Gaia - not to re-invent the wheel...

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

                <Washes the dirt from his hands...>

I have decided (almost for sure) to create a nature goddess (modeled after Gaia) for my first creature.  

Mostly it will be a scaling (about 3x) and re-skinning of a woman from the waist up. I'd like the texture to be alpha-mapped vines and leaves, so you can actually see through parts of her. And she will be placed so that as she moves it will look like she's wading through the earth, complete with an earthen bow-wave effect (or anim)...

Yeah, a distant target to shoot for when my last modeling experience was 9 years ago :-( But a man's gotta dream! =)

Anyway, I have a couple questions.

First, though I did not see anything close to what I want on the Vault, I may have missed it. Has someone already done this?

Second, what, in your own humble opinion, would be the best female model (geometry-wise) to scale up?  Imperfections will magnify and I *do* want a very perfect, feminine form (at least above the waist) to start from =) Texture doesn't matter, since I will replace it. I think the human torso is the basis for all the larger versions (Erinyes, succubis, etc). Is there a better model without armor/clothing?
Edit: Failing a specific model recommendation, what would be a good, moderately high poly count to shoot for? She will only appear in a small area with a few non-hostile creatures... So I'm willing to go higher count than normal.

Third (ok, three questions), is there an emitter that  can be repurposed fairly easily to look like grass (flowers) and earth being rolled over as Gaia moves?

<...and his mind>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Rolo Kipp, 23 août 2011 - 11:10 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Bannor Bloodfist]

               The Nymph model comes to mind as a good starting point.  "c_nymph.mdl" seemed to me to be the "cleanest" of the mdls without all the extra armour details etc.  There are a couple of other nymph mdls, but I don't have the names handy.

Careful with the scaling as the breast size gets unruly when sized too largely on that mdl though, personally I think Bioware fell for the "large breasts are better" attitude of a 14 year old with their female mdls in general, but that is a personal opinion and can be easily discarded.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <cooly examining breastesses...>

I thought the Erinyes (CEP) was a possibility, also.  I'll look at all 3 and at importing something smoother (higher-poly).  I'd like a "Mephistopheles" boss-level attention to detail.

Then again, with flesh made of branches & leaves, the detail might be wasted...

Maybe the flesh (behind the leaves) shading from fully transarent at the ground to an emerald translucence by the neck... So the fine modeling on the head would be apparent.

Damn, now I need a crown of flowers :-P

Question about PLTs: They have 10 named layers, each appears to have it's own alpha... I am assuming the engine combines the layers for a master alpha layer. What function does the greyscale do? Specular? I see varying values on solid models, so it isn't transparency...
Edit: NM. Found what I was looking for on the CTP forum. :-P

<...but not touching that>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Rolo Kipp, 24 août 2011 - 05:10 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Jenna WSI]

               I can't really help you, but I like the idea and would have a use for that in our server. '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <grins...>

And welcome to it, whenever I finish it. Just be aware that this will be a big, detailed model and might come with gremlins... especially in a crowded area/server.

<...impishly>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <wipes green goo on his scarf...>

Well, that didn't go so well :-/
Worked up a proto foliage tga (I use gimp & paint.net). Named it the same as the purple worm tga and dropped it into my top hak to do a little proof of concept on the whole alpha-channel thing.

What I expected was to see the purple worm reskinned in branches & leaves with emptiness in between.  What I got was a purple worm. :-(

No change at all. Do I need to rebuild the module when I add an override bumpmap?
(Would have anyway, but battery was under 25%)

<and slices up another honey-do>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Zwerkules]

               Did you try a dds as well as a tga? I guess that it will work with a dds.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <slaps his forehead...>

And let me guess... An older dds would be preferred over a top hak tga?

<...and squashes a bug>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Zwerkules]

               If there is a dds texture for the purple worm it will be used instead of your tga in the hak. If there was just a tga texture, yours would replace it, but it won't replace the dds.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <Jumps and shouts...>

Bingo! Hey... looks kinda cool :-) Hmmm... Forest Elemental? (Edit: Forest wyrd?)

<...B-17!>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Rolo Kipp, 25 août 2011 - 10:46 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Androrc]

               I can't help you, but wish you luck. The project is quite interesting.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <looking cross...>

Androrc wrote...

I can't help you, but wish you luck. The project is quite interesting.

:-) I think so, too.

If I can find that pesky "How do I post pics here" thread, I'll put up pictures of the Forest Wyrd & Forest Wyrm...

Neither are particularly elegant, just a quick edit of textures using random foliage from the Trinity SF, but they do provide proof of concept for my see-through made-of-plants Gaia skinning.

And they look pretty cool :-) 

And, in the Wildwoods, they fade into the foliage with a really effective predator effect =)

<...-eyed>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

                <knit one and perl two...>

If I can't post here, I can still post on the Amethyst Tapestry =)

Proof of Concept

<...and linking too>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Rolo Kipp, 26 août 2011 - 05:01 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <adjusting his lenses...>

At this point, I've decided to use the human model (scaled up) for everything but the head.  The nature texture makes fine detail immaterial, so to speak :-P

So I'll take the extra polys from the missing legs and use them for the head (and a few chunks for the rolling ground-swell anim).
The texture by the time it gets to the head will be mostly a translucent emerald with a few, fine vine tendrils to emphasize shape.
Hair will be long, flowing trresses (dangly?) of vibrant green leaves (looking at the Treant2 model... anyone know the author?) and she will wear a crown of flowers (which I am also interested in making an item).
The crown will have an occasional falling petal emitter and the body will have leaf emitters ala Amethyst Dragon's Topiary Guardians (This is all his fault anyway for inspiring me :-)

The total poly count I'm aiming for is about 1K, but I'm willing to go 2K.

So, now I need recommendations of the finest sculpted head to choose from =)
Geometry much more important than texture, though I will ghost the features onto the emerald.
(Edit: oh, also will have glowing eyes vfx :-)

And, please, if you would be so kind, *where* to find it... :-/

<...and counting his polys>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Rolo Kipp, 26 août 2011 - 06:37 .