Enchanted Forest - Environment/Characters - AJ_23

[Equinoxx]

hehe very nice AJ . . .

good to see you're doin yur stuff again . . .

lot's o character in this one . . .

[btw, this is ghost from 3rd D]

[AJ]

Hey - like I could forget my favourite beaked alien of all time! :D

Thankyou Qui :bounce:

[mushroomgod]

lol, he looks so cute.

cant see anything wrong with the little guy, look forward to seeing more!

[ZrO-1]

That little dude is SO friggin AWESOME!

:love: I love Tuglets(c) :love:

Seriously your character has more "character" right now than all of my other works combined. Awesome awesome awesome.

[pen_pen]

Hey i really like your character, especially the eyes.
could you post a wireframe per chance ?
:bounce:




ten4

[leigh]

WOW!! :eek:
AJ - that little guy is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUUUUUUUUUUUTE!!!!!!! :thumbsup:
Don't really have any crits, cos I think he's quite perfect.
LOL @ your comments about "Piksar" HAHAHAHAHAHA!! :scream:

[AJ]

Thanks guys!

Always nice to get some cool feedback :bounce:

pen_pen, I'll put up a wireframe for you later this evening, and hopefully some more to the character...

Once again, thanks!

:love:

[MikaelPersson]

He looks quite a lot like the characters we are working on right now. Here at work (not CGtalk related).

(were working on, more likely)

[NANONEEN]

:bounce: good work, I appreciate your design:bounce:

[leigh]

Actually, now that I look at it closely, I do have a crit :p - you need to bring up the gloss amount on the eyeball to make it appear wet. At the moment they look too dry.
Looking forward to seeing some updates..... :bounce:

[Koma]

nice character ,he is so cute ,i want a domestic animal like that at home .............he he...:thumbsup: .......:bounce: .......:beer:

[JohnR]

WOW!!!
That character is so cute, I will how you modelled it and how textured it, keep working on that little monseter, hehe :eek: :eek: :eek:

[JohnR]

WOW sorry I wrote that comment very BAD, hahaha, so..... this is my opinion-----> I like that animal, is so cute, i like how you textured it, and how you modelled it, keep working on it.....:rolleyes: :eek: :rolleyes:

[AJ]

Thanks again guys!

Given me the incentive to crack on with this fella right now! :D

Leigh : Yep, you're 100% right on the eyes. It was the first thing my boss said when I showed it to him too. Will fix.

I'll be back with an update in a couple of hours (and some wireframes to boot).

Once again, Thankyou for the feedback!

:bounce:

[AJ]

Okay, done a little bit more to him. Trying to flesh out the proportions of his body/belly. He's quite naked at the moment and of course missing lots of limbs (wonder if I could get away with him being in a 'forresting accident'?) - but here he is at the moment.

I've also experimented with a little waistcoat for the guy (Who I'm thinking of calling Notch), but it's pretty basic and ideally would be over a shirt of some kind - not his bare skin (Wood = splinters).

Anyway - any tips comments...etc please throw em at me! :D

[AJ]

And Here's one to keep him warm...

Still not sure about it though.

[mushroomgod]

lol, thats looking realy nice, realy like the waistcoat ( surface tools maybe?? :wip: )

anyway keep up the good work :thumbsup:

[AJ]

Thanks Mushroomgod!

The waistcoat was in fact made from a box - but I can see why you'd think it was surface tools! In fact, I really should've done it out of splines... DOH! Oh well - never mind :D

I'm still not keen on it myself - but mebbe with some tweaking/stitching etc. it could look more fitting..

[ZrO-1]

hahaha he's so great. You know what he reminds me of are those little people (I think they were called Podlings) from The Dark Crystal...(still one of the best fantasy movies ever BTW).

[visualboo]

I love that movie :)

btw, go check out Lots Of Robots (http://www.lotsofrobots.com) and tell me what the first sound is that you hear when it starts? :)

Mua ha ha huaaa

[deomacius]

Good looking model, for starters. He kind of reminds me of the Master Tonberry in the Final Fantasy games. I'd be interested in seeing a step by step of the techniques you use to put him together.

deomacius.

[psumo]

his head looks like a turtle
it surprised me when you put
a human body on that guy

[MikaelPersson]

He´s turning out better than the stuff we are playing with.
I liked the belly twist on the guy. To make him even cuter you could put a cord under his chin to keep the hat tied to his head.

