Just … incredible
Good luck with the bunch of other things :).
Regards
PS I had a look at your site, somehow never saw it, there are some incredible stuff there (so everybody else, go there!)
PPS your newer version of this work isn’t there yet …
Thank you very much for the kind words, Roger.
In many ways I consider this one of my best projects ever in Blender, at least in terms of overall execution, from concept to render.
The time spent on this (now around 7 hours total, between the WC entry and my later CVS experiments and the new angle render), along with the way all the elements (modeling, shaders, lighting, composition) came together all so cleanly and optimally marks a new personal milestone in the way I blend, which is why I consider this project significant and am especially grateful to have heard back from everyone in this thread.
Also exciting was to get the exact results I wanted in the latest render using only CVS nodes, which will open up a whole new world of creative potential for us and enable us to get more done within Blender.
I will try to continue this flow through my next several projects.
RobertT
What do you mean with that? Sorry, I don’t know what nodes are.
Hi, Milky. In the latest Blender (CVS version from a test build at http://www.blender.org/forum or http://www.graphicall.org) there are node options for materials and renders. Nodes let you create new complex materials and do new things to your renders (such as sharpening or blurring) right in Blender.
Check out this thread for more about nodes, compositing, and related features:
http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=60233
RobertT
awsome! I really like where u took it!
Sounds great, thanks RobertT. I think I will try the CVS build out.
The new render looks fantastic RobertT. I believe this is one of your best works yet (And not to mention WC entry)
jackj, yeah I agree, but then again all of his art is fantastic. 
Thank you to clvhines, Milky, and jackj!
I revisited this project again today with two things in mind: to create a larger render yet and to reveal the render nodes setup. Total time spent on the series of Mechanicalion renders is now up to around 11 hours.
Here is the third and largest render featuring Mechanicalion from yet another angle:
As I believe these three renders show in ascending order, slight adjustments in camera angle and position can augment the drama of the scene by a few vital degrees and portray a character or object and its environment more effectively.
This is the main reason you will usually see several cameras whenever I post a 3D view of a blend, since I often like to test render scenes from multiple angles. This also helps me check on lighting, materials, and to explore the visual potentials of each project.
Here is the setup for the render nodes:
Jpeg artifacts aside, it is exciting to achieve this kind of render result right in Blender using the nodes. The possibilities with them are truly endless, especially when combined in different ways. I may have to revisit some of my older projects to try out some new techniques once 2.42 is officially released.
Thanks again to Ton and all the coders for making this all possible, and thank you all for viewing and commenting on my creations,
RobertT
Very impressive as usual Robert ! I like what you did with the nodes to give that DOF, I can imagine it’s very tempting to apply it to prevoius works you’ve done though. I particulary like how you gave this image a great sense of scale and got the composition spot on.
Finally though just how you made this image in just 4 hours is beyond belief !:eek:
Levi
wow dude very impressive great work i think its one of your best 3d works so far
RobertT, seems like I overlooked this thread.
I think that this is one of your best works so far, it really looks great! The modelling style of the lion reminds me of Star Wars’ Imperial Stormtroopers and I love the red glow on the white parts.
Only one small crit: I think the the mouth was best in version one, it’s reflecting too much details now - this looks a bit weird.
sob, you know whats funny. I was working on somthing similar to this a long time ago (except my was a tiger) then my HDD had decided to call it quits. this is the only evidence i have for what i have done.
I congratulate you on your complete beatifull piece. the mane give sthe image great flow and greta contrast to the background helping the attention towards the lions face. awsome job.