Verving the Pipeline: Multi Program Workflow

I was going through old projects the other day and ran into this old test image of a final that I posted at Zbrush. Looking at the two I much prefer the test image with the blimp which was a placeholder. The final had a hammerhead shark ship I originally created in Sculptris and mechanized in Z. It just didn't work and the blimp does. I was encouraged to post it but I had to decide on two different directions knowing I wanted to verve it up but Subtle or Massive change? And how could I keep from screwing it up?


Everyone here has what I call a personal pipeline, a work flow they are accustomed to using whether they are an amateur or a pro. This image was made using a Nasa background, a wonderful fractal (free!) program called Mandelbulb, Vue for the blimp render, Photoshop and Verve. After putting together in layers in Photoshop I imported those layers into Verve as individual png files to preserve the transparencies and to give me an exact idea of where I was working. The only layer I actually did anything with was a copy of the background. I used Verve's lighting system to give more depth and clarity by going pure white on the color wheel and hitting L and also adjusting the lights position. I then selected the background copy and put it into warp mode in order to create an explosion, that split second between calm and chaos from one image to the next.

Into The Eye.jpg (250.17 KiB) Viewed 41792 times

[Taron]

Man, that worked out well! It has the strength of bizarre detail one would expect from a Beksinski picture, yet, the vividness of a Turner, somehow. I really can lose myself in the well staged chaos of clustered deconstruction, while the blimp holds it all together, leads us into the apex of mayhem without a fear in the world. 8)

Great job and thanks for posting this!

Deligth for the eyes!

>>>like<<<
NICE ILLUSTRATION

+ + nice color match and good compose ...
i my mind, if a story is good, and we have not anybody for hear it,
... yet ... yet it is good, because we can see and know it values . -{-@

Whow very nice & interesting ARTWORK
I would buy that for my living room, as an artwork

Thanks guys.. I know that's a bit late but it means a lot. That particular image will be used in a graphic novel I am working on and part of which has been revealed earlier in my Extrapolations thread although those were more in the manner of defining and homing in on a character (Cassandra). I really should go back and give Cass a mouth but I am afraid of what she might say One day Cass. Soon.

The Professor himself is a character I conceived long and long ago but his conception was nebulous at best. It wasn't until a thread by Dreamz (old sculptris) that I began to give him more definition. Originally I was going to write the story along with his illustrations and throw in a character of his that would have taken the story in an entirely different direction from what it is now. Unfortunately the collaboration didn't work out and without Dreamz' wonderful input and character. I basically had to start from scratch again.

So what does that have to with the Pipeline? Simple enough. You can't put together a Pipeline without Conception and Conception is the beginning of the Pipeline itself. So first the framework of story and character and the realization of those elements. Because I am putting this story together solo and to meet my own standards for consistency, I am using 3d characters and settings that I have either bought and modified or created. I just do not have the time to do it all. The professor was made using the Michael 4 model from Daz. All of the morphs and textures used on him were done in Zbrush by me except for his clothes. Anything that I use has to be bought and paid for, in order for it to be used commercially which is where the graphic novel will be heading.

So where does Verve come into the Pipeline? In this image it came into it from the start. I did the background almost idly playing with light and atmosphere and it came to me that it was a scene from Jace's Planet which becomes an important part of the story. So I fired up Poser and got the facial expression I was aiming for and then took him to Vue to match the lighting. Somehow I missed something in my transparency setting and now Verve comes back into play for repair and to give the professor a more painterly look. Any suggestions before I take him to final tomorrow and paint over that horrible beard ? The final will be posted in my Extrapolations thread.

professor 001A.jpg (132.96 KiB) Viewed 41294 times

[Taron]

Uh, fun! You should definitely consider painting that beard and hair, too!

heh Thx Taron. I really shouldn't make my posts so lonnnnnnnnggggg winded Second to the last sentence about the beard and hair. Yah that beard is terrible and that's where Verve gets the final touches on this image. It looks to me like I am going to need to Zbrush a new beard or failing that find out why my transparency settings are so off. They weren't before. But this will show how well Verve can work in a 3d setting not only on setting atmosphere and lighting via the background but on postwork on the hair. I just hope I can do a decent job on his eyelids.

Anyway I will post the final in extrapolations.

[Taron]

AH, I'm just too distracted, Tom, sorry about that!
Looking forward to the coming iterations!

It's fine Taron. I know you have your hands full and it's really easy to get distracted. I have had my hands full also this past week with cleaning that warehouse but I will be getting back to finishing this. I just need to find the correct time. Meanwhile I am looking very hard at using Unity to base my graphic novel in. Since I don't really plan on animation and will rely on still shots it will make it quite a bit easier. I have a lot of assets accumulated over the years since '96.

I think you may have seen it before I deleted but I have a lot of projects that need Post lol.