[AJ]

He seems to be reminding a lot of people of a lot of other things!

I can see why, he has a fairly generic 'twee'-ness to him and I'm sure that I've (inadvertantly) nabbed parts of his design from things I've seen elsewhere.

ZrO-1 : Dark Crystal is a fantastic film, I can't remember the podlings - but then it's been a fair few years since I've seen it! I had it on a tape with Big Trouble In Little China, that tape was pure gold... :D

deomacius : I could put up something at the end of the challenge, it won't be a problem. But it's pretty straightforward Sub-D stuff.

Psumo : I know exactly what you mean about the head!! The weird thing is that about a year ago I was trying to model a tortoise and I couldn't get the head right... when I'm not trying - it ends up looking how I wanted it to! Doh. Do you think that the body/head look odd together?

Mikael P : Thanks! Out of curiousity, may I ask what you are working on? The cord idea's a winner - consider it done! :D

Thanks guys! :D

[MikaelPersson]

It was a project for an amusment park in Lillehammer (Norway). Huge projection, with 3D glasses. But the project has turned into an episode from Dallas (intrigues, intrigues) so I don´t think we´ll continue with it. I dont think I should talk that much about it here in the open ;)

[leigh]

Hey AJ, he's is looking even cuuuuuter!!! That waistcoat is cool :thumbsup:
Hey, ummmm the eyes still don't look right (I'm not sure if you've changed them yet though). The hotspot should have no feathering - the gloss amount should be almost the same as the spec amount. Also, you should add some reflection to it too - then they will be great! Anyway, they should look like this:

[hypercube]

Well everyone's already mentioned like, everything..little guy is looking great! Maybe you could give him a little shell on his back? or a round pack, kind of play up the turtle-like nature? Just a thought. Really like the style of it. Look forward to seeing the rest! :thumbsup:

[Equinoxx]

hehe i really like that little twig in his breast pocket . . .

it IS a little twig innit :surprised

[halo]

looking nice...:bounce:

[psumo]

How about a Pixar eye?

[Tellerve]

visualboo-

haha, yeah that does sound like those creatures from Dark Cystal. Also reminds me of a didgeredoo from Australia.

Btw, the little guy is looking great, only thing I'd like to mention is maybe some variance on his lip color. Maybe just a bit coming through from the mouth to peak through between his lips. And maybe a bit more texture there, wrinkles or such like human lips. Granted he isn't human, but that's my suggestion =).

Oh, and I too like the little twig in his shirt.

Tellerve

[AJ]

Thank for all the feed back guys, since I'll be spending most of this weekend in gutters - I'd thought I'd put reply now (while I can see) ;)

Leigh : For the finished version, I'll use reflections to get more interesting "specular", so no worries there (I hope!) - he has a bit of falloff/raytracing on it at the moment, but it's not really got a lot to reflect (yet) - so I'll play and tweak!

hypercube : He's gonna have a little back pack, but I do like the idea of giving him a shell!

Psumo : Okay! :)

Tellverve : I'll play with the textures a lot more when the modelling's done, I'm trying to keep him pretty simple at the moment - but lip variation is a good point!

Thankyou all, some really great advice :applause: :bounce:

Hope everyone has a good weekend, I'm off to the pub for a couple of days!

:cool:

[AJ]

Just a couple of little things I've been tinkering with... I've spent a lot of time getting the hands right, but they're not (yet). So I decided for a spot of 3D therapy (i.e: Modelling all the stuff that you should really leave till last - but are more fun).

Gonna be tricky balancing my time - It's my Birthday on Thursday and I'll be celebrating it well into Tuesday next week (hooray!), so what I get done in the next couple of days will be what I get done for a while (boo). So we shall see.

Anyway, this months Tuglet is sporting a rudementary T-Shirt and a fetching 'wood' motif pendant.

I promise I'll have things of more worth for the guy (legs, arms, hands...)tomorrow.

But anyway...

[stereo]

i d love to have one like this at home !!!

lovely tiny sweety creature , so nice texture!
very very nice
i love this, is this splines ?

now i m stuck tu your updates ....:thumbsup:

[Sangotten]

Sweet character man!!!

I'm looking forward to see it in his enviorment...!!!

:thumbsup:

[Teyon]

He's cool. Kinda had something similar in mind. Keep up the great work!

