Creature: Fell Beast (LW+ZB)

[IDownupI]

2 word

:scream: :surprised

3 word

O M G

4 word

this is cool man

[chudofsinister]

I like the feel of the feet, the weight. They look really solid. Not to crazy about the 'suede' shimmery chest part. Just some things I would do, increase the wing size, tone down the shimmer, add more of a bone structure in the head, it doesn't look like its based on a skull. Take it for what its worth, grain of salt. I really like the pose, nice work.

[Akuma-Fes]

Absolutely Sweet!!! :buttrock:

[blasphemy3_d]

I really can´t wait to use the new Zbrush....

Amazing work.

[WillJohn]

can someone explain what zbrush does? it allows u to (paint) details onto a physical mesh?

[ninjacore]

i like this quite a bit. am i'm not afraid to show it.

:buttrock:

anything with Ye-Dragon-like-Beasties is a good thing!

are you going to bone him?

[ngrava]

Hey Glen,

Very nice indeed. I just want to make sure I understand this.... You made a lowrez model in LightWave then imported that into Z-brush and painted... Extra geometry? A displacement map? A normal map?... What am I looking at here?

Sorry. it's beautiful work. I especially love the design of the Dragon. I'm just a little confused about what that software does.

Thanks,

-=GB=-

[Hookflash]

Originally posted by WillJohn
can someone explain what zbrush does? it allows u to (paint) details onto a physical mesh?

And much, much more. Check it out at www.pixologic.com and www.zbrushcentral.com. For one thing, it lets you sculpt and paint very dense meshes in realtime. It's quite a unique app.

[Ultragames]

reminds me of the beast the Nazgul fly on in LOTR TTT

[erilaz]

Awwwww..... lookit the cute widdle dragon!:D

This is awesome. Love it. On the head shot you've got there, there's a prominent line running from the jaw down the side of the neck. Is this intentional? It looks a bit like a texture seam, that's all.

Seriously, this thing is amazing. Put that sucker in an environment, and you'd be a dead set for Exposé 2!

[roguenroll]

man thats insane, love that detail.:)

[southern]

Ultra: :) Fell Beast is the flying stead of the Nazgul. ;)

G

Gotta hit the ZZZZZZZZZZZ as my eyes are like glass, and I don't mean ZBrush.....

[dimitrios_c]

Wow, Z-Brush looks like a really good tool when in the right hands. A nice way to finish off an illustration perhaps...5/5 for me! :beer:

[pigwater]

great model
great example
great presentation
great stuff:buttrock:

[Levitateme]

really neat. great detail in his legs, i like that.

[Larsen]

WOW !
I'm more and more impressed by Zbrush, that's fantatstic.
Great modeling too.

Do you plan to animate him ?



:buttrock:

[Ultragames]

forgot the 'fell' part. But yeah.

[fattdex]

looks great mate, you should make a Monster Base and some grass, and mount him on that and make a white dwarf studio photography style render :-) I did that with a carnifex model i made years ago, looks cool :-)

[dudeguy]

Originally posted by chudofsinister
I like the feel of the feet, the weight. They look really solid. Agreed.

Not to crazy about the 'suede' shimmery chest part. Just some things I would do, increase the wing size, tone down the shimmer, add more of a bone structure in the head, it doesn't look like its based on a skull. Take it for what its worth, grain of salt. I really like the pose, nice work. For some reason that's actually what I like most about it, the suede like skin, really nice texturing on this piece.

One thing that I think could use some work is the eyes, (keep in mind I don't much about this Fell Beast fantasy stuff, if they are supposed to be the undead or whatever), but try giving them a bit of sparkle/spec/properties to really bring this character to life, it seems to be missing something?

Really nice work though. :thumbsup:

Cheers

[davidSingha]

Wow, very nice!

cheers:beer:

[Ian0303]

so cool!!!:thumbsup:
I like it:drool: :drool: :drool:

[JFFORTIN]

great model Southern amazing work..................
Did u do it in 1.55 or the beta one give us some nice tip about it if its beta:)

[onlooker]

Originally posted by ngrava
Hey Glen,

Very nice indeed. I just want to make sure I understand this.... You made a lowrez model in LightWave then imported that into Z-brush and painted... Extra geometry? A displacement map? A normal map?... What am I looking at here?

