waterWheel blockout...
please tear it apart!
: )
sculpting; day three...
have both the stones and the wood "figured out"...
"lost" more than half of the time allocated rethinking stones after seeing the techniques in yesterday's livestream (introduced filter: inflate, also, went much more free hand, less masking).
this is how I will treat the support structure:
it allows a much simpler base mesh as well (opposed to the previous in which the individual stones are blocked in first):
LoL! I'm beginning to see the benefits of sculpting...
; )
unfortunately, less than an hour was left for what was originally planed to be the only thing:
no, it's not AfterEight, it's WOOD!
: D
right... tomorrow, I'll be applying all this to the actual model and, hopefully, by sunday, actually have something half decent to submit... if I figure out the gdrive that is!
; )
to anyone reading all this: why are you doing this to yourself?
: D
you're a champ!
this collab is AWESOME and, sculpting isn't that bad once one is the "right mindset"... glad to have "made myself" learn, even a little bit of it... as I was half jokingly hinting above though, I can see it finding its place in my toolset permanently... happy to have overcome the initial aversion...
Really nice improvement :) youre getting the hang of it, i sure look forward to see the progression :D.
Keep up the great work
oh... I get it now...
: D
sculpting; inbetween days...
just wanted to... check something quickly on the base mesh for tomorrow and... here I am, a good while later discovering like a seventh way to tile the stones...
LoL!
seriously... I get it, only now... what I mean is, I guess: instead of trying to figure out a "workflow" (almost algorithmically) I am better off just playing... the problem is knowing when to stop!
: D
and I don't mean (or, not only) the slipped by time, but, literally... my wall was much better a quarter of an hour and a few layers of digital clay ago...
anyway...
: D
over and out!
sculpting; day four...
that's... pretty much it!
: D
not good not terrible...
veeeeery time consuming... for me... that's where the logging hours (that I simply do not have) make a difference...
everything is done star wars (1977) production style: anything offcamera is absent...
: )
; )
Fantastic work for week 2 @rationarats! Considering this is your first sculpting project, you should feel very accomplished 👏
My broad note is that everything feels like it's headed in a great direction, but that nothing is quite fully developed. The star wars approach haha! If our goal was a still render this would be very smart. But since we want to orbit around the scene freely, not so much 😅
If this is a WIP and you need more time, that's OK! Several people need more time to finish sculpting. Week 4 is designed to be a buffer; extra time to finish assets.
@theluthier thanks for the kind feedback! you pick just the right words to keep me going!
: )
I am planning on redoing (the whole thing) and possibly adding the secondary asset as well (the chimney) with the knowledge freshly acquired... then going through the current task (at the moment learning by doing about the texturing, surprisingly a lot, considering that unlike sculpting it isn'y my first rodeo) and if it all comes together by sunday: fireworks!
the WiP is for me, quite literally, WiP; not intending to leave it at its current state... will set to deliver the quality as if it were to be included in the final (aware that that's a slim chance, but, all the same ; ) finished, first and foremost (with orbiting view and all in mind) and the extra time (the said buffer) is of course welcomed but it doesn't fundamentally change my scheduling, for, I'm expecting problems to emerge and fill up that time anyway...
btw, learning about time managing [self] is just as valuable as the techniques themselves... bla... finishing this "block" by stressing my gratitude towards the patience and flexibility that you've expressed @theluthier and sorry for these walls of text that I'm producing... : D succinct != rational rats, but we try...
; )
for me, the feedback and the week to week frame helps a lot in my primary goal, which is "forcing" myself to go through all of the steps of a complete production, focusing on the phases that I am weaker at (sculpting being the most obvious and extreme example) that I manage to avoid in my typical work...
thank you @theluthier again; I welcome harsher feedback too : ) that helps growth... I'd lie if I were to say that words like 'accomplished' are not music to my ears th0!
: )
You receive feedback very well rationalrats 👍 Though I didn't at all mean to suggest you should start over. Only to finish what you had started since it was headed in the right direction! Start over if you really think you need to...but I'd suggest continuing instead.
