[durgldeep]

samhell your (very cool) GENESIS panel reminded me of this (below).

Oi.

lol, it's also a good reminder that not everything needs to be detailed (in a
ground campaign (PG) the biggest challenge is local geography and, uh, water
(eek) - which is partly why I chose a desert scene (above)). This was a needed
exercise and great inspiration to keep going (kicked it up a notch): I can do
better - and still faster, I see now.

whom, that's cheating - disgraceful!
Actually your very quick reply (to the mountain ridges question) spurred me to
keep going (see doubt, above).

[durgldeep]

Hmmm, think I figured out lighting in Blender. Except for the mystery
light directly above the figure - whom, any idea what that is? It isn't a light
that I added (started with a fresh doc, just to be sure)...

Oh, never mind I got it - it was a light that I added.

[whom]

[durgldeep]

[whom]

durgldeep, I bet you are more advanced than me these days, I don't import or export as much as you so I must admit that I am kind of lost when it comes to that myself. I think they are building support for tris in the upcoming versions though if I'm right.... there's some guy who's been experimenting with the same buildup as Sculptris but in Blender sculpting. ...ok wait gonna see if I can find the article... Ah yea here it is, dynamic topology like in Sculptris, would fit you like a glove I think if you wanna import sculptris sculpts:
http://code.blender.org/index.php/2011/10/dynamic-topology-sculpting/


...Sculptris is just better when it comes to texture painting if you ask me, hence why I keep doing quick stuff in Sculptris.

I think some things in Blender looks more difficult than what it is. Some others don't I guess, posing is the worst and I keep myself from doing it lol. Not a good way to learn I guess.... lmao.
Too time consuming though....

[whom]

Btw have you been messing around with Remesh Modifier? Should be useful for pyramids.

This is the same shape and then just remesh applied to the right:

[durgldeep]

samhell, before I start fiddling again (which messed up the foreground, as u
can see), here's a quick idea that might work for overpaint: blocked colour
should be good for reference points, yes? Vertex paint (in Blender) is also
doable but that might be overkill?

Not sure how many mountains you want visible in the shot but of course this
bunch can be tiled in SU. Have stretched them vertically and doubled the
triangle count - can't leave it alone. Still finding my feet in this terrain stuff -
and it is awesome fun.

[durgldeep]

whom, interesting article. Seem to recall the quad versus triangle issue is
important mostly for animations? I might do rigging but have no plans for
animating - or I guess we'll see (in the long run).

If you mean "posing" figures/creatures, that can be very time consuming,
yeah. I've only done a couple experiments (one of them that monkey, a while
back). Seems easier to build the figure in pieces, pose it, then join vertexes
between the various parts (rather than adjust and readjust a figure that's all
one piece).

I have plans for that, uh, 'guy' (above) - I don't know what he is, lol. Ogre, I
guess. Get him an armchair, some books - something like ZM's post. Clothing
will be the real challenge [cringe].

That remesh is pretty cool - and pyramids are always cool.
-----------------

Afterthought re import/export: I guess the point is to match
interest/talent with any part of a program that works for us. If our best
tools (our total strength) are spread between several different programs,
so be it - so we work in a *suite* rather than a room.

[samhell]

Durgledeep, Whom, awesome stuff going on here! ^___^

@durgledeep: That latest render of the mountainscape looks fraking stunning!
Made me immediately think of an shot like this:



Unfortunately I already went on and finished the panels for the story where
I needed the mountain reference. It turned out that the messed up
thing I created on sculptris was enough since I painted over it heavily.

That being said and getting back to the picture above, I'd love to do collaborative piece based on those mountains someday. A sleek jet-thingy on the foreground, a wide open vista of mountains with maybe a huge spaceport or such looming at the horizon? LOL, maybe a pyramid in design?

I think that would be funky...

[ZM]

Everybody here seems really into mountains and terrain ^^



A quick little thing I've done testing out zbrush tiling capabilities

I started by following this tutorial but the unwrapping part of seemed a bit too complicated, so I did it my own way

Not really that beautiful but i'm happy with for such a small amount of time spent on it

[Sumaleth]

[durgldeep]

ZM I like that, it looks like a lava field.

samhell, no worries. Glad it worked out.

"Vista" was my next stop anyhow (coincidence). The ridges felt squeezed and
unnatural, need elbow room...

Blender opens up a lot more possibilities - and whom you're right that some
things in Blender are also *easier* than they might seem.

Here's a test (below) that covers a lot more ground. Same process: two
planes; mess up the top one, intersect the two, and follow/define ridges. Still
not clear on design (should study some reference) but should work.

[durgldeep]

Speaking of that monkey, here's another experiment from page 3. Sculptris;
increasing and then decreasing the face count eroded the edges - much more
interesting when lit.

[whom]

[durgldeep]

Huge issues with this conversion (from SU). Dunno what's up with that.

Okay I'm done flooding.

[samhell]

LOL, yes! We just looooove mountains!!

Durgledeep, I went through the workflow once that you posted earlier. The results were pretty damn good. A big thank you for sharing that.

