[durgldeep]

Bit more about edges in Sculptris (been meaning to do this for a while): see
cube, below (26 triangles).

Turning off "Beautify..." gets rid of a lot of (but not all) 'elasticity' (which
otherwise works so well). Very sharp points and edges are possible via
grabbing/moving single vertexes.

More triangles aren't necessarily better (Sculptris developers obviously
disagree), especially when exporting to Blender (am just now learning this
myself). Er, less is more?

[durgldeep]

Quick one (and learned a couple things):

[whom]

durgldeep, wow you are really good, you sure have anatomy down in your bank, awesome. Page TEN yey!

the theme is going slow over at cgsociety, seems like I am the only one posting bathroom stuff lol. ..Hmm maybe a boring topic.
I added some stuff to the hand basin for fun, might add some more and finish the scene.....

+ bath tub, 15 minutes
+ mirror cabinet, 5 minutes

rather speedy objects, they don't stand for a close up shot.
On the other hand btw the render took 2 hours, hah so much for cycles, damn samples takes forever. If anyone of you understand the CPU to GPU settings I would appreciate some lessons.

[durgldeep]

Thanks whom, long way to go yet - but I think I'm kidding myself (still) that I
have to master everything. John Seymour (again): "How much is enough?"

Blender is a 'high end'/professional program - but I'm not a professional, just a
Joe who wants to do a story.

[whom]

[durgldeep]

[durgldeep]

Adding sphenoid/ethmoid was a marathon too (and this is just blocking) -
forgot vomer (added that too). No palatine yet...

Interesting thing about ethmoid (pic of light shining behind/through it):
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Labs/Anatomy_&_Physiology/A&P201/Skeletal/skull/up_the_nose_PA281071.JPG

[durgldeep]

Still taming Sculptris - *cracks whip*
Back to tiling/landscapes (still with an eye on Sketchup), hexagons should
fix a couple things, including trangle glut (not everyone's machine can
handle triangle/quad mania (mine's middle of the road)).

Below, SU hexagon imported via Blender. Duplcate and, with a bit of Detail
enabled touch the second one (near middle) with the grab tool ("Global"
and "Limit" turned off); subdivides beautifully, ie. not a linear SU/SC
plane. Grand total of 52 triangles. Grab/move single vertexes and u've got
the beginning of an asymmetrical landscape element.
[Edit: changed above Global/Limit details a couple times; got it right this time.]

Stay tuned for part two (if I can resist more skeleton stuff)...




-----------------

And of course:


-----------------

Speaking of skeletons/anatomy/ZBrush, a few models here (good stuff):
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?169478-Luo-Qisheng-s-Sketch-Book-human-anatomies-and-heads

Oh, that's a (calculated) promo for ZBrush too, sorry - see blurb/gush
here:
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?169478&p=958752&viewfull=1#post958752

[durgldeep]

Wondered if I could simplify/speed up the design process (see whom's
model, page eight). Sculptris, 276 triangles, sharp edges (the other reason
to do it). SC fights u every step of the way, even with options turned off (as
above) but still faster than SU and maybe Blender too (in SC moving
vertexes is the only option, no decisions/switching required).

[whom]

[quote="durgldeep"]

[durgldeep]

whom, sketched in sculptris and imported into SU yeah. I think cavities would
be tough in SC, easier in SU for sure (detail too). We'll see what happens with
the second one (want to sketch a bunch of vehicles so I need a method that's
fast)...

Full skeleton is coming along, progress shot (proportions/alignments are all
off):

[whom]

the skeleton looks really good, good work durgldeep.


Made a diamond shaped handle grip to show someone over at cgsociety how to simplify the grip for a flashlight, especially if one wanna use arrays and stuff.
Anyway, played around a little with the shape and experimented some with lights and a mix of shaders; nothing special........
could maybe be useful for dragons scales?

[durgldeep]

Thanks whom - dragon scales, yes! We can see a demo soon?

Re rigging, found a couple watchable tutorials, one for rigging/skinning one
for animation. Blender v2.5 but gives a good idea of what's involved (lots
for 2.6 on YT, people can find whatever suits them).

Rigging and Skinning a Character Model
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPbSGUPj72w

Making a Simple Walk Animation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSDWfx6ib9k

The other useful example is the model: triangles and quads but mostly
triangles (see screen grab below): partly what I was 'thinking' when doing
the plane (above). Just spent a couple hours on a quad-based mesh (didn't
get past the nose)... think I'll stick to triangles (and a couple quads to
appease the Blender gods).


Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPbSGUPj72w
-----------------

Not sure why I didn't google before - or why whom didn't educate us
*glares* - (first two results for "3D why quads?"):

Quads vs. Triangles - Blender Newbies 3D Video Tutorials [not a video]
http://blendernewbies.blogspot.ca/2008/11/3d-mesh-topology-tip-quads-vs-triangles.html

3D Modeling Question - Why only quads?
http://www.blitzmax.com/Community/posts.php?topic=76535

Summary: quads are more 'professional' (o sniff - o sniff I say ) - use
whichever you like (whichever is faster, more comfortable, etc.). Issue
resolved.

[durgldeep]

Still chugging... learned new stuff re lighting, materials, vertex paint, mesh,
etc. About ready for some rigging, I think (YT vids are useful, tho everyone
has their own method (bit disorienting))...

Sloppy reduced figure/mesh:

[Tomasis]

awesome thread!

Im playing with Sculptris and Blender for a while. I dont think that I post something made by Blender very soon though I can do some quickies with Sculptris.

