Trying to come up with something that looks less like the Poser horse and more like the legendary unicorn. Suggestions needed. Also a good texture and bump map would probably help. :O]

i saw a pic once that showed the unicorn with split hooves like a deer or a cow and fuzzy stuff behind ankles kinda like the goatee there.... i have also seen them looking identical to a horse except for the horn, then theres the pegasus version with wings.... yours looks a bit thin to me ...

Y'all have a great day.

They have to be thin so that virgins can ride them.

oh... well then...

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SHadow, I could make a texture for it if you want.

It does need the tufts at the feet, and it should be thin, if you look at the old tapestries most of them are very small. And he's right about the hooves. It should be white, and the horn should look like bone. Nice job so far, it looks great. You're on the right track! =) Marque

I've also always thought of unicorns with gold hooves and horn, and I'd say the tail needs to be more luxurious, and the mane needs to hang down one side or another

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dont they also have a thin tail with a tuft at the end like a cow?

Y'all have a great day.

Just can't stop that tinkering can you? LOL!!! Mane and tail should be luxurious as bonestructure suggested...he does look a bit more thin in the hindquarters then in the chest, so I would beef up the hindquarters just a bit to balance him out. Definately needs tufts of hair in the fetlock/hoof area, the horn needs to be wider at the bottom and taper off towards the top with the spiral covering the whole horn. I've seen pictures with both white and black hooves. Remember he is a fantasy creature, so if you want black hooves and a gold horn then there are no real "rules" about how you want your unicorn to be. :) It's looking good so far :) I like the texture you used in your artwork that was a dapple grey type, it was really nice . Did you post your finished piece yet? I haven't been to the gallery today to check. Keep on tinkering, I love it when you do that, you come up with some really nice stuff :) Take care!

check this link http://www.millersv.edu/~english/homepage/duncan/medfem/tap7.jpg

Y'all have a great day.

Seems to me, looking at it, with the modifications you've made to the body, the head should be smaller, more delicate

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Reading, reading, reading. Taking it all in. Thanks guys for the wonderful feedback. Still more work to do, but I am long over do giving something back to the forum. Can this be posted as a CR2 - or something - when I am done? I really don't understand the copyright thing on mesh. Uthena, I would be honored to have you make the texture. Rob

heyas; it's looking pretty good! check www.poserworld.com for morphs for the cloven hooves, and knobby knee morphs. i think the fetlocks are also there and/or the fetlock morphs, but they didn't turn out so hot. some head morphs might be in order, the dished arabian face a bit, and lyne's 'fine' morph will do wonders for it. there's info/pic on this page http://bloodsong.3dmenagerie.com/illus/pageuni.htm the zebra i made has a morph for the horse tail that makes it solid with a tufted tip. that might be in the characters section.

I always thought the Unicorns in the movie Legend with Tom Cruise were the best I've seen. The head seems rather large to me (I've been drawing horses and horse-like creature since I was nine) what they call a "Hammer head" and generally on Mustangs. The body may need to be thin, but it's desproportionate to the rest of the figure. It needs to be longer and yes, a little larger as well. The tufts, cloven hoves, and "cow-like" tail would also improve the model. Great start though. Try an Arabian head, it will give it a regal look. Just My opinion. Boni

Boni

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"Be Hero to Yourself" -- Peter Tork

The unicorns in Legend were just white horses with horns attached to their heads...lol. Sorry, but I thought they were hokey. The idea of the unicorn is that it is a mythical creature, looks more like a goat than a horse. They were always smaller than horses and only had some of the equine characteristics. I think it would be hard to create a unicorn, as everyone has their own idea as to what the best one looks like. Just have fun with it, and give it morphs so everyone can squeeze out their perfect uni. =) Marque

Wow - even more great feedback! And I haven't even finished digesting all the first suggestions. This is great! I have been all over the internet reading up on unicorns. They appear to be as diverse in discription throughout history as the various suggestions given here. I will try to take the points most common to the images of the unicorn I have seen and incorporate them into my model. Still in the process of getting that look down and the pieces I need spawned so that I can start putting the model together - know idea at this stage how any of its going to turn out. Thanks again. Keep the ideas coming. Rob

I always imagined unicorns as something of a cross between horses and deer. When I was a kid, there was a friend of ours who raised white deer. I was about 10 at the time, I guess, and to me, they were mystical creatures that, I guess, I connected in my mind with unicorns. But I've always thought of unicorns as petite, finely formed, fragile, gentle creatures.

Talent is God's gift to you. Using it is your gift to God.

I agree. To me a unicorn, while powerful, is a gentle creature of small stature. However, I always envisioned it as a horse with strong goatlike features, like the beard and the cleft hooves. I also recall that when I was younger I read an article about a man, I think in Arkansas (not sure) who bred and raised a small unicorn looking type goat. I mean these things looked like unicorns only the horn in the middle of the forehead was not spiral-but there was definitely a horn. Anyone else recall this? I think it was an old Parade or USA article. Would love to find a website on these goats, but no luck yet. Anyhow, here's where I am so far. Cleft hooves, adjustable tuft on tail, resized head, horn, and hip. Now back to the grind - still many more miles to go before I sleep.... Rob

Oh yeah, I remember that guy. They were kinda neat looking goats, if you like goats. But they didn't have the magic of unicorns. There was this book I had once, I gave it to someone as a gift, but this guy groomed horses as unicorns, and then took absolutely magnificent photos of them in the wild. He camne as close as I can imagine to capturing the novbility and grace and magic of the unicorn

Talent is God's gift to you. Using it is your gift to God.

