Some of you may (or may not) have read me postings here concerning my trying to learn the ins and outs of textures / object colors / reflection maps / bump mars / highlight colors / ambient colors / etc I will continue this series in my trying to make Green Dragon Scale Maille. What I have learned from this: 1) I have a handle on textures and how to use reflection, bump, highlight, ambient 2) I suck at posing 3) I suck at setting up lights Here is where I am now, any comments welcome.

I like this very much actually. Good job so far. Just some stuff on the arms and then a catsuit/skin texture for the skin suit part. And the lighting doesn't look too bad on this. Just my $0.02

In my opinion you should add some leather straps around the armored skirt (where its attached to the bikini piece). Also, maybe add some leather trim around the edges. It looks a little too solid green the way it is, and if you add the arms and helm as well shell just look like a green blob. Its the little details that distinguish the exceptional armor from the mediocre. Also, the scales on the legs look quite a bit larger than the scales on the chest and skirt. Dont get me wrong, youre doing great. But you asked for feedback and this is what I would do.

Thanks for the input. I will try to work on what was suggested. I already was going to resize the scales on the legs; your input only let me know I needed to do it more. First... I need to clean this ink off of my fingers, that I spilled when I changed my printer cartridges.... DAMN!

LatexBard You've got something great going. Don't take the suggestions in any negative way, You are getting some really fine subtle input from some great artists. I think there are lots of people (like me) lurking in the community, very impressed with what you are accomplishing. Keep up the good (great) work. - JimX

Ok, as a long-time AD&D player, and having looked over your previous posts, here's a list of possible suggestions to maybe improve what already looks to be a really great project: 1. With any scale armor, you have to have an underlayer, to which the scales are attached (normally hand-sewn). Changing the trim on each piece to a more leather-like texture would give the indication of this existing underlayer. 2. I tend to disagree with Blackhearted on the scale size on the legs. Again, basing this on the statement this is supposed to be dragon scales, you have to take into account that not all the scales on a dragon would be the same size. Were I creating dragonscale armor, I would use the larger, sturdier scales of the back and flank for armor that doesn't need to flex as much, like the arm and leg guards. Pieces that need flexibility I'd fashion from the softer, thinner, and smaller scales from the neck or underbelly of the beast. This would also work well for the skirt, as you have it here. 3. Not sure if you've taken this into account yet, but just in case, don't forget your underpadding. As shown, she's wearing just the armor...and that's gonna CHAFE! The suitably garbed warrior has a soft leather or quilted garment worn under the armor, which helps absorb sweat (armor is HOT), and also keeps the harder leather or metal of the armor from rubbing the wearer's skin raw. If you could suitably texture a catsuit to look like leather or quilted cloth, you'd have it down... Hope these suggestions help you some. In any case, your work so far is wonderful, and I look forward to seeing the finished result. (BTW, can you tell I have WAY too time to think about this stuff?) ;)

Beautiful armor. Any warrior would be proud. My only comment is that any downward chop will bite right into her shoulder and make her arm useless. I assume you'll be adding some kind of shoulder protection later. Can you make it in red or blue also?

LeBurns.... Actualy when I started working on this I wanted to make it so I could easily adjust the colors, without re-texturing. That was the reason for a post you may, or may not, have seen a week ago playing with a metal version of the armor. The actual dragon-scale texture itself is grey scale. The green you are seeing is from the Ambient color being set to 0:50:0. This would allow it to be done in any color. I've seen alot of arguments among people in the past concerning how fantasy armor is presented unrealisticaly. Ever taken a good look at what they always have the females wearing in the art in most fantasy games? Gotta love the practicallity of a chain maille bikini. I was planning on playing with the undergarments next, but simply put... if they detract from the picture I will leave them out. Thanks to all for the constructive input.

LatexBard, I guess I would be among those who argue against unrealistic fantasy armor...I for one can't stand images of maiden warriors standing off against a dragon in a chainmail bikini. I appreciate a cute female rear-end as much as the next guy...but not in combat. ;) In regards to the underpadding, here's a suggestion that should add to the realism, yet not detract from the image: Buckskin tunic and breeches. Buckskin is very lightweight and quite thin, yet durable, pliable, and for purposes of armor padding, shock and sweat absorbent. Bucksin is also easily dyed in nearly any color, though its natural dark tan to light brown shade would definately compliment the green you're using here. I'm just getting into the whole texturing scene, but I'd say a quick and easy way to accomplish this would be to use the catsuit, with a suitable texture and bump map to provide the look that fits the outfit. Hope this helps... CT

heyas; latex, you might experiment in making the scale colour map a greyscale map (perhaps even the same as the bump map). you could then change the object colour to green/red/blue/brown etc, add the greyscale colour map to the base colour, and be able to switch easily. of course, if you make one colour that is all pretty much monochromatic; it's not big trick to change the hue in a painting app. :)

I strongly agree with the idea of something padded or quilted under the armor to keep it from rubbing the skin raw... and it should cover the bare skin visible at her thighs. (I'd wear a scale skirt covering all the way around, not a bikini bottom, into battle... too many people have died from an arrow in the wrong place, and exposed femoral arteries are too vulnerable.) A nice woodsy brown leather texture over the catsuit would be a reasonable solution. Poser Arcana has lots of tutorials. I think that is where I found a series of 3-4 dealing with effective lighting. Schlabber has many excellent sets of poses on his site. His tutorial on HOW to pose provides an excellent starting point, or you can just choose one of his and tweak it to fit your scene and character conception. You are learning fast. This is looking real good... and my own Evoker is making an appointment with a tailor. :) Carolly

LeBurns asked about making it different colors. When I first started this I specifically approached it to be able to make it different colors. This post is to show that. The only difference in the above two images is the ambient colors. In the green it is: Red: 0 Green: 50 Blue: 0 In the blue it is: Red: 0 Green: 0 Blue: 50 I know that the blue does not look good, this was just posted to show my attempt at setting it up so that it could be adjusted easy. If I wanted a real blue looking render I would fiddle more with the colors to get something that looked good. Interesting that some people suggested things that I already specifically stated I did. Is this because of a language barrier (I'm new to posting here, so sorry I have to ask)? Or, are people just not reading the threads they are replying to?

heyas; i havent been following you along, step by step, the whole way.... so i dont know what-all you said previously. :) i dunno, include a synopsis? ;)

I think it's looking great! As far as the size of the scales, it's Dragon Scale armour, right? well, dragon scales are different sizes on different parts of the hide, so the scale size doesn't have to be uniform. :-) Once again, I'm amazed at what you have done in Poser as the renderer. I'd love to see it in Bryce or another "real" renderer! Obviously, some nice effects can be achieved in Poser if you start to work with all the texture options. The only suggestion I will throw out would be to try the green a little darker, with out changing anything else...