Works in Progress

GRIM

Been piddling with the Wheel idea for the tarot deck- he's so in WIP mode right now, it ain't funny.

Wayii

Not sure about the cyborg skin cutout bits, but the pose and base are pretty cool so far. You may want to consider a second figure on the other side. ;)

GRIM

Ooo. Nice idea, Wayii. Thank you! Not sure about the bits either, so I sent him on over to my collab partner for her input too. XD

Wayii

:)

The Wheel is one of those cards I'm near intimate with in terms of meaning and symbology. It's hard to shut up when faced with it LOL!

Xaa

The most common themes for the Wheel of Fortune seem to be that life has a cyclical nature. A second figure for balance would likely improve the composition.

GRIM

lol- I'd never want you to shut up, Wayii.

Thank you both- I will definitely work in a second figure. That makes perfect sense to me.

Nanobot

Kewl! And yes, this is not a solo figure card. Well, neither is Judgement or The Lovers, etc.

GRIM

Nanobot said:
Kewl! And yes, this is not a solo figure card. Well, neither is Judgement or The Lovers, etc.

Yeah, there's been an update on that one-advice had been given about the composition if nothing else. This is the second test run which was approved. So when I Have the time, I'll finish it up and post it again. ;)

Nanobot

I'm slugging my way through Zbrush tutorials. Finally managed to poke something together that looks like...a something. :) Totally unfinished. Inspired by Brian Froud fairies and Nursoda critters. A render from Zbrush of the familiar red wax matcap. Not ever intended to be a Poser character...not without re-topo and a bunch o' work!

Raetjor

nice work!

I still have to sculpt a sea serpent in brush, but am not quite feeling the mojo at the moment.

ladyfur

nanobot, is it just me or does he look like dobby the elf only red? he's cute.

Nanobot

I'm not trying (consciously) for suchlike, Ladyfur. I was looking at a drawing of a Brian Froud faery for inspiration. He'll get hedgehog quills at some point.

LT_Roberts

I think it's his posture that makes him look like Dobby, not so much the character. I thought the same thing. I love Froud's stuff (as you know, Nan). Hedgehog quills seem just right! Great job so far.

Nanobot

Oh, the posture, yes. The illustrated hedgehog pixie is crouching so his quills show off. :) Now, *how* to get the quills on...that's another matter!

ladyfur

in any case, he's cute.

Nanobot

Thanks. :) He probably won't go much farther, as he was an exercise.

GRIM

Been working on a M4 to hopefully work into a sell-able product. So far, I have a test render. XD

GRIM

Side view test (Different hair, of course) for his profile.

Wayii

Aside from the vascularity, I really like him. He seems a little over-veiny on the upper chest and at the temple. The shape of his face and the sweep of his brows is particularly pleasing.

GRIM

Yeah, I thought so too- but that was how the actual model was that I used as a base for him...but worse. That man is so freakin' thin (wafer, really) and veiny as hell. I think I'll be lowering that, but for now the skin is at the base stage-just starting. Here's a view of his body (upper half, anyway)...with about another twenty pounds on the real time frame I worked off of. The second body morph will be thicker, probably much thicker.

GRIM

As an example of the guy's frame. Still have work to do on his torso, but it gives you an idea on how thin and veiny (his hands in particular) this guy really is

.

Wayii

Wow. He's not just thin... he's wasted. Like meth-n-heroin-for-breakfast wasted. Your guy isn't so gruesomely starved (or perhaps doesn't seem so because his skin isn't dessicated and he's not over-cut the way the model is).

I think you're right about adding a little more weight to him, though I don't think I'd build that chest any more -- it might get too mooby (a common error a lot of character designers commit that's kinda gross).

I keep going back to the face though. It's really good. :D

GRIM

Here's a full body shot, sorta. lol I have the displacement maps at different dial settings along his body (the displacements aren't gray and white, they are black and white - a trick I picked up from our lovely Mav.) and I like them much better.

Wayii

Okay, he's beautiful from that angle.

Also, I think Mav is a master of the male body. She can even make that horror-show Genesis look beautifully male.

GRIM

As do I, where Mav's concerned. XD And, thank you very much. I won't post updates until I get the SSS not so damn waxy on him. I have to re-do the promos on Macabre for V4-they don't like how "Dark" they are and want a brighter "better" light rig to show her off to customers.

They don't like the lipstick either- saying the color doesn't cover her lip area, but it does. I pulled the damn PS file and they obviously didn't bother to look at the diffuse map to see that it freakin' DOES, it's how her lips are shaped. So- I am re-doing the promos for her...again.

In the meantime- I submitted her to RDNA as well. Let's see what they say.

LT_Roberts

Nice work there, Grim. Looks pretty great to me!

GRIM

Thanks so much, LT. I do appreciate that. XD

GRIM

and Macabre so far-let's see if they like THIS version.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/macabre-for-v4-2/108571

Nanobot

Zowie, Dar, that boy is head and shoulders above anything recently available for M4. And I love your guys, anyhow.

Nanobot

Macabre must be in review or something. I don't see her yet.

