CompuServe Thread

#FaceHugger/Bugs/Rooster

20 messages in this thread
#176810From: sanford kennedyJun 23, 1995 12:21 AM
Kyle, I will bring a tape of a bug (roach) and a mouse (rat?) fighting over a piece of cheese done with Bones Pro. I am also working with some of the older particle IPAS's to do some surrealistic insects. Things like Spurt are a bit hard to control so I am trying to build creatures that use the inherent shape of the particle cloud. My most succesful yet is a Rooster that is made of Spurt plumes. I would like to combine a Metaballs body with a bunch of spurt plumage and move it with IK and bones. Of course it would be eating a bug! Sanford
#176847From: Kyle J. McKisicJun 23, 1995 7:29 AM
Sanford, Somehow I think that everything you model eats bugs! <bg> I'm sure I could have used some of them at the last place I lived – we had a bit of a roach problem. Your rooster sounds really cool – I'm looking forward to seeing it. I've got a few cool things in the works right now- I'll see what I can get together. Cheers -Kyle
#177167From: sanford kennedyJun 25, 1995 10:14 AM
Kyle, Bugs! Good Ol' Mother Nature put bugs on the menue for critters like American indians, Computer Nerds, and certain big time American politicians …..trust me! (G) The beauty in the IPAS's has hardly been touched for creating wildly fantastical creatures. I have been doing mostly life-like things. But I read tons of science fiction and I think many of the well known stories have wierdos that would look good done in 3DS. Have you read books by Larry Niven (Ringworld) and John Varley (Titan) , or Piers Anthony (Blue Adept series…with morphing wizards)??…..the list of wild-creature-creating authors goes on. Now we have Skin and Bones, IK and ….OOOOps! Where's our spline-patch modeler? Sanford
#177198From: Kyle J. McKisicJun 25, 1995 5:45 PM
Sanford, lets see . . yup – I remember reading Ringworld a while ago, but have forgotten much/all of it – I just remember it being about this city on a disc that has walls 1000 ft high all around it. I have Titan, but haven't read it yet. and I've never heard of Blue Adept. morphing wizards?? . . .hmm . . .I'll have to check it out – it could be worth a try. -Kyle
#177215From: Jason LangeJun 25, 1995 11:15 PM
Check out KiloByte by Piers Anthony to if youy haven't read it. It has such very fantastic ideas of what virtual reality may be like in the future. Jason
#177381From: Kyle J. McKisicJun 26, 1995 8:23 PM
I picked it up today at a used book shop I happend by – looks interesting – thanks
#177258From: Steven ElliottJun 26, 1995 10:42 AM
Ringworld! Are you planning to model a Pierson's Puppeteer? I'd love to see a few visualizations of that critter. Some Moties would be interesting to model as well. Steven
#177382From: Kyle J. McKisicJun 26, 1995 8:45 PM
I've got Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials, it's got some really nice graphics of the puppeteer and other creatures. it would be a good modeling project. -Kyle
#177407From: sanford kennedyJun 27, 1995 2:41 AM
Kyle, I could get into doing a whole group of Aliens. It would be fun to do them independently, and see what our different interpretations would be. Then the next step is to build their environments. What does the Puppeteer planet look like? Their houses? Could this be considered Xenobiology? Alienology? 3D Studio is finally getting up to challenges like these. Most 3D alien models I have seen were like plastic cartoons characters.. I would like to seriously attempt to make aliens that look like they are alive, with bump mapped skin, detailed eyes, orfaces, costumes, hardware. They also need a look of weight and a balanced stance. Sanford
#177413From: Kyle J. McKisicJun 27, 1995 6:40 AM
Sanford, yes, that would be cool, as well as a big challenge. I think the thing that makes most aliens look plastic-like is their lack of underlying muscle structure and most have no hair – it just so happens that these two things are BIG hurdles to overcome. it could be AC2000 – Alien City 2000! <g> -Kyle
#177751From: sanford kennedyJun 29, 1995 3:18 AM
Kyle, Alien City? Well, I have set up a district for Alien aliens in Crater city, the futuristic part of Studio City. I assume you have snooped around the Ashowcase forum? How 'bout building a futuristic metaball building for Crater City? Sanford
#177756From: Kyle J. McKisicJun 29, 1995 4:31 AM
Sanford, Meta-bulidings? hmm .. maybe. I'll have to look at the restrictions as far as poly count, materials, etc. -Kyle
#177918From: sanford kennedyJun 30, 1995 1:53 AM
Kyle, There are two submissions possible in the Studio City project. One is low rez, and the other is High rez. We (the Studio City guys) are expecting to finish setting up the project in a few weeks. You really can't do anything more than upload an image of your model right now. I'll let you know when everything is ready to go and the face number limit is set. Good luck with your Metareys project. I will be ready with models done on my own system by Siggraph. In the meantime I am cranking away 12 to 24 hours a day on a commercial. Martin Foster, my illustrious boss in the 3D Studio department at Metrolight, has been able to get hold of 14 dual pentium 100mhz PC's with 128 meg of ram each, and the SGI 3D Studio renderer which runs on an SGI Challenge with 8 processors. It renders twice as fast as the Pentiums and never swaps. My current project swaps to disk even with 128 megs! The project file is over 12 megs with lots of smoke and stuff, 445,275 faces! We (at Metrolight) are cranking away now! Sanford
#178063From: Kyle J. McKisicJun 30, 1995 9:38 PM
Sanford, sounds like you guys really have some computing power – wow! I trust the commercial will be great! – I'd love to see it, maybe at the ASOFT party? Martin? (hint, hint . . .<g>). I don't know if I'll be able to do anything for SC2000 – but maybe. let's hope! -Kyle
#177406From: sanford kennedyJun 27, 1995 2:28 AM
Steven, Ringworld….Yes, I have been fascinated by P. pupeteers. I feel like they should be smal, three footed, elephant-like, with no head and the eyestalks of a giant snail. I will have to re-read some material before I get to that beasty/. I will also be building one of those floating cities. How about the Octospiders from RAMA? There are so many great beasts. How 'bout a Bandersnatch? I have read different versions of that beast. Even A.E. VanVoght has a story about one. "Big, mean, warts all over, nasty red hair, able to dig through rock, can kill anything, insanely aggressive"…..got to do one of those too! All I need now is a clone of myself. (G) Sanford
#177013From: Kelly DoveJun 23, 1995 8:26 PM
Hi Sanford! You're doing bugs! They sound really cool. I'd love to see them too. Kelly
#177168From: sanford kennedyJun 25, 1995 10:25 AM
Kelly, You want to see bugs? (G) How about a Mosquito (done in 3DS) drinking blood from my cheek? I will upload the JPG to New Files in the ASHOWCASE FORUM. It will be titled "Mosquito bite!" I am planning to model the face of a very loud mouthed Politician for it to bite. I would love to have it fly into the ear, and find that the head is an empty void, except for an undulating cloud of Vapor. Then it could fly out the mouth…..which is always open… Sanford
#177213From: Kelly DoveJun 25, 1995 10:50 PM
Sounds positively sick Sanford! Can't wait to see it! Kelly
#178244From: sanford kennedyJul 2, 1995 9:26 PM
Kelly, Hi. I guess good mental health is not a prerequisite for doing cool images in 3D Graphics. (G) Being crazy actually helps. How's the magazine going? Sanford
#178455From: Kelly DoveJul 4, 1995 8:46 PM
Hi Sanford. The magazine is going great! Thanks for asking. But about that mental health thing…<G>…I'm afraid that is reserved for a precious FEW in this industry. Hope you had a great holiday weekend. Kelly