[Scott Harris]

hey you know i really like this little guy alot...it looks great. The modeling is very good. Do you plan to add more detail to the surface of his skin? Some tricks to give a little more life to him? :thumbsup:

[ZrO-1]

Happy B-day AJ!!! :applause: :beer: I hope you have a good party.
I like your shirt/pendant very nice. No crits, it looks great!

[visualboo]

I'm diggin that necklace AJ :)

[Mike Pauza]

Wow...that dudes lookin great now.

[L0rd]

he's gorgeous, I'd quite like to have one of my own please if that were possible. Can he make coffee? Nothing else to say at this point except I'm glad I accidentally clicked on your challenge!

[AJ]

Well - not much of a thing to post, but I've been flitting in and out of modelling this fella. Finally got around to attaching his hands so he can wave/juggle/scratch those hard to reach places... And that's about it for this update (sorry) - I've modelled him up a napsack, but it's a bit poor at the moment. Also started making his trousers, but not enough to really post yet...

(Oh - and thankyou for my birthday well-wishes Zr0-1 :D - I had a great time and can barely remeber a thing! Perfect... ;) )

So - just to let you know that I'm still doing things, here he is... erm... with hands!

[mushroomgod]

hehe, looking very cool:bounce:

could we see another render of the hands from another view??
just so we can see some fingers??


check your pm as well:p

[AJ]

*mumbles....fingers....mumumbles....git....*

:p

Here's a 'close up', there not amazingly special, a bit lumpen to be honest, and of course don't have the right texture map on them yet (nails/palm/pads...etc).

But for those who want to know!

[AJ]

And along with the fingers - here's a wireframe of him so far, since I completely forgot that I promised to post one (whoops!)

[mushroomgod]

hands look top, it maybe worth making them a bit thiner or longer, at the moment thay look a bit to thick and short.


oh and check your pm again!!:rolleyes:

[dodo3d]

:thumbsup:
I think the hands fit the the character's body ,I like it that way
keep going

[halo]

heheh....those hands work real well...

the ends/x section looks perhaps a little to "cubic", but its only by a shade...i wouldnt wanna see anything change to the detriment to the way they match the character, cos i think u got that bang on....

now just the feet now eh...;):bounce:

[PedramK]

i really like this character. It looks so cool, and his hands being chubby fits his character very well. With A soft bump and the final materials, i am sure he will be..something special! :)

[ZrO-1]

Bravo! Fantastic job AJ!
The hands look great. And that wire frame WOW. You are like the master of edgeloops my man. :applause: :applause:

[AJ]

Thanks for the feedback guys...

Mush : I was going for a 'stubby' look for the hands, he's only a little fella and he likes his pie - so he's not the best candidate for playing bass guitar! But I know what you mean - they will be a bit of a bugger to deform!

Halo : Yep - I can see what you mean about the 'cubic' fingers.. I'll have a play with them.

Everyone else, thankyou for your kind comments!

Now lets get the fella some pants...

[leigh]

Hey AJ - he is coming along soooo nicely!! :applause:
You know what? He really looks like he's walked straight out of the Gummi Bear forest!! Hehehehe :p
He's looking excellent :thumbsup: Keep up the great work!

[AJ]

... bouncing here and there and everywhere....

High Adventure that's beyond compare...

They are the Gummi Bears,

They are the Gummi Bears!

Sorry - have been drinking. :beer:



Some legs and shoes tomorrow, I promise!

[hypercube]

... courageous and caring,

faithful and friendly, with stories to share..

All through the forest, they sing out in chorus,

marching along, as their song fills the aaaaiiiirrrrr...


argh. I had almost gotten that out of my head from the first time, when she mentioned my tree looked like gummi bears should come out of it :p

Gummis or not, the little dude is looking awesome. I think the chubby fingers fit him fine.

And yes, he needs some pants, and legs, unless he's just gonna bounce through the gummi bear forest with no pants..and we all do that from time to time, right? :beer:

[halo]

flipflops?

[AJ]

Once again, I fear I must utter the words "not much, but..." since all I've really got to show are some slacks to hide this lads shame. But since we live in a decent society I feel its only fitting that you see them so as not to fear that he may walk "Loins Free" about his merry forrest.

They only have flat colour on them at the moment... I'll seriously have to run up some nicer textures for the final image (things-to-do list, the size of a small mediterranian car).