GRIM

Thank you, Nan! XD I've been working on him off and on (I generally have three or so hours before work during the day to wake up, then home by 2 a.m. or so) and yeah- Macabre is still in review. They kept coming back with adding the "new license" instead of the old one, even when I went back and c/p'd the NEW license twice. No, they neglected to tell me that I needed to copy/paste the "please go here, blahblahblahRendoEmail" note they put into the message to me for the link, not the actual damn license.

I did that around three this morning, so we'll see. Here's the new front page they decided was good enough that she went through (except the license thing) finally:

Nanobot

Her eyeliner is as sharp as her sword! Wish I had her steady hand. ;) I think this one will do better, with the off-the face coif.

Nanobot

And thank you for the idea about the black/white displacement for veins. I can go back to the old maps (DAZ's) and hit it with Levels. Maybe that'll get it to show up properly with SSS.

Nanobot

Dar, did you finish the Wheel pic? My mind's a blank.

GRIM

Thank you- I agree, at least this way people can see her face better. XD As for the eyeliner, yeah. Never could get that myself during my club days. lol And you're welcome on the tip! I found it works great for the veins, that tip- and the added details on wrinkles, ect. on the body/face I add to the bump instead unless there are moles and such. Then they get added to the vein disp. maps.

Um. I think so. Lemme see. Hell, I can't find ANY of the files. I'll have to dig-the other person involved had to back out, so I musta stored them. Somewhere.

I have started the second body morph on Trystan- his legs, however, will need more work to get rid of the balloon thigh issue I loathe. He's not a damn Mr. Olympian. I'll use more of the vein disp. as well since he's bigger and most men *I* know of that start bulking up tend to show more vein along the arms/legs in certain areas. I'll have to re-work the map, but it'll be worth it in the end.

GRIM

Found it- We decided to go back to the obvious Wheel idea since the two men weren't working for me.

Wayii

Gorgeous Wheel.

Also I agree about that ridiculously overdeveloped thigh problem DAZ figures have.

GRIM

Thank you. XD

I've always hated those thighs....but never had a really good reason to see if I can work dial magic enough to get them more believable. I was, admittedly, lazy. lol Now? I wanna sell him, so there's a reason. At the moment he uses M4 base, ++, Elite and M4 Enhanced morphs so there are tweaks in there that "can" theoretically work without exporting, using Silo, and importing him again for this. We'll see. ;)

Wayii

GRIM said:
Thank you. XD

I've always hated those thighs....but never had a really good reason to see if I can work dial magic enough to get them more believable. I was, admittedly, lazy. lol Now? I wanna sell him, so there's a reason. At the moment he uses M4 base, ++, Elite and M4 Enhanced morphs so there are tweaks in there that "can" theoretically work without exporting, using Silo, and importing him again for this. We'll see. ;)

What's truly ridiculously is that the Genesis figures have this pack called Swole that makes them (and the rest of the male figure) even more super-deformed huge than Freak 4, who makes M4 look positively reedy. Those people have some weird fetishes.

Look forward to seeing your sane thighs morph. LOL you could prolly sell that (plus an inject to put it into M4 clothing) all by itself.

Nanobot

Wow, he's poking out of his shorts! OH NOES.

Yeah, the Swole is ...shuddersome. Who was the dude that did Superman porn on that one gay male poser site...? Like that.

I recall that we all liked M4 Enhanced in the first place because you could avoid the funky thighs if you liked.

Wayii

>.<

GRIM

LOL- exactly, and I know who you mean as well.

NO SWOLE for my males.

And...she's live. XD http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/macabre-for-v4-2/108571 

surochek

Yay!

GRIM

Well, the thighs are gonna be an issue unless I want to slip him into Silo and work the mesh itself. I'm not that advanced (Still haven't figured out the import/export thing and making the morph in Poser yet) so... the puffy thighs may have to stay. I've tweaked the with the dials, but he looked far to odd.

On another note I have his inner mouth textures finalized. Here's a quick test render with the SSS/IDL.

GRIM

aaaaaaand the mouth IN the head piece- no other lighting other than IDL. I'm gonna do some with other non IDL rigs to see how these and his skin looks.

GRIM

Here he is in the Sunlight light rig. IBL, Environsphere and one Infinite as the Sun with the SSS settings.

GRIM

Updated veinwork. Same Sunlight settings as the previous.

Wayii

Oh hells yeah.

GRIM

lol- glad you like! I may see about adding a bit more in the hand/foot, wrist and inner arm/bicep areas but for now, they're good as a base. The skin's been updated, as well as the eyes/mouth area (as shown). I'm working on the UBERGLOSS and PALEDEATH nails. Oi. Super specular and way, way too pale. His nails at the base start look like he's anemic. Severely.

I'll update accordingly, of course. ;)

Wayii

So you're adding a hint of blue to the pales of the nails then.

GRIM said:
lol- glad you like! I may see about adding a bit more in the hand/foot, wrist and inner arm/bicep areas but for now, they're good as a base. The skin's been updated, as well as the eyes/mouth area (as shown). I'm working on the UBERGLOSS and PALEDEATH nails. Oi. Super specular and way, way too pale. His nails at the base start look like he's anemic. Severely.

I'll update accordingly, of course. ;)

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories