Eon (3D Scene) Entry: Michael Crinnion

[Crin]

Well hello once again everybody! :)

Still yet to finish a CG Challenge I'm stepping up to the ring one again. As always I plan to finish but we know how these things are. I'm going to have to read up on the subject matter a bit so expect a delay before my concept appears. I'll get there as soon as possible.

Good luck to everybody.

[soapy]

Welcome aboard Crin! There is a lot of reading right here in the cgtalk threads. Good luck man.

[Crin]

Yeah i've put aside an hour this afternoon to do some reading on this. I'm determined to finish a challenge for once.

[Claireabella]

Hello my friend. Welcome to the challege of a lifetime.......or the challenge of 3 months actually! I hope to get this one finished. It will be a miracle but you just never know. Look forward to seeing you ideas. Have fun! :thumbsup:

[Crin]

Hi Claire,

I have a few ideas brewing at the moment but I think I need to do a bit more research into the novel before doing my concept sketch, I think with there already being a clear vision (i.e. the descriptions in the novel) the real challenge here is going to be coming up with something original and individual.

[makaron]

hallo crin...

good luck with your idea and hope you have something to show us soon...

[Kjello]

Hiya Crin! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with, good luck!

About that lighting problem. I've had a chance to read through the inspirational descriptions and quite a few posts now. It seems to me that there's this glowing "umbilical chord" of folded up space going through all of the chambers. This chord lights up the environments and people use it to travel. (I'm not entirely sure if I've got this completely right, though...must buy book...:wise: )

[Crin]

Mona : Thanks, I look forward to seeing how your project progresses too. I'll be watching :)

Kjello : Yes I read something about that too, something to do with a singularity, which to my understanding is the proper name for a black hole. Odd. I think i'm going to HAVE to read the book. Good luck to you too!

[Crin]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/15/11836/11836_1160146089_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/15/11836/11836_1160146089_large.jpg)

Here is my concept sketch, this is my first idea based on what I have managed to pick up from the site and various other places. I have ordered a copy of the book from Amazon though so I'm not going to start work until I've at least skimmed the book. I plan to read it properly but I'm a slow reader and time is short!

The idea:

Set in the third chamber... Thistledown City was astonishing… Here the Stone architects had allowed themselves complete freedom. Treating the chamber as a giant valley, they had strung cables from cap to cap and hung buildings from them in graceful curves.

We see our character sat in one of these hanging buildings, looking longingly at a historical souvenier of the planet earth, behind him out of the window we see the sprawling city of thistledown. Amongst all the high technology and wonderous sights, the man can only think of his home planet. A world, within a world.

[SantoAnderson]

Hey, looks sweet dude.

[Crin]

Thanks man, I'd appreciate crits from people who've read the book (or otherwise)

[angel]

I like your concept. maybe consider framing the image a little tighter so the window covers more of the frame real state, this will give you a greater view of the hanging buildings.

[Crin]

Yeah I agree, that's by no means the final composition, though I do want to get in some of the interior to contrast it with the exterior and egain with the globe... kind outside, inside, outside. If that makes any sense?

[TheSoracle]

Your concept seems to have deeper meaning lol. Pretty sweet. Cant wait to see your idea AFTER you get the book.

[Crin]

Your concept seems to have deeper meaning lol. Pretty sweet. Cant wait to see your idea AFTER you get the book.

Yeah as soon as I read "worlds within worlds" my philosophy instinct kicked in and I started thinking about all the ways that could be interpreted. The world withing the man's head when he looks at the earth withing the ornament, the ornament within Thistledown, Thistledown within the planet chambers. So yeah, I'm really happy people are picking up on the deeper meaning.

[soapy]

Great concept sketch you have there. Jump on it and go man go. Read the book as a backup maybe but just start working the image. The clock is ticking and you have a great idea and a good head start. Go with it.

[Gunilla]

I like your thoughts behind this and the initial sketch looks promising - so I agree with Soaps, just go on! :)

[hobo]

This is a good idea Crin, as soapy and Gunilla say, go on with it. Remember that you will be sitting in a tube I think 30 kms long, by 50 in diameter, with a cylindrical "light" about half a meter in diameter running through it.