Here's the image after importing to SU:


And here's the finished product:


In short, I owe you a beer or two.

[durgldeep]

[whom]

Awesome guys.


flashlight, 1 hour
(Made for practise and for my speed modelling thread over at cgsociety) Feel free to join the activity that I am doing overthere if you want guys, I can post you the link if you want?

[durgldeep]

[whom]

thanks durgldeep. That's a real nice pelvis by the way...

I made an experiment with displacement "clouds" settings and then added a texture of mountains on top of that. I guess it could be used for painting if one wanted that....

[durgldeep]

whom those mountains are incredible, very 'other worldly' (in the alien
world sense). To me the bottom one half looks like a painting already,
though not exactly painted. I think the reality/unreality look/mix makes
it... like it's part of a remote story on a remote world (where natural laws
are somehow different?).

After staring at it for a bit, it's also troubling... which I guess is part of the
hook/effect/appeal. I like it.

2.61 crashed three times in a row - joy - downloaded 2.63a (can't be any
worse? hehe). Am doing a first piece (a figure) the 'wrong' way, the hard
way so any problems with method will show themselves... Apparently
Blender doesn't like Sculptris .obj files, ie. won't preserve groups even
when "groups" box is ticked... Also accidentally enabled snapping, spent
half an hour trying to figure out wtf...

Just like old times, *sigh*.

[whom]

you know all those constant updates of blender is real annoying, I might pass the next one depending on what kind of update that it is. cycles is working better for me now. Appreciate the comment there btw durgl, thanks again.

speedpainting thread is really on life support these days, weird as it used to be the most lively place to be in this place. We guys better stick to the 3d thread right?


tree without leaves, 1 hour ( for my speed modelling thread over at cgsociety)

[durgldeep]

Speedpainting thread - only 39,000 more posts and we can overtake them!
I'm game.

Again I've got nothing to show tho have made progress. Discovered
vertex groups (grouping problem solved) - and weighting too (basic form of
weight paint).

Editing SC (Sculptris) meshes in Blender is way easier than building from
scratch (in Blender). As an exercise, started converting the pelvis (above)
into a nice tidy Blender mesh: tris to quads then clean up. Then realized
the chaotic quad mesh is perfect for vertex paint, ie. tiny spots of colour
(as I plan to do) will never fall in a straight line.

Understanding pelvis shape *transformed* the figure/anatomy I'm doing:
modeling on top of a basic pelvis shape I can see my previous (glaring)
errors. Scapula/clavicle next - didn't want to do a whole skeleton but
maybe can't avoid it.

Nice tree - and nice coincidence: been thinking I need a break, maybe do
a simple tree scene in SU. otoh there's a sense of urgency in knowing that
Blender is workable...

If it takes over my life, I know who to blame.
--------------------

Guess I can add something (lest I start talking in jargon, hmmm). For
working with multiple Sculptris objects:

1. import from Sculptris and switch to Edit Mode
2. select single vertex (in any one 'group') and press L key
3. all vertexes are selected; press A key to deselect (all)

Grouping is a bit more involved (but not much more):
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Modeling/Meshes/Vertex_Groups
[Edit: pasted the wrong link (above), 2.4 - now changed to 2.6]

This model is mirrored (different subject).

[durgldeep]

Tested myself re pelvis (below) - and failed (had to use reference again).
Surprise, clavicle is harder (partly due to huge variety of reference?).

Main discovery: u have to pick ur battles, ie. what level of detail/accuracy u're
aiming for...

[Nide]

nice !

[durgldeep]

Nide, which program? Or is quads always Blender - nfi.

*Nice* indeed (might be understatement, heh).

Otherwise the skeleton discovery tour continues - will need a rubber room
after this...

[ZM]

[whom]

ZM, I assumed that remesh modifier was incorporated into 3dMax? I only know the older versions when it comes to 3d max..... Maybe it is only a blender plugin, works well though.
Nice environments, thanks for the comment. Trees are really time consuming if one wants detail


I made a theme over at cgsociety this week, the items are bathroom stuff. Feel free to post some if you have.

hand basin, 45 minutes (no tap as of yet....)



I had the tap as an item in the list, ...ah nevermind don't need to ramble about that here I guess lol.

[durgldeep]

ZM nice, lot of work there...

whom I once did a bathroom in Sketchup, lol, was terrible so I best not show it.
Nice clean work as usual, cool.

First pass on the feet; copy/pasted the toes just to get it done; not standing
flat (obviously?). Various references, which makes it a real challenge (huge
variety between skeletons/examples, as above).

Onward.

[samhell]

ZM, just a suggestion. How about adding some warning signs, loading dock signs + the usual you would find on a hardware/storage area like that?

something like:





Also, maybe a ladder or two would be nice? The reason why I'm saying this is that this scene gives me heavy FPS-vibes and I think some hint at vertical movement possibilities might be cool for the scene if it really is a game concept?

Durgledeep, Whom, good stuff! I'll try to catch up again with some 3d work soon!