I've always had problems with the wing design on Daz's Millenium Dragon. One of the issues I have with it is the almost complete lack of wing membrane on the leading edge of the wings. This leads to a severe, unnatural right-angle when the wing is bent at the "elbow."

To combat this problem, I've developed a conforming figure to provide the dragon with a larger leading membrane. You can see it in action in the attached image... The dragons on the left are default, the ones on the right have my conforming figure attached.

So far I've observed the following issues:
-The texture I'm using is vaguely derived from the original, so I can't redistribute it :/
-The dragon has a tiny bit of membrane on the leading edge of the wings. My modeling tool didn't preserve scale during import/export, so I couldn't line up with the orignal exactly. This creates a flaw in some angles/lightings... I'll have to see how easy it is to remove the original membrane with the grouper.
-The original problem is reduced, but still not eliminated (see upper-right figure). Perhaps the wing-base needs to be widened?

Anyways, I'd appreciate any feedback I can get. How to fix the above issues, comments on whether or not this appears to be going in the right direction, etc.

I think it looks great and would love to be able to use it if you distribute it. (Obviously, I would have to make textures for it myself.) Keep up the good work! Jay

Looks nice.

The texture I'm using is vaguely derived from the original, so I can't redistribute it :/

If you don't feel like making a new texture entirely from scratch, perhaps you could work around the distribution issue by encrypting the file with RTEncoder.

I'll have to see how easy it is to remove the original membrane with the grouper.

Why remove it, when you can simply make it transparent?

I've been experimenting with dynamic-cloth membranes, myself. Solves a number of problems caused by Poser's limited rigging, as far as wings are concerned. Presents a few new problems, also, but that's life for you ....

If you want a texture to use as a base for some freebies, feel free to use mine in the freestuff here.

Pinky - you left the lens cap of your mind on again.

Woo, holidays sure have a habit of derailing me...

Regardless, I've managed to pull everything together. You can download it at http://www.filelodge.com/files/hdd3/51742/Wing%20Membrane.zip.

>>Why remove it, when you can simply make it transparent?

Sorry, I should have been more clear. That's what I meant: group, assign a new material, set to transparent.

>>I've been experimenting with dynamic-cloth membranes, myself. Solves a number of problems caused by Poser's limited rigging, as far as wings are concerned. Presents a few new problems, also, but that's life for you ....

Interesting. I haven't had a chance to play with that stuff yet (I'm still working with Poser 4 here. I gotta remember to upgrade one of these days :) ). The main question I would have is whether or not the dynamic cloth can simulate a sufficiently "stretchy" material.

Attached Link: http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php?f=81fbddfe8512905155408aa8

Eh, apparently file hosting is going to be difficult. Unless anyone has a better host, let's try FileFactory.com.

Message edited on: 12/02/2005 19:13

The main question I would have is whether or not the dynamic cloth can simulate a sufficiently "stretchy" material.

Depends upon how stretchy you need it. Poser's cloth room permits a certain amount of stretchiness and elasticity, as witnessed by my "shrink-wrap" experiments, but when you push the simulation too far the cloth room experiences the electronic equivalent of a nervous breakdown.

Wing-membranes aren't exactly taffy, of course, but they do have a bit more give to them than canvas.