just one detraction is the dragon's hands but other than that
I assume that you mean the palms?
Since the dragon looked pretty cool right out of the box, and I didn't have to change much of anything, I "willfully ignored" how odd the palms looked. But you are right, they seemed a little weird to me as well. The original modeler must have thought that the nose texture (which looks great) would also look fine on the palms. Nope.
My options to improve the situation were: 1 - Change the original texture maps, 2 - Make the mesh in the palms more dense and less "planky", and 3 - In the modeling room, create separate domains for the palms and use the Carrara shader room to create more a more pleasing look. I picked #3, and changed it in the original post.
Thanks for the good words. I appreciate the constructive criticism. Please let me know if this is more satisfying to you.
a big improvement... but
the blending of the adjustment isn't quite right... on the iPad it's not noticeable but on the PC it is ... this can be fixed in postwork or the other option would be to adjust the dragon texture ( option 1 I think you mentioned ) and then save as an edited version..
I took the liberty to show you a quick postwork example I did in PSE22 using the clone tool at about 40% and using my tablet with pen ... great work though
Here is my first WIP, a dragon made of paper plates.
I had several bad starts on how to apprach those uniquitous ridges on paper plates. My first attempts involved dispalcement mapping and it looked...awful. So I modeled them creating a high poly plate. I started with only one quarter of the plate and fussed around until I got the grooves to look passable. I then dupliacted with symmetry, welded the two halves together, then duplicated with symmetry again to finish the plate. The result is not a perfect circle. I'm sure there was a more sane approach, but anyways, then I created a normal map from the high poly plate and applied that to a low poly disc.
I then used a regular Replicator and dialed in a single row along one axis, then gently tweaked the position and rotation% so they aren't perfectly aligned.
revamped file from one I did 2013 when Carrara was v8
changed the dragon style using 3DU dragon for dragon3 added foliage, props and added Tara ( Zandor's wife ) who wasn't in my original file.
I loved the Herculoids growing up. These 3D models are top notch.
If anyone is not familiar with the classic show, see this clip to see what a great job Syezza did.
Here is my first WIP, a dragon made of paper plates.
I had several bad starts on how to apprach those uniquitous ridges on paper plates. My first attempts involved dispalcement mapping and it looked...awful. So I modeled them creating a high poly plate. I started with only one quarter of the plate and fussed around until I got the grooves to look passable. I then dupliacted with symmetry, welded the two halves together, then duplicated with symmetry again to finish the plate. The result is not a perfect circle. I'm sure there was a more sane approach, but anyways, then I created a normal map from the high poly plate and applied that to a low poly disc.
I then used a regular Replicator and dialed in a single row along one axis, then gently tweaked the position and rotation% so they aren't perfectly aligned.
Well, I wasn't in the mood for struggling with another program's user interface, so I put my sculpting idea on hold. I started modeling my Carrara figures for my animation idea. Some alliteration.
Here is the heroine and the hero.
Two minor workflow notes. (1) The skirt for the heroine is parented to the figure's hip, not attached to the same skeleton. The skirt's long front and back panels are rigged separately so I can try to animate without calculating a drape. (2) The wreath-hat for the heroine is just some custom leaves replicated on a band. The band has visibility turned off.
Now I just need a dragon and a setting.
And below are the base models and skeleton rigs that I start from.
Excellent modelling on the figures, will be keeping an eye out for your progress (no pressure) !!!
just one detraction is the dragon's hands but other than that
I assume that you mean the palms?
Since the dragon looked pretty cool right out of the box, and I didn't have to change much of anything, I "willfully ignored" how odd the palms looked. But you are right, they seemed a little weird to me as well. The original modeler must have thought that the nose texture (which looks great) would also look fine on the palms. Nope.
My options to improve the situation were: 1 - Change the original texture maps, 2 - Make the mesh in the palms more dense and less "planky", and 3 - In the modeling room, create separate domains for the palms and use the Carrara shader room to create more a more pleasing look. I picked #3, and changed it in the original post.
