Weekly Update – July 19, 2015 – And the Dragons Have Started to Arrive

Posted on July 19, 2015 by SusanG

Yes. You read that right. Dragons.

The significance of the arrival of dragons has to do with the challenges I have in drawing or sculpting them. For some reason I couldn’t get my head around how the wings worked in relation to the arms. I also had trouble with the wing structure. I finally decided that part of my problem might be that I was trying to draw on strictly from imagination and it might help to start by drawing one from a reference of a dragon someone else had drawn. I can’t tell you why it took me this long to figure that out.

I found a fairly simple representation of a dragon and sketched it out. I was a bit surprised and quite pleased with the result.

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So from there I decided to start a full dragon in ZBrush. I used a dynamesh sphere and the insert sphere tool these allowed me to add components were I needed more polys to start to layout something like the front feet or the back feet. I did a lot of the shaping with the move brush and ZRemesher. It’s not done by any means but here are a few work in progress shots (WIP).

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What I have learned so far is that, now that I am more familiar with the dynamesh sphere and the insert sphere brush, for the next one I will start a little different. I think for the next one I may start with the head and get it nicely blocked in and then add the rest of the body using the insert brushes.

The dragon stayed with me for my morning sketch. This one, completely with out reference in front of me. That’s a good sign I think.

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That turned out to be a busy sketch day. Later in the evening I was watching NASA channel and was compelled to make these next couple of sketches. The first being an airplane inspired by a design I saw on the program and the second being a spaceship.

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Oh, and those were the last sketches in that particular sketchbook.

The next day and a new sketchbook saw this created.

20150719_084255_sm_crop_wmThis one started out with the idea of drawing a triceratops. And then I realized I didn’t have a clear enough picture of what one looks like to do it justice or even hope to get the upper horns right. So it morphed into this creature. It’s a little creepy looking, I think.

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This one is kind of cute. And it looks like he’s going somewhere.

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I thought drawing a body part would be a good idea. I don’t draw a lot of feet so I figured I could use the practice. In the process some of my ghost lines implied bones so I added them. The idea, I like. However, it did serve to remind me that I may need to do more anatomy studies. And soon.

You may notice the watermarks in the images today. This is new. And I will likely continue to do this. It is a practice that I have known I needed to do for some time and had noticed a friend of mine, who is an artist in Austin, doing this when she posted pics of her paintings. She posted a PSA on Facebook about artists sharing their work online and some of the things we need to do to help protect our work. This is a simple version of a watermark with a copyright on it. There are also digital watermarks and a service that I found that does that is called DigiMarc for Images. There is a fee involved and it’s a little different. But still a good idea.

A finally got the ZBrush to KeyShot Bridge working on Boscoe. This did involve several suggestions from the Pixologic support staff. As well as my providing some detailed
screenshots. And then finally a recommendation to uninstall and reinstall with some specific instructions inbetween of folders to remove. Those specific instructions sent me
poking around in folders and allowed me to find out that the folder was on the C: drive and since I installed on the E: drive and the folder wasn’t in the corresponding location on the E: drive, things weren’t talking nice. The reinstall and a copy over of the folder to the E: drive allowed the plugin to be registered and now it all works.

The move of the websites to new hosting is progressing. Sort of. I was able to test moving a copy of one of my sites to my laptop, stand alone versions of WordPress and after some issues and fanangeling with the database and access user and password I was able to get it to work. I think I know now how to make this work for the live copy and hope what it’s goes smoothly. It might. We’ll see. I want to make a couple more changes to that site before I decide to do that so I think I will test them on the laptop first so I know what to do when I move it for real.

The day job this week looks to be a bit intense. I’m not sure how things are going to go. I sort of anticipate some long days and being mentally spent so I don’t know how much will get done on the fun stuff this week. Hopefully I will get some stuff worked on. I’d like to get more done on Bernice and I’d like to get back to some of my 3ds Max stuff.

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Weekly Update – July 11, 2015 – Up and Running, Mostly

Posted on July 11, 2015 by SusanG

Boscoe is almost ready. I’ve got the important software loaded and working except for one component. Not too bad. I did have some concerns about the software I use and
transferring it to the new computer. And it has mostly gone smoothly. Hooray!HouseModel_07112015a

I have even managed to get a little time in 3ds Max to work on a couple of projects. I thought I was going to use this house for both the Halloween project as well as the
Bee project. Now I’m rethinking the Halloween project and I may not use it for that. Oh well I’ve got it started for the Bee project so that’s good.