I've been working on other bits and bobs simultaneously, mainly his shoes/boots - tried a couple of variations (which I shall ask for guidance on style later this week). And been trying to flesh out ideas for his environment - my original intention now seems incredibly lame, so I'll try to think up something better (you really don't want to know what it was) - but sadly I think there's no escaping dangerous levels of Twee on this one.

Oh well, here his is with pants, in all his Uber-Twee glory.

[ZrO-1]

I really like how you left his belly hanging out. :love:

What the heck is "twee"???

[pearson]

Hee hee, he is soooo cute! :D That expression is perfect; looks mildly concerned about something, but can't remember what it is!

Is he going to be wearing berkenstocks?:D

[AJ]

Shoes shoes shoes... they go on your feet.

Except this fella, who doesn't actually have any feet (so to speak), so they'll just sit at the end of his legs... pretending. :surprised

Obviously not much - but just playing around with styles/scale of boot/shoe/slipper/clogs for him to see which one I like.

These are the 'pair' that I think fit his character, but they might be a little too clumpy... obviousy I'll add more detail/texture to the finished article - but I've been toying with some clog type shoes (yes... worryingly like Birkenstocks pearson! Well, he does hug the occasional tree...), although I think large comedy boots fit his tubby proportions a bit better.

But please tell me what you think, or if you any ideas for fancy-forrest-footwear... (Tuglet Timberlands (c) :p )

Zr0-1 : Twee is basically something that's quaint, small, syrupy, overly cute... hard to explain - if you pottered a small clay house, hand painted it, put little flowers all over it, and small creatures frolicking around it - and put it on your mantlepiece, it would be Twee (in my book... although in my book I'd have to come round your house and smash it to pieces in an attempt to save you). And as for the belly... well, he's fond of his pies he is :D

So, here's those boots boots, kinky boots.

[AJ]

There comes a time when modelling something that you go "Hey, I wonder what it'll look like with no textures, a flat colour and rendered in glorious GI..."

Then you set it up and hit the button!

Pretty pointless since I won't be using GI for the final setup - but it kept my and my processor entertained for about 15 minutes so I thought I'd share it with you ;) :p :D

[stereo]

arghhhh i loVe this !!!!!!!



the way u go seems really NICE !!!:thumbsup: :love:





i m stuck to your futur updates.

[hypercube]

Rad! He's looking awesome. Love the pants and proportions. I did kinda figure him for a birkenstock dude tho :D

since I seem to be in 80's adjectives..rock on. :buttrock:

[mushroomgod]

wow!!, hes looking cuter and cuter with each update

keep up the good work!:bounce:

[AJ]

Okay, not really an update - just a couple of renders with minor (minor) tweaks - made the sole of the shoe slightly thicker.

Anyway - here's those images...

[AJ]

BUT - I've also been arsing around with the guy... mainly because I was bored out of my tree trying to think stuff up for his environment - so I did these couple of 'changes' to amuse myself for the last hour or so (*note to self - get a TV in here*).

So, if your follow the links you'll be treated to a couple of Exculsive/Special/Limited Edition renders. Note - these are going to have no relevance to the final image/feel

Each one has kind of an emotion attached to it, so hopefully the link will display the correct 'mood'...

:D

Number 1. Where's My Environment ? (http://ajj.netfirms.com/Cgtalk3/Tuglet_Bored.jpg) :annoyed:

...

Number 2. Helloooo Ladieees.... (http://ajj.netfirms.com/Cgtalk3/Tuglet_Hello_Ladies.jpg) :D

...

Number 3. Banana Dribbling Sock Whisks (http://ajj.netfirms.com/Cgtalk3/Tuglet_Stupid.jpg) :surprised

Enjoy!

:)

[MonkeyBoy]

Dude, this looks great. My $0.02: as your expressions are working so well, combine the super cute look with a non-cute emotion (distain, cynicism, rage, world-weary-ness...?) Like he can't sleep at night because there's some blasted pixies singing outside his window. Or something. Anyway, make use of those emotions in some way, they look great.

[chadlychoo]

hummm my favorite would have to be number 2! :) Great character man, he’s very cute. The belly is funny. :P As for environment suggestions I'd have to say he'd be good in something very colorful and with lots o' flowers. The trees could be short but thick/fat/really round and have large roots. Perhaps he could be sitting near a tree talking to a small creature, like a squirrel maybe.

[AJ]

This is what I want! Ideas!!

Both very good... I'm still a little stumped for what the final image could be, but I really like your ideas... Consider them stolen! :twisted:

Thanks for the feedback guys - great stuff! :D :bounce:

[Bezerker75]

Very cool character....I think he would look great with some spots or freckles, and also maybe add som texture to his clothes, like a burlap or knit with a bump...keep up the great work, can't wait to see him in an environment

[mushroomgod]

lol, i think your onto a winner with the Helloooo Ladieees images,

:bounce: :bounce: :thumbsup:

[Equinoxx]

hey hey, lookey here . . . i forget about this thread for a while and find this REALLY cool char when i return, excellent AJ . . .

but ehm . . . where's the forest :surprised

[AJ]

but ehm . . . where's the forest

I'm working on it!

Expect to see trees this week! :wip:

In the mean time, here's a Pod - the chic/hip/trendy living quarters of the up-and-coming Tuglet... Well, they live in them anyway.

(Still need to work on the design for this a tad more - but hopefully it's final use will make sense...hopefully) :shrug:

[Kaos]

:bounce: :thumbsup: :bounce:

i LOVE this, now this one i will watch keenly to see how it turns out.......

for some reason it shouts "Bill Flemming" at me, love the style and softness to everything..........

[ZrO-1]

hahaha AJ man, you never cease to amaze me. That is a great little pod. It's so simple but the little touches you gave it like the stitches and the awning over the window really make it seem just perfect. Great start on it.

I love seeing your work, this stuff is great, but I'm almost scared to see this piece come together 'cause it's pro'lly going to make me want to hit the 'Delete' key on all of my stuff :p

[AJ]

ZrO-1 : Thankyou! You are far too kind, and if you go near that delete key I'll simply have to cut off the offending finger!

Kaos : Firstly, superb avatar :D . Secondly, thankyou for you comments, hopefully it'll turn out okay! Although I really appreciate your reference to Mr Flemming's work (and now you mention it you're right!) - I gotta point you to a little discussion we had about him here...

http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=54190#post54190

:D ;)

Once again, thanks guys!

I'd better stop post whoring now and get back to Max...

[Bezerker75]

Something I didn't notice before but got to mention now...love the twig in his pocket...what's it for? do the ladies dig Tuglets with twigs in there pockets or is he just happy to see us?:applause: anyway love his batchelor pad too...:thumbsup:

[pearson]

Hee hee! That little house is so cute! It totally fits him. :applause: I can't wait to see the rest of the environment!:bounce:

[AJ]

Okay, here's my first tinkerings with the scene setup. This is a major case of "should be doing stuff - but arsing around with what you enjoy", i.e : Should be modelling trees... but arsing around with the final setup before I've even modelled any. :surprised

Erm, anyway - here's a rough layout of the composition/shot I'm going for (mebbe), the biggest things to point out here are,

1. There's about 90% crap missing from this, as in trees, more pods and miscellaneous gubbins. :rolleyes:

2. The lighting is really rudementary. :rolleyes:

3. It's a bit arse. :hmm:

Just thought I'd post it to see what everyone thinks of the idea, plus it looks like I'm going to be nowhere near a computer this weekend (and if England beat Brazil - I'll be nowhere near my brain) so this'll be the only update for the next couple of days.

As I said, lighting is rudementary - I only went for a "night" shot because it was quicker and the dark hides many a sin, but I'll be texturing/lighting both a day and night scene so you can tell me which one you think is working (Idea stolen from Wiro - it's now mine I tell you!).

Oh and Bezerker75 - Everyone needs a twig... there is no better way to prod/poke things! :D

[ZrO-1]

Sure...everyone needs a twig. Everybody that's cool has a twig. It's the hot new summer fashion. I had one, but I poked this big guy and he broke it. So now I have three twigs. Here they are:

[pearson]

Very cool idea to have them hanging from branches!:thumbsup:

I think that it would be nice to see a little of the interior detail, though, instead of just solid light. Keep it blown out like it is, but if there was a hint of furniture or a rug near the door or something to give it a little more depth.

Also, how do the folks get in and out of their houses? Do they climb up the house support vine? The character doesn't look that agile...:shrug:

[AJ]

You're absolutely right Pearson... I need to model a little ladder or knotted rope but once again, the prospect of messing around with the render was far more interesting than actually modelling the stuff that I really should be modelling. I have the attention span of a...a...thingy... :surprised - Will make one!

