December wings Challenge Basilosaurus

#1

Despite the name this is not a Dinosaur but a primitive cetacean.( mistaken identity upon discovery ended up sticking with it) (whale) From about 30 million years ago. Anyways I am roughing out the shape and wanted to show you my workspace. If you look closly the artists interpretations are diferent for this so even if you are doing an existing creature you have some leeway as far as how to construct it. One pic has a dorsal fin the other does not.

Dorsal fins on whales are soft tissue so there are no remains of it. Also to make things more vague some cetaceans have dorsal fins some do not. (Orca’s and Dolphins do Humpbacks and Sperm whales do not)

I decided to make a small one. On the Basilosaurus also there are small legs in the back they are not connected to the spine. I chose thsi because of the oddnes sof it a serpentine whale with small legs in the rear.

#2

Looks like you’ve already got a great start on it! Keep in mind that you have an entire month, and with your quick start we should expect lots of detail modelled! :wink:

One recommendation I have is to adjust the loops around the mouth area a little bit. Also, if you plan on rigging it, you may want to adjust the base pose for better rigging and deformations by making the tail straight.

Great stuff! I may change my subject soon, I haven’t had time to really research and find a cool creature to do. the fish thing seems a bit too…simple. legs/limbs would be really fun!

Can’t wait for your next update!

#3

Thanks for the heads up I will keep that in mind for the future. Right now I have no real rigging facilities so I just try to get as close to the final pose as I can. But I am getting some new software with that in mind so I will have to think in terms of rigging in the future. I did some more work on it refining the mesh doing little adjustments smoothed once and added teeth. I will probably smooth one mroe time and work on the inside of the mouth and tweak some other areas.

#4

Coming along real nice.Are you going to rig it?

#5

No If I righ I will have to build a new one. I have a Ichyasaur I will rig once I get messiah.(th emesh is less dense) Keep it simple at first I really don’t know rigging so I will try to make a few rigged fish first then I will worry about feet. and knees and shoulders argh. Anyways did mroe work the mesh is quite dense now. I have a even newer version did more work on the teeth and inside the mouth.

Basil.jpg800x518

#6

I like this last update. The folds in the skin really give a good sense of its composition. It picks up a good sense of density as the folds imply weight and size.

#7

Yes I think it adds mass to it I am not so sure it is the right way but well I’ll never get to see one. Beluga have some folds like that and can more their head a bit more than say a right whale so I went with it. I did some texturing. Went for a simple color and looked at some sperm whale pictures they have scars and skin that molts a bit so I made some variation thinking of that. Sperm whales do not have barnicles on them and they are a similar size and a carnivore so I did not put any on him. The carnivore whales do not have barnicles like a humpback. I have conflicting referances as far as dorsal fins go. Anyways here is a render with color spec and bump.

basil2.jpg800x640

#8

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.