Thanks for the good words. I appreciate the constructive criticism. Please let me know if this is more satisfying to you.
a big improvement... but
the blending of the adjustment isn't quite right... on the iPad it's not noticeable but on the PC it is ... this can be fixed in postwork or the other option would be to adjust the dragon texture ( option 1 I think you mentioned ) and then save as an edited version..
I took the liberty to show you a quick postwork example I did in PSE22 using the clone tool at about 40% and using my tablet with pen ... great work though
Here is my first WIP, a dragon made of paper plates.
I had several bad starts on how to apprach those uniquitous ridges on paper plates. My first attempts involved dispalcement mapping and it looked...awful. So I modeled them creating a high poly plate. I started with only one quarter of the plate and fussed around until I got the grooves to look passable. I then dupliacted with symmetry, welded the two halves together, then duplicated with symmetry again to finish the plate. The result is not a perfect circle. I'm sure there was a more sane approach, but anyways, then I created a normal map from the high poly plate and applied that to a low poly disc.
I then used a regular Replicator and dialed in a single row along one axis, then gently tweaked the position and rotation% so they aren't perfectly aligned.
I am having no luck with Mimic, I am certain I have made it talk but cannot find a working configuration file
even notepad edits have no effect
morphs are on head so should
changing Head 2 to Head 1 fails too
the Poser Dson cr2 has no object tree or mesh in Mimic pro, I may need to recreate my own
DSON has stopped working in Poser11 again so I need to find out why
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "I:\My DAZ 3D Library\Runtime\libraries\Character\DAZ Genesis\Characters\CitizenX\!CitizenX.py", line 1, in <module>
import dson.dzdsonimporter
ImportError: No module named dson.dzdsonimporter
get the same for all cr2 just tried that as worked last time
I am having no luck with Mimic, I am certain I have made it talk but cannot find a working configuration file
even notepad edits have no effect
morphs are on head so should
changing Head 2 to Head 1 fails too
the Poser Dson cr2 has no object tree or mesh in Mimic pro, I may need to recreate my own
DSON has stopped working in Poser11 again so I need to find out why
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "I:\My DAZ 3D Library\Runtime\libraries\Character\DAZ Genesis\Characters\CitizenX\!CitizenX.py", line 1, in <module>
import dson.dzdsonimporter
ImportError: No module named dson.dzdsonimporter
get the same for all cr2 just tried that as worked last time
Sounds like a PITA Wendy, hope you get it sorted !!!
Wendy - very cool video. Great that you got the lips/talking thing. Appreciate the work and the sharing. Thanks for the file.
Bunyip - fun 'just for fun' render. I sometimes forget to check ShareCG. Lots of great stuff there.
Here is my approach for a quick toonish dragon to go with my toonish heroine and hero. I am starting with the dragon body. The idea is to create a cross section and then copy/translate/scale/adjust : repeat : repeat : repeat to get the basic body. I created ridges on the back, but the underbelly remained rounded. This is similar to how PhilW gets the fuselage of his WWI plane in his modeling tutorial. To create the mesh, there are several options in the construct menu. I used 'ruled surface.' I then extrude the legs/feet/claws. Next, I created shader domains for the underbelly and the main hide, as well as for the legs/feet/claws. The shader domains are good aid for modeling extra details. For example, I selected my main BodyScales, used the minus button to create some room, then extruded but making sure the 'link polygons' box was unchecked. This gives the upper/outer body the indication of scaly plates. While selected, I gave those plates a new shader domain. Creating the lengthy 'folds' for the underbelly was more complicated. I selected a sliced edge and hit ring to get all the cross section edges. I then added and removed each shader domain other than the underbelly. This left me with just the cross section edges of the underbelly. I de-selected the vertexes on the outer borders. Then I used 'extract around' on the remaining edges, and then translated the cross section lines upwards. The result (I hope) is the indication on the horizontal folds one sees on the underbellies of some lizards.
All shaders procedural thus far. No UVMapping.
