Posts by TeddyBear

  • "The Zoo" ( Decadence) (Updated 1st nov)

    Really good start! Congrats on keeping the deadline.

    Crits:

    Besides obviously glowing way too much I would say the trees/toxic water idea needs even more care. Try to get a better blend between the leaves and trunk. I think it would look more convincing if the bark sporadically glows around the areas where the leaves grow, as that would make for a smoother and more natural transition. Maybe a new shape for the leaves and another attempt with the trunk design? Nice job on getting translucency work on the leaves by the way.

    One thing about the skybox (which, not to forget, looks very nice): with that kind of angle of lighting I really miss crisp normal map highlights as well as more defined shadows over all. It feels a bit too ambient at the moment.

    Also, try adding some wallmark detail (leakage, cracks, dirt around transitions etc) to the buildings to spice them up a bit.

    Good luck with the rest

  • Time to move on..

    Interesting You've most likely made a good and thought-through decision. Besides, with a merit like Crysis you will always have something very solid to fall back on. Although I am more than happy with my current situation I am very likely to go back to the student's way of life sooner or later. It's really just a matter of feeling ready; it's a pretty hefty commitment.

  • totally random texture thread

    Buddy: I have a method for extracting SSS maps as well, although not shown in this example. One powerful thing about this technique is that, besides the naturally acquired materials, you can morph pre-defined sets of materials to go along with the new model's UV-structure. These materials could be highly advanced vein maps, freckle maps, sss enrichers etc. There simply is no limit to how much tweaking you can apply to a head to make it look extra good. The nice thing is that this tweaking process then will make all the models look better.

    Defrag, actually, it's the property of Starbreeze. They wanted part of it, so I have been funded with whatever technical devices I need.

    To answer your other question, I've always thrived on creativity and the feeling of achievement, when I see the potential of something I simply start working on techniques to extract that potential. Honestly I don't consider myself a programmer nor a mathematician in their true form, I'm simply helped by the fact that I've studied alot of math and programming - it renders the possibility of thinking/speaking in a technical language.

    Buddy, yes that's correct. However, with the database of faces that is built up you will be able to actually make new, unique faces based on elements of that database (through 2D/3D morphing).

  • totally random texture thread

    Thanks How do you mean, D3ads?

    The albedo represents a fake model of diffuse light reflection (visible as colour to the human eye), whereas the normal information refracts and occludes portions of the light itself. The specular map, in contrast to albedo, acts as a mirror reflector of light. They don't clash simply because of the fact that they are all fundamentally unique materials with different ways of simulating interaction with incoming light.

    e-freak, it's hard to predict. The material acqusition is completely done, so is the pre-defined basemesh. Currently I have three different approaches for deforming the mesh:

    A type of laser registration process which is my own invention. It registers layers of the human face, seen as a three-dimensional finite integral (consisting of layered primitive volumes resulting in a complex body). The program then manipulates the mesh's vertices using this data.

    I'm thinking about a Stereo Matching approach which by far is more accurate (generates height data within the sub-millimeter range). If I go with this method instead, the program is going to take quite some time to get finsihed.

    The third and simplest approach (which is currently used as a place-holder for one of the two methods described) reads a set of color coded pins attached to the face. The model has corresponding reference points, elastically deforming pre-defined vertex networks of the base mesh.

    So it depends on how you look at it. It's already done but is under heavy improvement.

    D3ads, all I did for The Darkness was basically music, I got hired right when the game was about graphically finished. Look for the harmonica guy (George Hadel) in the Fulton st. subway

  • totally random texture thread

    Making heads by hand sure is cool but after having done 150 of them (like some of the modelers were assigned to do in The Darkness), you get pretty sick of the iterative process. In a professional production with limited time there are two things that matter: output and efficiency. This method gives a better output than 6 days of manual labour (standard time line), requires one click and about five minutes of processing. This gives modelers opportunity to focus on other time consuming tasks with greater precision.

  • Help! I need your expert advise...

    ...on buying a digital camera.

    I have quite specific needs but I know very little about digital cameras. I would very much appreciate any guidelines I could get

    The camera may cost up to $10,000. It needs to manage the following:

    1. High quality rapid-sequence photography

    2. At least 8MP image resolution output

    Any kind of suggestions are much welcome