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durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Hey deatthelm - yeah, it's my first tablet so I wouldn't know.
Will see how the next one compares...
Thanks for the notes. Smile

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Solar array (getting into sci-fi headspace...)...

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

From the archive...

Sketchup; after Jean Giraud's "Technogea"

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

D001

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Concept for the original aquatic Durgl (only hybrids appear in the current version/story). Gills are external (along the spine), longer tentacles clean and defend them - and imagine its grapple percentage, lol.

Wanted to get this out there (will replace with a rendered version, whenever) and to mention "operatic prose", something that impressed me (when I first heard of such a thing); this helped shape the current story, to some degree; ie. the story runs from the depths of the ocean to outer space and vice versa.

D002

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

wip

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Figured zoom would bypass local camera distortion (and bypass getting the scanner repaired) - yep. Main obstacle to working in pencil: gone. Smile

First inkling of the Durgl, circa '89 (been waiting a while to finish this little project, yep):

D003

micke · Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 10:53 pm

I really like your sketches, man! 89?? How old are you? It looks really loose and playful:)

I have a question about the aquatic creature. How about broaden the shoulders and making his legs longer? It looks cool, but i'm somewhat confused by the technique there. Making the entire picture the same way as the "wings" or tentacles would help i believe to bring it all more together.

Cool work.

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

micke · Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 2:31 am

Never mind:) It's a really cool sketch anyway. Wish i could do that.

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Started a rough sketch - ended up in Sculptris.
Will likely rough the whole thing (...tentacles...)...

d004

d005

d006

Edit: forgot to mention: this is just a concept
(far from certain I'll use it); C&C/suggestions welcome
(as always). Smile

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Edit: forgot to mention the problem in getting enough oxygen to a creature/brain this size, hence the external exchange system (which should be even larger, maybe...).

"Seamonkey" also came to mind, and "seadragon"...

Some blocking (bad colour, agreed)...

d007

Edit: oops, forgot re visibility issue (not that there's much to see Smile

):

d008

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Conversion (not entirely finished but good enough for an exercise).

[Double post (slightly earlier version here): http://forums.sijun.com/viewtopic.php?p=424757#424757 ]

Quintus Dias · member Member # Joined: 11 Sep 2010 Posts: 387

Durgldeep, hey wow this is awesome, you are a genious.
When is the story played out? I looked and read part one and two, Is it future?
Must say I really like everything here, especially from aquatic up to space and then back. Smile

Damn I haven't looked into this wip section for a long; long time, sure are a lot of interesting things happening in here.

What kind of timeframe do you have to finish this? Will the novel be graphical in 3d?

Agree about the age thing, society has this panic about age and looks. Don't think that will get any better in the coming 20 years.

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Quintus Dias, thanks. Smile

It's the far future, yeah (when terra-forming is a reality). No deadline to finish. Unlikely it'll be 3D since I don't have the processing power to do it (though the recent Blender innovation, ie. reducing poly count in distant objects, is impressive/encouraging).

Running both stories concurrently (and interweaving them) changes a few things - much more potential for interesting juxtapositions, etc. (as mentioned in the 3D thread). Mostly it'll help with explaining plot, having 'all-knowing' tech forces (both personal and remote) popping in and out, helping here, thwarting there. I think combining them will also magnify the 'operatic' quality: the extreme forces of the 'sky people' (the feuding superpowers) juxtaposed with the comparative vulnerability of the planet's inhabitants - boggles my mind, at this point. Smile

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Been researching the 'classics' (tough job, but somebody's gotta to do it [grin]): stuff that inspired me, way back.

Seventh Voyage of Sinbad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdIpf7LrXzU
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7th_Voyage_of_Sinbad

Golden Voyage of Sinbad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE6TL9GwxWk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Voyage_of_Sinbad

Eye of the Tiger
[screeching halt] They should have cast an *actor* in the lead role...?

And some (of the many) I've never seen:

Fern Gully (inspiration for Avatar?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae7x3sp4vIQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FernGully:_The_Last_Rainforest

Little Nemo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69637mM5-vM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Nemo:_Adventures_in_Slumberland
Great seeing Jean Giraud's designs in action...

Aladdin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF9SrVJCSKk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_%281992_Disney_film%29
Very interesting read, especially 'big business' in action:

"For financial reasons, the studio went back on the deal on both counts, especially in poster art by having the Genie in 25% of the image, but having other major and supporting characters portrayed considerably smaller".