I also got started on the Bee. I’ve decided to try modeling many of the components in separate files and then I will import them into a final project file. For the Bee I am
BeeModel_07112015atrying some of the techniques I learned in the Digital Tutors course on Creating a Character for Animation in 3ds Max. I know I’ve mentioned this course before. I have found several of the techniques very useful. So I’ve got the Bee started. I’ve started the face and the body. I need a little more for the body and the stinger and then the finer
details like limbs and wings.

My one component that isn’t working on Boscoe is the Zbrush to KeyShot Bridge. I’ve got everything else installed and working but for some reason I can’t seem to get it to
let me activate it. I’m wondering if it has anything to do with everything being installed on the E: drive and the programs are expecting to find each other on the C: drive. I may have to poke around and see if I can find a setting or something for that, or a config file. Not sure.

DSCN0321_sm_cropI’m really pleased that in spite of the day job trying to take over my week, I managed to get some modeling started. I hope to get a bit more worked on this weekend. I also
got sketch time in. I’m approaching the last of this particular sketchbook.

I admit though, the first one this week was just odd. I had a headache and I think I was wishing for my bed. Of course this was after I spoke with GoDaddy and made some changes to my hosting that will mean a lot of work for me. So, yeah, I must have been wishing for my bed.

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I don’t know but she’s interesting.

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While I was working on the model of the house and thinking that maybe I wouldn’t use it for the Halloween piece, I started thinking about what I might want to do DSCN0328_sm_cropinstead. And the idea of a jack o’lantern with a witch’s hat came to mind and I sat down to sketch it out to see how it might look. However, I was enjoying the results of the jack o’lantern so much that I just sketched it and left of the hat since I wan’t sure how I wanted to put it on the jack o’lantern and didn’t want to overwrite or mess up what I had. So I just did the jack o’lantern. I did find a scrap piece of paper later to futz around with the idea with the hat and my go with that. Just not sure yet. But here’s the jack o’lantern.

Not sure where this guy came from but I’m thinking I might want to develop him. He’s kind of fun.

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So the drum thing is still a possible thing. I went with a commercial drum here instead of the one I have which is pretty much custom. It’s not as fancy or as complicated as mine. Still a nice shape and would be an interesting thing to model. So it’s still a thing.

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This one started out with the intent to be a buffalo. And then I realized it had been too long since I have seen a buffalo to be able to make even a passing sketch. So it gotDSCN0340_sm_crop
tweeked and now its sort of a mash up but I’m not entirely sure of what. I thought it might be worth trying to work out more of it but I’m not sure yet.

Things to come in the next few weeks. Well, besides the day job stuff which may get out of hand and over flow into everything else. As I mentioned, I have made some changes to the hosting account for this site and will be needing to do maintenance. I will try to post a warning for when I plan to make the changes that way if you can’t get to it you’ll know what’s up. Though, I’m hoping that any down time will be very minimal. I have another site I will be testing with to minimize the glitches.

Also to come will be more modeling and sketching. I was working on some business cards for a client and that is on hold for about a month so I will regroup and try to make progress on one or more of all the other ideas I have to work on.

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Weekly Update – July 5, 2015 – Boscoe Has Arrived

Posted on July 5, 2015 by SusanG

Boscoe is here! Boscoe is the new computer. It took a little longer to get here than I was supposed to because of some shipping delays that I found extremely frustrating. But while I waited I had some really awesome Women’s World Cup soccer matches to watch. As a consequence of the such distractions, I have not got much modeling work done this week. I am expecting to change that soon. Today is the final match of the Women’s World Cup which means once that is over there will be nothing on TV to distract me. And the computer has arrived. So I should be able to start to get back to work.

Yes the new computer is here. It’s a beast of a machine by my standards and looks it. I needed to name it as part of the setup process and it got named Boscoe. I don’t know why that name. It just came to mind and well I think it’s appropriate for the machine.

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Once it finally arrived, after being delayed, and I unboxed it, I discovered I needed new cables. I have a Cintiq that I plan to use as well as two other monitors I want to use, the video card will support 4 monitors. The problem was that the Cintiq is going to use the only DVI connection on the video card and there is only 1 HDMI connection the others are all Display Port connections. I didn’t have an HDMI to HDMI cable and I didn’t have an HDMI to Display Port cable, so off to my local big box electronics store.
They only had the HDMI to HDMI cable but were out of the other. So I bought the one cable and then ordered the other cable from Amazon with next day shipping.

A good deal of my weekend has revolved around setting up this new computer. Not only do I have to install all the software I need, I also had to re-arrange my office to 20150705_135956_SM_Cropaccommodate it. That was not a terribly easy task and though I previously created a rough model of my office and all the furniture in it for the sake of being able to move things around and see how things would look, I did not use that. I, instead, chose to wing it and just move things and figure it out as I went. So it took a while, but it’s done. And so far, I’ve got most of the software I need installed. The Autodesk software was pretty easy and so was the Adobe software. I’ve just got to figure out how to get the ZBrush, ZBrush to Keyshot bridge, and Keyshot moved over. For now though, it can at least start to get back to some work. Well, after today’s game.

I did manage some sketches this week as well. So all was not a complete loss. I ended up with some more interesting things than I have before. I quite like this first one of a bird like character.

I really like the look of that bird character but I didn’t want to stick to just birds so I thought I’d try a monkey type of character.

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When I got ready to do the next one I was thinking I wanted something with antenna. That’s not what I got though. I’m still not sure if this is a dog or a rabbit. I was thinking dog as I was doing it but, except that I don’t recall rabbits having tongues that long, it has a little rabbit look to it.

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I did get my character with antenna finally. It took a little longer than the others so I’m guessing it was just waiting for me to have the time to do it. This was the one sketch I got done while I was off from my regular job this week, so I had the time to work on it. I like it a lot too.

I may have to consider modeling something based on one of these sketches from this week.

Speaking of modeling from sketches. The little bit of time that I did get in with modeling, I started to create the alien I sketched a few weeks back. I’m not very far along. I’ve just got a bit of the head done. But it’s a start. I’m using the same technique that was covered in the Digital Tutors’ course on Modeling a Character for Animation in 3ds Max. Maybe I’ll get back to it this week so I have something to show next week.

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Weekly Update June 28, 2015

Posted on June 28, 2015 by SusanG

Ever have one of those weeks where try as hard as you can you just don’t feel like you are making head way? That was a bit how my week went. For as excited as I was about the visit to Hackerspace and the 3D printing and the added excitement from working on the cart for my computer, it just doesn’t seem to have been enough to translate to work at the computer. Very frustrating.

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Not that the week was a total waste. I did manage to finish the cart for the computer. Good thing too as it’s expected to be delivered this week. The only think I’ve left off is the stopper to keep me from pushing it off the end when I press the power button. Here’s a look at it.

 

Oh and here is a look at a cool looking church I saw on my way up to the Hackerspace last week.

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I did manage some sketching this week.

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This is a rough sketch of a stuffed rabbit that sits on one of my dressers. My Grandmother made it for me many years ago as a graduation gift. It’s quite cute I think.

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I’m a little out of practice with drawing trees I think. I may need to take the sketchbook outside more. Though with the summer temperatures we are having across the country, well, I’m not terribly enthusiastic about that.

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As always I’m hoping to get more fun in this week. I’ve got 3 days of regular work and then I’m off for the July 4th holiday. I took a couple of extra days so I could have a good long break. Now with the new computer coming, I will probably be using a lot of that time making room for the computer and getting the computer all set up. There is all that software to install and the customization and…oh yeah, I got it with Windows 8.1 so there will be that to deal with.

Of course there are the semi-finals and the finals of the Women’s World Cup this week and over the next weekend. The quarter-finals this weekend were some exceptionally exciting soccer for the most part. The France versus Germany game was a nail biter. And such a heart break for France. Though I was cheering Germany both teams played so well that I would have been happy if either team had won. I’m hoping the rest of the matches are equally as exciting and of course that means distracting.

I think I may abandon some of my structured plans this week since everything will be out of whack with the work schedule, the computer disruption, and soccer. With any luck that means I’ll have something digital to share with at the next update and not just my pencil sketches.

I’m thinking, it could be an interesting week. For now I think I’ll watch some Eureka, on DVD.

