Still just a Mark 5

Slugging away on Tylosaur bits and pieces. The good thing about being sick is that it means I can happily zombie my way through tedious tasks. The bad thing is I can't think about them as I do them.

Fortunately I've gotten my thinking in Photoshop (well Paintshop) layers to such a level that it is second nature even in zombie mode for me to create a new layer for everything... Whether it needs one or not :P

I started to test out the Monitor Lizard component of the shader. This was the first go, and though it is promising in premise, the scales were just way way too big!

If your confused as to what I'm aiming for, it is a pattern similar to this fellow here. I'm wondering if I need to lighten up my Tylosaurs under coats so that the black will be as contrasting as it is on this lizard?

Mucking with scale size I'm closer to the effect now. I just have to apply patience to creating the black pattern, and I should achieve the results I'm looking for.

A bit more conversing with David, and I follow what he meant by Newt-like now (he was very kind to elaborate). Specifically how my tail flaring causes it to be way taller then the back and belly of the beast. I can see what he means, but I'm wanting my Mosasaur to feel a little primitive and awkward, so I'm okay with this feeling. Though David is correct in it causing some sense of scale issues, so I will have to meditate on these at some point.

Some sea snakes, in particular the Yellow-Bellied (Pelamis platurus), have a very flared fin that runs above and below their tail.

Granted it is not as dramatic or exaggerated as my Mosasaurs, but I just mention it as I want every feature of my Mosasaur to denote something Varniod in nature.

Most artists don't make their Mosasaurs have the distinctly lizard like profile I'm going for. The belly sticks out, the sides stick out in the midriff area, and my tail tapers before the fin flares out. These are all none hydrodynamic features, granted, but modern Monitor Lizards are incredibly good swimmers. In my mind all you'd have to do is stick a bit of a fin like mine on them here, and they'd be super good swimmers.

Don't believe me, I've TRIED to include this video of a Nile Monitor going after a swimming snake (aka swimming Varniod vs. swimming Varniod!!!). Notice how with a similar profile to my Tylosaur the Monitor has no trouble at all swimming through the water. Add a fin to him and I think he won't get out of the lake!

Webbing

Like always I didn't get as much done this afternoon as I'd have liked, but at least I did get in a bit.

Sadly this cold I'm currently afflicted with has dulled my mental capacity to a point where Vertex modelling is just too demanding. I will be giving it a go though as soon as possible.

The big accomplishment of the day are the flippers which I have reconstructed as webbed toes. I have never understood why most Mosasaur restorations have the flippers as nice solid proper flippers like on Pleiosaurs and Ichthyosaurs.

The fingers of these two animals are nice and packed together clearly forming a nice flipper. Mosasaur fingers are not nicely packed together, and curve away from each other slightly. This strikes me as much more in common with lots of other aquatic creatures with splaided digits. The gaps aren't filled with solid tissue. They have skin stretch across and for webbing.

I am also playing with the beginning of the colour scheme. There is a lot of work that will be going into the texture of this guy, as again I want him to look like a Monitor Lizard in patterning. However with the colour I wanted a more ocean colour scheme. Hence the blue. Does it look semi believable at this stage? Keeping in mind it is an undercoat.

Tail End

After some fusing and tinkering the Tylosaur has gone through various forms of its tail...

David pointed out my first version looked something like a Newt. Doing some quick research i can justify this look as many sea snakes have a fin setup quite simialr to a Newt's. Meaning despite being a little simplistic, it is still a very Varanoid trait, and as my piece is trying to be an ubber Varanoid Mosasaur that's cool.

Though I never did get around to posting a Mosasaur question on Ask a Biologist, I did have a conversation with my former roommate Will. The same Will who at moment is doing his Masters on fossil lizards (though not Varanoids mind you, but still he knows his stuff)!

He has informed me there is no definitive consensus about Mosasaur tail soft tissue construction. The two theories that are favoured/debated at moment are either roughly equal symmetrical fins running on the top and bottom OR that like most Ichthyosaurs the back end of the tail tapered downward and a large fleshy fin would be supported above it (not as extreme as an Ichthy though)... Meaning my then current Mosa, seen here is WRONG. As I only have a fleshy fin underneath...

Will personally likes the symmetrical theory, and at moment so do I. In my case it is purely aesthetically, and to me it looks more primitive to have fins on the top and bottom compared to a single upper fin. So here are some of the test versions I've cranked out.

A

B

C

D

D is the current version, but I can change it back to any of the earlier ones with ease. Which do people like or dislike.

I've finally come down with my first illness of the year (a record 9 months working with kids straight, and only finally now just catching something!) so am pretty slow today. I am trying to get myself to Vertex modelling, but have been finding myself easily distracted by everything and anything... Keep you posted once I get to Vertexing...

I'm also starting to think about shading and how to go about it. The tail potential presents me with some crazy challenges.

So onward and upward.

A double sided day

Today has been the backdrop for a lot of things.

First and foremost, at least to my family back home (I'm not as involved as I could be), there has been a potential tragic development with an extended family member. There is still a chance of an optimistic outcome, but yet there is a lot of potential for a very somber ending too. So that has sapped the fun out of my day off.

At the same time this event itself wasn't what ruined my day, mind you, it is my complete detach from the situation emotionally that has me worried. I've been told many times in situations where death and loss are involved, I'm eerily apathetic and clinical about such affairs. As I'm doing it once again, I worry, and thus feel unhappy, that I'm a broken person or something?

I just accept death easily. It is the only certainty of life. Getting upset about its occurrence seems as silly to me as getting upset that gravity keeps drawing your foot to the ground with each step while walking... Yet I worry that somehow this makes me an inferior person, as most around me seem to think I should be more sad or moved by these situations...

