Visual Novel Image Packs

[HumbertTheHorse]

Thanks dstarsboy.

What program are you using for these models?

Those models were made using Modo. I am modeling with Zbrush for this project as well.

[HumbertTheHorse]

I will put in all the hours necessary to have the images (classroom, hallway, stairway, and bathroom) up by this coming Wednesday.

I am just going to slip this in quietly. The above was absolutely true if ... you replace Wednesday with Friday ... and take away bathroom and maybe stairway.

I'm getting 5 hour render times on each image when distributed over 4 fairly powerful computer. Sorry for the delay.

(sneaks aways with diminished integrity)

[HumbertTheHorse]

Characters
Ghost. A hazy specter barely visible. His visage jumps violently between horse and man.

Location
Empty room rendered damp by layers of cobwebs. The dim shadows of past inhabitants act as the rooms only light.

Scene one: Act one:

Ghost enters empty room.

Ghost: Ooooo. Coming ... Coming ... Problems ... Many ... When? When done. Ooooooo...

Ghost leaves.

End act, end scene, FULL STOP

[Crocosquirrel]

Nice set, with some very generous terms. I'm sure this'll see quite a bit of use. If you distribute the models at all, would you be so kind as to include UVMapping and templates? Those of us who can work in Poser(or make/adjust textures) would be eternally grateful.

[curry nochi rice]

this is so PRO.

[HumbertTheHorse]

Thanks curry nochi rice!
And a belated thanks to \Nish/.

Nice set, with some very generous terms. I'm sure this'll see quite a bit of use. If you distribute the models at all, would you be so kind as to include UVMapping and templates? Those of us who can work in Poser(or make/adjust textures) would be eternally grateful.

I do set up UVs and templates even though I model as to not need them for my renderings (for example, the numbers on the clock are separate objects). As for releasing the models, I am leaning toward setting a small price to use all the models I make. Whatever little money comes in I will use to contract more models from other modelers. It takes a veritable warehouse of models to fit most of the needs of a VN project. Of course this is just for the people who want to use the models themselves, I would never expect anything for my renderings or for renders someone might ask for. Or maybe I'll release them for free and rely on donations. I don't know yet, but I will update this info when I have time to build the website. Also, would the DAZ/Poser crowd be interested in blender scenes if they were pre-rigged, baked, and lighted? Never used blender but I like to support anything open source and it does seem to be a robust piece of software.

As a general update, I got distracted trying to build a female character. Character modeling is fun but establishing a suitable base mesh for sculpting, then trying to establish the best possible topology for deformation overtook my time. I will refocus on the classroom today.

As for the classroom, I am treading all new ground with my workflow and software on this project. I will upload some experiments before the pack to get some input.

[Crocosquirrel]

The Poser community is usually interested mostly in mapped and textured mesh, since that's what Poser/DAZStudio use. Poser rigging is like nothing else in the world, and so things have to be rigged for it. Blender rigging, Max, Carrara, whatever :/ Studio has a rigging system similar to Poser's, just watch the price tag for Studio... Only the first hit's free. Have to remember... These are hobbyists, not pros. The closer it it to place and render, the better.

Humans that aren't Micheal or Victoria(from DAZ) flop badly 99.9% of the time. On the other hand, I'd like to see a better Human mesh.

[HumbertTheHorse]

A fairly long time ago I planned on making a VN and went about looking for models to use as I thought making my own models for a VN would lead to a dropped project. To be honest I didn't have the skills or the experience at the time to model a half dozen unique characters and environments from scratch. All anime models I found for sale looked pretty bad and all human models were prohibitive in price and limited in use, except DAZ characters. I joined their membership and started getting characters I thought I would need. Having taught myself with high-end 3d software I didn't want to use Poser, I don't even know if DAZ studio was out then, not that it would have mattered. I attempted to export the mesh into another 3d programs and that is when I lost total respect for Poser and DAZ. The export process was a nightmare but besides that the base mesh for their characters is so dense as to render it unusable even on a high-end PC. Even worse, the density of mesh does not translate into detail or unique characteristics because it is meant as a one size fits all approach. There is no one size fits all in 3D, that is the DAZ con. That is why you can always recognize a Victoria or Michael model no matter how good the artist. Not to slight DAZ artists, it is remarkable what they have created given the software.

It was clear to me that if I was to make the VN I wanted to, using 3D, there would have to appear an asset solution better than DAZ or I would have to create the models myself (or it would become a dropped project )

Sorry about the rant. Hopefully, in time, VN producers will have options to pre-setup VN assets beyond the ubiquitous DAZ store.

[Crocosquirrel]

Worst part of it is, they added Aiko/Hiro/Girl, etc to their appropriate male/female models for Gen4 (Aiko is now a morph of V4, for example) and for reasons I don't understand, it was all embraced by the community. Setting up clothing morphs is a nightmare without a major amount of modification. That said, the primary market is in clothing, not figures (which is why the DAZ ones are all free for the bases), and you cannot redistribute the mesh in any way(which makes a 3D game using Mikey and Vicki an impossibility anyway).

Making new mesh is really the only option if you want something affordable that won't take a week to render. Some of my smallish Poser scenes can take upwards of 2 hours to render on a modern low-end laptop, nevermind the machine I started with Poser 6 on. More complex scenes can take days. Have a look at http://blackspartan.deviantart.com if you want a couple of examples. The one with all the people in it took 25 hours and shocked half the community. They're all solid renders with no postwork.

Sadly, for all the detail that goes into these models, the people that use the assets in their own art generally aren't very good, and even perfect texturework can't make the end results pretty. I may pull apart the packs I built for DAZ, and release the mesh for others to use under CCA. My texturework wasn't sufficient for their rarefied tastes, it seems.

[gundestiny]

There's a good chance I might end up using some of these BGs. They're really pro!
Great job, keep it up mate!
I'm looking forward to future packs ^^

[TheQueen]

Will your site be up soon? I would love to download the pack, but the pack is much too big. Is there a way to make the files small before the site is up?

[pkt]

Hmm, for all it matters I'm somewhat known for doing models on Facepunch, mostly Sonic stuff though. I get the whole thing about having to model from scratch over and over again. I can up my models somewhere if it will help. Or help out with this whole thing you're doing. One thing though is that I'm still learning when it comes to making textures and all. So in short I can provide meshes but not textures. Renders are also not the fastest since I'm working on a 2 ghz machine with integrated video.

[Crocosquirrel]

If you need regular webspace for downloads, I'm more than willing to offer you some at renaigames.net. Still working on the front page, but a direct download link shouldn't be a problem. I'm also willing to pitch in those models I was talking about earlier. Drop me a PM when you get a chance.

[pkt]

@DarkSpartan Are you offering that to just HurbertTheHorse or to other people as well?

[cloudyssky]

These are some real great images. I look forward to more work from you.
Thank you for sharing!