Boutons Xara Stuff: Volume 4

[Gare]

Although I had to noodle with a 3D model I'd sculpted to create a reference, this is 100% XD, and it's the fourth zodiac symbol I've created so far, all the same style, all created with XD.

[Gare]

Here's the second. Ten more to go!

[RKissane]

I like this. I can see you really put a lot of work into this piece.

Have posted the other zodiac symbols?

Ray

[Gare]

Yessir!

But not the whole set yet. I began this as part of an art sale some folks were doing to keep their favorite restaurants in business due to Covid. Only too happy to create and submit. That sounds creepy, doesn't it? :)

[wizard509]

All are great, I am especially taken with GEMINI, wonderful work Gare.

[Boy]

Love them, Gare. I really like how you integrate the elements you created in 3D software into these designs.

[Gare]

An exceptionally profound statement, Boy, I mean it.

Raison d'être, mantra, code, inspiration, or a divine thwock on the back of the head, if you can immerse yourself in a piece of self-expression, you'll eventually discover that all this creative software is merely a part of a channel from your creative spirit to the canvas, so to speak.

Maybe a good composition could be likened to a good kitchen recipe. For Gemini, I need a female head and rough swaths of hair I wanted to mirror to make 'em twins. The quick solution is Poser, God knows who owns it now. Export via FBX file format to Cinema 4D where I mirrored the head, then used a Polygon Reduction feature twice: once to rough up the models, and then a second time to fine tune the amount of flat, joined polygons a good looking low-rez composition.

Exported it as a FBX and then imported to modo, just for posing, lighting and a good render, using a blue material and then a blue light to really cast the twins in a moody (twi)light.

From there, I rendered the twins with an alpha channel so there's no background.

Final stop Xara. Many of the polygons had "holes" where the polygons should have met, but didn't; I know why, but with Xara, I didn't care to fuss with the polygon object. I covered all the black gaps with shapes. I also retouched the girl on the right because the lighting didn't catch some nuances that the audience would puzzle over!

Background, and text done in Xara.

So I don't know how many programs that is, but I don't think I could have executed this idea with any less.

I find creating stuff with explicit depth cues to be a fun endeavor, Boy. I "do 3D" a lot because I had a couple of hip operations in 1992, with nothing to do but learn (I guess), and having been awed by computer animation in those days, I wanted to learn how to bring a piece of that to my work, because I think we al see in our Mind's Eye as complete a picture as our minds will let us. That's the basis for photorealism I guess, but it shouldn't end at a nice shiny render. I like to paint over, simplify, just play with the finished render until I'm happier with it than when I began.




Here's the sort of stuff I did before computer graphics became affordable for the ambitious artist, who by definition, is always broke.

[Boy]

3D apps are often quite complex and require a steep learning curve (I dabbled with DAZ 3D) but I can see how your mastering them helps you to give realistic depth to your designs even if these are not realistically rendered in other ways. That's what makes your work stand out even more.

[Gare]

I thank you, and I encourage you, if you feel like experimenting, there are several sculpting (as in ZBrush) programs that are free, Boy. And who would I be if I didn't recommend modeling and rendering programs? :)

AutoDesk MeshMixer

ZBrush Core Mini they want you to register, but don't bug to awfully with news

Sculptris Alpha 6 They aren't giving it away anymore, but it's fun, they still have it on Softonic, I do not trust Softonic so I downloaded a copy via a "sandbox" Barbara and I have set up, and this is a cloud link.

They're educational, VERY therapeutic to just mash meshes (or mesh mashes), and they do not do not demand anything of you like getting hired at PIXAR.


Oh, and TopMod 2.5

Now, none of these programs have what I'd call a complete tool set. Nor do they have the second part of the imaging pipeline, a rendering engine. If you like what you've done, I suggest ScreenCap...or Pixar has a version expressly for personal use, like learning and practice.

I'm mindful that yeah, there's a learning curve for something like Blender or 3D Studio Max, but these programs represent a simplicity of creation and design that will get you at very least amused. Here's some "therapy work I did last week...




In brief, I mildly recommend exploring modeling a little, especially for the experience, not a finished product.

—g

[ss-kalm]

What about the FREE (non-commercial usage) RENDERMAN ...