Sorry. it's beautiful work. I especially love the design of the Dragon. I'm just a little confused about what that software does.

Thanks,

-=GB=-



That makes two of us. I'll be buying this application soon, and I'd also like to know what the process was for this particular fantastic piece of work.
:bowdown:
It is utterly outstanding. I have no crits. I only beg a brief rundown on the process.


[EDIT][ I'm sorry I was so enammered by the model I totally missed what you wrote. I have a pretty good idea as to what you did, but can you elaborate a little more on the process. Thanx

[Remi]

Did you find it easier to add details in Z? I'm just curious as to why you did it....was it for expermentation...also...it is a good model....what kind of dragon is it. There are quite a few out there....and I don't think i've seen one without front legs....perhaps I missed one....it maybe just a image from your head which would be just fine....Just wandering if you went from anything....great work...like the texturing although I personally would like to see some sort of scaling on the back side of the dragon...still very good...nice work:)

[Xilica]

:beer: :beer: :beer:

[enthombed]

man god job, eheheh :beer:

Icaro

[alx]

3 words...

i like it!!

hehe
thumbs up man... inspiring..
:D

sincerely
alx
:wavey:

[Zombie]

Looks great!

Man... I'd really like to animate that.

Z

[PureFire]

very very kewl....as mentioned just add him to an environment and youve got expose material . :D

[Zombie]

Looks great!

Man... I'd really like to animate that.

Z

[impending]

Hey Glen,

You've created a lot of work I've commented on in the past. One thing I don't think I've mentioned is how often I'm simply attracted to your presentation style!

All Around Bravo !

jd

[jerr3d]

Awesome creature! Awesome! The texture really finishes a fantastic model!

[Ed Lee]

Cool....

What version of Zbrush are you using?......

Ed--

[rv-el]

honestly i dont understand its anatomy.

otherwise its good.

[Mahlikus]

Like I said at ZBC Glen..WIcked:buttrock: :buttrock: :buttrock:

:bowdown:

[JCGS]

I love it!!!!!!! :love:
Fantastic!!

[Pegasus]

This is amaizing.
Keep up the good work.....

Cant wait to see more :buttrock:

[rayz]

Wow...... amazing design really like the details :beer:----- is it a dragon or somthing else?

again great job :thumbsup:

[Jungle_Tintin]

Very nice model and texturing:applause:
This is amazing :buttrock:

:beer:

[zandernice]

Ok, ok, It looks shimmery because it ws rendered with z brush right?

The reall question is can you export it out and rig it up in an animation package sinse zbrush doesn't do animation(is that right?) Also, If you do export it out, what is the Poly count?

I think it looks beautiful. I am only asking this because I have used Zbrush one before, and I have yet to find a way to get it into the animation pipeline. Or is it only really good for still images?

[mimosa]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
SO Great!!~~~

[cgjie]

Cool!

[ambient-whisper]

Originally posted by zandernice
Ok, ok, It looks shimmery because it ws rendered with z brush right?

The reall question is can you export it out and rig it up in an animation package sinse zbrush doesn't do animation(is that right?) Also, If you do export it out, what is the Poly count?

I think it looks beautiful. I am only asking this because I have used Zbrush one before, and I have yet to find a way to get it into the animation pipeline. Or is it only really good for still images?

thats why youll be able to get normal/displacement maps from the high poly model to the low poly model.

so back in your own application you apply these maps and animate the low resolution model.. while when rendered it will look like the high poly model that you had back in zbrush.

[kiaran]

Oh man, this painted on displacement map stuff is going to change everything.
Please, let me get this clear once and for all...

1. You model the low-res version in your favorite 3d app (Maya,Max, LW etc).

2. Import low-res into Zbrush.

3. Paint details on smoothed high-res.

4. Subtract smoothed high-res from unsmoothed low-res to generate a displacement or normal map. (BTW can anyone explain the difference between disp & normal?)