You're spot on about the interior too - definitely needs some furniture (or indication of some), I'll almost definitely tone down the lighting on the one in the foreground. A little mat outside the front door would be a really good touch!

Thankyou - excellent stuff!

:D

[AJ]

Well once again, I post a render with little actual content change - this is because most of my time has been divided between feeling rough as sh;t and modelling bloody trees! Typical, the one thing I leave to last in a challenge entitled "enchanted forrest" is the trees, and they're bastards to get looking nice... :annoyed:

Anyway, for the pleasure of your eyes - here's a newer lighting setup/crop. More of a 'dusky' lighting.

Of course, it still needs trees and all the crap that goes with em, so in the mean time mentally fill in the blanks (the huge expansive blanks).

[pearson]

he he! I did the same thing and now I'm scrambling to get a "forest" together. :)

Looks good! Like the lighting. The chair's cute.

How did you get the gradient in the background? is it just tied to the camera (camera's environment in maya)?

[AJ]

Pearson - I'm using Max so I don't know how to in Maya - but it's literally a flat gradient that just stays put no matter where the camera goes (a non moving environment if you will).

You'd better get you forrest together too! I can't wait to see your entry finished! :bounce:

[ZrO-1]

Yo AJ! I love the render style you've got going on. The quality of that last pic is sweet. Sorry to hear about your not feeling good.

If you don't mind I'll give you a tip on a quick and easy way to make trees. This uses the extrude method for making the trunk/branches/twigs. Now I don't know what kind of curve tools Max has but you'll be using the CV curve tool for most of the tree creation in my method.

The first step for making the trees is to figure out which viewport is closest to your camera angle (Z-depth, or front, most of the time). Then you'll use that viewport to initially draw the CV curves for each of your trees.

Next, you'd start by drawing the curve for the trunk. Basically draw the curve to look best in the front viewport. Then you can edit the CV points positions so the curve looks good in the camera perspective. Then when you begin drawing your primary branches go back to the front viewport and be sure to constrain the curve's start point to the trunk curve (constrain to curve). Like you did with the trunk you would then go and edit the CV points on the branch curve to look as you want in the perspective view.

Repeat that last step for any other primary and secondary branches you want for your tree. Now that you have all the curves set up and positioned as you want you will begin making the profile curves for the extruded geometry.

The way you do that is to go back to the base of the tree trunk. Then from a top view (so you are perpendicular to the start of the trunk curve) you could either create a NURBS circle (be sure to add in extra CV points) and edit it's points so it's not perfectly round. Or you could draw a CV curve in the shape of the trunk and just be sure to close the curve when you're done.

With your trunk profile curve drawn and positioned so it's center point is about where the tree trunk path curve starts you are ready to extrude. Before you do though you want to set the scale option in the extrude tool to shrink down as it extrudes. That way when you extrude it out it will automatically scale the profile curve and resulting geometry down as you move along the path curve. One nice thing about that scale setup is that the UV's also get scaled so your texture image will automatically scale smaller as it goes up the tree trunk.

You would repeat that extrude method for all your branches just making sure that the initial profile curve for the branch is the same size or smaller than the part of the trunk where it attaches to.

So now all the geomerty should be basically all set up for the tree. There is one more thing you could do (which might help when texturing) which is to trim all the extruded surfaces where they intersect. That will give you nice seams where the branches and trunk meet.

This method is much quicker and easier to controll than using pollys or sub-d's. And it actually takes longer to explain how to do it than actually doing it.

This is just one way and I'm sure everyone has their own opinions about it. But, if you're pressed for time and you want to make good looking trees nice and quick (with only 5 days left) and not have to worry about texture mapping I think this is the way to go.

Sorry about the LONG winded post. I hope it helps.

[MikaelPersson]

I really like the softness in that picture. Can you make ma a hut too? Looks so nice.
Would be nice seeing him dangling his legs from the ledge.
You could try going for the end of the forest look. This village is just on the brink of the forest. Looking out over some sky mostly. That way you would get away with modelling quite a lot.

