Sits down and watches in awe

It would be wonderful if there would be face morphs and texture options that allow an African and an Asian type at least, for starters. But even if he only came in caucasian, I would be a keen customer. I don't mind paying extra for dark skins and morphs, as long as they are available. And if PhilC would support him for his utilities I would be very very happy.

It has been my experience that PhilC will do just about anything reasonable if asked nicely and provided with a copy of the character. (Hint to OP)

As to the morphs...

I would suggest that the base morph set be included, but leave the exotic morphs for an add-on set for two reasons. First, it will make the figure lighter by not carrying morphs that many will either never or seldom use, and second, it will provide more income for the creator. Don't know about you folks, but I have NEVER minded paying for additional functionality. My issue is when you pay and it STILL doesn't work! (Not calling any names here so as not to start a fight I would then have to moderate!!)

Quote - I think the level of detail you have in this base mesh is actually a bit too much.  It may cause significant issues in creating any kind of morphs for this figure as well as modeling clothing.  Its one thing for a direct sculptor like ZB, but remember ... the other vendors you hope will make additions for this may have nothing more complex than wings3d, hex and poser. ...and Hiya Gareeee!

Hey Lyrra! How ya doing?

I disagree about mesh detail however. People serious about content developement are using prefessional level tools. I've been using Lightwave for over 20 years now, and have owned zbrush for t least 5.

And there's always 3d coat for a low end solution.

I think thats half the problem some people have. they use applications that are missing major features, and find things they are incapable of doing as a result, and get frustrated.

If ya need a wrench, you can't try using a hammer and get the same result.

I would be nothing without Z-Brush. lol. I admire the skills of people who can push points around all day and turn out realistic figures, i just don't have the patience for it. I work with clay in the real world, so being able to work with digital clay that sculpts like real clay is the best of both worlds. 

Lucas will have ethnic morphs, that's not a problem. 

Exactly how I will bundle his innitial distribution, I haven't figured out fully just yet, and a lot of it will depend on how many artists (if any) I get to work on content for him at release. But he will be fully supported by me at the very least. I'm not just going to release a figure and then never release anything more to support that figure. That just wouldn't make sense to me, and would basically be a waste of time. 

Lucas and his female counterpart are the bases for several other concepts I have been working out. But I can't do anything with those concepts until Lucas is done. Once he is fully rigged, it will give me a much more accurate perspective on how I can move forward with the other concepts I have. 

This is a huge project, but it is a full time job for me. I work on him every day, every chance I get, and every day he is progressing. I'm also working on other smaller projects that are easier to complete and will (hopefully) generate some much needed additional income in the short term. Unfortunately they do take away development time from Lucas, but at this point it is necessary in the long run. I have many many big things planned for him, but I have to stay grounded in order to stay focused. 

Quote - gosh there are some talented people in the poser community.  When daz stopped supporting poser with it's vicki 5 etc I was very sad.  But now I see a bright light at the end of my poser tunnel.

Love esther

the talented people have always been here , it takes people like ExistentialDisorder,ODF , and others to assume a leading role to teach with their examples, encouraging people to express their talents and to be undaunted by the seamingly overwhelming task of making ideas actuality, there will be stumbling blocks along the way, but there are those amoung us who have answers and are eager to share those answers, we are only beginning to realise the potential , the power of working together, that 'light' grows brighter with every challenge 'we' overcome... i now return you to your regularly scheduled activities...

:O)

Thanks Exestential!  We need more new male figures for sure.

Just a quick note to say not only do I find T pose pretty much kills my ability to make clothes properly (since that's not their real world default state), that I don't model my clothes from T pose has been my key to proper shoulders in clothing.  Check out my Painted Sky for a small example of how nice and square and defined you can make jacket shoulders look when they're not modeled in the pose where they should be scrunched up and distorted.  IMHO, in the content community market, losing WalkDesigner support is a small price to pay for not having every piece of clothing not made by Uzilite have rounded shoulders.

Modeling in an A pose is so easy I have way more clothing modeled than I have time to  finish off.  That all said, I'm purely into dynamic clothes.  I most definitely do not know how this would affect conforming clothes.  I think dynamic clothes are key to supporting multiple figures and I definitely see more and more interest in them, but I'm very sure that conforming clothes are important to new figures, too. 

I really like the definition.  I already have several smooth, undefined male figures if that's what I'm looking for.  IMHO, the whole point of using a new figure is to do what I can't or find difficult with existing ones.  Realistic musculature is a big plus in my book, as is facial definition and sharp angles. 

