So merely a week ago I was preparing to announce the indefinite postponement of PE because I ran into yet another brick wall when it came to Poser... or two or three. I'll spare you the details. Basically one of them was some typical computer calculation issue, and the other is that Poser's rigging system is too old-fashioned and they need to improve that a.s.a.p...Luckily I've managed to find some workarounds in the meanwhile, some folks that are very willing to help, so I don't have to slit my wrists yet! Poser is definitely also listening in on what I'm doing, they are very supportive despite their own problems, so that can only be a good thing.
Don't give up on Poser just yet!
Despite these bugs I have improved the bending of the knees slightly. The picture above is from yesterday but that one's even outdated. She's now also got 'sitting handles' that simulate the compression of the glutes and the thighs when sitting on a chair. Her buttocks have their own handles, as well as her belly, etc. I started off with her having a waist and an abdomen but today I reverted back to just an abdomen just for the sake of easy transfer of my V4 content. To be honest she bends even better now for some reason haha. This might change in future, in fact I want to see if I can keep her one abdomen bodypart, but fool Poser into accepting two more spine bones like ghost bones (without associating them with a polygroup). We'll see if that is possible. I know ghost bones are easy, but not when they're in between two actual bodyparts (*update: it seems possible. Now I hope it can also be transferred).
But there's still much to do, and I also have the Disco Dragon to finish. I have to say this month was slow because of some personal issues. My girlfriend is leaving for good back to the UK this Thursday and that's taking up a bit of my time. After that I can blast away at 3D again. If all is well I might also move to the UK and get my own flat there. The country I'm currently living in is slowly going down the toilet, and the estate I'm living in is constantly getting harassed by infrastructural, familial and criminal activities... long story! All in all its hampering my work with comics. So this year will most likely be the year I'm actually going to be moving. Canada is still a very real possibility too.Enough chit chat. Here are more images of Project E.mesh5. The girl in the images should be made available too, once PE comes out.
Really looking forward to this. I'm frustrated with DAZ for making their primary figure dependent on Studio to fully realize the potential. DAZ owes their existence in their current state to the Poser community and they've essentially turned their collective back on us. I still use V4 with Lali's Bits as my primary figure because I'm a Poser user and will remain so. I just really want a figure that bends right and looks right in most situations without needing a plethora of morph packs to achieve that, and sometimes combining morphs makes for a serious mess. I've scrapped several characters simply because what had been done could not be undone. Please keep doing what you're doing. :)
ReplyDeletehey Matt, thanks for the confidence and support. DAZ's move to go DAZ-exclusive was perhaps a necessary one in terms of improving technology, but they could've easily provided a Poser version with new rigging, like you say, after all the support that Poser users have given to them. That was indeed unforgivable. Along those same lines I still want to show support to my DAZ fans and at least try get PE to work in DS... but I also don't want to support the company itself, they are wankers for sure.
DeleteThat said, Smith Micro are also idiots lol. DAZ only got so popular because of SM's lack of vision for Poser.
Anyway, yep, I hope PE will be something that you can use and be happy with for a while!! cheers man!
I keep hoping that SM will come out with their own version of geografting, it's one of the coolest features of DS.
DeleteThis sounds pretty interesting. So you're going for more bones in the torso instead of just three plus weight mapping or JCM's? I thought at first that was overkill, but I guess it makes sense, especially for some kinds of fantastic characters.
ReplyDeleteI probably shouldn't say this, because then you may decide to do it if you haven't already, and this will take even longer; but will you have a simple control to cross and uncross eyes?
hey! yep there will be extra bones in this girl. I hope it doesn't mess up the hierarchy panel too much. I'll try to make the torso bones invisible and make them automatically bend with the base bone. The spine usually bends with a nice curve and not per individual vertebrae.
DeleteI don't have that control yet, but that's super easy to make! Don't worry :)
I really like it! She has a very sculpted look to her. Where as many of the characters that have been coming out recently strive for "realistic females", this is definitely one that is meant to be featured. A true muse if ever I did see one. ;)
ReplyDeletehehehe I hope it will also get accepted and get used. My biggest enemy right now is Poser itself, it sorely needs improving in the field of rigging. Hopefully this will inspire SM to allow the Poser team to start getting creative again.
DeleteI want to ask something... do you have a project that could be reusable base characters based on her by third parties?
ReplyDeleteHow do you mean? can you explain in more detail? Characters based on her by other vendors? Its not yet at that stage that I can create individual characters, but that will come.
DeleteI mean as a V4 for example to that...various vendors to make characters based on her. Sorry for my very bad enghish
DeleteI maintain my statement: I have never even wanted a "real" woman as much as I want that one. She gets sexier by the day.
ReplyDeletehahaha. I'm very curious what you'll do with her dude! I hope she satisfies in your runtime :D
DeleteI'll be honest, I had given up hope that the figure would be completed. I am glad you are still moving forward on it, despite the complications.
ReplyDeleteI am also glad you want to make a finished product before release. Too many in today's culture accept a partly unfinished release, with major patch updates afterwards.
Keep up the good work, I am looking forward to it. I also hope someone will make a V4 compatibility addon later (I assume unofficially), so us Poser users can continue to keep out of DAZ's silly proprietary marketing tactics.
Dammit Ero! Shut up and Take my money! ;)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, she is coming along nicely. I eagerly await Beta, or release. :)
-DP
I'm curious, have you decided on a name for this girl once she's marketable? I've always assumed PE or Project E is a working title.
ReplyDeleteyes project.e is a working title, I'll let folks know what 'e' stands for with the first phase of testing. The girl herself will be called 'Lucy' just to remember her by. There will of course be more characters than just Lucy.
DeleteSmashing, she's just smashing. One thing that comes up in these images is an unfortunate feature of V4 that could potentially get banished in PE: sideboob. In real life, that fold on the outside side of the boobs runs more front-to-back than up-and-down as it does in the case of V4, once you get to a certain size. Below that size, of course, it doesn't exist at all, but that front-to-back wraparound is an important bit of realism. Some boobs, say on small-framed big-boobed girls stand out well to the sides of the ribcage and that fold is an important visual cue. It's always front-to-back or non-existent. Never up-and-down. I hope PE get fashioned that way.
ReplyDeletevery interesting, I actually think I know what you mean! I'll look into it. Thanks very much for that tip, might prove very useful!
Delete