And I did not think it would require so much tweaking and playing with particles to get this bird ready to fly. This is part of an animation I’m starting today, but I felt that at this stage, I could definitely use some good advice.
I’ll try to follow-up on this WIP, given the limited time I have, so ups may come irregularly, but with a little help, I think I could get this guy to crow decently… :o
thanks in advance for your comments and critics …
Very nice effect on the feathers. How was it done?
Maybe you could find something to separate each featers like on this picture (i find beautifull by the way):
Feathers are made of hair, with some tweaks on the “strands” tab.
Yes, the bird on your pict looks great, and by using the “clump” slider in the “extras” tab (particles menu), you’d get this feathery look. However, my bird looked like a wet dog when I tried it… maybe more tweaking needed 
tnx for your comment !
This tutorial could be of some help. There is some discussion of creating feathers.
Nice start to the particle system though, it can be tricky, but really improves models!
Cool tutorial indeed. I will see what I can come up to using his techniques. I liked the part about the feather texture being made in photoshop. Mixing techniques seems to be the way …
tnx for your help !
i tried this tut from CGcookie
but still unable to get nice looking real feathers
if anybody has another example i would like to be able to make nice looking birds in blender!
thanks happy 2.5
Hi I am workin on a Rainfores-Music video and I had to Treat sam Birds… this Tukan is a Background Charater Maby this Picturs Help you
If you had any Question ask me
how was it done is it like in CGcookie video with real feathers
or only UV map ?
can yo larger picture for the whole bird to see the texture from close
or may be if possible can you share uplaod the file !
in CGcookie i like the floffy feathers looks great
but not the feathers as such too flat looking nort real !
thanks happy 2.5
@dracio the tukan is superb. I can imagine using it for baking normals of the feather for exemple.
@Bobi: wet dog : yes thats good image 
Hi
sorry it take me a while
@ RickyBlender
I used almost the same Method like CG Cookies BUT I tweekt the material
and I Just uploadet it to Blend Swape so you shall find it theer under Tukan I gase
@ Benny_ Flex
Sounds Interesting but olny for the birds und the Last twike… cause tranpernts feather give you fine relsoluts in clousups… and the shading works that fine cause the bodye color of the bird (only body) is spectur not there
so I hope the Blendspaw is camming soon
its’ beginning to look good
but not like the real thing yet !
see high res pic like these
http://images.paraorkut.com/img/wallpapers/1024x768/t/toucan__-1294.jpg
http://naturalsciences.org/microsites/education/belize/2006/images/Toucan--national-bird.jpg
http://www.free-desktop-backgrounds.net/free-desktop-wallpapers-backgrounds/free-hd-desktop-wallpapers-backgrounds/351567425.jpg
far from the model you did
it does not have a realist look
your model is nice but if you look from close shot it’s fluffy feathers again not like thre real on in high res pictures
keep up the good work
happy 2.5
@ all : many thanks for your posts and advices… I’m back after a week of holidays with the kids, so it’ll take another couple of days before I’m back on track.
But thanks to your comments, I should be able to up the bird pretty satisfactorily.
Amazing to see how active this forum can be … mega-cool !
Well after some hours spent trying to have those wings moving in a semi-natural fashion, and a couple headaches to go along with it, here is an up of my crow. I’m not going to go pretentious and post a link to the animation, because it’s all spoiled because of those wings. I think I’ll have to start again from scratch…
Anyway, this post to have your critics on the scenery and the ambiance lightning. Imo, it needs a ton of improvement, but I’m starting to suffer the “I have seen this bird enough” syndrom…
'hope you can help me make this sensibly better. With a million thanks in advance !
Have you tried simply using triangle with textures on them, then yuo will have FULL control over the bumping and such, similar to making grass. then for more randomness just have different triangle shapes and slightly modified textures.
It shouldn’t be overly difficult really…
One tip is dont rely on realistic lighting, it doesn’t look real Use some linked lighting that only effects the bird, for example a rim light to help it pop out from the background, you could also add a bounce light below, for that sinister effect, if thats what your going for.
