After my last image (http://www.pixolator.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=39517) made following the Zbrush Practical Guide, I decided to try to make something all on my own without any tutorials or something like that.
This is what came out after about 3½ hours.
cool! looks good so far. are you painting the pattern on the hood?
I have painted the back too and this is how it looks.
[attach=44055]cobra_back_sm.jpg[/attach]
But I haven’t had the time to really work out a great material and I also have major problems with my displacement map in Vray (as you probably can see on his back). The disp map is 4k and the model is about 1.4 million polys on it’s highest subdiv in Zbrush… So something in max and Vray isn’t doing what I want it to…
And also, the snake doesn’t look as cool from this angle 
The “bad” displacement map wasn’t as notiacble on the front view as in the back view. This is my first Zbrush model that I render in any other app than Zbrush so I have a lot to learn to get the disp (and the other maps too) to look just the way I want it… Now it’s been a lot of “trial and error” until it looked acceptable…
//Jay
look at this image, it is not a cobra, but all snakes have very similar mouths. this is also how the fangs should look. Also, the area of the snakes tongue is that bumb area deep inside its mouth. You never see its tongue when it is striking or has its mouth open…
Also, take a long look at the jaw hinge, this is how your snakes jaw hingey area should look 
http://www.kostich.com/snake%20strike.JPG
i hope that helps
-Andy
Thanks for the info. The image I used as reference for the mouth was http://gettle.org/gallery/d/88-2/cobra.jpg and I see now when I look at it closer that I need one more “hole” in the mouth. But on that image the “fangs” are really small…
Anyways, thanks for the info
//Jay
Actually, if you look at the pic posted, and your own, you will see a sheath of skin around the fangs. Kind of like the ‘nails’ or claws of a cat: when they WANT you to see their ire, flexing their claws out allows you to see the power of their might.
Nice image, nonetheless
You’re probably right =) I guess my experiance with snakes ends with the snakes I’ve seen in cartoons for far too many years ago.
As a beginner I’m a bit too impatience and want to see an end result right away and I do know that many of my last images would have looked better if I did put another couple of hours in them… But at the moment, in my first stage of learning, I think I’m more for quantity instead of quality… But for each new image that balance will surely begin to look different I hope…
Thanks for looking and for dropping a comment.
//Jay
Jayman: Here is a good, but small image of the tongue sheath of a spitting cobra. This seems to be standard on most snakes, so it should work well for you.
Nice cobra model, by the way…
Keep up the good work, I like snakes a lot…
Dickie
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Anpther great ref
http://www.gapingmaws.com/Reptiles-Amphibians/pics/ruthanengaspar_orig_SE.jpg
Gapingmaws has great ‘interior’ shots. I look at 5 and I start yawning like crazy lol.
Lemo
Lemo, for some reason, when I try to hook up to your link, it’s forbidden. Might wanna check that. I want that reference too…
Dickie
Hey, Dickie.
Just shorten the link to: http://www.gapingmaws.com
Lots and lots of great reference, and not just for snakes.
-Hob
Love the cobra so far…looking more realistic
Lemo, (and Hob) that gaping maw site is friggin awesome…outstanding ref pics…
The only bad thing about all this, is that my wife isn’t going to appreciate the new screen saver images…muhahahhahaa…(she is deathly afraid of snakes) 
Good ole snake movie links…
Ssssssssssssssss (1973)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070622/
Rattlers (1976)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073609/
great thread!
Ron
Thanks alot for the replies and GREAT reference images. For the moment I’m going to work with Zbrush and Mental Ray to see if I can get a cool SSS-material and also to get the displacement map a little bit better. Haven’t used MR with Zbrush models before, so I guess it take some time to get used to.
If I get something I’m really pleased with I will probably bring back the model in Zbrush and continue work on the mouth and study all the ref pics more careful.
If I DON’T get something I’m pleased with, I’ll probably start on my next idea…
Thanks again, and Good Morning from Sweden.
//Jay
Hob, Thanks for the link. That’s one hell of a reference site! Really good tooth reference too…Just awsome…
Dickie
I’ve decided to redo a lot of things on this cobra, because I kind of like the model and don’t want to leave it “unfinished”. The first and most important thing is the mouth. It was really flat and lacked all the important detail necessary for a more bad looking snake (and not a little cuddly worm as the previous one might be ;)).
I’ve been using GapingMaws.com alot and this image in particular: http://www.gapingmaws.com/Reptiles-Amphibians/pics/bite_rhinoceros_viper_18871-120.jpg (if the link won’t work, just add a SPACE after .jpg in the adress bar). Thanks alot for that one! And thanks alot for all the nightmares I’ll have in the next couple of days… It might not be a cobra mouth, but that doesn’t really matter, I just wanted to get a better hint of how things could look and then work something out from that.
Well this is the result so far:
I really hope I can achive a nice color-scheme because I think that might add ALOT to the final image.
As you probably can see I’ve deleted all my high resolution details because I didn’t really got that scaly snake-skin I’m after. I’ve got some new alphas that I hope will help.
What I really would love to try is to get this model to 3dsmax and render it with Mental Ray to get some SSS on the fangs and so on… But I’ve been trying alot with the previous model but all I get is a balloon-snake… Been following http://www.zbrush.info/site/index.php/ZBrush_to_3ds_Max but it just won’t work. I guess I’ll have to try more…
Not sure when the next update will come because I’m going to India in a couple of days and will be a lazy guy in the sun (i hope) for two weeks… Time will tell.
//Jay - A, right now, pale swede…
…NOW it’s looking deadly poisoness
there are cobras in india!
you should find some for a real life reference
looking pretty good so far!
-Andy
Well, I’m not a snake-lover “IRL” so I hope I don’t bump into many of them on my vacation.
I decided to try to make this as complete as I can achive at the moment and as I just couldn’t get ANYTHING to work in 3dsmax on this model anymore (the texture where way off, the displacement sucked and so on…) I decided to make a render from Zbrush. Never done this before, so I think there’s alot of things that could be made better, but I’ve absolutley NO experiance from materials and lights in Zbrush…
I will welcome any tips on how to make this Zbrush render better.
Here’s a shot from behind with adjusted background color to match the darker color scheme on his back.
Not perfect fangs… but better I think.
Best regards
//Jens
Looks great
Lemo
Thanks lemonnado.
There’s something with the colors in that image that sometimes bothers me, so I made a stylized version in PS too… (for everyone that don’t love red snake mouths ;))
[attach=83258]new_cobra_stylized.jpg[/attach]
//J
