HMC #25 The Oceans:Cuttlefish Diorama

[TimForbes]

So I got some modelling (in maya) done over the weekend, getting a base mesh laid out to bring into z-brush.
I had some issues trying to resolve the beak/mouth area as it was hard to get good ref images, but anyway it's coming along.

[MightyReg]

Great references and base so far, looking forward to what you will do with that.

[TimForbes]

Cheers MightyReg.
Made a few tweaks to the mouth area last night. The base mesh is almost ready for zbrush, theres just a few bits I want to clean up first, but hopefully by tommorrow night I can start sculpting.
I noticed that the syphon below the mouth had only one funnel, instead the two in my first model so I fixed that and added a bit more detail where the tentacles meet the mouth.

[TimForbes]

So I have progressed a bit further with my modelling. I finally delved into zbrush for the first time in about two years - am a little bit rusty and am going to have to scratch up with some tutorials.
I'm having some topology issues at the moment so I'm gonna have to retopologise some parts of the mesh.
I don't know if my workflow is correct, but I'm prettymuch sculpting the general shapes and some overall detail first, and then I'll break the mesh into subtools for refining high detail areas??
Cheers,
Tim.

[DontBlinkx182x]

Nice Zbrush work man. Cant wait for some final Zbrush work and textures. That SSS on that thing is going to look awesome.

[TimForbes]

cheers for the comments DontBlinkx182x;
unfortunately time has got away from me over the last few weeks so I'm running well behind. Am going to have to pull out some long hours this week to catch up I think.....

[TimForbes]

so here's a bit of an update. after a few weeks off i've started trying to cram some work in. I decided to add some really rough color to inspire me a bit more with the sculpting. I'm still to work out the environment so hopefully I'll get a bit more time to work on this guy.
cheers,
Tim.

[TimForbes]

ok so here's a bit more work, a little bit more sculpting and some more painting textures. hopefully by the end of the weekend I'll start laying out the environment and doing some test renders.

[TimForbes]

and a couple more images

[Luke046]

Very good so far, like your textures. The cuttlefish is one cool creature :)

cheers

[chichiri]

I love the sculpt, well done so far.

[TimForbes]

cheers for the comments. yeah it's been an interesting learning process as it's been a fair while since last using z-brush so i'm sure I'm missing some very useful points.
Anyway heres a WIP render. still have a bunch of stuff I'm going to work on but thought I'd post a bit of an update anyway.
cheers,
Tim

[TimForbes]

got a bit more time to work on this over the weekend. I did a bit of work on the background and added a bit more variation in the kelp.

[TimForbes]

so heres where I'm going to leave this model I reckon. I've fixed up the uv seam issues from my last post and sculpted a bit more detail into the underbelly. I'm pretty happy with it for my first HCM and its forced me to scratch up on my ZBrush skills which has been beneficial. so I've just gotta get out my orthographic renders then I'm done. Cant wait to see what everyone else produces as theres some really cool looking WIP threads;-)
cheers,
Tim.

[TiMrozek]

Nice work Tim, congrats on finishing your first HCMC. Hope you make it into more in the future. The subsurface stuff looks nice on the final render.

[TiMrozek]

Actually, looking closer I'm not sure if it's just a strong underlight or subsurface going on on the fins. Regardless, nice work.

[TimForbes]

cheers for the comments TiMrozek, and yeah i'll def look forward to participating in future challenges. yeah i used mental ray fast SSS shader and painted up a back scatter map and just used the color map for the front scatter. I also used MR transparency node to get some transparency in the large wings on the side of the body.
i've been having issues with my displacement map in maya so i'm going to need to work out tonight how to do my orthographic shots in zbrush with hd geo included in the render otherwise they'll look pretty average and i'll lose a lot of sculpt detail. as I said i'm a zbrush newbie for sure.
cheers,
Tim.

[TiMrozek]

Cool, yeah, displacement maps are always a headache. You may have already noticed but if you generate the displacement map in your file then export the model as a .ma file (assuming you have fully upgraded zbrush to 3.5r3) then it will come into maya with the map already applied and with all the settings set pretty close to how you will want them. So no messing with the approximation editor in maya.

Anyway, good luck.

[angel]

Tim, here are my 2 cents... I liked the previous lighting, it is brighter and looks more realistic, I like the translucent effect in the new textures ;) also try to add some fog and particles to simulate debris and nutrients found in water. Then add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and desaturate it a little.

Looking very cool man.

[TimForbes]

TiMrozek: cheers for that advice - will have to try that out as it sounds way more painless.
angel: great feedback, if I get the time tonight I'll try to update my image to reflect those comments. otherwise i think i'll make a few tweaks after the challenge has finished when I get a spare moment.
cheers guys;-)
Tim

[TimForbes]

heres some ortho images.
and a stupid question, how do attach images so they show up in my post without having to click on a thumbnail.....cheers,

edit: duh, answered my own question......use photobucket instead of flickr;-)

Tim.
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab141/TimForbes/orthographicComp.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44291869@N08/4667756986/sizes/l/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44291869@N08/4667756986/sizes/l/

[TimForbes]

Ok so here is my final submission, pending any changes to the beauty render if I get time tonight. Hope I'm posting this correctly. Here goes.
Beauty render
(hiRes) (http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab141/TimForbes/cFish_Beauty.jpg)
http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/8717/cfishbeauty.jpg
RightSide
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2524/cfishrightside.jpg
LeftSide
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/2645/cfishleftside.jpg

Bottom
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/1746/cfishbttmcopy.jpg
Back
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/5556/cfishbackcopy.jpg
Front
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/5972/cfishfront.jpg
Hope ya like;-)
Its been fun,
Cheers,
Tim.

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