[AJ]

ZrO-1 : Thankyou for the modelling tips! Your method is very sound and in a way I'm doing something similar, the only major difference is that I'm still sticking Sub-D's for the final object (mainly because Max's NURBS are quite exceptionally shit). Also thanks for the sympathy! :D I'm starting to feel slightly better... but still a one man mucus-machine :sad:

Mikael P : I was thinking about having him dangling his stubby legs over the edge for the final image too... I'll have to play with his pose - but I think that his little boots kicking in the breeze could be nice :D - Brink of the forrest - that's genius! Given the way my time is going I may have to make it "The enchanted forrest of only one tree"... (And I'll put your hut in the post :D)

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Okey-dokey - since there's, ooh, 3 days left (eep!) I'd better make some trees for this bloody forrest :blush:

This is a simple render of two (minor) variations of a tree model that I've been tinkering with - there's not really that much work on it (modelling wise) more time spent making textures/experimenting.

So please tell me what you think (I may have gone a bit OTT on the twistyness). Of course, the pain in the arse now is that I have to put a shed-load of detail in the rest of my textures now so they match up (bugger).

Well I'll start farming a load more of these fellas then string up some pods for those pesky Tuglets to move into... then I can collapse from exhaustion and dribble in a corner (hooray!).

[MikaelPersson]

Beautiful texture. Looks like candy ;) No seriously. I like it. It matches the rest of your stuff. Would be fun to see your little fella in that yellow creamy light though.
Haha, yes, you´ve painted yourself into a corner with that detail on the texture. But if you make everything else extremely clean you might get away with it. Some nice high-level detail stuff, and some almost just one colour for the rest.

[OZ]

amWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I LOVE YOUR WORK MAN!! :eek: :eek: :eek:
.....amazing......the materials are incredible and the lights makes me cry tears of joy........yu are a master man.

[pearson]

:eek: Wow, that is really a beautiful texture!

I think the trees are a little too twisted, only banzai or bushes get like that, I think.

Also, maybe a bit more color variation in the texture would be nice, just to make the bark have more depth (you know, darker where it is thickest/oldest, and lighter where it is thinner/newer).

Keep it up!

[mushroomgod]

WOW, thats some realy nice lighting youve got there :eek:

have some stars!

[ZrO-1]

WOW!! :eek:
Goregeous textures and lighting. Man that looks hot! awesome bro.

[Bezerker75]

I love the twistedness of the trees....afterall this is an enchanted forest...trees can most definately be twisted...will you make branches on these trees? can't wait to see the final...:bounce:
I guess I will have to wait a few more days!:thumbsup:

[Virtuoso]

Beaytiful,whimsical, and without doubt one of my top picks.................nice feel and enchantment to the art..........I'll be looking for the final touch...........:) :thumbsup:

[samartin]

the tree remind me of biting in2 a crunchie bar... yummy honeycomb !!! that is well tops, I think a double :eek: :eek: is well in order... I luv these emoticons btw so some more

:applause: :buttrock:

[3DZukini]

I love the tree texture and especially your lighting. Is the texture procedural or image?:curious: Looks great, I hope you find time to put it all together soon!!
:applause: :thumbsup:

[Equinoxx]

AJ my man . . . friggin ACE :bounce:

now when are you gonna haul your arse back on msn to share some insights on that tree huh :D cause it's feckin sweet

[AJ]

Gngggghhhh....

It's 3:10am - I am just now sobering up, not a good thing. Here's what I've come up with, not what I had originally intended, but all that time will allow on this one :sad:

Heres the pic not really what I wanted - but I'm knackered. Hope some of you like it!

http://ajj.netfirms.com/Cgtalk3/comp03.jpg

(shit - can't get it under 50k without compressing it to level 3!!, so free webhosting will probably bomb out... sorry.)

Must...sleeep....now...

(Oh and Equinoxx - I have a diff MSN addy, it's ayjay_23@hotmail.com although I do sign in quite rarely these days - hope to catch up with you soon)

[LucentDreams]

beautiful, simply beautiful your trees are fantastic and I can't get enough of the texture used on them, simply fantastic

[psumo]

OH YEAH!!!!
that is rockin

[l_farley13_l]

Very nice stuff, dang, Wish you did have time to really prefect this- you got a great Char out of it though ;) (also wish I could see him better) But at least it still stunning stuff ;)

see you,

Farley13

[ZrO-1]

Well, it looks like we have a winner. That is absolutely perfect AJ. You are an amazing artist. :applause:

[LucentDreams]

could we get some close ups?