I am modeling the head separately. Still deciding if there will be wings. I am leaning toward wings.
bb01 cross sections of dragon.jpg
1871 x 892 - 192K
bb02 ruled surface.jpg
1473 x 829 - 131K
bb04 scaly body.jpg
1299 x 781 - 133K
bb05 folds for underbelly.jpg
974 x 898 - 143K
bb06 shading domain body scales.jpg
1786 x 919 - 267K
bb07 shader domain body scale squares.jpg
1600 x 794 - 221K
bb08 shader domain underside.jpg
1642 x 922 - 259K
bb09 body of dragon with procedural shaders no uvmapping.jpg
just one detraction is the dragon's hands but other than that
I assume that you mean the palms?
Since the dragon looked pretty cool right out of the box, and I didn't have to change much of anything, I "willfully ignored" how odd the palms looked. But you are right, they seemed a little weird to me as well. The original modeler must have thought that the nose texture (which looks great) would also look fine on the palms. Nope.
My options to improve the situation were: 1 - Change the original texture maps, 2 - Make the mesh in the palms more dense and less "planky", and 3 - In the modeling room, create separate domains for the palms and use the Carrara shader room to create more a more pleasing look. I picked #3, and changed it in the original post.
Thanks for the good words. I appreciate the constructive criticism. Please let me know if this is more satisfying to you.
a big improvement... but
the blending of the adjustment isn't quite right... on the iPad it's not noticeable but on the PC it is ... this can be fixed in postwork or the other option would be to adjust the dragon texture ( option 1 I think you mentioned ) and then save as an edited version..
I took the liberty to show you a quick postwork example I did in PSE22 using the clone tool at about 40% and using my tablet with pen ... great work though
You're a hard task master Syezza !!!
LOL Bunyip! Hard indeed.
However, I am always happy when someone cares enough about my art to offer helpful criticism. And he did have a point. My fix was lazy.
Thanks Stezza. Your fix was the correct thing to do in PSE, and for sure the easiest option. But as you know, I do my best to avoid postwork. So what I did this time was merely extend out the custom palm shader area, to include the first knuckle joint of each finger (because fingers also have those striped shaders), and also to extend it to the last section at the bottom of the palm.. In doing that, I could mask a bright stripe and also lower the overall palm highlight because I no longer had to blend textures in order to match the brightness of those finger stripes. And in the process, I also got rid of a pesky shadow.
It looks better to me. The whole thing took about a half hour. Well worth the time.
I picked up the new Paris city center and am thinking of ways to give it a go.
Is that the "Paris City Center" model by Matej Vodnik? How did you import it to Carrara? Collada?
Thanks for the comments on Paris dragons, everyone. Steve K, the Paris tower loads directly from the content folder without having to convert to another format.
Okay, thanks. I've never had luck loading a .DUF file into Carrara, and quit trying long ago. Has something changed? Or are some .DUF files Carrara compatible while others are not?
just one detraction is the dragon's hands but other than that
I assume that you mean the palms?
Since the dragon looked pretty cool right out of the box, and I didn't have to change much of anything, I "willfully ignored" how odd the palms looked. But you are right, they seemed a little weird to me as well. The original modeler must have thought that the nose texture (which looks great) would also look fine on the palms. Nope.
My options to improve the situation were: 1 - Change the original texture maps, 2 - Make the mesh in the palms more dense and less "planky", and 3 - In the modeling room, create separate domains for the palms and use the Carrara shader room to create more a more pleasing look. I picked #3, and changed it in the original post.
Thanks for the good words. I appreciate the constructive criticism. Please let me know if this is more satisfying to you.
a big improvement... but
the blending of the adjustment isn't quite right... on the iPad it's not noticeable but on the PC it is ... this can be fixed in postwork or the other option would be to adjust the dragon texture ( option 1 I think you mentioned ) and then save as an edited version..
I took the liberty to show you a quick postwork example I did in PSE22 using the clone tool at about 40% and using my tablet with pen ... great work though
You're a hard task master Syezza !!!
LOL Bunyip! Hard indeed.
However, I am always happy when someone cares enough about my art to offer helpful criticism. And he did have a point. My fix was lazy.
