Spaceman Zot – please critique

[fabmedia]

Here we go... all honest comments and critiques are welcome.

Thanks!
Arlen

[drclare]

I love this charater. Great work!

[renatolazzaroni]

I like it, especially the gloves.
I am not sure why you put it in WIP, though. Are you planning to add something to it ?


Renato

[Don Cassity]

Arlen. I think this character is great! I think his color and the spots are just right. Though maybe the spots could be bumped, have you tried that? Wish I had done him:p Have you made facial morphs yet? Can his eyes blink? How will his antennas move, bones or MD?

Again, great job.

Later. Don

[Don Cassity]

Arlen. I went back to an earlier post of yours and found my answers there:D Keep up the good work!

Later. Don

[fabmedia]

Here's an update with some new poses. I'm still working on it. Just wondering if you have any suggestions on how to stop something from stretching when posed. I have some boots for him, but removed them because of stretching when the leg was bent. I made them smaller in height but that wasn't enough. I tried keeping the boot mapped to the foot, but that posed other problems as well especially in the back. Should I create another weight for the middle of the shin?

Arlen

[Don Cassity]

Try putting the boot on the foot. Then delete all the geometry that fits inside the boot. You don't need it anyway. Just leave enough to fit inside the boot. Then give the boot the wieght map that the foot/leg had. This is of course after you've made a copy of your character. Hope this helps, it has for me in the past.

Later. Don

[fabmedia]

Well before I rework the boot, take a gander at this...

[DigiLusionist]

He looks like he's going to be a fun character to animate. And his ship is cool. I like this last render. Of course, it would take forever to render out a short with that lighting set up.

I would add knee pads that match his arm and calf pads. And I'd use the same material as the soles of his boots. That would add something to his feet.

[DigiLusionist]

Oh, and have you decided on how you're going to animate his antennae?

[fabmedia]

Well what I used was Radiosity with background turned on at 5x15, No baking (can someone explain this to me?), and 2 area lights. I rendered it out at 1600x1200 and it did take a bit. I'm going t orender out an NTSC widescreen to see how long it'll take to do.

As for the antenea there is 12 bones for each antenea. The bottom bone is the base bone. The next is what I would call a minor bone and is only going to be animated when necessary. Then there is a null then 5 bones which use follower on the null on the heading and bank axis, then another null with bones 6-9 usings follower on the 2nd null. I'm trying to implement a Lscript called MGSpring that will make the final 2 bones oscilate when action takes place. I'm having trouble implementing it because the null just takes off and screws things up. But that's it.

Arlen

[fabmedia]

Well I just rendered an NTSC frame, and zoiks!!!! It came out to a whopping 24 minutes. Now I'm nott too sure what to do about that except maybe loose the Radiosity and do a cheat.

Hmmmm....

A

[DigiLusionist]

I don't know if you read this thread about animating an antenna
or whether the spring script you mentioned will work just as well or better, but I thought I'd pass this along:

http://vbulletin.newtek.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4963&highlight=antenna

[fabmedia]

Hey it's your script that I'm trying to implement into his antenea for the tip. MGSpring. I can get it working on everything else but not in his antenea. dunno why but it confuses the hell out of me. Any ideas why the goal null just shoots off into oblivion? It's an excellent script by the way. I could only dream of being able to program such a thing.

Arlen

[DigiLusionist]

Arlen, I didn't program the Springs script you're talking about. I haven't seen it. Where can I download it from?

I only wrote the Whipping Antenna tutorial that can be found in the thread I posted the link to.

[fabmedia]

Search for MGSpring on flay.com. It's a great little script. I've just been having trouble with implementing it on the antenea.

A

[Hieraco]

Very intresting character, Two thumbs up.
Excelent work on teh facial expressions on the multiple poses. Keep us posted on the progress of the project.

[roguenroll]

very nice.

[Doran]

I like it.

I would put a little more glossiness on the eyeball; it didn't really bother me until I saw the render of him standing next to the highly glossy ship and compared the two surfaces.

[fabmedia]

Ahhhh, yes. A definitive oversite on my part. I'm glad others have a keen eye. I'm working on another image as we speak on hopefully I'll get it posted in the next day or so.

Cheers!
A

[iandavis]

I'm sure it has been considered, but what about a nose... is this guy a mouth breather? he he...

Very nice work indeed! :cool:

[fabmedia]

thanks for the compliment! A nose? Nope. Not for little buddy boy. Strickly a mouth breather (or antenea). But the eyes definitely need fixing.

Arlen

[[hjd_uk]]

He's great. Love the style and design. Subtle texture on the head is good.
Only thing he needs is more definition on the lower half of his body - I think he needs his boots. Otherwise its "Good to go". Im not too sure but i think Weightmapping your bones will help.