A couple of new techniques I'm trying. Comments? hdrider

you did not tell us what kind of technic is "new" in this image?? It seems classic.

Looks like an Eyecandy approach to the waterdroplet on the figure's body...if that is the case, use "masking" (most paint program has the feature) and 'eyecandy' them a small portion at a time...you have more control and can get the feel and looks you want It would definetly be more authentic. Try some "swirl" or "zig zag" behind her thigh to created a mild trailing movement of water. Very nice compositon but take away that terrain on the right or change it to a "work in progress" giant sand castle and throw in a plastic like spade and pail. Hmmmm...;-)...may be Mr Zyg Michael with a bold sunglasses lying on a tower with a "tan" look. Good work! Bill

Hello, Thanks for the comments. Tesign: Your're right. I used the new beta Eye Candy 4000 on the texture map. I'm still working on getting just the right combination. You know after you look at an image for so long, you kind of start missing some of the fine details. I'm just glad someone didn't ask me what kind of disease she had :) I know. The rocks look kind of cheesy. Working on that too. I might just eliminate them. The other thing I tried is the water. It is a terrain with a bitmap to try and get some sort of waves effect. I noticed the sort of motionless pose. Am working on the ripples around her legs. Again, thanks for the comments. hdrider

Hi Hdrider, Eyecandy 4 is my next definite must have :) Go for it, do what you can to achieve the image you want. Be devilish with your post production skill. That's what 2D artist are born for. Btw, use a brush mask and mask a streaming flow from the part where the hair meets the back and apply a "glass" (have to play with the variables) on the water droplets. This would give impression of water streanm dripping down her back and the skin would have a "slimy" wet look. Good luck :) Bill

uhhh...errr...at the risk of looking stupid...what is Eye Candy? y'all sem to know about it, but I've never heard of it. Is it a program? a plugin? Rocks? Cheesy? Yes, but that water looks great! Though it could use some foam or froth floating in it. Cheers, Mike

Mike.. Its a both a plugin and in some way, an effect filter kind of thingy....go get it at http://www.eyecandy.com/ Mannn!!!....you should see the new stuff they did for the "chroming". Bill

Bill, Thanks for the info, but it says it's only for Photoshop, Fireworks, and Paint Shop Pro. I don't have any of those programs--I use Painter 6. Maybe one day I'll get Photoshop, but it is terribly expensive, and there are alot of softwares I want first. Cheers, Mike

Hi Mike, I use Corel Photo Paint and it works fine. As long as the paint program support the standard photoshop plugin filter standard. It should work with MC Painter. I do have Painter and let you know if it works. Bill

Hi Mike, I have just installed it into Painter 6.0.3 and works beautifully. The expiry dtae is end of Oct'2K. Have fun :) Bill

Bill, Thanks. By all means, please let me know! I downloaded the beta anyway, but I'm kind of hesitant to install it, because I once tried something similar and ended up corrupting Painter, and had to do a re-install. I really don't understand how plugins "work", and I don't like adding anything to an app's folder unless I know it won't wreak general havoc. ;) Cheers, Mike

Thanks Bill...you must have been writing that just as I was writing, too! I'll give it a try! Cheers, Mike

Mike....after you unzipped, the exe file runs an install and request default is directed to Photoshop. Just ignore and select your path where your Painter is installed. From the Painter directory in MC, just select the "Plugin" for Painter. When you fire up Painter, you should see it under menu selection "effect". Good luck. Bill

Heya!..Bloodsong...sorry for the OT. Bill

Thanks again, Bill...that actually worked, though it failed to install itself into the plugin folder, and made it's own folder instead. Shrug Anyway, I copy/pasted it into the plugin folder, and it works just fine. Me too...sorry for the OT! Cheers, Mike PS........ Vue!

Hello, Well, this is version 2 of my WIP. Does it look a little better? I'm still working on the ripple effect without post production work. I like to limit post prod to just cleanup in most cases. hdrider

I would not comment on the WIP portion. The water droplet on her looks like "whit fungus" growth!....its a no, no. Need more bumps and reflective or glossy wet look. The sand texture shading looks too large as compare to the chair. The beach chair and umbrella looks like they are in the water. Bill

Hello, Bill, now don't sugar coat it. Tell me what you really think :) Well, back to the drawing board. Thanks, hdrider

Also, you might want to scale that bikini down just slightly on the x axis, so it fits more snugly against her hips. Cheers, Mike

heyas; i still think you should mix the skin texture with a water texture (possibly transparent, with an 'underlying material') in vue. if you want to use the eye candy drops you can, just make an alpha channel with them to use for the mixing function. then you can have different highlight and reflection settings for the skin vs the water. and also maybe use the alpha channel as a bump map.... there's a water texture in vue that has ripples in it... i've seen people line up objs in the water with the ripples to make it look very realistic... but not sure of the details. there was an old old old message here where somebody did that with the sea lion model. (maybe search for sea lion/seal?)

Hello, There are so may possibilities. I'm still working on different things. For instance, this version I used an object for the terrain with a section remapped for the ripple. The effect is not quite perfect but is a start. Maybe someday I'll know all there is to know about Vue, but I hope not. That would take all the fun out of it. Still Having Fun, hdrider