Cooooooooooooool! Now that I would have liked to seen.

Okay, here's some idea of how my unicorn may look when I get it done. The tail is adjustable and can be filled out all the way like the tufted end (also adjustable in length, width, etc.) if the ropelike look is not your thing. Still working on the mane, I want it to be adjustable as well. Texture used here until I get one more suitable for the unicorn is Roy Bellanger's Motted White Arabian at about 45%. Morphs used reshaping the Poser Horse are by Bloodsong and Lyne. Hair, ofcourse, is the conforming curls with the transmap by Allie, resized and made to fit for the beard, mane, and tail. The horn I made in poser with magnets, the cone prop, and someones straight rope prop (sorry lost the read me on this one). Still not quite sure about the head, but think everything else comes close to meeting the consensus of feedback I got. Now all I need is a status check on how it looks - and what more can be done for the head specifically - before I continue to the next phase. Hopefully to resume sometime the first of next week as I have to go out of town for a few days and will not be able to do any more on this until I get back. Cheers, Rob

One more showing the tail adjusted and the head reshaped to look more like the tradition unicorn pics I've seen.

shadownet he/she's definitely getting there i am pleased that you are leaving the adjustments in there that others may alter to suit their fancy...the only thing i find really distracting is where the tail meets the rump ... looks a tad sharp to me, but it could be a trick of the lights also... betcha Uthena could add some majik with a really cool texture...i think i would have to seriously consider the offer.... keep up the good work

Y'all have a great day.

It's very close. Wish there was a way to make the head just a little less deerlike. I was wondering, I haven't messed with Poser controls much, but I'm wondering if there's a way to set the specularity color to yellow. It would be kind of cool if light reflected gold off of him/her.

Talent is God's gift to you. Using it is your gift to God.

heyas; all right! this is looking very nice. the horn may be a bit large for a unicorn this petite. i like how you tapered the neck and head... though to my mind, the nose part of the head could be bigger... sorta like the center portion of the head tapers down, then the tip of the muzzle flares bigger, ya know? re your email... okay, i think the morph by lyne isn't called fine, i THINK it's called 'bone.' if she didn't release it in any of her morph packs, i'm gonna have to get after her. :) as for what a unicorn looks like... well, in my opinion, there are as many unicorn breeds as there are horse breeds (or more). little short goat unicorns, tall lithe deer unicorns, big heavy draft unicorns... i like 'em all! (well, except the really archaic little whimpy ones...) ringling bros circus made a big deal of its unicorns that one year. they were goats with the surgically altered hornbuds that grew into one horn. looked pretty lame, in my opinion. ::

Good deal guys. Yeah, the head is not quite right, so I am glad to get your feedback so I can work on it some more. As for the "bone" morph, well Bloodsong I guess you are "just going to get after her" as I downloaded all the morphs I could find by you (Mega Thanks) and Lyne (Mega Thanks)but did not find the morph you mentioned. Bone, I am not sure what I would need to try to make the head less deer-like? (I've got to grin though :o} cause it started out too Poser Dork Horse-like and somehow now I guess I've gone and made it too Poser Dork Deer-like. LOL) I am going to try Bloodsongs suggestion for the muzzle, so maybe that will help. If you got any suggestions, pleeezzz pass them on. Oh, and one more thing - off the topic - Big Congratulations again on having two of your images selected for 3D World Magazine! I really liked your Sidhe. Hip hip horray! Well, I got to run and finish packing. I hope to get back to this sometime the first of next week -if not called away again on another project. Rob

I think as far as the face, I'd try to make him smile, or look wise or something. Try to add some anthropomorphic qualities to it. I'm not sure how to do that

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Ooooh. How'd I miss this thread before? I'd love to see this guy with one of my horse color variations on him :) The tail is traditionally described as being "like unto a lion" I think going for the arabian "pint pot" muzzle would give more delicacy and grace. Umm .. the photographer had a french-ish name, did some calenders and coffeetable books in the late 80s-early 90s. Some scans were posted in either alt.binaries.dragons or alt.binaries.pictures.animal a few months ago. Was basically horse with horn - but did great lighting and action shots. Keep up the work!

heyas; check my thread about the lyne horse head morph; cuz i got her to tell me where it's hidden. (in a mule, would you believe?) vavra is that photographer guy you're thinking of. but i got vavra's cats instead of vavra's unicorns. (well, hey, maybe when i have money... ;) )

Vavra, that was it. Sure, they were just horses with horns. But the way he photographed them gave them a mystical quality that I haven't seen captured before

Talent is God's gift to you. Using it is your gift to God.

Wow, some more neat comments. Well, I'm back in town again so will get started back on this ASAP. Bone thanks once more for the info, I will go hunt down the thread. Later, Rob