Quote - I really like the definition.  I already have several smooth, undefined male figures if that's what I'm looking for.  IMHO, the whole point of using a new figure is to do what I can't or find difficult with existing ones.  Realistic musculature is a big plus in my book, as is facial definition and sharp angles. 

I agree.  This is the big attaction of Blackhearted's work on existing figures -- for me at least.  Figures dedicated to showing some muscular definition and actual, oh my god, bones where appropriate, would be quite exciting to see.

It's been funny, actually--when the Poser community has been polled they've said that they want models of average looking people with average body types and Smith Micro's responce has been to create blob like humans with ugly faces and twiggy body--and since James no one uses any of them.  A nice defined body seems to be what most people use in their renders--not average or unattractive ones.

Lucas will have average options. 

He is sculpted with an athletic build primarily to help define muscle groups for topology, rigging and weight mapping. His topology will not adversely affect morphing, I'll make sure of it. (Unless you're trying to make dragons and unicorns - if that's the case, go play with genesis). He will be stretched pulled and twisted into every conceivable position and (human male) shape possible before he's complete, to make sure that he handles morphing and bending well. 

I think that some of the biggest reasons few people use the poser-native figures is due to their topology and flaws, that make it difficult for content creators to make new content for them. As I recall, P6 James, for example, has really bad UV mapping, making it pretty near impossible for him to be retextured without having a program like ZB that can paint 3D models in real time. I think someone was trying to correct that at one point, but I don't know if it ever happened, or got distributed. 

Thing is, P6 James and Jessie are actually the most anatomically accurate models of all of them. If it weren't for their underlying issues, I think they would have seen a lot more attention from content artists. 

I think when discussed on other threads and in other forums, the biggest reason people don't use the Poser native people is that they are just UGLY!  The male figures don't have pleasing body shapes or faces.  If content providers did create stuff for Allyson and Ryan, for instance no one would buy it.  Why buy stuff for them when M4 and V4 are gourgeous out of the box. Take a look at this banner I made for the Poser Gallery--there is devolution from P5 on.  People were able to make more attractive add ons for Dork and Posette.

Actually I think Dork and Posette still beat all other native Poser figures when it comes to available clothing. I have tonnes of stuff for the pair of them.

Quote - Actually I think Dork and Posette still beat all other native Poser figures when it comes to available clothing. I have tonnes of stuff for the pair of them.

Totally agreed!

Then the next step is some ZBrus's real hair set. hint, hint...

Quote - > Quote - I really like the definition.  I already have several smooth, undefined male figures if that's what I'm looking for.  IMHO, the whole point of using a new figure is to do what I can't or find difficult with existing ones.  Realistic musculature is a big plus in my book, as is facial definition and sharp angles. 

I agree.  This is the big attaction of Blackhearted's work on existing figures -- for me at least.  Figures dedicated to showing some muscular definition and actual, oh my god, bones where appropriate, would be quite exciting to see.

Agreed! The well defined shape is what immediately grabbed my attention on this new Lucas figure. If I wanted a figure that gave me the impression of unformed dough I'd be using M4.

Quote -  

Then the next step is some ZBrus's real hair set. hint, hint...

I've been experimenting with that, but it hasn't turned out too great so far. Haven't given up on it though, maybe just need to try some different ideas with it. It definitely has potential. 

But I think texturing it to make it look like real hair would be hell. No idea how I'd go about mapping it. 

Zbrush hair is already mapped.. the strands encompass the entire uv space, and run vertically. The taper of the fibers handles the taper of the texture.

The trick seems to be to use more polys then you'd think you'd want to use. And you can even export groomed "morphs" of the fibers.. ;)

Mec4d (Cath) has been pioneering its use in poser, and has some youtube video tests of the progress.

"im very impressed with your work ,  and even more impressed with your willingness to listen to others opinions....  :O)"

Ditto!

I worked with a guy before who would ask opinions, and then argue against every one of them.  What the heck is the point of that.  It was super annoying.... 

Anyway watching with lots of interest.  There is quite a lot to be learned here :)  I think this model looks fantastic to start.

That's one beautiful character and not even finished...wow!!!!

I too am experimenting with the Zbrush Hair and it's coming along, you just need to experiment with all of the option dials.

I would also confirm it is easier to model your figure with the mouth half-way open and the eyelids at half-mast and the rig/create morphs to open and close them from there, works for me.

Your figure looks very kwel ED, well done.

Quote - Zbrush hair is already mapped.. the strands encompass the entire uv space, and run vertically. The taper of the fibers handles the taper of the texture.

The trick seems to be to use more polys then you'd think you'd want to use. And you can even export groomed "morphs" of the fibers.. ;)

Mec4d (Cath) has been pioneering its use in poser, and has some youtube video tests of the progress.

