Project E.mesh5. So far, so good...

I don't think I've ever modeled anything THIS symmetrical before! Omg!

Just a small update. Under careful guidance of an experienced vendor I've now managed to get a really solid mesh going. We have made sure that the UV islands give a very uniform resolution throughout the mesh. The head (and other parts) is of course the exception. Very liberal UV maps for all the details.

Resolution is on Parr with V4 but all the polygons have been moved to the right place by using a unique method of modeling. Therefore the body movement, and the sculpting thereof, should be more natural now. All quads obviously. Integrated mouth, upper throat, dental and genital anatomy included.

Much to do still, but this mesh was the most vital step. Now I know some of you like to go off on a tangent about all sorts of details but this is just the mesh. The rigging and morphs have yet to come. So please, hold your horses about wrinkles and rare bodytypes, that is for later ;)

I am really excited about this. I've learned a lot in the last year, and making this mesh was flipping easy because I knew exactly what I wanted. I am however still a bit nervous. I keep on promising cool stuff but get thwarted by some stupid bug or something. Never the less I am determined to get this girl on the road a.s.a.p. because PE has been in the planning way too long. I need to focus on with my comics!

Despite that, in the meanwhile, I'm also busy rendering the DDpt2. Don't worry that is still going. Things are getting fun!

Cheers for now!

Project E mesh 5 started... no more V4

Hey guys n gals,

You might have seen this mentioned elsewhere but I've decided to go ahead with the last phase of Project E development, despite the fact that the Poser team was unable to resolve the JCM problem yet (due to priorities). 

I have decided to attempt it without JCMs. The reason I think it is possible is because of the latest Poser feature "figure handles" or whatever you call them (which are apparently backwards compatible). These handles give such a crazy amount of flexibility, I'm sure I could pull it off somehow. Relying purely on various weight maps could provide even more flexibility for the body when it comes to flesh deformation and/or transferring those deformations to clothing. Also, where JCMs would be incompatible with certain figure types, animated joint centers of theze handles could prove to be exponentially more flexible, especially since Poser 11 has the ability to make these centers animate along with the mesh (which still needs testing). And although JCMs are great for getting in accurate detail quickly, but they are a thorn in the eyes of content creators. So I think I'm going to try this route. 

The fifth mesh is near completion, under careful guidance of some competent vendors of RDNA. The polycount is much more economical than my previous versions, but with more detail in all the right places. I spent almost a year planning mesh 5 in my head, and commenced developing her in the most radical way possible (I'll explain after her release). She will still be a T-Pose, but with A-Pose in mind. 

For her release, all I can say for now is I hope I can make her available with a tonne of options, so she'll basically be plug n play. Content support is still a big question, and I will talk about compatibility below. There have been plenty vendors expressing interest in PE. So who knows, she might get plenty support. I'll try make her available with some simple garments, but I wouldn't be surprised if you'd rather just have her naked haha!

Yes no more V4 nonsense. Mesh 5 will not have a HINT of DAZ in her. No topo, no joint centers, etc. Nothin'. 

But don't worry V4 fans, my runtime is still full of great V4 content and I'm not going to let that go to waste. There will be a solution for us V4 fans, hopefully a very easy one, but I first need to get this girl off the ground without the shadow of DAZ's legal system threatening it.

Time frame? A.S.A.P. I need to get on with comics :)

And my valued comic fans, not to worry, the DDpt2 is still rendering happily on my other PC.

That's it for now. Cheers!

Poser 11 & December comics

Hey people,

Just a small update from me. I've been keeping my head low for a while, focusing on pumping out the renders of the Disco Dragon part 2 and Sen's Initiation. I didn't want to keep on posting repetitive updates. I'm going to try get them out in December before the new year!

In other news, the long awaited Poser 11 is now out!! It is downloading as I type this. These are exciting times for me because Poser 11, as you know, is paramount in the development of my uber-complex figure Project E, and also, perhaps even more so, for my comic-making. 

Over at RDNA, Smith Micro decided to showcase P11 (and the figures) to the community, giving us a glimpse into what to expect. Thanks to many folks there, like obviously Nerd3D, but also Netherworks, Vilters, Bagginsbill and a bunch of others provided some insights into what I could expect from Poser 11. Of course since everyone uses Poser differently, I need to see if for myself before being able to formulate in my mind what Poser 11 will mean for me. There were also some previews of the new figures Paul and Pauline, which despite probably being Poser's best figure to date, was less interesting for me, considering I'm developing my own. I might develop some morphs for her, just for fun. The introduction of Pauline did give me valuable insight into what I could probably expect if I release PE. In response, I also opened a thread called "Your Ideal Figure" in which I initially intended to keep independent of PE, but that didn't last too long I think... ahem. I did get some extremely useful tips and suggestions, and have already made some changes in my development plans for PE. She is certainly going to get an entirely new mesh (for the 5th time) because in the year that Ive been working with her, I've seen plenty of room for improvement. 

But first, let's see how Poser 11 holds up as a rigging platform, and what this will mean for Project E. I'll let you know in due time what I think, my comics take priority at the moment.

By the way, I will not be downloading the Poser figures yet, only tonight since I don't want to kill my bandwidth!








BTW: not to forget, in the last few days I was quite affected by the horrible events that took place in Paris. Very similar to the atrocities in Garissa, Kenya. Its just incomprehensible that some people can lower themselves to such a level to purposefully kill and main unarmed civilians that were just having a good time. Utterly disgusting. So to all my French fans, my thoughts are entirely with you. I hope you're all ok and that such things don't happen again in the beautiful city of Paris, or anywhere else for that matter.