, when I couldn't get the year right.
Dave

[Mr Z]

Thnx a million Dave, good modelling on the face and clothing, I personally think you've done a great job on this, and your work is always pleasant to look at!

Beautiful! ;)

[DeeVee]

I like the final image a lot. Great techniques displayed as usual,Well done!
DeeVee,
Joe.

[DM]

Thanks for the comments Mr Z and Deevee, they are appreciated.
Dave

[filament9]

Amazing DM. The likness is very well accomplished.

[Stargo]

Great final image, DM :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

stargo

[Ron Harris]

Dave, I may still be hard at it....but I still havent met with the success you achieved on this project, years ago.....still a classic....Drop me a line,my friend. I would love to catch up with you.

Ron
catfishmn@aol.com