"Since each of the Stone's first six chambers were wider in diameter than in length, they resembled deep valleys, and that's what they were sometimes called."

[Crin]

soapy : Thanks man, don't we all know the clock is ticking!? OH HOW IT TICKS! ! !

Gunilla : Thanks also, I'm gonna try and find the time to do this (he says confidently).

hobo : Thanks for the info on the chambers.

My book arrived this morning so now I have to find time to read it... in all honesty I don't have time so I think I'm going to get my girlfriend to read it and give me the highlights (she reads very fast) I do plan to read it myself at some point but I only really read during the summer when I'm on the beach.

I'll get back with an updated set of details for the concept asap. Thanks all!

[Kjello]

I like your concept, Crin. I've just got the book too, well on saturday actually, and I'm about a third into it now. Your concept fits very well with the psychological effects of being "stoned" as it's described in the book in my oppinion.

Well, now I've got to start producing and posting consepts too:eek:

[Crin]

I'll read up on that, I tried to imagine the effects of never really knowing where you came from and how it would effect your state of mind. It seems Greg bear had this covered already, but that's encouraging to me, hopefully once I've read the book (or my girlfriend has) it'll strengthen my concept.

[Crin]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/15/11836/11836_1160748262_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/15/11836/11836_1160748262_large.jpg)

This is a start on the characters head. I've not read the book yet (I know, I'm lazy) So I'm starting on the things that hopefully won't change.

[soapy]

Good start on the head Crin. Yep, pretty sure you can build out the head without worrying about the book. hahah.

[Crin]

Hey soaps, yeah I figure the head/man is a pretty safe bet in general. Feeling a bit under the weather at the moment so progress is likely to be slow. Thanks for following my thread though, I'm honoured.:bowdown:

[TheSoracle]

Looks good right now. Only thing to point out as obvious as it is right now, but the crease is EXTREMELY obvious. Try to tone it down a bit :p.

[Crin]

Hi TheSoracle, the crease is only there while I model. I always model characters on one side only and have a mirror instance for the other side... once it's done i'll make it all one mesh and the turbo smooth modifier won't generate a crease like it does currently.

[Nothingness]

Looks good right now. Only thing to point out as obvious as it is right now, but the crease is EXTREMELY obvious. Try to tone it down a bit :p.

the best way to model a head of a body is by doing only half. Unless there is an obvious difference in the second half. What you do is ad the other half as a instance of the one you model. That way you see the shape come along better.


Crin, do you mind me giving some points?

well, here they are:

@@ The space between the eyes should be the width of an eye itself.
(i think it's about right but i'm posting it anyway for people who didn't know)
@@ The angle from the outer corner of the eye to the side-bottom of the nose
should be an avarage 45 degrees. (You can check this on various pictures)
This way the face will look a little more round.
@@ The head becomes wider to the back. Reason it doesn't look that way is that
there is deformation by the perspective. So if you model and look too much at
the was we see stuff, there could be more deformation once you view your
object in perspectve once more. (So bottomline: model a lot while in perspective)
@@ The end of the jawbone near the ear should be lower. (also depends on what
kind of face you model) and should be wider. It should be almost as wide as the
parts above. This should make the face look less like an egg!
@@ i believe the upper lip has a bit too much of a V-shape. (when you look at it
from bottom or top)


just a little something :thumbsup:

[Crin]

Thanks for the tips Nothingness. I'm already modelling in two halfs (or were you saying that to the soracle?)

I'll take a look at the lips, I'm actually basing this on reference photography of myself. I tried this once before but I was new to character modelling so now I'm trying it again as part of this challenge, kinda killing two birds with one stone.

[Crin]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/15/11836/11836_1160998362_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/15/11836/11836_1160998362_large.jpg)

Just an update on the head. done a bit of tweaking on the face and he now has ears and a neck too!

