Feb 2015 3D stuff

Here's 3D Saltire as done as he's going to be. He's at a point now where I could keep tweaking and fixing things forever. 

In the end, it's not really turned out as well as I'd have liked and I had planned to do some better renders and build some environment around him but I am itching to do something else. 

I have learned a lot through doing this though. Especially x-gen hair. Once I got to grips with how it was working it was quite easy to get some decent but basic looking hair rendered. 

I will definitely be using it again and trying to include more of the x-gen features now that I have an understanding of the basics.

Likewise with Augustus. I'm happy with the results and I could do more but I would rather just do better next time.

Some of the new bits I've made for Lapin in with the old. I sort of want to just keep going and make a wee village heh

The game definitely needed a bit more on the light and environment side of things. I'll keep plugging away at it and see what difference it makes.

More Augustus

Short post this time since I skipped life drawing 2 weeks in a row now (Booooo, me! Boooooo!) 

I did a bit of writing and plotting for some comic ideas but mostly I was continuing with Augustus in Mudbox and now Maya. The first image below is how he was looking in Mudbox about a week ago. I was majorly unhappy with the hair so I spent some time trying to figure out nhair in Maya again. I'm determined to get nhair looking decent. If that doesn't work I'll have a look for other hair solutions. 

Better news is I got him looking pretty decent in the Maya renders. I've just got a bit more render setup stuff to do and then I can move on. Here's how he's looking now.

Tis also about time I finished off that Saltire model as well. I was getting on fine with it til it came to doing his hair so the plan now is to get both him and Augustus properly done and ready to render. Might even render them out as well. Then get working on some decent looking hair for them both and comp it together.

Augustus

At the start of this year I listened to a 200 odd episode podcast going right through the History of Rome. I loved it and it made me think a lot about parallels with today's world and politics and militaries. Before this I hadn't ever really appreciated how much you can learn from history. It shed some new light on the old saying about being doomed to repeat the mistakes you don't understand for me.

Anyway there were a couple of stand outs for me in the history. Augustus is the one I admire most though. He played the politics game beat all his rivals, outsmarted rival general, Marc Anthony and manipulated the senate into giving him control then got them to vote to keep him as first citizen (basically emperor). He then spent the rest of his life owning all his enemies and keeping total control of the empire until he died of old age by keeping the people and the soldiers happy. 

It was because of Augustus the Roman Republic became a Roman Empire. (Not a good thing in my opinion but I can't help but be amazed by what he achieved.) When he died he passed on his powers to an heir, Tiberius, I think, and it wasn't long until anyone who was alive that remembered there being a republic died of old age, and so we got a succession of emperors to rule over the Roman empire until it's demise hundreds of years later.

I'd been wanting to do something a bit more detailed for a while so here's this guy. Augustus of the Roman Empire. 

He's obviously far from finished. I've got a tonne more painting and sculpting fixes to do. And I might stick skin shaders on him and do some nice renders. Not overly happy with the "hair" - tis just a sculpted mesh at the moment but I might get away with it since it's not to wild.

If you want to listen to the podcast it's available as free downloads/streams here:

http://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/

It's quite an undertaking but thoroughly enjoyable!

I also have a batch of life drawings from last night here I skipped a week and nearly didn't go last night again but am glad I did. Got some good ones done and was good to get back to it after a break. Was fun drawing the fat lady. Lot's of folds and shadows and shapes.

*Edit*

Wee update. Boots and sleeves done and various tidying up on the sculpt and work on the metal parts. There's a chance I'll get him finished tomorrow.