Those of you who receive RDNA's e-mail flyer, be sure to check the "secret freebie." NikitaCreed has paid a wonderfil homage to Frank Herbert's "Dune," namely an Arrakian sandworm. Of course, to sidestep legal issues, RDNA has dubbed it the "Olde Wyrm. Trust me, folks, it's the infamous "Maker." This version closely resembles the monster as depicted in the David Lynch theatrical adaptation, complete with the tri-valved maw. It uses Ajax's EasyPose ERC technology so just two or three dial twists can create a dramatic serpentine pose. Those of you who do not subsrcibe to the free newsletter, sorry, but I don't think you'll find it on the standard freebie page. If someone doesn't beat me to it, I'll post a quick'n'dirty render when I get home. Sincerely, Bill

sighh...wish I had that flyer. I have a half finished Still-suit texture that I began once, that would be great for this. Is there a way to get this fellow on the site apart from the link on the flyer?

If you don't get the letter, the Super Secret freebies usually end up at the site the week after

I'm a member over there but I don't think I get the news letter. How do you subscribe?

Under user profile, there is a box for recieve email updates. Check that box :)

Thanks

Anyone care to post a render of this critter? I am very curious

And yes...I will throw him up in the RDNA free section next Friday. ;o)

A small, but important, quibble... WYRM with a "Y" is dragon, as is WURM, both from the early root "Orm". Dragons have legs and claws (at the very least!), and sometimes wings and intelligence and a devastating sense of humor. This is a quite handsome WORM... with an "O". Carolly

Thanks, Nikita! I knew any render I'd make would not look as slick as your "ad" poster. I thought it's such a cool model, it would have been a shame only a select few could legally obtain it. I'm glad you'll place it in RDNA's general freebie section for anyone to grab. Sincerely, Bill

Actually..If we are going to quibble:

worm (noun)
1 any of various invertebrates, esp. the annelids (earthworms, etc.), nematodes (roundworms), and flatworms, having a slender elongated body

[ETYMOLOGY: Old English wyrm; related to Old Frisian wirm, Old High German wurm, Old Norse ormr, Gothic waurms, Latin vermis, Greek romos woodworm]

silly grin ;o) Glad ya like him Carolly! Never thought anyone would call him handsome though. heehee

Come on Bill!! Post a render! LOL! I want to see SOMEBODY render him but me! ;o) Yah...I will post him in freebies. I have to spread my Herbert addiction or I wouldn't be a good Dune freak. ;o)

BTW Bill, thanks for posting this thread in the first place. It made my day! ;o)

I'll see what I can do. This item would have been a great addition for an art challenge someone made last month (inspired by the airing of the SciFi Channel mini-series). I didn't enter it, but I did mutate Michael into a decently obese version of Vladamir Harkonen as a personal challenge. However, I didn't have any garments I could adapt into the attire befitting one of the great houses. Last thing 'Rosity members want to see is a fat man floating about butt naked! Yeesh! ;-) Sincerely, Bill

LOL! Yah...it also might start a new and disturbing trend of naked, boil covered, obese men. shudder ;o) I would love to see that Baron Harkonnen morph though! I tried it once and was less than satisfied with the results. As a thought...you could use the V3 She-Male (sorry...not really fond of him just yet) and create a texture for the V3 morphing gown and the new Ultra catsuit. That might work better since it wouldn't be a problem for Vlad to have noticeable boobs. heh -Em

I have "receive email updates" checked but I still don't get them :( Same thing that's been going on with Renderosity's newsletter - could it be the same software glitch?

This is great...I cannot wait to play :) (though my wife will probably say I should finish off any of my dozen other projects before I start to play with a new toy...smirk)

Gotcha covered Kalypso! I will send it to you in a more direct manner to make sure you get it. ;o) As far as why...I haven't a clue. Since both RDNA and Rosity are on Bondware, I have to assume it's a software issue. :o Glad ya like him Rawnrr! ;o) -Em

Okay Kalypso...I sent it directly to you, so it should go through immediately. Let me know if you recieved it!

You're gonna' want to throttle me, Nikita. I don't think I saved those morphs. However, your suggestion to use V3, the male morphs and the comforming long dress sounds like a spendid idea! He'll probably morph better with the tighter geometry, anyway. A friend compared Vlad's profile (my earlier version) to some portraits stamped upon ancient Roman coins. I have to admit, when I read the original novel (months before the movie debuted), I imagined him as a decadent Roman politician. I love your suggestion! Sincerely, Bill

ACK!! Oh well! LOL! I can't throttle ya for it. I have deleted many a character myself that someone later wanted to see. heh I always imagined him that way! LOL! He reminded me of Nero actually. heh

So, since there are obviously alot of DUNE fans here...I have to ask.... Do you think this is a series where Herbert should have stopped while he was ahead? I mean...much as I love sci-fi (and I do)...these books seemed to take a strong downward slide as the series progressed. I personally think he could/should have stopped at a trilogy (though its been a decade since I last read the whole series) Rawnrr

I must not comment to that on the grounds that I will become an annoyingly rabid Dune fanatic. I'm a fanatic...not a fan. LOL! My husband and I are working on the Ultimate Dune reference site...if that tells you anything. I will just say that my favorites were God Emperor and Chapterhouse. Both of which were written AFTER the first trilogy. -Em (who is zipping her lip now because she knows she will sound like a nut if she doesn't. heh)

haha...I know enough not to argue with a "fanatic" lol but I look forward to seeing your site when it is up, do let me know when it is live. Rawnrr

Thanks, just got it! I only received one newsletter when I first signed up for it and then they stopped, likewise with Renderosity, and also today in my Bulk folder (yahoo mail) I found a newsletter from Screamdesign which I used to receive regularly and they just stopped - so, if anyone is using yahoo make sure you check your bulk folder and check "This is not spam" for things you want to keep receiving. Sorry for hijacking the thread like this but it's been an issue with many people here recently. Thanks again nikitacreed!

