My first Cycles project. Skin’s a beyotch in Cycles, just as in BI, but is worth the effort.
19hrs, 36 min @ 1000 samples @ 3840x2160 (HDTVx2)
Details @ full render rez below.
Full resolution details. Final touchups and color timing (mainly on the skin) in Photoshop.
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Did you model him for that pose, or did you model in a Tpose, rig it and pose it as seen? the deformation is quite excellent
An impressive work, by all means!
I could go for more textured metal, but you know me LOL.
Excellent!
Thanks, michalis! I did consider some weathering in the brass, but decided against it for a couple of reasons. First, the fully-glossy reflections are just so luscious! Second, it would mute the yellow color, which is important both in the design & the character – this guy is reaching for the Sun, so he embodies the Sun in his wings via color. And because he’s so obsessive about reaching the Sun, he’d also be more than a little OCD about polishing the brass, literally! Since this is essentially a mythological character, I can get away with stuff like that 
Something at extreme settings, like this
I couldn’t resist. LOL
Edit: Oh my, I forgot to enter a comment… lol
Well, he comes close to the sun, a bloom effect maybe? An overburned render?
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Heh, that’d be great for the burn-out part of the story, just before that long, long fall. Need a different pose for that, though, with the wings coming apart, and his realization that he’d pushed the envelope just a little too far. Maybe someday…
I just noticed his expression.
Well, the character looks intresting, very well modeled and the idea is great, but the render for me have a very poor quality, also the materials and textures make the project look ugly. Great project but uggly presentation in my oppinion.
A fellow ba.org-er asked for a breakdown of the skin shader I used for Icarus:
This is an adaptation of methods I used with Blender Internal, and a shot at doing mock SSS using the Translucency shader, which can best be seen in the visible ear of the character.
Link to full-size image:
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/4537/icarusskinnoodle.jpg