[samartin]

:eek: :eek: OMG :eek: :eek: :drumrock: we have the winner !!! absolutley wicked image

[Virtuoso]

Such a nice feel and look, great job AJ_23........one of the real contenders in my book..........5 stars from me, and I do not just give out the 5 stars for the sake of it.:beer: :thumbsup:

[AJ]

Thankyou all for your (more than kind) comments,

As I said, I'm a little bit gutted that I couldn't finish the image the way I'd intended - and there's a host of nasty things glaring at me when I look at the picture, but I've got no-one to blame but myself (well, myself a number of pints of deadly Belgian beer...).

I didn't realise that I could've finished the pic off today - but as it is I'm glad to get it out of the way and have actually enjoyed a day away from Max for the first time in about a month!

I'd like to say that I'll finish the scene off as I intended, but I'm pretty sure that I'll just leave it as is (although I'll almost definitely play around with Mr. Tuglet some more...).

KaisKai : What would you like to see close ups of? I'll happily knock out some larger renders of areas, but I'm not sure if that would be permitted "after the fact" as it were - but let me know and I'll see what I can churn out ;)

Once again, thanks to all and good luck to all the contestants! :D

[mushroomgod]

wow, looks lovely :beer:


5 stars....again !:surprised

[LucentDreams]

sorry its just that I'm sort a texture kind of guy, and I would love to see some clsoeups like the floor planks, the area witht he stistches and that worn path on th ehouse, and even closer look at the tree trunk just those kinds of things, as for close ups, just make sure it is cler what is you final render, and then show what you want, though the final date is today at midnight isn't it so you should be okay for now. PLZ!!! and thank you. I love ytour lighting it adds so much to the scene and your renders

[xynaria]

DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guess who actually forgot to even look at the challenges this month!!!!!!!


Well,looking very good to me with texturing etc up to the usual impeccable standards.

Now I don't want you go all goosemonkey on me and get embarressed... but I've never said this before to anyone and it's taken me all my nervous courage to get the nerve to say this ... but.........



WE WANT THE ANIM WE WANT THE ANIM WE WANT THE ANIM!!!!!!! :p:applause: :bounce: :bounce: :beer:

[LucentDreams]

hehe I can see it now the little guy wals from his current position the infront of the dorr,lets a little one rip with that priceless 3rd expression youmade, and then looks at the camera and quickly points and does his number two expression at the camera. lol that would be great to see:applause: By the way I love your third expresssion, you should use that as your avatar!!!

[visualboo]

Awsome work AJ... I love the textures and lighting.

Just one question, How do they get off those things and get around? :D

[LucentDreams]

Its enchanted....


... You don't need logic when its enchanted;)

Never thought about that kinda curious myself now.

[AJ]

WE WANT THE ANIM WE WANT THE ANIM WE WANT THE ANIM!!!!!!!

I'm going to stab you Xynaria.... :p :p

Just one question, How do they get off those things and get around?

Erm... like Kaiskai said - it's enchanted magic. Um.... OR, they could clamber up the side and scurry up the vine that holds their house on... Or bounce like gummi bears. Or be carried by birds that they use a whistle to call (or maybe their twigs!).

So to answer your question... I don't know. :blush:

[Pancreas]

Wow. Yeah. (and here is my forth-level English): Yuk.

I love that little chap, with those eyes wich are saying "hug me".
The environment looks awesome, nice hanging houses (it must be fun to live there in a windy night).

Great image, i love that orange-yellow light.

[MikaelPersson]

I like it. :) What an ending of the forest. Redwoods?
Would be nice to see one where he is sitting dangling his chubby legs over the ledge though.

But you did manage to wrap it up quickly in a real nice way.

[visualboo]

Originally posted by AJ_23
So to answer your question... I don't know. :blush:

Good enough ;)

Awsome anyway... :thumbsup:

[leigh]

Hey that is soooood damn cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!!!
Great work! :applause:
Very enchanting :thumbsup:

[semota]

hey great job! but got just got somethings to point out....your character (its so damn cute) seems out of focus....a look at the picture..he doesnt seem to stand out..and the forground and background....the colours are just to blended...maybe you could change the colours of your tent to something more radical like orange...radical but natural colours...yah...and the background..can kinda see its a duplication of the first branch..should change the angle or even height..they look to similar...:)

You got great work coming along man! Keep it up!

Semota

[AroundTheFur]

that tree on the right, closest to the foregroud is waaaay out of place. the depth of field makes it seem to me as tho its right next to you character, i would increase it a lot so that the depth is created that u are trying for, i know its late but i just had to say that, great job:buttrock:

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