Hi Peter, I don't have any feedback to give you but I just wanted to pop in here and say how nice it is to see how much you've progressed on your sculpting so far. It's so impressive, keep up the good work! 👍👍👍
thank you so much beefkeef !
: )
appreciated!
matter of fact, just finished a two hour sculpting session now... seeing your comment == icing on the cake!
cheerZ!!
: D
I'm guessing that I'll need to bake some BAD cookies before the good ones emerge, eventually...
@theluthier I was expecting artifacts and, all kinds of growing pains, but not at this magnitude...
in hindsight, my "hypothesis" is, clumsiness due to lack of experience and learning on the fly aside:
1) the difference between my high and low poly meshes is just too extreme (hundreds vs tens of millions) for this method of "tricking" via normal maps to actually work and not look like a parody of self... it seems btw, after a very sloppy research, that what I was expecting and going for is achievable with displacement maps, which, are in our case a no no (engine limitations)... bla... after trying different extrusion settings, then shooting in the dark with all kinds of settings and even trying to introduce a cage, no significant amelioration presented itself...
2) the sculpting itself needs to have its goal in mind throughout the process... for example, the stones in the support should not vary in offset (in regard to the target geometry) as much as they do in my end result, etc...
I would (if there was time, and, also seeing that I just may have misinterpreted the whole 'low poly; follow the concept art closely' directive from the get go) actually redo (!) : D the whole thing, from scratch with all these (and many more) things learned in mind... as the sunday deadline nears though, and the fact that all my activities here were practically derailed by unexpected events this week doesn't help either; realistically, I'll try and use the time remaining to "fix" instead, and go for finished rather than what I would find satisfactory... and... cannot even guarantee that in good conscious, all things considered, two days before the curtain drops...
thanks @theluthier for, well, everything! : ) if you do find the time to share some thoughts on my "hypothesis" while putting together all these different assets driven by a vague interpretation of a digital painting, from different people from all four corners of this lovely planet of ours into a unified master file, hunting for missing cavity maps and finding a naming convention and a method of syncing that just may work, all within a month, in a location that one can walk through, even if only by WASD (did I mention that this whole endeavour is, crazy aside, to me just astonishing ; ) I would appreciate it, but, totally not hold a grudge if you don't...
: )
I have, in a way, hitched a ride here... the clearly stated prerequisites (courses at least viewed) ignored; because, for me, it was a unique opportunity to, as I've openly stated on multiple occasions, "make myself" actually do and learn things that I normally wouldn't, such as sculpting, UV mapping, texture baking... and for a better part, it worked!
: )
I've learned a lot!
had it all gone (my side) according to the plan, it would have worked "completely" I dare claim!
: D
I'll stop writing now and open blender, maybe to finally try and see, if a little late, what in bloodyBlazes cavity maps actually ARE...
to... illustrate what I meant by parody of self, and, as general observation leading to my "hypothesis" (above) now reproduced...
: D
rationalrats, it looks like you have finished your project. I'd love to post your artwork in the TSMF Blog. Please let me know if you create a money shot.
rationalrats Nuts, I know what it's like to throw in the towel on a project / model / technique. While I'm bummed to read this was the case, as you've said, you learned a lot and that's what's most important. We've all been there. I've no doubt that if you started over today everything would go much smoother.
Looking through this thread I don't see anything glaringly wrong with your process. It was likely small things compounding each step of the way till it's enough off course to warrant a restart. as you alluded to. Again, it's a common situation for all artists of all skill levels. Let's be honest: 3D is crazy complex with tremendous potential for mistakes and oversight. Most recently for me the chimney smoke idea that seemed brilliant in my head delivered a terrible result lol.
I don't read much discouragement in your post which is HUGE. It takes a very sensible person to accept this with a good attitude. That will take you far, sir.
Despite an unfinished result, you've earned full points from me. Pushing through a task when the storm clouds gather is admirable and I affirm the effort! Thanks for joining Collab2021. It's been a pleasure working with you 🤝