[johnnymaster]

Hey Crin,

looking good so far. Maybe i can support with a weird looking overpaint, in fact, it's more a "overline". I'm really not sure if this lines will help you. I sketched some shapes and helplines over your head where i think there are characteristic details everybody of us has, more or less. At this moment your head already looks fine, but it's a bit empty, due the lack of this details. And try to let the wrinkle above the eye overlap the skin a little more, i hope you understand.

http://www.intistudio.net/crin-overpaint.jpg

please don't be mad at me if this lines are no use to you:sad:

[soapy]

Nice work on the model Crin. Johnny has some pretty good ideas there, worth looking into. Another thing to think about is that after you fix the symmetry you can pull a few polys around so the face isn't exactly symmetrical, it adds a lot of character. The clock is ticking, work fast!

[TheSoracle]

Agreed, very nice modelling. Looks really good, but this time I won't mention the crease :p. Just wondering, what program are you using?

Anyways, I'm pretty sure it is nothing to worry about now, but the eyes looks kind of bland. Due to this, I am assuming they are simply filler to make the face look complete.

ANYWAY, keep up the awesome work :thumbsup:

[mv]

Hi Michael,
I made rather extensive crits in flaeticia's thread (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=412751&page=8&pp=15) on pages 8 and 10, I think a lot of them could be useful for your current face model :) maybe if you give a look there you'll have some ideas for pushing your model forward.

Keep it up!

[Crin]

johnnymaster : Thanks for spending some time on that to help me. As it happens I was planning on adding wrinkles and what not using displace maps, is this a bad idea? I agree about the eyes though for definate they need mroe overhang. I'll add it in the next session.

soapy : Becoming a regular on my thread I see? Can't say I blame you... I am afterall very awesome, yes. ;) The assymmetry thing kinda ties in to what I just said to Johnny, I was gonna dd this with displace maps. At the moent I'm still basing the model on myself, then once i've got the basic shape I can start moving bits about to make a more unique character. Or at least... that's the plan.*listens to clock ticking*

TheSoracle : Thanks for the kind words. I'm using 3DS Max 8 and yes the eyes are not final, there just filler for now.

mv : Thanks, I noticed your post in Laeticia's thread the other day actully but i've not got round to reading it yet. I will though! Thanks for the help :D

[johnnymaster]

it's not a bad idea, but if you want a realistic look, i would recommend to use displacement, some small details can't be modeled to a medium poly mesh. At all, displacement and normal maps will improve everything a lot ;)

[Crin]

Yeah that's what I figured! Thanks! I will be doing the eyes detail in the mesh and a few of the bigger creases but other than that it'll be done with maps. (He says confidently)

[Crin]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/15/11836/11836_1161794525_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/15/11836/11836_1161794525_large.jpg)

Ok so I've modelled a body now and the glasses to. I know the body isn't very good but I only plan to use it as somethig on which to model the clothing anyways.

I want to start texturing the head but I'm a bit of a loss as to where to start, i've never textured a human face before, the hair will be short and shaved like my own, I think for this I will use the fur plugin but I don't know if that will be compatible with Maxwell which is the package I plan to use for rendering.

Anyone got any handy hints?

Also does anyone have a good tutorial for detailing a face in Z-Brush? :scream:

[soapy]

Good work Crin, I like teh look of this character a lot. Very fitting and the glasses look great. You may want to do a little more work on the hands since they will show, but otherwise the body will do fine for setting up the next steps. Cheers. Oh btw, which program are you using?

[Crin]

Hi Soaps, I use 3DS MAX 8. The hands aren't too bad, the detail is about the same as the face. I'd like to detail them in Z-Brush but i'm not too sure where to start. Also clothing might be an issue, I'm still not sure how realistic i'm trying to be with this character, it is based on myself so i have no shortage of reference images, I just don't know if my skills will stretch to uber realistic.

[chrismoose]

Hi Crin.

forgive me if i missed it, but are you dropping the 'guy sitting at the window scene'?

or are you going to incorprete the 3d model into that scene?

im enjoying watching..:)

regards,

chris.

[Crin]

Hi Chris,

Yeah I'm still going with the same concept, I've not had much time free recently so there's been no progress but I plan to update sometime soon, I want to get stuck into some of the architecture.

Thanks for your intrest! :)

[chrismoose]

and this is for the 3d model section of the comp'?

or is it all parts of the illustration section of the competition?
im just wondering how you would rotate/animate the guy sitting inside a room with a city view outside!!:)
regards,
chris.

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