Almightygir Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 @Zenl - thanks for the advice man. i'm actually texturing in photoshop, but i do use polypaint for some things, like laying down base tones to work from. @Alphawolf - where there's a will there's a way, i've been modding since Q2 (like... 15 years ago... god i feel old!) and i have semi-pro and professional friends who i can lean on for support where needed. i'm sure we'll figure it out! i'll try to document the progress where possible. @Scripts18 - red makes it go faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkirt Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Yes please, keep us informed :) i am triying to get a custom skinned mesh for 4 days ago, and the best i had is a bunch of poly chaos on the wings area ... And yes, really nice dragon you have there :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almightygir Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 hey guys... so over the last few days i've been re-reading a lot of my old dragon reference books. the dungeons and dragons draconomicon, flight of the dragons, and good old google came up with some good stuff with regards to the theory of flight and the mechanics behind it. i've also recieved criticism about the forearm position, and how it would affect both flight and movement on the ground... it led me to believe that my dragon wouldn't even be able to take off the ground, let alone dominate the sky... so i've come to the conclusion that before i get way too committed to the texturing (as i was still playing with colours), i'd rather do a redesign now, and get it right... than have a finished piece i'm unhappy with and would probably redo anyway. sorry if that disappoints anyone! but anyway, here are the general redesign points i've come up with, please feel free to do any of your own paint overs, or give criticism. i want to do this right! http://crazyferretstudios.com/public/screengrabs/dragon_redesign.png Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrakeTheDragon Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I'm pretty impressed with your creation so far. This is so far above what I will ever be able to create. Very impressive! The wingspan is far more "believeable" now (I'm against using the term "realistic" in discussions about dragons). They need to be able to pull the biggy off the ground without much effort after all. Can't tell how often I got remarks into that direction for my Anthro-Dragon designs. I'm not sure if it needs a rudder though. Never seen a dragon with a rudder so far, only found spikes or blades behind there, yet... unless it was an aquatic one, then there was a fin or something like that. And the thing with the forelegs, this is just "posing" rather than an anatomy or proportion issue. It won't help you much, if your dragon will only look fine to you while the forelegs are in this pose. They need to look fine to you in all poses. And if it's going to be mountable, then you'll definitely need to make it look fine while on the ground as well. Coming to think of it, I now remember designs from the PS3 game Lair, where the forelegs never touched the ground but the walk was more like a raptor or some such dinosaur walking on two legs only. Enabled the beast to use them as long-range slashing weapons though, so it definitely wasn't a bad approach about it. In my own designs I'll personally stick with walking four-legged though. I'd say go and put your dragon into different common poses, like in-flight, idle on ground, walking perhaps, maybe even some rather extreme attack poses, and then check whether or not certain parts of its anatomy need refinement. However, this will require rigging it to a skeleton already now, which could prove difficult while you're still redesigning the new shape. At the end of the day "you" need to be satisfied with its overall appearance. I know "I" got another topic to track now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almightygir Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 sorry i should have clarified, i meant that in repositioning the arms that they would be in a more neutral/balanced pose than straightened which will make animating easier when it comes to that point. but also the shoulder joint is going to be brought forward to interfere less with the wing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mounty1512 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 This is actually AMAZING work!! You've got some real talent there Almightygir. Cant wait to see the next update and eventually see the new dragon/s in game.How many man hours have you put into this project so far? Please keep up the great work and keep us all posted on your progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zinnorokkrah Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Looking good- adjustments included. The only thing I'd suggest is having the wings as the 'primary' limbs, and position the forelimbs so that it can maintain a quadrepedal stance by placing them behind the wings as 'secondary' limbs. As for the tail rudder I'd recommend looking at the dragons here http://hyrotrioskjan.deviantart.com/gallery/26946429?offset=48 The artist has some really quite cool dragon designs, and the tails are unique, crazy, and really quite stunning. Some would make quite believable rudders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almightygir Posted March 18, 2012 Author Share Posted March 18, 2012 just letting you guys know i haven't stopped working on this, and i'm not dead or anything. but my tablet broke, and i've just bought a new one today, so i can get cracking again. i do have an art course i'm starting in a couple of weeks too, so now i'm very much on a deadline to get this finished! thanks for your interest and support everyone :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MastaWizard Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 yes thanks cause this is amazing!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedStapler Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Oh.... oh no... did this project die at the hands of school? :( Sorry to necro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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