5. Apply map to low-res in 3d app and render out insane detail, while retaining fast feedback for animation.

6. You then precede to thank god for Zbrush... right?

So, is this how it works? Does anyone have an animated example of a zbrush generated displacement map on an animated charater? This is very exciting, I would be very greatfull if someone could show their results (preferably in Maya).

PS: Great job on the dragon, very Nazul-esque:drool:

[Kel Solaar]

Great job :)

[squintik]

Yeah, very nice !!! :applause:
Great modeling, a little flying animation would be cool :D

[CrazyDamo]

Heya,
Firstly, Excellent job!
I have a question that relates to the animation side of using Normal mapping/ray displace. If the base model is only low poly then I'm assuming that using muscle deformers are kind of useless as they will only be effecting the base level geometry? Unless of course your base level geometry is moderately high, or high enough to make use of muscles.

If this is the case I'm interested to see how a model like this animates and what happens to the surface/skin as it deforms. If anyone has any examples, that would be great.

[Smokey]

brilliant , absolutely brilliant :):buttrock:

[buzzlightyr]

very cool was thinking of modeling hat myself

[Stevie-rae]

t

[daviddrbal]

:eek:

ouch, it's really amazing. Nice presentation. Great model, does he really know fly??

[Mahlikus]

To answer some questions:

NO! its not shiny because its a ZBrush Render (here we go again)..lol.

Info on normal maps can be found here. (http://members.shaw.ca/jimht03/normal.html)

A test animation of a hi-res DMap on a low res model can be found here (http://www.pixolator.com/zbc-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=011231)(wait for the movie to load).

Notice the bulging and what have you...that should answer you question.
Enjoy:beer:

[fred_bock]

exelent work !! it realy amazed me !!
:beer: :buttrock: :beer:

Hey mahlikus keep the links on ...
the one about normal maps it's very well written !! i'll try the tutorial later.

and link us to more explained stuff about this software... zbrush

wonder about his potential ??:surprised

[Solomon]

So where is Glen to answer some of our questions?

[MaTaDoR]

nice, reminds me of that creature at the end of the rotk trailer.. wouldnt wanna seee something like that coming at me!

[Primitive]

Originally posted by Ultragames
reminds me of the beast the Nazgul fly on in LOTR TTT

I was thinking exactly the same thing.

Make it black and you have a Nazgul :thumbsup:

[southern]

So sorry for the delay in this reply and thanks for the kind words about this little beastie. I'll answer the questions that I can and post when when able.

First off, he has taken so far about 6 hours. 3ish for the poly work in LW from scratch. The whole model was new so I didn't reuse wings from earlier works. The ZBrush work took about the same and involved lots of dividing, alpha masking parts like the head and further dividing. Then a good while enjoying the fun of texturing him and getting good settings for the materials. I used texture master for the bulk of the texturing and then used a few alpha brushes on the image once committed to canvas.

I am working on editing the mesh a great deal more now putting veins, scales, nipples (go on someone...serpents don't have nipples as they don't suckle lol), warts, creases etc.

Chud: The lighting was a basic 3 light ZB stetup I use. I agree that the shiny side looks odd and the offending light will be changed. The wings are refenced from a model not the Fell beast from LOTR the movie. That bugger has MASSIVE wings lol

WillJohn: What does ZB do??? Well. too big a question for here but for this project it let me take a low poly mesh from LW and increase the mesh res a lot. Then edit the mesh in very fine detail live in 3D and then do anumber of things with it described elsewhere in this thread.

Ninjacore: I will bone the low poly for use later. I will use a rig I did for a TRUE dragon sometime ago and remove the front legs.

Ngrave: Mostly yes to your post ;)

Hookflash:And much, much more. Check it out at www.pixologic.com and www.zbrushcentral.com. For one thing, it lets you sculpt and paint very dense meshes in realtime. It's quite a unique app.
Well Said.

Ultagames: It is a Fell Beast that carries a Ring Wraith or Nazgul. It is referenced from a model designed by Michael and Alan Perry and is made by citadel miniatures. I used one picture so its not totally accurate to the real model. I don't refer to it as a Dragon as it only has 2 legs and is more akin to a Wyvern (as I understand it from my AD&D days but I'm not an expert)

Cipher: I will rig him but I am coming to realise that I am justnot an animator. I'll let someone else do it though.