Thanks Stezza. Your fix was the correct thing to do in PSE, and for sure the easiest option. But as you know, I do my best to avoid postwork. So what I did this time was merely extend out the custom palm shader area, to include the first knuckle joint of each finger (because fingers also have those striped shaders), and also to extend it to the last section at the bottom of the palm.. In doing that, I could mask a bright stripe and also lower the overall palm highlight because I no longer had to blend textures in order to match the brightness of those finger stripes. And in the process, I also got rid of a pesky shadow.
It looks better to me. The whole thing took about a half hour. Well worth the time.
The latest (and final I hope. :))
it's in the smallest of detail yet when seen it can't be unseen
a big improvement and I know you are trying to achieve the best you can with these great models so happy to point out stuff when I find it to help you improve even more..
Wendy - very cool video. Great that you got the lips/talking thing. Appreciate the work and the sharing. Thanks for the file.
Bunyip - fun 'just for fun' render. I sometimes forget to check ShareCG. Lots of great stuff there.
Here is my approach for a quick toonish dragon to go with my toonish heroine and hero. I am starting with the dragon body. The idea is to create a cross section and then copy/translate/scale/adjust : repeat : repeat : repeat to get the basic body. I created ridges on the back, but the underbelly remained rounded. This is similar to how PhilW gets the fuselage of his WWI plane in his modeling tutorial. To create the mesh, there are several options in the construct menu. I used 'ruled surface.' I then extrude the legs/feet/claws. Next, I created shader domains for the underbelly and the main hide, as well as for the legs/feet/claws. The shader domains are good aid for modeling extra details. For example, I selected my main BodyScales, used the minus button to create some room, then extruded but making sure the 'link polygons' box was unchecked. This gives the upper/outer body the indication of scaly plates. While selected, I gave those plates a new shader domain. Creating the lengthy 'folds' for the underbelly was more complicated. I selected a sliced edge and hit ring to get all the cross section edges. I then added and removed each shader domain other than the underbelly. This left me with just the cross section edges of the underbelly. I de-selected the vertexes on the outer borders. Then I used 'extract around' on the remaining edges, and then translated the cross section lines upwards. The result (I hope) is the indication on the horizontal folds one sees on the underbellies of some lizards.
All shaders procedural thus far. No UVMapping.
I am modeling the head separately. Still deciding if there will be wings. I am leaning toward wings.
Awesome work, will also double as a Toon Dinosaur !!!
just one detraction is the dragon's hands but other than that
I assume that you mean the palms?
Since the dragon looked pretty cool right out of the box, and I didn't have to change much of anything, I "willfully ignored" how odd the palms looked. But you are right, they seemed a little weird to me as well. The original modeler must have thought that the nose texture (which looks great) would also look fine on the palms. Nope.
My options to improve the situation were: 1 - Change the original texture maps, 2 - Make the mesh in the palms more dense and less "planky", and 3 - In the modeling room, create separate domains for the palms and use the Carrara shader room to create more a more pleasing look. I picked #3, and changed it in the original post.
Thanks for the good words. I appreciate the constructive criticism. Please let me know if this is more satisfying to you.
a big improvement... but
the blending of the adjustment isn't quite right... on the iPad it's not noticeable but on the PC it is ... this can be fixed in postwork or the other option would be to adjust the dragon texture ( option 1 I think you mentioned ) and then save as an edited version..
I took the liberty to show you a quick postwork example I did in PSE22 using the clone tool at about 40% and using my tablet with pen ... great work though
You're a hard task master Syezza !!!
LOL Bunyip! Hard indeed.
However, I am always happy when someone cares enough about my art to offer helpful criticism. And he did have a point. My fix was lazy.
Thanks Stezza. Your fix was the correct thing to do in PSE, and for sure the easiest option. But as you know, I do my best to avoid postwork. So what I did this time was merely extend out the custom palm shader area, to include the first knuckle joint of each finger (because fingers also have those striped shaders), and also to extend it to the last section at the bottom of the palm.. In doing that, I could mask a bright stripe and also lower the overall palm highlight because I no longer had to blend textures in order to match the brightness of those finger stripes. And in the process, I also got rid of a pesky shadow.
