[Art] Miscellaneous (10-8)

[FSharp]

Last Updated: October 8, 2009 (added images)

Undead Splash Screen (requested)
Superweapon
Wind Sorceress
Steampunk Sorceress

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I periodically archive fanart here and any other art here.

Non-archived art
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1: Cyra (Poser, Photoshop)
2: Dan and Cyra (Maya, Photoshop)
3: Image #1 rerendered using Maya toon shaders (Maya, Photoshop background)

Non-archived animations
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1: Nutmeg walk cycle (Poser)
2: Cyra turnaround (Maya)
3: Short animation done to provide shader comparison (Poser)

Comments and criticism are always welcome. Requests and suggestions are also welcome, but note that I have a crazy busy life so I can't guarantee anything.

[terrycloth]

Hmm, if the headwings were a little bigger they could combine with the other two sets to make a massive wing surface down her whole body...

[Tapewolf]

Is that rendered?

[WhiteFox]

There are a couple of areas that look not as well defined as the rest of the image. The abdomen, forearms, wings, and cloth, don't have nearly the kind of defining shading that the face and upper torso have.

The large white areas on the wings pull the eye away from the central figure, as well as the high saturation colors of the sash and the wings.

The linework seems intermittent. I don't know why that is, but the hair, forearm, and fabric look almost completely unlined. Also, there's no definition between the wings. I could assume that you shrunk the final image down, and lost some of the finer lines in the process.

So, I'd have to say that the image would look much better if the linework and shading were consistent over the entire image.

As for the wings, they look kind of unrealistic to me. But I usually think that about 90% of the wings I see, so that might just be me.

Is that rendered?

Kinda has that look, doesn't it?

[FSharp]

Is that rendered?

Yeah, it's rendered. I ran several passes then composited and cleaned things up in Photoshop.

The linework seems intermittent. I don't know why that is, but the hair, forearm, and fabric look almost completely unlined. Also, there's no definition between the wings. I could assume that you shrunk the final image down, and lost some of the finer lines in the process.

So, I'd have to say that the image would look much better if the linework and shading were consistent over the entire image.

Thanks for the feedback.

The linework was computer generated--I render the model using a flat white shader with heavily-posterized black edges then bring that in as a darkening layer. The shading inconsistency is most likely caused by the shaders I assigned to different groups interacting with the light source differently.

But I agree that the piece would be a lot better if it was consistently inked and shaded (damn you, Uncanny Valley). Next piece I do I'll ink and shade the image separately then blend that with the render layers; hopefully that'll result in a more organic feel.

[RobbieThe1st]

Hm... This is quite interesting. I took a look at it before reading the post and thought "Decent work, clean lines, looks good". Then, when I read that it was rendered... I went back, and took a second look at it. The only real issue I found then was that the hair looks plastic.
But, this beings up something that has fascinated me for a while: 3d-rendered "2d" artwork. That is, 3d artwork that looks 2d and is nearly indistinguishable from hand-drawn works. And this is close. Why? Well, once you get to that point, animation becomes a lot easier. I have run into a couple of groups trying to make animated videos based on comics, but the problem is that 2d animation, while it can look really good, takes a -huge- amount of work and time. If you can farm part or most of this out by rendering it, suddenly really good looking, quality animation is possible for one of these groups(and things like camera fly-around matrix action sequences become possible ).
(BTW, yes I know the technology has been around for a while, but this is the first time I have actually seen it in action)

Back on track here, you rendered this image in black and white and then hand-colored it, correct? What program did you use to render it?

Thanks

[FSharp]

Then, when I read that it was rendered... I went back, and took a second look at it. The only real issue I found then was that the hair looks plastic.

Yeah, I'm still working out my approach on the hair. The plastic helmet effect comes from applying an anime-style hair shader to low poly geometry instead of using a more complex, extruded hair model or transparencies. It's a twofold problem for this piece. Complex hair renders realistically, and that doesn't work well when simulating illustration; and, while more complex models might work, they also take longer to render. As regards the latter, Cyra has tons of hair.

