Maja on Her Noble Steed

[clockmender]

Hi there, it’s me again (don’t all shout “Oh No” at once, I am getting deaf enough as it is - you what, pardon, say that again)

This one is for Shaun, I guess my friend that this is something like you had in mind, or at least I hope so!

There is a long, long, long way to go yet, but I have made a start while Mrs. Clockmender busies herself with the suitcase packing, this is not a job we chaps can even think of doing. :no: We would get it all wrong!

I will think about what else I need to do to this scene whilst tramping around the Himalayas, we leave for there on Sunday. I have some ideas, but they need developing further, She definitely needs a stetson I think, and possibly a “Peace-maker” and perhaps a context for why she is sat on a horse with no clothes on…

For those wondering what I am rambling on about, Shaun suggested I take Maja’s kit off and plonk her on a horse, I am not exactly sure why he wanted me to do this, but any reasonable request from a friend must be considered. :yes:

So, here she is aboard her noble steed, you may notice her hair has grown a little since she last appeared in my Clockophone project, this is largely been done in the interests of decency :eek::

Updated Picture

The steed needs an armature and a better pose, along with some particle hair for its main and tail, but all will have to wait until my return from the roof of the World. The steed came with a body_oc image - I presume this is to plumb some Ambient Occlusion into the nodes for the material, but I am not sure how this works yet, I have found a Ambient Occlusion node, but I am not sure where to plug this into the overall material - all I know so far is that you don’t use a mix shader to merge it with the image texture fed diffuse shader node - it looks s*** if I do this, and the only s*** in this scene should be in a pile behind the horse.

Cheers, Nude-Chick-On-Horse-Maker.

PS. We need a smiley face holding his nose for this thread I think, how do we persuade the powers-that-be to add new smileys?

[clockmender]

One from t’other side:

Maybe I should give her some “Cowgirl” boots as well…

I need to do some smoothing work on the texture image, I can see the joint between the legs and body on the Noble Steed and the reins need reworking…

Cheers, Clock :eyebrowlift:

[Shumetsua]

she was taking a bath and the horse ate her dress?

i think you should add a real saddle. or let her sit on the bang horse back instead. (make it an unicorn and it would be just an other wood elf princess scene) and don’t forget to let her hold the reins(?)

[Speed7]

@clockmender"

This one is for Shaun, I guess my friend that this is something like you had in mind, or at least I hope so!

For those wondering what I am rambling on about, Shaun suggested I take Maja’s kit off and plonk her on a horse, I am not exactly sure why he wanted me to do this, but any reasonable request from a friend must be considered. :yes:

Clock my friend I am more than willing to take all the blame for how Maja got starkers on this horse, but truth be told I stumbled upon her in this condition desperately clutching a violin to maintain any shred of dignity shed had left.

However not complaining at all with the condition I now find her in, been grinning and LOL all the way through your post.

Cowboy boots will suit her down to the ground, but the horse must be white and the sea the backdrop IMHO, attached is a pretty good look at what I have in my head. :evilgrin:

Going to love this one.

Shaun

[clockmender]

@Shaun,

Hmmmm, yes the white horse looks really nice, I will have to re-colour the “texture” image - that is a serious piece of work I think, but I will have to leave it all until after my hols.

The sea doesn’t quite fit in with what’s in my head for a scene, but I guess I can just do two scenes with Maja, one on the beach, the other I have a much darker idea for that takes place away from a beach… I don’t want this project to be “just another girl on a horse” - that’s been done so many times, but I can make the beach scene work differently to normal I think.

For “your” scene, I will have to gen-up on making waves and find a nice “foam” image, I will also want the horse to be moving, so her hair will need to be “flowing in the wind” but not that much that she looses her dignity, or what little she has left!. For my scene, she will be holding a “Peace-maker” and will not be smiling. So for this I am going to have to add some more rigging to her face to get the right expression.

Yes I can see some interesting and challenging work here, and some serious learning in the process.

Thanks for the feedback Shaun, I will probably be asking for some advice on the sea and spray later on. :yes:

Cheers, Clock.

[Speed7]

Hey Clock

Happy new year to you, I think you have been on holiday long enough now and it’s time to get back into the saddle, well get Maja back into the saddle. :evilgrin:

Nice playing sport against SA is it not, like clubbing stuffing seals.

Speak soon.

Shaun

[clockmender]

Got a Wacom tablet for Xmas! Going to recolour the horse to " Shaun White" then get Maja back in the saddle. Happy new year everybody!

Cheers, Clock.

[DanPro]

It’s about time you get back to work…

I hope you had a great vacation.

Please let us know how you like the Wacom tablet. I’ve been thinking of getting one.

Welcome back!

[Speed7]

@FaceBone"

interesting!

Mmmmmmmm, we are going to have fun here. :evilgrin:

[clockmender]

Well, after hours of work, most of it to no avail, I have arrived at this point. :eyebrowlift:

Clearly I have a long way to go still, but it is progress of sorts. I had all sorts of difficulties with the horse’s particle hair system, got thoroughly p***** off :mad: with the original horse, so had another go at building one, lots of sculpting practice - which I hope was not all in vain. I changed the environment image to trees. I have not done any ground yet, I want the horse to be running through the surf on the edge of a beach in time. Help, or some pointers here please!

I also had a lot of problems with Maja’s hair, so she is not in this render, I will be turning my attentions towards her once I have the horse sorted. BTW the Wacom tablet is marvellous! Thanks to “He & She” who bought if for my Xmas present.

