Beast of burden - character - ZrO-1

#283

Maybe i can help you, i use maya myself. Are you using the paint weight tool?

#284

@ tubby: I’m using Maya 4…thanks anyway though.

@ Fedron: I have never even touched the paint weight tool before :p. Basically I simply have it soft binded with max influences set to 2 and dropoff set to 9. Here’s a pic of him posed in a way that shows all of the trouble spots:

#285

hey zro, do you plan to remove all the textures for the final render or will it stay that way ?

don’t get me wrong, but i think it would look better without all the color and stuff, i’d prefer a nice clay-style render with bump maps only - the textures(colors) somehow don’t seem to add to the look, somethings wrong, i can’t really tell what it is though - might just be me

#286

ZrO-1, you should really use the paint weight tool, just use the maya online help tutorials (the character setup tutorials) if you don’t know how

#287

Yep i agree with ic4, USE THE PAINT WEIGHT TOOL!!!
It’s a night and day change dude.

And i agree with the clay monocrome looking too.

Otherwise VERY nice cowboy!!! Maybe you should give him some alien detail acording to the insect beast, but keeping the cowboy look. I think the same fot the insigna in the contraption, you should replace the caw skull with an insect skull. Maybe if you could only replace the skull horns with some antennas and the work is donne!!!

Keep going ZrO-1 your in the top of the wave!!

:thumbsup:

#288

Looking great, ZrO-1! You’ve managed to build an entire BOB, contraption, and person in the time it’s taking me to build my BOB’s back leg! :bowdown:

Cheers!

Steve

#289

Man this is freaking awesome!!!
great job on the concept of this… your beast is excellent…
also love the cowboy…
this is definately some superb work…

#290

Zro-1! your cowboy is coming along to be very hip.
I have similar problems trying to paint my bob with weights in maya…not sure what opacity to give to what points or what brush to paint with…still trying to wrap my head around it. gotta read that tut agian i think…

#291

Hey, I haven’t really been following this challenge this month due to other things going on, but man, this looks great! beautiful concept and follow through thus far, what modeling technique are you using? I’m slowly grasping maya at the moment, which is quite a change from Lightwave, and am always curious as to how other’s approach modeling within Maya. Keep it up!

Sincerely,

Merlin

#292

Hi, you have some quite complex models her, very nice.:thumbsup:

I notice that you have some issues on the clothing though, like stretching and also a little bit to tight to the body, anyway overall the cowboy is just a small addiction to the beast so it is more than enough good for me.
:stuck_out_tongue:

#293

Thanks for all the praise guys. I’m sorry I haven’t had any recient updates over the past 2-3 days. I’ve been prepairing myself for a possible job I might be getting.
I’m in the top running for a position at NYIT (New York Institute of technology). Its the computer lab administrator/coordinator for the fine arts & communication arts departments. So I’ve had to brush up on my networking and multi-user systems skills.

I should have the cowboy all weighted (I’m 60% there now) and placed in the scene my mid-day tomorrow. Look for updates then.

Thanks

#294

This is really going to be cool. Some stuff I might work on would be the connections of the wagon/seat to the shell. It looks like it could use more bracing and connection points. Maybe some of those leaf spring things could be added to compensate for the insect movement. I just can’t believe the amount of work you’ve done. A very cool piece.

#295

Hey, congradualations on being in the top running for your application. If the demonstration of your will determination and good will towards others here is any indication of your character, then I am sure your gonna land the job without so much as a sweat:thumbsup:

Wish you the best of luck!! Go get them!!!:wip: :wip: :wip:

#296

Is this job a temp thing to move towards 3d? Or is your real passion networks? (Looking at your work, I’d say the 3d!).

Tell us how you went! :bounce:

#297

Hey, a question, since this is sort of a Maya based thread, I’m modeling this bug, and due to resizing and some early mistakes, many points that need to be aligned on the y axis are now slightly off it. In Lightwave, I’d be able to highlight all these points and enter the x value that I want all of them to rest at (which would be 0 to align to the y axis). Is there a way to do this in Maya? Otherwise, when I duplicate my geometry to the otherside to make a complete figure I get massive holes. Sorry to post an offtopic response, but I’m befuddled. I figured I’d go to the experts first!

Merlin

#298

@ Navacaine: Thanks for the crit. I’ve been thinking about adding some bracing or something inbetween the carriage and beast. Just not sure what yet.

@ Apt P: Hey thanks a lot man.

@ erilaz: My truest passion is developing high-end computer graphics. Wheather it’s 2D or 3D doesn’t really matter, though I find myself gravitating towards 3D more. The job deals primarily with workstations that are used for 2D/3D CG and A/V work. So although the job is a little more IT stuff than I would personally choose, I know how to do it, I was trained in school for that kind of stuff, and it’s only part of the job.

@ Merlin: There is a SUPER easy way to get points back onto the axis. Press F8 to go into component mode, make sure you’re in point selection mode, then just select all of the points on the edge of the mesh that you want on the axis. Then select the translate (move) tool and before you actually start moving the points press and hold-down the “x” key. That enables grid snapping. Then click and drag the move tool towards the axis. All of the points you have selected will snap first to the closest grid line, then as you drag, they’ll snap onto the axis.

#299

ZrO-1, I wish you all the luck in getting that job.
You got some great concepts and modelling here
but if you could post the pic with whole thing so far…
Also some GI Joe or similar wont hurt, there are some
dark shadows in your prev renders, lighten it up!
Best luck again

#300

@ Mandrake: Thaks for the words of encouragement. As far as the shadows: I had used GI_Joe in the very begining, but I can never get it looking as nice as real GI so I scrapped it and went with multi directionals to simulate bounced light and diffuse light. I kept the shadows dark because I thought that since the scene is in the middle of the desert it would be a high-contrast enviroment.

I took a break on the cowboy for a little while and have been adding in a few more props to the beast scene. i should have 2 - 3 new pics in about an hour or so.

Thanks for all the input you guys. You people rock!

#301

Zro-1- Thanks! I knew there had to be a way to do that, and it was right in front of me the whole time. Thanks a lot, and keep those updates coming!

Merlin

Ps show your potential employers this thread and that job is yours.

#302

OK guys I finally have some new pics for you. I added a pot-belly stove and water-barrel to the sled, I also added some rope coils to the back of the carriage. And finally I re-modeled the supports under the carriage. I added some leaf-springs as a couple of you had suggested. Great suggestion by the way thanks!
Here’s the pic of the rope coils: