Great work T1ck. :attn: The fur is really coming together now. Shave and Cut seems to be pretty effective.

Have you decided on how you are going to pose the model for your final image?

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arran3D

arran3D blog

Looking top notch TickL35 !!

The thicker fur does look a lot better. You might need to thicken it up at ears too.

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"So the Doctor Sais I wouldn't have so many nose bleeds if I kept my finger out of there."
~Ralph Wiggum

thicker fur would look better on ur model. the top of the head looks like gelled hair. but at the same time it also looks like frozen fur!

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A pint of example is worth a gallon of advice!!

The work you've done on the snout area is awesome. the way the hair transitions from the nose and from the lips looks convincing. The ears do look a bit like pipe cleaners. Have you tried thinning down the hair while lightening the skin color on the troubled areas? I know that actual polar bear skin is very dark but I'm just making a case for visual acuracy. If you've tried this already just tell me to shut it.

Dave

cheers for the comments guys, much appreciated

arran - shave and cut is very cool, though to get really good results will take a bit of time (not good with only a few days left on the trial..) Not sure about the pose but I prefer a more side angle than front on at the minute as it shows the profile of the nose off quite nicely. Also if I zoom in on the perspective camera on a front view it goes a bit bowl shape. A bit of tweaking on a new camera might make it look better.

THX1138 - thanks man, hope to see you in the next challenge

brentlydavis - I've been playing with the ears recently and have added fur inside which points outwards and gets rid of the bald area. Hopefully it'll get rid of the gell effect

13th_resident - it is quite difficult to get the fur right. I think I should have used the ruffled hair option in shave and cut instead of the generic blond hair. If I had time then I'd go back and give that a try as it would probably give better results.

swankymonkey - welcome back, thought you'd disappeared there! I've been playing with thinned down hair in that area over the last day or two to cover up the edge and get some kind of transition there but at the minute its not working as hoped. Lightening the skin in that area is definately looking like a possibility...

I'm reworking the fine hair on the nosetip to try and get a defined line and blend it into the other fur - update tonight hopefully

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Examples of bTraffic - a traffic animation tool for Maya
bFlocking - a tool for Maya 8.5+ to generate flocking and swarming behaviours
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The demo of shave and haircut is nearly up so I'm trying to get as much of the fur done as possible.

Played with the ears some more and have just gone back over the front of the nose. Apart from a few more tweaks the fur will have to do. Next up is lighting and eye texturing.

https://www.flash-fx.net/3D/images/po...r/skull24a.jpg

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Examples of bTraffic - a traffic animation tool for Maya
bFlocking - a tool for Maya 8.5+ to generate flocking and swarming behaviours
Jan/Feb Challenge 2007 Entry and W.I.P
May/Jun Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Mar/Apr Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Jan/Feb Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Nov/Dec Challenge 2005 Entry and W.I.P
Sep/Oct Challenge 2005 Entry and W.I.P
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Here's another render with 3 point lighting (not the default). I'll probably go higher with the hair passes so it looks denser in another attempt. Only on low quality still too.

The main thing is to brighten the lighting and make sure the fur comes out white, not grey.

https://www.flash-fx.net/3D/images/po...r/skull24b.jpg

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Examples of bTraffic - a traffic animation tool for Maya
bFlocking - a tool for Maya 8.5+ to generate flocking and swarming behaviours
Jan/Feb Challenge 2007 Entry and W.I.P
May/Jun Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Mar/Apr Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Jan/Feb Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Nov/Dec Challenge 2005 Entry and W.I.P
Sep/Oct Challenge 2005 Entry and W.I.P
Jul/Aug Challenge 2005 Entry
www.flash-fx.net

hmmm, ran another render with higher lighting but it had no noticable effect on the fur....
...gonna have another read of the documents and hope to find something in there.

If not does anyone know the settings of the default light so I can see why the 3 point lighting is dulling the fur so much?

