Current Thoughts

I'm approaching the end of this project! Right now though, the next focus point is getting the scenes set up and posed. I plan, and hope, to have that done by October 31, giving me at least 21 days to render out the demo reel. Rendering can take a LONG time. I suppose if I were able to get a new computer, that would help. My computer is good, but it's nearly three years old. Any increase in speed would be fantastic.

I talked about Coconino's fur in the last vlog. (Check the previous blog entry to see that.) I had set it up as one hair system, all over his body. It became clear to me after working with it that I needed better control of each area, so I redid it that way. Now, there are several hair systems: 1. The torso. 2. The legs. 3. The head. 4. The tail. 5. The feet. and 6. The inner ears. Fortunately, in working on the fur before, I had already created root and tip color maps (again, see the last vlog), and while they need a little tweaking, they look pretty good and it was easy to plug them into the new hair systems. I expect to have Coconino's fur done and looking awesome by tonight.

Speaking of fur and hair, I'm not satisfied with Anna's. Though I'm getting pretty good at Shave and a Haircut, I'm really a modeler first, a texture artist second, and not really a hair guy. That's an extra thing that certainly enhances my work, but if it gets too complicated, well, I'm not quite at that level yet. Short hair styles like Creed's are easy enough. Fur like Coconino's is more complex, but still fairly short and manageable. Anna's long hair though is just very tough to get right.

So, I was thinking, why not give her short hair? Yes, it's the Wild West, but it's also a Steampunk world. I'm going to see if I can find some examples of short hair on women in the Wild West, and if I can't find that, I'll just give her a short hair style anyway. When I started on her hair, it was short at first, and it looked really good. If nothing else, it will make her look more like the independent individualist she is.

That's all my news for the moment. Back to work on the coyote!