Dudeguy: I agree. The eye needs work. Can't say that I really focused on it but as ZB is Very cool at textured eyeballs I will soon.

Remi: I find it incredible easy to add detail to meshes in ZBrush. There are tonnes of tools in the current version (1.55b) that do that right now and as you can upgrade when it arrives I can only say go get it. I find it intuative in most areas and unlike some people I find the interface a real pleasure to use. I add quick buttons helpfull scripts to my Default ZScript which keeps it personal to me and my work flow.

Impending: no one ever said that so thanks.

Ed: :)

Zander: The LW one was 7K polys. I increaded the mesh res a lot. On the way up I saved out a couple of levels and got one of them successfully back into LW. I didn't give the low poly any uvs but I'll be getting a normal map made back in LW. Either way I love what ZBrush out puts as still.

Crazy: not sure about muscle deformers I'm afaid.

Mahlikus: Good links to help explain things.

Solom: Sorry bud but I was off earning money to feed the starving family :)

Mat: it is sort of.

Sorry for leaving it so long to reply but there you go. Hes moved on alot more now and I'll post more later.

Glen

[ZVAN]

WoW thiS is GreaT!!!!!!!! superb work!!!!:applause:

[Trurl]

Congratulations! This is Excellent work!
:applause:

[Ohmi]

Wow awesome job! :eek: I've always loved dragons!

[southern]

Here's a quick VISUAL example of what some people have been describing in these types of ZB/other modeler threads. I'll do another one after this showing Texturemaster texturing in ZBrush that is then applied to the Beast in Lightwave.

http://www.southerngfx.co.uk/uploads/2dimg129.jpg


Note: This Normal map was from LW not ZB! and it's a quick one to show the process, I did NO WORK on the UV map and I never use ATLAS Mapping!! just saves the posts coming in telling me how poor the UV map/normal map was ;)

G

[MadHamish]

Awesome work southern! Thanks for sharing with us.

[Jadzia Dax]

Definitely a fell beast, and it looks great too, like are they going to use this guy in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King?

[cgmonster]

:drool: Allways whanted to make one too

Question: Why in Zbrush screen grab in some places mesh is breaking apart (fingers on legs and wings), but in final render it seems OK?

[Smokey]

cgmonster , I think that's just the wireframe becoming to dense to be drawn. it's there you just cant see it :p

[southern]

CG: Smokey is right. The Wires are only screen grabs. If I get the mesh large on the screen some parts hide for some reason.

Jad: I wish! I have nothing whatever to do with LOTR at all...if only!!! lol (there must be a few 1000 artists in here all saying 'and me...'). I'm sure there will be a Few Fell Beasties in the film though. A Morgul King needs a ride home at night!

G

[Flinch]

I've just a little question for you southern:

have you used only a normal-map to "fake" the details - cause as far i understood normal-mapping doesn't add any geometry - , or have you also used true displacement?

[southern]

Hi Flinch,

Only normal mapping on this one, no displacement at all. And as you quite rightly say, normal mapping doesn 't effect the geommetry of the mesh at all. It's still a 7000 poly model.

G

[tummy]

Really awsome looking beastie :)
I've read the other posts and I agree with one comment: the wings are a little small to support all that weight, Maybee make 'em a third longer and wider would make it look more believable.
Otherwise it looks really good, model and textures, can't wait to see it animated :thumbsup:

[agades]

Great modelling + cool feature = fantastic work!!!

[cupcake]

Very sweet.:applause:


Check out my thread.:)


http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=80669
:wavey:

[ufo]

very cool !
:thumbsup:
great model , I like the low polygon !

[rickycox]

Man that is fully sick! Great Work

[BradMick]

hmm....just to clarify.

you did export your high res sculpted zbrush mesh and brought it into LW, and since it was the same size you (according to the pic) atlas mapped the low and high res models and then generated the normal map so that they fit together? i'm really really interested in learning this, me and a friend of mine are looking at doing a game, and i'm personally very interested in the power normal mapping gives to an artist.

Brad Mick

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