I have to work on the horse’s pose too - it’s supposed to be galloping, so I need to rework the pose. I have some images to work from, but it is going to take me some time. Also I have been playing with bump maps for the horse’s body hair, rather than the main, etc - output below, critiques gratefully received, but don’t be too harsh, I have been away from this for a while. :eek:

Maja says she can’t wait to get her leg over this horse… not quite sure what she means by this.

Cheers, Clock.

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[clockmender]

Update:

I have worked on the horse a little more, changed the pose and added a simple “ground” mesh, much to do on the “scene” front, but ideas are forming in my mind… :rolleyes:

Next, I need to sort out Maja’s hair…

Cheers, Clock.

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[Speed7]

@clockmender

Next, I need to sort out Maja’s hair…

I would prefer Maja without any hair, so do not fuss too much there :evilgrin:

In Vain, I think not, that horse is fantastic for a couple of hours of work. IMHO the sea spray is best done in PS afterwards, I fiddled a lot with the particle system a while ago and while you can probably get it right, but the render times will be going through the roof. Maybe someone else has some good ideas on this area.

Waiting not so patiently for updates now.

Shaun

[clockmender]

Maja has asked me to post her comments here, in fact she was most insistent on the matter! They should be read in a Swedish accent, a bit like the Chef in the Muppets, he said quietly, hoping she wouldn’t hear - “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” and all… :eek:

Over to Maja:

@Speed7

I would prefer Maja without any hair, so do not fuss too much there :evilgrin:

Shaun

"Shaun, hmmmm, you are a bad, bad, huh… VERY bad man and should be ashamed of yourself! I would not show you my t*** for all the ****ing tea in China! And if Clock values his balls at all, he will be very circumspect in what he does with his camera…

My new best friend, pictured below, is very good with a baseball bat and will do anything I ask, since I promised him a quick “shine-up” with some metal polish…

I am now off to Tony & Guy to get my hair done, Clock thought it highly amusing to grow it down to my feet, he will not be laughing so loud when he gets the bill". :no:

Skal, Maja.

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[Speed7]

You know clock, I think Maja has a really filthy mind, as I was innocently referring to her head :yes: and just look at the ruckus she has kicked up now.

:evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin:

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[clockmender]

Hmmmmm - I believe you Shaun, but Maja does not! She says that, bearing in mind I have removed her clothes, her hair is all that is left to afford her some degree of decency. Her final word on the matter is “If you shave my head Clock - your nuts are history” I think this closes the discussion for me!

I am therefor working on her hair now in order to preserve my deep-toned voice…

I have also started on the “scene” background, with a beach and the sea as my first priorities. I think the spray will be post-processed in Gimp or similar. Images to follow in a day or so.

Cheers, Clock.

EDIT:

Here’s one without any hair just for Shaun… :):):) (ROFL)

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[clockmender]

OK, so I have been working on the scene - this will be one in a series of 4 framed pictures, maybe the first, maybe the last! :evilgrin:

So, I have added the picture frame, parented to the camera, so where the camera goes, it follows.

I have started the sea and sand, both the dry bit and the wet bit, started with the materials for these and produced the image below. Only 200 samples for now, I want to know if I am on the right lines here… :eyebrowlift:

So here it is - minus the naked lady, still having issues with her… :rolleyes:

What do you all think about the foam, spray for the sea? Ideas please.

Cheers, White-Horse-Galloping-In-Sea-Maker.

PS, Still talking in my usual deep tones…

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[wolverine96]

The horse is looking very good overall, although it doesn’t quite look like it’s galloping to me. This might be difficult to pull off, but here is an idea. If you animate the horse actually galloping and animate the camera to follow it, you could use some motion blur to bring out the action of the gallop. You wouldn’t even have to animate a full gallop, just the split second for the motion blur effect. (Don’t ask me how to do it, because I have never tried it myself… ;))

This will take longer to render, though, so you might want to wait to implement it until later on.

[minoribus]

Yeah, motion blur is a must have for this. A bit on the horse and much more for the environment. And some splashes from the hooves.

Another thing is, that the detailed texturing of the horse and the lowrez texture of the sand doesn’t match. I’d try to use a higher resolution for the texture of the sand along with displacement.

At the moment the horse looks a bit like “flying” and if you give a little bow to the horse’s back it would be more dynamic.

I’m not a big fan of the frame, to be honest.

The horse itself and the texturing is awesome! It shows all the passion and hard work you put into this

[Speed7]

Hey Clock

What is that horse doing in the way and why does he not have any hair on? :D:D:D

Maja constantly has her kit off whenever I see her and she is claiming I have a dirty mind, in fact there is not a pic in this thread that she has any kit on. I think she is a big tease.

I assume your horse has a simple rig done? I found a pic that I thought would really suit your scene, see what you think.

Maja is off to the right sunbathing, it is a nudist beach the horse is running on.

Shaun

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[clockmender]

Hi Shaun,

Yes - Maja is just a bad girl and a big teaser!

I like the picture of the horse in the sea, I have rigged the horse so I can improve the pose. I think the sea in your image may be a little too rough for the final image, but I will work on something similar.

I am off to Iceland, Greenland, Denmark and Sweden starting tomorrow - a new Viking raid! I am preparing my horned hat, weapons and firelighting equipment as we speak…

Cheers, Clock.