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Examples of bTraffic - a traffic animation tool for Maya
bFlocking - a tool for Maya 8.5+ to generate flocking and swarming behaviours
Jan/Feb Challenge 2007 Entry and W.I.P
May/Jun Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Mar/Apr Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Jan/Feb Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Nov/Dec Challenge 2005 Entry and W.I.P
Sep/Oct Challenge 2005 Entry and W.I.P
Jul/Aug Challenge 2005 Entry
www.flash-fx.net

Hi T1ck, gone for a while, came back, and you're deepely in with it already.
Cool looking. Last one looks a bit like a dusty teddy cause of shadow casting but I like the toiuch of it though hehe

The only small detail (if you still got time ...), maybe have this short and dense fur of the upper lip goin' a bit more till the end of the curve, so that you can get rid of these long hairs almost within the mouth. (Split surface for hairs or density/cut maps at this place ?)

Well, apart from that, about the problem all I can tell so far would be lowering maybe the shadow casting intensity within your shave node globals.

Also lowering the gloss, selfShadowing, amb/diff. within the shaveNode/MatProperties, as we can see on page 22.

Play also maybe a bit more with the tip splay, if you want to lower kinda some wet effect, which I like though, also.

Hope it helps, as you're on fire and close to s&h trial's exp

ps: sharpness of the eye highlight is a bit too blurry imho, well, it's more like he's goin' old and blind soon :blush: . Or is it a default black blinn so far ?


Gogogogo

Hi Pyrus, nice to see you again

thanks for the info on S&H (shave and haircut), I was hoping someone else had played about with it!
I've already tackled the longer fur near the mouth as it wasnt looking right, might still need some work (depending how long it takes to render)

Is the shadow casting intensity already on something high like 15? I've lowered it down to about 8 or something and am hoping that the current render (in progress e.t.a in 50mins) will help.

The other tips are definately helpful too - gonna have a play tomorrow morning (if the demo doesnt expire before - cant remember when its due to, maybe tomorrow at some point)

The eye is indeed a default blinn - I just added a second cornea shaped bit of geometry and have made it semi transparent though it still isn't looking too hot. Maybe a little post work in photoshop might be needed to make it look better.

and thanks for the encouragement

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Examples of bTraffic - a traffic animation tool for Maya
bFlocking - a tool for Maya 8.5+ to generate flocking and swarming behaviours
Jan/Feb Challenge 2007 Entry and W.I.P
May/Jun Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Mar/Apr Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Jan/Feb Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Nov/Dec Challenge 2005 Entry and W.I.P
Sep/Oct Challenge 2005 Entry and W.I.P
Jul/Aug Challenge 2005 Entry
www.flash-fx.net

Hey t1ck the fur is looking great . Looks like Shave and cut works well. I like his ears. Nice and furry. Sorry I can't help with the lighting.

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arran3D

arran3D blog

its just keeps getter better. nice work t1ck. hope i dont offend you but too me it looks like a frozen head....fresh out of the freezer. really it does.. i know fur is difficult to achieve and you havent put proper lighting on it. but thats what it looks like at the moment.

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A pint of example is worth a gallon of advice!!

Hey Tick

Nice one, do you find shave and haircut easier than Mayas Fur and Hair? I know I do, so much more intuitive, and you can get into it straight away!!

Cheers
Jay

Just back up from a system crash - took a while to get the necessaries back on but I'm there again and messing with the shadow values as pyrus suggested - it seems like that may brighten the fur up again

thanks arran, those ears have driven me crazy and I ended up working on them from scratch a couple of times!

cheers 13th_resident. I'm not offended in the slightest. Any c&c is good and it does indeed look a little 'cold and dead' in that last render

thanks jay I havent got fur/hair so this or paintfx was the only option available. I agree with you about how easy it is to get stuck right in and play (maybe too easy as I disregarded the manual after a bit and didnt realise you could reselect growth areas and reapply the fur again - lots of time wasted there!).
Definately recommended for anyone wanting to get into it without having to fork out for unlimited If I get into things more seriously then this'll certainly be on the shopping list

I'm just running another test render off (taking upto an hour) so will post shortly

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Examples of bTraffic - a traffic animation tool for Maya
bFlocking - a tool for Maya 8.5+ to generate flocking and swarming behaviours
Jan/Feb Challenge 2007 Entry and W.I.P
May/Jun Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Mar/Apr Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Jan/Feb Challenge 2006 Entry and W.I.P
Nov/Dec Challenge 2005 Entry and W.I.P
Sep/Oct Challenge 2005 Entry and W.I.P
Jul/Aug Challenge 2005 Entry
www.flash-fx.net