For example, in this piece Cyra's hair ended up using twice as many polygons as the rest of her model combined. I had to queue the renders up before leaving for work so I could work on the image when I got home.

Back on track here, you rendered this image in black and white and then hand-colored it, correct? What program did you use to render it?

Everything was rendered in Poser's Firefly engine, including colors. It was one color pass, plus two black and white passes--one with ambient occlusion cranked super high so nearly every edge was picked up. I then used the lighter black and white pass as my base linework layer and selectively masked in areas from the other to bring out additional details on things like the belt sash.

All in all, about three hours of work from start to finish. In terms of animation, you'd have to render each pass as a series of frames then automate the postwork as best you could via Photoshop scripting. It's certainly doable, but programs like Maya have much, much better built-in support for toon rendering, so for an animation piece, I'd start over from there.

[Kipiru]

this

That put a smile on my face 

[FSharp]

If you can farm part or most of this out by rendering it, suddenly really good looking, quality animation is possible for one of these groups(and things like camera fly-around matrix action sequences become possible ).

While it's not particularly high-quality, here's a simple turnaround (i.e. no rigging) of the Cyra model using Maya's toon shaders and toon line generation to provide comparison. Maya can actually do quite a bit better than this, but ... gotta sleep sometime.

[WhiteFox]

*Scrubs the animation back and forth* Whee! She dances! Doot do do doot do doo....

Ahem.

I couldn't help but notice how flat the wings are. Birds wings have a rounded shape to the leading edge of the wing, and the coverlets are not usually as well defined as individual shapes as the primaries and secondaries are.

(Alternate flavor text: Such big... round... spheres... sparkley too.)

[FSharp]

*Scrubs the animation back and forth* Whee! She dances! Doot do do doot do doo....

newly optimized for dance-scrubbing

Actually, this is a followup for RobbieThe1st. While the previous turnaround was rendered in Maya, this was rendered in Poser using Olivier's highly-regarded toon shader library. Both movies were directly rendered with no postwork.

I'm a big fan of Maya, but Poser still produces decent results provided you're patient with it (the toon shaders can't be previewed outside of running test renders). While Poser will never truly compete against Maya or any other production 3D program, given it's a zillion times less expensive, it remains a surprisingly solid option.

I couldn't help but notice how flat the wings are.

Thanks again for the feedback. In the turnaround the wings look like an interchangeable plastic accessory for a cheap Cyra action figure (tempted to add a jetpack), and the back of the hair ... ugh.

Wing models range from low-poly, stylized affairs to high-poly, realistic (slightly nsfw) monsters. I'm partial to the current set because, if nothing else, they render super fast and provide a base that can be embellished upon during postwork.

[Mao]

I think so far, the Dan & Cyra one is my favorite.  It has a look to it, almost kinda like with stained glass or tile work.  I really like it.

[RobbieThe1st]

Lets see. First off, thanks for posting this other work. Its quite interesting to see.

The Dan and Cyra pic - Lets see. Overall, its quite unique. I see a bit of the "stained glass" that Mao sees, and Dan's hair is great! Cyra's hair looks kind of odd though. On this pic, did you color part of it by hand? Just curious.

The first animation - Aside from the whole hair-issue, its decent. Unlike the static pic however, her white eye balls just stand out a lot. Oh, and her tail passing through her hair just looks quite odd.

The second animation - The feathers look a lot more complex here, I can't tell whether this is an improvement or not.


There are two things I noticed about all of these pics: One is of cource the hair. In its current low-poly form, it looks extremely odd.
High-poly looks better, but takes a long time to render. Hm... perhaps texturing the hair might help?
The only other thing I can offer you is this; its a cropped bit of an image from a game I play, and due to some limitations(software rendering being an option), it has been using extremely low poly models. I find it interesting how they are using a little bit of texturing and coloring to produce a -decent- looking effect(Mind you, this particular image was hardware-rendered with 4x AA).
http://robbiethe1st.afraid.org/images/example-hair-pic1.png
Now, don't get me wrong - I am not trying to get you to do something like this - it would be very odd looking. I just wanted to give you a bit of inspiration perhaps.