No need to apologize! Ya didn't hijack! I like to know about these things so I can make sure everyone gets the newsletter who subscribed. I worked hard creating that new HTML sucker. LOL! Glad ya got it! ;o)

Ah, Nikitacreed- finally someone else who thought God Emperor was one of the better books. I loved that one, and Chapterhouse was great as well- I liked the way the series was heading at that last book; I would have liked to see what would happen next. Though I must admit I haven't read any of the "new" Dune books- from what I hear, Herbert's son just isn't the storyteller his father was.

God Emperor ROCKED! LOL! I absolutely loved that one. Rumor mill says that Brain Herbert and Kevin Anderson are working on a novel where Chapterhouse left off, based on Frank Herbert's notes. We shall see how it is. The writing style of the new books is completely different than Frank Herbert's style, but not unreadable. You do notice the difference though. It delves alot deeper into the characters but is missing some of that essential...I don't know..."Frank Herbert Wisdom"...for lack of a better term. All in all they are pretty cool and entertaining reads. I actually enjoyed them alot, but I will admit that they don't inspire the thought processes and long discussions that the original books did. It was surprising because I approached them fairly convinced I was going to be severely disappointed. They are staying true to the Dune mythology which is a MUST (they have made a few little errors in chronology...but then...so did Frank in the originals. heh.) -Em

IMO, there wasn't a bad Dune book. God Emperor was a bit heavy going at first, but reading it again a few years later made me realise how well put together it all was. My one regret is that the series finished when it did. I have enjoyed the "prequels" I've read so far, House Atriedes and House Harkonnen. Haven't gotten around to House Corrino yet, but I will sometime soon.

House Corrino is pretty good, but House Harkonnen is still my favorite of the new ones because Duncan and Gurney are two of my most loved Dune characters. I am really hoping the Dune 7 that Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson are working on isn't disappointing. crosses her fingers

I'll read it anyhow. I think they did a pretty good job of the prequels, and the style, although not a seamless transition, is well matched to the originals.

nikita - I have to agree that Chapter House is a damn fine book, too. However, my favourite is Messiah, for a wide variety of reasons.

WOOHOOO!! Awesome render Shanna! Thank you! Sam - Messiah was great too! Well...all the Dune books are great. LOL! The prequels have been enjoyable. I was expecting to be disappointed and was pleasantly surprised instead. heh

Well, I think Herbert should have stopped at The Godmakers. BEFORE Dune!!! He only had a couple of fixations... err... themes... and he wore them to death. I don't know why he was so terrified by the thought of powerful women secretly running the universe, but telling the same story 20 times doesn't win my vote for creativity. You'd never guess that he had been a psychoanalyst. ;^) Carolly, Overmistress of the UnderDark

That's weird. I never got that impression from any of Frank Herbert's Dune novels. As a matter of fact, in the end it was the Bene Gesserit who were the only ones capable of saving humanity from extinction. Doesn't sound at all like he was terrified of women in anyway. shrug Anyway...I am not quibbling in a thread that is going so nicely for us Dune fans. Thanks for your alternate observations though.

WOW!! That was fast Bill...and he looks GREAT!! That sneer is just perfect for the fat old Baron! I can't wait to see this all put together. Please...please keep me updated on teh progress when you can! =OD Give me a holler if you want some pustules and nasty boils to add to the texture. I have alot of disgusting wound images on my hard drive and a ton of links to even nastier stuff. LOL! ;o)

Actually, I spent most of my evening surfing the web. I remembered my posted comments from earlier in the day, so I decided just how adaptable V3 would be. I didn't time myself, but I think I slapped this together and tweaked it in well under an hour. I just kept injecting the most likely morphs and spinning the dials until they looked right. Uh, did Herbert describe Vlad as having the disgusting sores we saw in the theatrical version? I thought that might have been something concocted by David Lynch. It's been almost two decades since I last read the novels, so I can't remember. BTW, thanks for the praise! That means a lot coming from one of the RDNA staff! Sincerely, Bill

That was the theatrical ack version. (Gawd how I hate that movie now.) It pretty much set my visual image of the Baron since I saw it before I ever opened the books. LOL! Here's what Frank Herbert said by way of description of Baron Harkonnen during the Dune series: Puffy features. Red-faced. Swollen face. Heavy arms. Flaccid arms. Pudgy hands. Grotesquey swollen belly. Swollen fingers. Thick Reddish eyebrows. Pasty face. Flabby skin. Here's how he was described as a young man in the new House Harkonnen before Mohiam infected him : Lean and muscular. Spider Black Eyes. Rakish good looks. Reddish Gold hair with a distinctive widow's peak. Smooth skin. High Cheekbones. Thick lips. Strong chin. Narrow hips. Broad shoulders. Firm pectorals. Flat abdomen. Generous mouth. Thick hair. Hope that helps ya some! ;o) -Em

I thought I would throw my "two cents" in... I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Herbert before his death and can say with some authority that the women in his books were a tribute to his wife. I also wanted to encourage everyone to go to book signings and meet the authors. I remember fondly Ray Bradbury telling me a raunchy story about meeting W. C. Fields as a child...

Ohhhh...how I wish I could have met Frank Herbert!!