Hi all, I've modelled this aquatic creature in Carrara in 5 or 6 hours . It has 3736 facets at this time . I've called it a "nomaoof" because it has no mouth . And because i'm french i can't say "mouth" correctly ! ;) I'm beginning to have a bunch of models that are waiting for me to get Poser now ! Comments and critics are welcome . litst litst.@freesbee.fr http://www.chez.com/litst

Wow! i really like it. I dont think it could swim very well but thats not what matters. I can't wait to see some of your models textured.

That's really nice, your VM skills are really great. Maybe you could post some tutorials on how you did all this, or some basic pointers on how to model organic stuff like this? Nice job. Nebula Supernova Studios

I think it's cute. It probably swims using a lot of body motion...probably flinging itself from side to side (there's some sea creatures that do this). Very cool. Going away again (let me know if this gets annoying).

Attached Link: http://www.chez.com/litst/index/tutorials.htm

You right, it will be hard to find a way to make it move if i want to animate it some day . I was thinking about an sea horse for the main shape, but i don't remember how they move . Nebula, i already did a modelling tutorial for organic shapes in the vertex modeller . It's on the link ! For this model, i've used a few simple spline objects that i've edited in the VM using the techniques described in the tutorial . litst

If you do get around to animating it you might consider movement similar to a manta ray... using the pectoral fins to "fly" through the water. A sea horse uses a fin on its back to provide forward movement. But its tail is prehensile which may add an interesting characteristic to your creature. Very nice model, by the way

In fact, i was thinking of some flying movements, rhamilton . Maybe like some kind of underwater hummingbird ? Oh, and here's an update of the model . There will probably be some few things to fix . litst

litst, Do you make quad meshes or do you triangulate? I ask because your low-poly models don't show any evidence of blacked-out edge normals from bad interpolation that I see all the time with low-polys in my Carrara renders. Started me to wondering if flat triangles are the cause. SMcQ

Oops. Stupid question. You subdivide so the polys have to be triangulated. Well then, do you ever see blacked-out areas on edges curving away from the camera perspective? There are plenty of such surfaces on your creature models (which are superb creations, btw). SMcQ

Thanks Steven, Yes i do see those things . Note that they can be black on a clear blackgroung or white on a dark background if the light casts no shadows . See, even on the subdivided version of the models it often happens on some parts . It's because sometimes i don't need much details on the model, so i try to keep the poly count low . But then, i got to add some detail to avoid the renderer to cause those unwanted black areas . I think (but i'm no mathematician ) it's because the renderer doesn't handle the fact that normals can change because of the perspective . See what i mean ? I think it reacts like it was an isometric cam, but it's not . Anyway, whatever might be causing that, i hope Eovia will fix it ... Do you see the bright area on the belly of the creature ? It's the same bug, caused by a flash light attached to the cam, and that casts no shadows . litst litst.@freesbee.fr

The shadowless light effect is something I had not noticed before. Wonder if it is related to the normals problem. I agree with you that the normals often are not interpolated smoothly across polys. Past a certain angle, they go black. If this problem is not fixed in the next patch, I've already become something of an expert at retouching black patches out of existence! SMcQ

OK, so i'm not a mathematician and it's better like this ! ;) I've rendered a typical object that causes that problem, and it looks perfectly bad with an isometric camera . So the problem doesn't not come from the way normals are affected by the perpective . One of the few rendering bugs that really bugs me ... litst

Well, I couldn't retouch that! I've seen the same thing with conical cameras. A cube with smoothed edges is the simplist example. Even in high poly meshes, there often will be a little sliver of black where it is hard to eliminate. One workaround is to crease edges near the offending black spots. The problem is one of my major annoyances, too. SMcQ

You were faster than me twice, Steven ! ;) This bug is really annoying : first, like you said, the images need post-render . Second, i'd personnaly love to try lo-poly models but i know they won't render correctly . How frustrating ! Anyway, thanks for the tip about creasing edges, i'll try it next time . But what happens if you work with an imported model made of facets ? If you convert it to vertex, you'll lose some UV informations, as long as one vertice of a vertex object can only support one UV coordinate ... Here's an example of white lines : the light casts no shadows on the object . See what happens ? litst

A wierd thing i noticed about these black edges is that if you put a light inside the object, It kinda gets rid of them.

You're right Izuel . Thanks to you, now i think i understand better why it does that : near some edges, the ray of the renderer pass through the goemetry and continues his way until it "collides" on a surface . Wich is most of the time the inside of the object . The inside can be lit or not, depending of the light settings . Did i get it this time ? litst

litst and Izuel, can you test that theory by using a colored light inside a closed mesh shaded white? I don't have time tonight. SMcQ

Bingo ! I'll contact Charles Brissard from Eovia to tell him about that . Remember ? He was looking for some bugs reports and all . litst