Blender reminds me of Lightwave so the transition was made easier than I thought. My goal is to be able make a cool car, realistic one ...someday. I have to go through the whole thread to learn some new things.

Durgledeep, awesome experiment with airplane, it gives idea how to make an object then export to blender. A pro can make that about fast in Blender though but for me, beginner, to start in Sculptris is so much easier ,it is like working on clay, with hands. Skipping to deal with boring switch modes between vertex, faces etc.

here comes SC quickies




_________________
out

[durgldeep]

Tomasis - yay! Lots of character in those.

Agree that SC is best for building. I guess in Blender extra keystrokes are
second nature to those who use it a lot, ie. the program we use most is the
one that's 'easiest'?

On the other hand the 'short cut' between vertex, edge and face modes is
really something (as u've noticed): 1. Ctrl + Tab; 2. mouse move (or arrow
key); 3. click mouse (or hit Enter). Maybe easier with a tablet, dunno.
--------------
Edit: my mistake, the short cuts are even shorter; Ctrl + Tab > E for
edge, > V for vertex, > F for face. Sorry for the misleading info.
--------------

"Beginner" is an interesting word. We can have lots of ability/talent (in
sculpting or whatever), the program either gets in the way of that or it
doesn't - I think the worst ones are like typing with broomsticks (from
across the room): absurd.

That Blender demo (from chat) -

Skinned and animated ragdoll Demo blender game engine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PVc520YcQo

- got me looking at 'pop' 3d standards (models, animation, lighting) -
stumbled onto these (yes I need some comic relief at this point):

100 Ways to Die in Skyrim - Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEWrpSzogOo

100 Ways to Die in Skyrim - Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEzeybl3kTY

And one that might explain some of my interest in 3D (or anyone's):

Over 5000 KEVA planks building - Bullet Physics [no sound]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9HaT23b-xc

[durgldeep]

Still experimenting...

Couldn't resist the 'all-quad challenge' (why does that sound sporty...). Here's
one way (not sure it's the best way) to deal with an isolated triangle: starting in
the middle of any one side, use the Knife tool (short cut = K) to cut a single line
(see below). The triangle's now a quad - and your friends will scorn you no
longer.


-------------

120710
News to me, selling doctored copies of Blender for profit:

3DMofun - another shameless Blender copy
http://www.blender.org/blenderorg/blender-foundation/press/re-branding-blender/

[durgldeep]

Blocking for cervical spine (mostly copies, obviously). Speeding just to get it
done, will tweak later (if/when). Looks too tidy atm... Ends of spines aren't
closed (only way to make holes in Sculptris; easily closed in Blender).

Awesome/fascinating(/challenging) geometry/shapes in a skeleton. Glad I
stopped to do it.

[durgldeep]

*bump*

Been working on alignment stuff (how it affects external form/pose) so nothing
new to show - it all looks the same?

Been a bit of discussion (elsewhere) about solo/collaborative work, ie. paint is
mostly a solo effort (see the evidence) and 3d tends to be collaborative - if u
don't believe that, go ahead and try it? Hehe.

Found two maybe impressive shorts (maybe old news by now), solo (wow...)
and duo:

Rosa (Short CGI Movie)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WFC5UPaEIc

Doroga - A CGI Animated short film by Alex Filipov & Sotir Gelev [VODO]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjEB4Xqqul8

Edit: oops, whole team involved in the second one (see credits). My mistake.

[whom]

Almost like someone pulled the plug on the forum during the summer, strange...
Hey durgldeep I bet we post more pm's to eachother than what there have been posts in the forum lately.

Started to look a little bit more on the game engine today, gonna try to follow tutorials and then do the same. It is gonna be an excessive project for sure but worthy in the end.
� already succesfully exported an exe file as a standalone game, not much happening in the game yet though but the cube can move back and forth and collide with the walls, managed to add a"motion" as a jump too.

a screen:




you still doing anatomy durgldeep?



...

[Sumaleth]

[durgldeep]

[whom]

thanks durgldeep.

Yea I keep experimenting with motion, still using a cube for my simple games. lol maybe I should post this in the square thread we had way back...

[whom]

Hey durgldeep, I found a new toy in Blender you should check it up. It's a plugin called Cloud Generator, have started some experiments with it but it only works for the old internal render....
You activate it from the add ons (object)....

Here's a building concept...

[durgldeep]

Nice building, whom. Looks a bit like a space ship too.

[durgldeep]

Okay.


-------------------

The good news is, u still have to make the basic shape of the cloud - and
better news: my processor is way too slow for this stuff (heh), otherwise I'd be
fiddliing forever.

Bad, bad colour (below), etc... but it was a nice diversion.

Edit: swapped out image, it was just too horrendous. This one's a bit
better (only a bit):



NB that's an awesome video series, imo (previous link).

[whom]

i'm not that technical either and lol now come to think about it I am not sure I am that artistic either lmao, ah anyway I just enjoy to mess around with settings and in blender there are lots of those different settings.

Wow inspirational clouds, I didn't have time to mess around with shapes yesterday but will be sure to mess around with that more. Lots of help to make easy clouds cause that usually takes a lot of time...
I made something quick when I saw yours durgldeep.

[whom]

durgldeep, If you press space bar in the work space in Blender and type "quick" in the search bar you get different quick settings for fur, explode and stuff..... don't think there's fire yet though.... Maybe you knew about that?

[durgldeep]

[durgldeep]

Think I got the tree thing sorted (no luck in Sculptris): simplicity helps a lot.
'Box modeled' (default cube) and one subdivision (modifier). Branches in the
Blender models are detached... still finding what works for me.