These are adults, remember. 'Just business', sure; but not a business I'd want to be involved in.

Edit: from previous, uh, research; re One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Roger Ebert says the film goes "wrong" by "insisting on making larger points than its story really should carry, so that at the end, the human qualities of the characters get lost in the significance of it all". Good call, imo (and something to guard against). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo%27s_Nest_%28film%29

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Aiming for panels per hour (rather than per day) so: quick'n'dirty. *If* I ever get through the whole thing, can go back and polish (worry about 'style', or whatever).

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Overboard on this one but useful discoveries - onward.

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Anatomy review (overdue)...

Edit: overloaded the page again (hoggish download), culled a few extras.

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Text break:

Now that the story has 'come ashore' (now that I've settled on vectors and have a general idea of a (new) starting location/'base camp', ie. small tree, above) time to think about 3D again. Meant to mention (re earlier discussion http://forums.sijun.com/viewtopic.php?t=42874 ): if I use 3D (anywhere), I'll simply say so. Smile

Makes me happy when anyone thinks my freehand stuff is 3D (as above) but I think it's better to say which is which, up front.

Some notes on 3D, starting with henrik's comment...

"I do enjoy painting, only not the tedious process of constantly correcting perspective."
http://forums.sijun.com/viewtopic.php?t=42932

...which got me searching for this by Craig Mullins (part of a larger excerpt; whole thing is worth reading):

"The most difficult aspect of repainting from a different angle is the complexity of these objects and scenes. There is a LOT of stuff in there. Constructing them in perspective is very time consuming."
http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36406

Backing up a bit (previous discussions): apart from the obvious time saving issues, I don't think 3D is the 'wrong place to start', any more than a tablet is (see Drawing Tablet, http://forums.sijun.com/viewtopic.php?t=42918 ). I've learned lots just by watching objects in an xyz environment; nobody told me this shouldn't work; or if they did, I didn't listen, hehe. I don't agree that there's 'only one way to learn'.

Uh, I guess I've been wondering how many people have been turned off/away (from Sijun) by general insistence on a 'traditional formula' (and associated guilt). In the migration from traditional to digital, I wonder how many people bring their baggage with them - have tripped over my fair share of it...

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

More practice (never mind the rubber boots).
Guy at left is the last 'first chapter' character (he should have long hair; later).

Laughed a lot at this one (not sure why):
1. tourist photo?
2. surreal poker game gone bad?

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Topmost part of the 'engine' that powers Perzan's experiment/sanctuary; human for scale.
'Floor' is 100m across; walls 20m high; overall diameter 36km.

Combining the stories places it underneath the current environment (rather than a terraformed duplicate environment, elsewhere)...

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Refresher re overlying terrain (from previous page) - will render/refine in 3D, sooner or later:
Edit: here's the overlay, to scale (*really* gotta do something about that model, sigh):

t005

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

QD's link to "Home" got me moving again. QD, I think the issues mentioned in the "Home" video were part of my original motivation for doing this story; ie. people from Earth arrive in another solar system - and destroy the planet.

In this case, the bad guys realize that the only way to break the ground-based defences (and grab the secrets involved in Perzan's machinery) is to destroy the moon. So that's what they do (yep, just blow that sucker up)...

But science and beauty first (as in the Home video, agreed). Spent a while wondering what this fictional moon might look like; settled on this one (that's a cloud filter, yes):

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

And some ideas for the second (smaller) moon (all of these are from way back):

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Expanding some old bitmaps (switch to vectors)...

Edit:
Very interesting re "machinima"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machinima

"Nitsche and Lowood describe two methods of approaching machinima: starting from a video game and seeking a medium for expression or for documenting gameplay ("inside-out"), and starting outside a game and using it merely as animation tool ("outside-in")."

Laid the groundwork for the fantasy portion of this thread (when the two were still separate) in Neverwinter Nights (toolset)... Didn't realize it's a genre in itself - learning, learning, learning. Smile

Edit: image migrated from The 3D Thread:

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

Progress shot (clay sketch conversion); Sculptris:

t006

durgldeep · member Member # Joined: 14 Sep 2001 Posts: 826

And the horse (also migrated from The 3D Thread):