As for the second issue, why are all your models' ears rounded? I only noticed this when I started comparing to various pics of Amber's, and noticed that all the feline characters have pointed ears, to various extents.


Thanks,

[FSharp]

Thanks for all the feedback.

The Dan and Cyra pic - Lets see. Overall, its quite unique. I see a bit of the "stained glass" that Mao sees, and Dan's hair is great! Cyra's hair looks kind of odd though. On this pic, did you color part of it by hand?

The image was rendered in Maya using various shader tricks and composited in Photoshop. The grain effect comes from stipple rendering the characters (ex. Cyra, Dan).

The first animation - Aside from the whole hair-issue, its decent. Unlike the static pic however, her white balls just stand out a lot. Oh, and her tail passing through her hair just looks quite odd.

Yeah, the turnaround really doesn't do Maya's toon shading justice. Last night I spent some time rendering a properly detailed frame and posted it at the top of the thread for reference. If you haven't seen it already, it's here.

The second animation - The feathers look a lot more complex here, I can't tell whether this is an improvement or not.

Probably because in the second animation I animated the wings.

There are two things I noticed about all of these pics: One is of cource the hair. In its current low-poly form, it looks extremely odd. High-poly looks better, but takes a long time to render. Hm... perhaps texturing the hair might help?

I started collecting my fanart into a separate gallery, and hopefully the images convey that hair tends to be solved on a character by character basis. Nutmeg and Regina's hair worked well with texturing, whereas with Alexsi I achieved some success in anime shading by rendering the hair model from multiple angles then layering the highlights together.

In general, I've had better luck with realistic hair renders. Various examples are available in my other gallery.

I find it interesting how they are using a little bit of texturing and coloring to produce a -decent- looking effect(Mind you, this particular image was hardware-rendered with 4x AA).

Not a bad model. Creating video game hair requires extra skill since you're not only limited in your poly count, you're stuck using triangles since graphics processers render triangles much faster than quads.

As for the second issue, why are all your models' ears rounded?

Huh. I hadn't really considered that. The only model I remember paying special attention to regarding ears was Siar's because of the tufts. So to answer your question, either the default morphs are round or sharp angles somehow inherently terrify and confuse me.

[FSharp]

Update 10/08/09: Added Four Images

Undead Splash Screen (requested)
Superweapon
Wind Sorceress
Steampunk Sorceress

Haven't had much time to work on art, but posting up some stuff I've worked on in the last couple months. Criticism is welcome.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

...

I know those teeth look all wrong in Undead. But... I'm not sure I want to go looking for a skull picture to compare them to. ;-]

I'm pretty sure, from memory, that the upper bounds of the teeth need to curve over each tooth, arch-like. And the jaw as a whole arches as well. And, the canines need to be more prominent...

but, despite that, it's a very impressive picture. The hands, in particular, look wrong in all the right ways, if that makes sense. *grin*


As for the Steampunk Sorceress: my first reaction is "holy shit!" ;-] Most impressive. The only point I'll note is the wings; the lower edge should curve up behind, rather than having that bite taken out. Unless, of course, that was your intent...

[Lysander]

Wow, FSharp. I usually don't like this style of art, but yours is great. The Superweapon is very shiny, I like the misty flow of energy around the ship. Wind sorceress is beautiful: anatomy is great, The blending of her differing fur colors is smooth, her hair looks much like real hair, I really like her muzzle (main thing I usually don't like about these kinds of pictures are the faces), and the detail on her clothing is excellent. Steampunk Sorceress also has great hair, pretty wings, and I love her outfit.   

[FSharp]

I know those teeth look all wrong in Undead.

It's hard to make out in the reference, but the sketch suggested a missing jawbone. To make up for it, I exaggerated the upper teeth quite a bit, and I'm guessing it looks weird because that popped out the semi-cylinder shape of the maxilla. Although looking at it again, I'm thinking a dramatically pronounced overbite just doesn't lend itself well to undead horrors.

Wind sorceress ... blending of her differing fur colors is smooth, her hair looks much like real hair.

I've actually changed the texture and hairstyle on the character since then. Here's a more recent (albeit less-detailed) image of her.

Thanks as always for the feedback.