 

Gives me even more ideas for this figure then. :)

He already has a mouth cavity and throat, eye sockets, etc. They're grouped for easy access in ZB, just mask one portion while sculpting the other, helps with repositioning the jaw when needed and define lips, etc. 

Any further activity on this project?

I take his silence as proof that he's busy working on it.

Quote - I take his silence as proof that he's busy working on it.

I hope so ...

These things take time folks ;).

Laurie

good things come to those who wait...

:O)

I guess we're all eager to get some new testosterone into out runtimes since we've been bombarded with all manner of new and revamped female figures.  Well however long Lucas takes it will be worth it because I know the artist is taking his time to put forth a quality product.

I like what I see so far, and as you've stated that this is just to get his topology going and there will be more, I'm waiting excitedly to see the finish!

And I'd like to be in line to do textures for him. :)

I wasn't rushing or adgitating... just honestly am interested in seeing where the design is leading. 

The continued interest in Lucas is very inspiring and much appreciated. 

I have run into some issues that has prevented me from posting much here lately, but Lucas is still being developed. I will post updates as soon as I can. 

Nice to see people are still interested. :)

~Shane

Yes!  Definitely still interested.

Very interested!!!

Very excited.

Personally, I'm looking forward to a version optimised for P9/PP2012, (but I won't complain if it's backwards compatible). I'll definitely keep an eye on this thread.

Very interested end very...excited  

Ok, so a small update on Lucas, for those keeping track. 

As I said in my last post I had some issues I'd run into that prevented me from updating much on Lucas.

Basically long story short, I lost my hard drive. Just decided to die on me one day, and everything on it was gone, to include Lucas. And because I suck at backing up my work as often as I should, I had no other copies of him to work on. 

It took a while, and I was more than a little pissed, at myself and all that, but I managed to get a guy to work on it to see if he could retrieve anything. It took nearly a month, and I wasn't able to retrieve everything, but luckily I managed to find one of the most recent versions of Lucas on the partial recovery the guy was able to do. It wasn't the final, and all the texturing, mapping, etc I'd done was gone. But at least it wasn't a complete loss. 

So I'm a good month or so behind where I should be with him at this point. Probably closer to 2. But the upside of it all is that I've been forced to go over the model again tightening up areas and I think he looks better now than he did the first time. So now I get to map him. Again. 

Moral of the story - back up everything, constantly, in at least 3 different places. 10 is better. 

~Shane

I'm really kind of torn on whether I should keep posting regular updates with images, or if I should keep it all under wraps until he's completely done. 

~Shane

keep posting.  that way you get a 2nd opinion on your work before it s too late and we say he looks just like possette or something.

anyway looking good.  More than good.  awesome/fantastic!! maybe the shoulder coudl be a little higher.

Love esther

Post when the spirit moves ya.

Nah, I think the shoulders look good.

Laurie

I agree!  Keep posting  and looks really good!

I have a soft spot for alternate figures and I would be interested in trying to model some sort of clothing for Lucas.  If you are looking to have some additional offerings to release at the same time as the figure I'd definitly be interested in helping out.  Probably quite early to be talking about that, but do keep me in mind for when the time comes

Actually, this is probably the best looking (so far) non Daz figure to come along ;). Good job ED. Sucks about you losing your files. I have to admit..I'm a bit lazy on the backup too ;).

Laurie

Thanks guys (and ladies). Much appreciated.

MeatSim - I am definitely interested in getting other vendors on board for content. Taking volunteers. lol. 

Haven't started looking just yet, but anyone that's interested is welcome to send me a PM and we can talk. 

~Shane

Lucas looks nice & one can never have too many different meshes in your runtime.

VERY attractive. And yes, PLEASE keep posting progress shots!

Looking great - many thanks for the update :-)

Sorry for your data loss. Always a real pain. Sometimes I guess it can be cathartic, in the round... having to go back and start a stage over again... mostly not though.

Please update as you see fit.

I certainly think, if you're open to considering and potentially making adustments based on community input then posting updates is a good plan...

...and I'd speculate that this approach might possibly help more, than too closed a development process, to build some hype and expectation... and demand (thereby inspiring content creators)??

But that's pure speculation on my part! ;-)

Definitely keep posting, it gives us something to look forward to.  It doesn't hurt to generate some excitement about your work.

Will there be an Eric Bana morph do ya think?

LOL

Laurie

I like to see the updates, but that's being selfish. I don't think input form the comunity ever hurt Antonia, but she was released free.

Sorry to hear about the data loss.

Of course I'm waiting for updates but it's up to you . Lucas is great and shoulders are O.K for me .