#examples of my A:M works
15 messages in this thread
I finally have a preview of my upcoming 'comicbook Interactive' "The Cheshire
Cat Series" to share with everyone. It is available in the Computer Art Forum
( GO:COMART) in library 16 (Visionary Media, Inc). It was created entirely
with A:M, including the use of Materials to create a spinning whirlwind/vortex.
The complete 'book' will be out this fall.
Comments are welcome,
-Kevin Clark
Kevin,
There were quite a few files answering to the Cheshire keyword search.
Would you narrow the selection by recommending a few files that you consider to
be your best work with AM.
While I was in COMART forum I downloaded CCHALL.GIF. Was that image
created with AM ? And if so how long did it take you to model all of those
interesting characters ? I am also interested in how you made their eyes, did
you model them in sculpture or are they image maps or a combination of both ?
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to view your work. It is a great
help to learn what others are doing with AM.
Thanks,
Chris D.
Chris-
CCHALL is a still from my upcoming book. CCDEMO.MOV is the quicktime movie
showing the intro to the book (52 seconds worth and less than 2meg). All other
references to Cheshire Cat are from my earlier (unpublished) renditions of the
story, mostly done in paint programs.
CCHALL and CCDEMO are created entirely through A:M, with only a little help
from paint programs such as Photofinish and PainterX2 for touchup. I've been
compiling a library of characters and objects/scenery for the past 8 months.
The scenes in CCHALL took about 40 minutes to render ( on a 486/66 through
windows) each at 320×240. I then touched up the hair and faces as needed. The
eyes are (of course) spheres with a material I call eyeball which has the
colorations ( including light veins up close) and specular. I then add a decal
of the iris/pupil. I also mapped decals on the face around the eyes and the
lips. I considered mapping cheek (blush) and other skin textures but for the
time that adds to renders I didn't see it worthwhile for what I'm doing.
I appreciate your interest and hope I answered your questions. Feel free to
ask more 🙂
-Kevin
Kevin,
Thanks for taking time to reply to my questions, I appreciate it.
And if you don't mind I have a few more.
>> The eyes are (of course) spheres with a material I call eyeball which >>has
the colorations ( including light veins up close) and specular. I >>then add a
decal of the iris/pupil.
How do you keep track of where the iris is pointing ?
And regarding a sculptural point, could you offer some tips for modeling
the nostril wings of the human nose. Most of the humanoid models I have seen
don't capture this part of the nose accurately. Any advice ?
Lastly, I am curious to know if you created the image KNIGHT.JPG. And if
so, were either the background or the reflection on the knight's chest a 3D
model or an image map ?
I hope my curiosity doesn't prove to be too bothersome.
Chris D.
Chris-
Your curiousity doesn't bother at all. 🙂 I enjoy conversing about the genre.
The eyes – I map the iris on the front of the sphere, and make sure that is the
direction it points when placed in Character (default). Keeping the pivot
point in dead center makes it easy to turn the eyes in any direction
(constraining them to around 30 helps too).
Nostrils – hmmm, it's been a while since a created the nose (since then, I've
just taken the same face and manipulated it into new faces). I may attempt to
upload an example of a face segment next week – it'll be easier than trying to
explain it. 🙂
And finally, yes I created KNIGHT.JPG. The background was created with Vista
Pro (only the distant horizon) and the trees and leaf-strewn ground in A:M.
The reflection on the knight's armor is actual reflection of the scene. I must
admit though, the giant was created using an old Hollywood trick – he's a flat
image on a 'cookie-cut' board.
-Kevin
Kevin,
Thanks for the tip on iris placement. Its similar to my solution except
for setting the constraint. For what ever reason I never thought to do that.
As for uploading an example of one of your noses, that is certainly a
generous offer. If you decide to do so I am sure I am not the only one who
would be appreciative.
You also mentioned that the trees and leaves in KNIGHT.JPG were created
in AM. My hat is off to you. Those leaves look organically lush. They must have
been a memory killer.
Again thanks for your help and I look forward to seeing more of your work
in the future.
Chris D.
Chris-
I'm uploading a face today, look for it in the library (fingers crossed)
Wednesday.
The leaves are image maps. I think molding individual leaves would create a
better look, but as you said, it would be a memory/time killer.
-Kevin
I downloaded your CCHALL.GIF from the COMART forum and am filled with
admiration for your superb modeling of all those figures. I would love to know
some of the technical details, like the equipment you are using. How did you
get the hair of the girl in the foreground of the left hand picture to look so
natural?
David.
David-
I use A:M on a 486/66 and a P90. The only other programs I use with it are
photofinsh and PainterX2 ( with KPT2.0 plug-in). I also use a tablet for
easier 'painting'.
The hair is a mixture of modelled/decalled segments and post touch-up. Even
with great maps I find that I need to go back and hand paint the loose strands.
I think that helps keep it from looking 'rendered'. I usually do the same to
clothing ( adding wrinkles and such).
Thanks for your interest. If you get a chance, check out CCDEMO.MOV also in
COMART. It's a 52-second movie of the intro to my book – completely created
with A:M.
-Kevin
Kevin, This sounds fantastic! Would you be willing to upload a few samples into
our library here?
Steve, Hash Inc.
Steve-
It's not really in my hands. I'll ask my publisher, though. BTW, the
CCDEMO.MOV includes the character morph I mentioned to you some weeks ago on
the phone.
-Kevin
Hi, Kevin…I downloaded both CCHALL & CCDEMO.MOV and they are very good.
Maybe I missed something in a previous message, but did you model the
characters as one piece or in parts?…Especially good job on the women! And
loved all the motion and dissolves, etc. in the movie. It's amazing how you got
so
much into such a small file size for it's length.
Kevin
Kevin-
Each character is a complete figure (movable limbs, etc). Makes it easier to
pose them into the scene ( sitting, walking up/down stairs). The close-up
characters are main characters for the story so they have the most detail.
Credit for the movie dissolves and compression go to my publisher, Bill Irvine,
of Visionary Media (section 16 in COMART). The original animation is 400×300,
which will be the opener for the book.
-Kevin
Great stuff…but do you mean also that you modeled them as complete figures
in Sculpture, not just in sections that you pieced together?
Kevin-
I always start my models as complete figures in Sculpture, this ensures good
skinning. Once the form is complete I cut 'em up into pieces then re-assemble
them in Character. BOB is my main source for this technique. Much of 'his'
structure is used in my models.
-Kevin