It looks better to me. The whole thing took about a half hour. Well worth the time.
The latest (and final I hope. :))
it's in the smallest of detail yet when seen it can't be unseen
a big improvement and I know you are trying to achieve the best you can with these great models so happy to point out stuff when I find it to help you improve even more..
happy days yay
Excellence in Rendering, glad it's sorted and everyone is happy with the results !!!
And here is how I have started my approach for a quick toonish dragon head to go with my toonish heroine and hero and dragon body.
I did a search for dragon pics and found a half dozen or so I liked and sort of composited them in profile. I then used the pen tool in the Left view of the modeling room to outline my composite head. Not too many vertexes, but want to make sure have open mouth. I actually do not fill the polygon at this stage but I want you to see the basic shape of the profile.
cc01 dragon head draw profile on drawing plane based on reference images.jpg
And here is how I have started my approach for a quick toonish dragon head to go with my toonish heroine and hero and dragon body.
I did a search for dragon pics and found a half dozen or so I liked and sort of composited them in profile. I then used the pen tool in the Left view of the modeling room to outline my composite head. Not too many vertexes, but want to make sure have open mouth. I actually do not fill the polygon at this stage but I want you to see the basic shape of the profile.
I select the unfilled polyline and move it to X=0. I then duplicate it twice, moving one copy to X=1 and one copy to X=-1. I use ruled surfaces to create a mesh from the parallel lines.
NOTE - I did not like having the one big horn so I repeated the process without the horns. See middle. This pic has the original polylines off to the right, the first try at creating the mesh in which I did not like the horns on the left, and then the revised head which I kept in the middle.
Comments
a big improvement... but
the blending of the adjustment isn't quite right... on the iPad it's not noticeable but on the PC it is ... this can be fixed in postwork or the other option would be to adjust the dragon texture ( option 1 I think you mentioned ) and then save as an edited version..
I took the liberty to show you a quick postwork example I did in PSE22 using the clone tool at about 40% and using my tablet with pen ... great work though
and what a great WiP it is... I love the paper plate dragon ... makes me wonder what you will do with the bamboo spoons and forks
I love seeing the modelling being done by yourself and @Diomede ... makes me feel not so lonely
and thanks for your kind comments all .
I think I like it
Superb, love the concept, greatly looking forward to the rest of this scene !!!
Excellent modelling on the figures, will be keeping an eye out for your progress (no pressure) !!!
You're a hard task master Syezza !!!
Love those Carrara modelling skills !!!!!!!!!!!
I am having no luck with Mimic, I am certain I have made it talk but cannot find a working configuration file
even notepad edits have no effect
morphs are on head so should
changing Head 2 to Head 1 fails too
the Poser Dson cr2 has no object tree or mesh in Mimic pro, I may need to recreate my own
DSON has stopped working in Poser11 again so I need to find out why
get the same for all cr2 just tried that as worked last time
Sounds like a PITA Wendy, hope you get it sorted !!!
I did the Poser side, no idea why it keep breaking, maybe DIM as old Poser 12 under SmithMicro so need to manually change
Mimic Standalone for Poser is struggling to analyze it, the size difference no doubt
file created, works in DAZ studio and Carrara
was a lot of fluffing around but I got there
Thanks for that Wendy !!!
Just for fun - not an entry
Scaly Dragon 3 Mats (Poser version) - https://sharecg.com/v/76564/gallery/11/Poser/Scaly-Dragon-3-Mats-Poser-version
Scaly Mats for DAZ Dragon3 (Poser) #2 - https://sharecg.com/v/76565/gallery/11/Poser/Scaly-Mats-for-DAZ-Dragon3-Poser-2
video
not an entry
Wendy - very cool video. Great that you got the lips/talking thing. Appreciate the work and the sharing. Thanks for the file.
Bunyip - fun 'just for fun' render. I sometimes forget to check ShareCG. Lots of great stuff there.