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Weekly Update – June 21, 2015 – Squirrels in Abundance

Posted on June 21, 2015 by SusanG

Someone let loose a whole pack of squirrels near me this weekend and I had to go chasing after a few. I was still chasing one or two from earlier in the week so it has been an interesting weekend.

I made a point of seeing the new Pixar movie “Inside Out” on Friday. Really enjoyed it. It’s a great movie. I watched it as much for the cool animation as for the story. I thought both were really great. There was one particular spot, early on, the shots of the baby, were especially striking for their incredible life like look. I think all the emotions as characters are fabulous and a lot of fun. I got there early and had to entertain myself while I waited for it to start. Here’s what I did. Not too bad for such low light.

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I was poking around to find out if there is a Makerspace in my area and found that we have a Hackerspace which turns out to be basically the same thing. They are way on the other side of town from me so getting there is a bit of a trek. Still they were having a 3D Printing 101 crash course on Saturday so after the Germany versus Sweden Women’s Wold Cup soccer game I trekked all the way to the other side of the world. It turned out to be really cool. If you ever watched the windows defrag program you will understand how watching little bits of melted filament print out on a hot surface to create something can be so
mesmerizing. That aside, Hackerspace was also a cool place.

I have a new computer coming that will be too big to fit into the hanging bracket that my current computer sits in so I will have to sit it on the floor. Of course, I don’t want to sit it directly on the carpet so I need something to put under it. I could just use a piece of plywood or something like that but I’ve decided to go a little further with it. I’ve decided to create sort of a flat cart for it. So first the wood, then it needs trim and wait, I can put wheels on it, oh and what about maybe a bit of a stopper to keep it from sliding off if the back when I push the power button. And, paint. It needs to be painted. You see how this went? So far I have the wood platform cut down to size, sanded and started painting. I’ve got the trim cut and a first coat of paint as well. I got this cool spray paint that makes a metallic hammered type texture. But I needed a second can because it soaks into the wood and it takes a really heavy coat to get the full look. So back for more of that. Once the paint is done then it’s just a matter of putting it all together. I did have a moment where I thought that the cool tools in Hackerspace would have made some of what I was doing so much easier and faster.

See, lots of squirrels. And that was just this weekend.

I made a trip to the art supply store this week as well. I really like the sketchbook I’ve been using and since it is approaching full, I decided I would go get a couple more before I had to use something else. I also picked up issue 81 of 3D Artist Magazine. I wanted issue 82 that just came out as it features “Inside Out” but it’s a UK magazine so we don’t get the physical copy in the US for a few more weeks. Still, as I looked through it I discovered that at least one of the tutorials I would be able to follow along with. I know that may seem a little strange, you’re supposed to be able to follow them but trust me, when it is so big a stretch it’s just not always reasonable. So to find that I could look at the project and know I would be able to do it and that it was no longer beyond me, that was cool.

And now to this week’s sketches, well besides the pre-movie entertainment.

Here are a couple from early in the week.

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I finished the ZBrush course that I was watching. I think it may be the best course I’ve seen. The presenter was great and covered so much stuff. He made it clear enough that I felt comfortable getting in and trying to find and poke around for some of the new tools 20150620_095923_sm_cropand techniques. Wow. I feel like it’s made a huge difference and I have only just started to get into a new project with it so can’t wait to see what I can do now. Remember that goal of completing 3 ZBrush projects before the end of September, I’ve been having trouble deciding what to do for the next one. Though, I think I might have come up with something. It will require using some new techniques that I haven’t used so far which I think will be a good thing. As part of that idea I used my sketchbook to start to work out how to tackle this knot and rope work.

This really just came out of the shapes that were building on the paper. I used not reference for this so while I know some of the proportions are a little off, I’m quite pleased with it.

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Ah, Friday. Fortunately my Friday schedule is a little different from the rest of the week so it was no big deal that this gentleman needed to escape from my brain first thing in the morning, even before tea.

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And then, after tea and some stretches and before the morning shower this lady knocked on my brain and asked to be let out into the sketchbook as well.

 

Friday was a busy sketch day as you can see, first these two and then later while waiting for the movie there were a couple more. I had hoped for more this weekend but as you read, the squirrels got loose.

Another week coming up and I have hopes and expectations that I will manage to chase off some of the squirrels and get more modeling done, possibly in both ZBrush and 3ds Max.

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