Mirn's Book of Renders

Greeting, 3d-world stranger. In this humble place I'll share some of my works, thoughts, hopes and achievements.
Feel free to share your thoughts as well. I really like to read some valuable feedback and critical comments.

  • Michael Mirn(michaelmirn) replied


    So, here are some thoughts for the next one (as a part of the creating the eight characters self proclaimed task). I think I will take turns in the process -- do not want to get bored -- and start with the female, then male, and so on, up to eight.

    The succubus will be the first. Not the one in the picture -- it's just an illustration / sculpture by Auguste Roden -- but the one that seems right to me. Apparently, who would be able to spread his charms on me).

    Firstly there will be blocking / sculpting, then creation of an archetype, then the actual creation of a model.

    According to the plan, I am hoping to make a model for each of the following archetypes: slim/fit/bulky/obese. So please share your ideas for future projects if you have any. It is always good to snatch a fresh one.

  • Keith (beefkeef) replied

    I absolutely love the lighting you have going on here Michael 👍👍👍 Fantastic!

  • Michael Mirn(michaelmirn) replied

    Thanks, beefkeef

    Btw, Keith, have you ever tried to loop a particle animation? And if so -- have you ever succeeded? I really tried with this one but failed eventually. So I wonder if this is even possible at all since it is completely random.

  • Peter (ponchismaaan) replied

    I abolutely love this model. The attention to detail on the texture is amazing. So well realised.

  • spikeyxxx replied

    Hi Michael, I am guesing  that you are talking about the air bubbles in the water. Here's what you could do:

    Use a Bezier Circle as a Curve Guide for the Particles and make two particle Systems (that are the same apart from the time offset!)

    Some notes:

    Make sure the Emitter is not in the Camera view, because you might get cut off particles.

    I tried this in 3.1, but couldn't get the two Particle Systems to be the same, so I rendered 100 Frames and then added the first 50 with the second 50 together like this:

    but of course using 2.93 is easier.

    You can of course straighten the part of the Curve that is in the Camera view.

    I hope this is helpful.



  • Michael Mirn(michaelmirn) replied

    spikeyxxx  thanks a lot)

    These are not bubbles but krill and some little tiny fragments of sea life. They are supposed to float random + whale's body adds some disturbance to it too.
    As for the trick itself -- yes, that might work with bubbles or any other directly moving objects. I'd play around with transitional smoothness and "fade in" / "fade out" options. But your idea seems legit, yes.


    How's the 3.1 btw? I am still using 2.93 and just picking up the pace after the pretty long period of inactivity. Is it good / far fetched / completely different / same but better?

    ponchismaaan  Thank you very much! I wish I could have gone for the 8k texture set tho)

  • spikeyxxx replied

    If they are randomly floating,but not moving in one direction, you could animate it twice, once forwards and once backwards and then mix between the two, using the essence of the technique shown here:

    https://cgcookie.com/tutorial/creating-a-looping-cloth-simulation

    As for 3.1, it's still a bit buggy, but Geometry Nodes, for instance, is completely different (don't even bother learning it in 2.93) and a lot better! For the rest, Cycles render a lot faster, but I did have a few 'freezes' when trying to render animations, mainly when I broke off a render and changed some setting and started again.


  • Michael Mirn(michaelmirn) replied

    That;s good to know, spikeyxxx
    For some reason I've never been able to finish this one off. Maybe that was fate.

  • Keith (beefkeef) replied

    Came here to say "Michael, I don't think it's possible to loop with the particles...." and then I saw Spikeys post!  Amazing! 


    Now my mind has been blown 😅 


  • Michael Mirn(michaelmirn) replied

    Step_1. Fit archetype. Sculpting / wip:

    Btw -- is there any strict rules about nudity? I do adore female body shapes and I am all up for the aesthetic nudity. But that's me. Do not want to cross any boundaries if there are any on CGC.

  • Michael Mirn(michaelmirn) replied

    Hey guys and girls!

    The year 2021 has almost passed and that year was harsh. All these unstable economic shifts, post-Covid restrictions (and now it's pre-omicron too), plus some serious problems like Blender 3.0 delays and so on.

    But the next 2022 has almost arrived and I genuinely think that's not too wise to waste energy on events that belong to the past.

    Let 2022 be a great year! And let everyone have the most powerful rigs on which even more beauty and artistic media will be created. Let there always be friends, loved ones and family by your side. Cherish your darlings and be kind. And love that world.

    Happy New Year!

  • adrian replied

    Well said Michael!

    Happy New Year!

  • Michael Mirn(michaelmirn) replied

    Scuplting. I think that body part is finally done. Have to consider hoofs/ tail and wings tho.
    Plus I have not decided how to pose that body yet. Do not want to make a cheesy boobs and ass flasher out of this.

    Head and blissful retopo are coming.

    And it is really hard to find the right tint for the skin:

  • Keith (beefkeef) replied

    Happy New Year Michael, very well said indeed! 

  • Keith (beefkeef) replied

    Coming along very nicely Michael! 

    I think for the skin tone you could always leave it more natural/neutral looking and use some dramatic lighting to present the model - it looks like you've been experimenting with the lighting in the render and it's looking pretty good!

    On the other hand, aren't these creatures some kind of Demon? So it's totally fair if you wanted to use a non human skin colour too! 

    Whichever route you go, I'm enjoying the progress on this one (can't wait to see the hooves!) 👍



  • Michael Mirn(michaelmirn) replied

    beefkeef Thanks, Keith!

    As for the Demon: on the one hand, yes, these creatures are demons and there is already a very definite image: femme-fatale catching voluptuous men with her beauty and subjugating them to her will. But it seems a bit boring to me to make another stereotypical one.
    What if a succubus is just a beautiful baby who was slandered by obscene vulgars? And all these qualities attributed to her, lets say, masks or whips, are not signs of mistress/bdsm or something, but the need to hide her pretty face from maniacs + desire to somehow protect herself. And carrying a whip for a lady is simply more convenient than carrying a two-handed sword or bazooka.

    In general, that's how I see it. But I haven't decided on the skin color yet, yes)

  • Michael Mirn(michaelmirn) replied

    Since retopo is like watching the paint dry I try to entertain myself with occasional activities. Gonna sculpt / model these horns and then proceed with the rest of that body.

    Got 2 more pitstops in my mind: wings and hoofs. Not sure about hoofs tho, looks too boring.

  • Michael Mirn(michaelmirn) replied

    Back to that model again. Retopo is halfway done. Here is how that looks:

    I really like these horns better. Previous version was a bit too tight and close to the scull. Current horns feel just right and I don't want to add hair cause that would make that model too human and familiar I guess. That's not what I want. I try to make it repulsive and attractive, sexy and ugly, horrifying and seductive, cruel and tender.

    The final picture is still boiling down in my mind and I am not sure about wings either. But I'll have to add some props for sure: a whip and a mask.
    Anyway, I'll try to finish this in a week (probably being too optimistic) cause I already want to start another one)

  • Michael Mirn(michaelmirn) replied

    Topology/Rigging/Posing/Unwrapping:

    I think that doing sculpting/retopo before rigging and posing was a mistake. I tried to create a model that I could use for different purposes but that caused so much trouble.
    Plus I've spent too much time tweaking the final mesh after that posing.

    But I'm getting closer to the final one.

  • Keith (beefkeef) replied

    She's definitely looking quite scary with those long nails Michael!


    I like being able to see her silhouette through her gown, that's a nice touch. How did you go about making the gown, was that a cloth sim you ran?