Here is my approach for a quick toonish dragon to go with my toonish heroine and hero. I am starting with the dragon body. The idea is to create a cross section and then copy/translate/scale/adjust : repeat : repeat : repeat to get the basic body. I created ridges on the back, but the underbelly remained rounded. This is similar to how PhilW gets the fuselage of his WWI plane in his modeling tutorial. To create the mesh, there are several options in the construct menu. I used 'ruled surface.' I then extrude the legs/feet/claws. Next, I created shader domains for the underbelly and the main hide, as well as for the legs/feet/claws. The shader domains are good aid for modeling extra details. For example, I selected my main BodyScales, used the minus button to create some room, then extruded but making sure the 'link polygons' box was unchecked. This gives the upper/outer body the indication of scaly plates. While selected, I gave those plates a new shader domain. Creating the lengthy 'folds' for the underbelly was more complicated. I selected a sliced edge and hit ring to get all the cross section edges. I then added and removed each shader domain other than the underbelly. This left me with just the cross section edges of the underbelly. I de-selected the vertexes on the outer borders. Then I used 'extract around' on the remaining edges, and then translated the cross section lines upwards. The result (I hope) is the indication on the horizontal folds one sees on the underbellies of some lizards.
All shaders procedural thus far. No UVMapping.
I am modeling the head separately. Still deciding if there will be wings. I am leaning toward wings.
LOL Bunyip! Hard indeed.
However, I am always happy when someone cares enough about my art to offer helpful criticism. And he did have a point. My fix was lazy.
Thanks Stezza. Your fix was the correct thing to do in PSE, and for sure the easiest option. But as you know, I do my best to avoid postwork. So what I did this time was merely extend out the custom palm shader area, to include the first knuckle joint of each finger (because fingers also have those striped shaders), and also to extend it to the last section at the bottom of the palm.. In doing that, I could mask a bright stripe and also lower the overall palm highlight because I no longer had to blend textures in order to match the brightness of those finger stripes. And in the process, I also got rid of a pesky shadow.
It looks better to me. The whole thing took about a half hour. Well worth the time.
The latest (and final I hope. :))
Okay, thanks. I've never had luck loading a .DUF file into Carrara, and quit trying long ago. Has something changed? Or are some .DUF files Carrara compatible while others are not?
it's in the smallest of detail yet when seen it can't be unseen
a big improvement and I know you are trying to achieve the best you can with these great models so happy to point out stuff when I find it to help you improve even more..
happy days yay
Woohoo, chatterbox dragon, nice one Wendy !!!
Awesome work, will also double as a Toon Dinosaur !!!
Excellence in Rendering, glad it's sorted and everyone is happy with the results !!!
Does display the benefits of post work !
Sale on Dragons - https://www.daz3d.com/mighty-dragons#order=popular^1&filtered=1
There is also a Hershel Hoffmeyer critter in the 2.99/1.99 item sale. Someone could use the head and neck in a closeup scene.
https://www.daz3d.com/carnotaurus-sastrei
~ And Then -
https://www.daz3d.com/carnotaurus-sastrei
-86% $21.95 $2.99
Carnotaurus Sastrei
Not really an dragon , But could be used as one
like " you're not a dragon but you could play one on a TV show "
_ _
and someone else also Thanx
wow missed that entirely, thanks grabbed now
alrite then _ welcomer
And here is how I have started my approach for a quick toonish dragon head to go with my toonish heroine and hero and dragon body.
I did a search for dragon pics and found a half dozen or so I liked and sort of composited them in profile. I then used the pen tool in the Left view of the modeling room to outline my composite head. Not too many vertexes, but want to make sure have open mouth. I actually do not fill the polygon at this stage but I want you to see the basic shape of the profile.
Dinosaurs are welcome in the Challenge as dinosaur bones were considered Dragon bones in the early years !
Keep up that awesome modelling !!!
I select the unfilled polyline and move it to X=0. I then duplicate it twice, moving one copy to X=1 and one copy to X=-1. I use ruled surfaces to create a mesh from the parallel lines.
NOTE - I did not like having the one big horn so I repeated the process without the horns. See middle. This pic has the original polylines off to the right, the first try at creating the mesh in which I did not like the horns on the left, and then the revised head which I kept in the middle.