Instead I've been (trying anyway) to use this gift of spare time usefully for creative things. I've been somewhat successful as you'll see. At the same time I've been dealt almost too much potential for artistic growth today.

This morning I made a key stop at the Uni print shop and got the Vertex modelling chapter from Carrara's help manual printed. It was proving next to impossible to use the program while referencing the PDF help file at the same time. So I broke down today and splurged the $10 to print the hefty chapter so I could seriously tackle it.

Yet at the same time I got a very intriguing and tempting email from DAZ (the company that maintains Carrara) about a sale on Blacksmith Paint 3D. This is a 3D painting program of the variety I've been wanting to track down and learn for months now, so I can kick my texturing up to pro levels, and it at a price NEARLY within my price range!!!

So I have been dealt a conundrum today. Whether to jump into the Vertex or play with a demo version of the new painting program simply to see if it interests me?

So far I've been testing the painting program, as the sale is a limited time offer. I'm not 100% certain yet, but it is looking very promising. My key complaint at moment is there is no user manual or comprehensive help section for me to reference whether I can do what I want with the program. Superficially it seems to do what I want, but the finer details are hard to check as I don't know my way around the program!
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I've also made some more changes and improvements to the Tylosaur.

In there you can just make out the extra "second jaw" of teeth on the palate. One of my favourite features of Mosasaurs and their relatives is this extra set of teeth at the back of the throat that keep prey from escaping once in the mouth.

I've also started to rework the fins into something a little more leggy. Afterall Mosasaurs were lizards that reentered the water, and as they swam like a snake by undulating their body the fins weren't that important.

UPDATE:

Did some more work after this post originally went up.

Still no updates on the family issue... which has become very time sensitive (for a good outcome).

The 3D paint program while appearing to be ideal for my purposes, is probably not a wise purchase at this point. It has been pointed out by many to be an unwise time (moving in 5.5 weeks) to make such a purchase, and that I'm probably making the purchase to try and ease my current emotional state (aka filling the void).

I did do some more work on the Tylosaur though...

After some research I have found that Mosasaur tails and Mosasaur flippers/fins are essentially up to the artist, as there is no standard. I also couldn't find any official academic answers, though like the lips I've posed them to ask a Biologist.

So I've gone with a sea snake tail, as it is common practise by cutting edge Mosasaur artists, and still connects it to its ancestry... as that is my aim with this critter.

So with the Painting program a bust (for now), I'm moving onto Vertexing with a vengeance this weekend...

The Monitoring goes on

Managed to sneak in some more work on the Mosasaur... or should I say Tylosaurus as of today. As he is starting to look like what I want him too. Due to time constraints of a few end of NZ projects this post will be nothing more then pictures.

Let me know what you think...

Monitoring the Mosasaur

Righto, not a lot of time for a coherent or detailed post.

In a nutshell, this Mosasaur by Julius Csotonyi has become my be all and end all inspiration for how I want my Mosasaur to look...

The key to its success is how much he has brought the Monitor Lizard ancestry out in the Mosasaur.

Now without going into too much detail (as I'm compiling an ART Evolved article on my method and process here) here is my effort so far tonight to try and Monitor Lizardify my Tylosaur.

Here is how much I have progressed so far. The top being where I started with the Mark: 2 Mosa, and below is the begin of the Mark: 6 (though it is still a Mark: 2 in its composition... watch for Mark: 6 updates once I dive into this form of modelling)

Just a teaser of my upcoming ART Evolved article on using extant and extinct references... So watch there too.

A shot to give you an idea of how I've changed this guy into a more Komodoish look critter.

Here he is fully lite. Helps to have both lighting forms for contrasts.

Open mouth shot, that hopefully looks as much like a Monitor to you as I believe it does to me.

Though this is still very much a work in progress! If anything it is a work only just beginning!!!

Mosasaur Overhaul

Well with everything in my life falling to bits... shoes, pants, and now the car is "unworthy" to drive according to the transport authority (with just slightly over a month to go here in NZ)... I thought there has been a few 3D projects that could use some fixing up or outright replacement... which leads them to fit in with all the junk currently forms my basis of a life.

There is of course the whale project, which I'm planning on turning out a high quality final product of by the end of the month (knock on wood), but there has been a project I've been meaning to do pretty much since my first year here in NZ...

That is of course the Mosasaur... I guess technically I'm aiming for a Tylosaur, but I typed up the rest of this post using Mosasaur and I'm too lazy to change them all. Besides technically a Tylosaurid is a variety of Mosasaur, so I win.

He has received updates throughout many stages of my 3Ding techniques. The Mosasaur started life as one of only two "Mark: 1" generation models (the other being my first version of Larry). Pictured here in the only rendering of it I still have.

Of course as my modelling and, especially, shading techniques improved I'd try to keep the Mosasaur up to date.

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His initial Mark: 2 version was a little too Ichthyosaur in the skull...

A quick update had him corrected quite a bit!

For quite some time I came back to the Mosasaur every few months to keep him update with what I was doing 3Dwise.

As I stalled on my Mark: 2 modelling technique, the improvements got harder and harder. (The top Mosasaur is the latest version the bottom one is its predecessor).

This is where the poor guy has been sitting, never officially seeing the light of day. Yet being cutting edge when he was created, my Mosasaur is now dreadfully behind the modelling times...

I can't let this stand! I've decided he will become the prototype for my new Mark: 6 technique, which will involve a new means of creating 3D objects.

What am I aiming to improve exactly? Well I'd very much like to do a Mosasaur piece for ART Evolved, it needs to be scientifically accurate. So here are some of my current inspirations.

My latest palaeo-art obsession of late has been this Tylosaur by Julius Csotonyi. It completely captures the connection between Mosasaurs and their Monitor Lizard ancestors. Which is one of the things that intrigues me about Mosasaurs (I love monitor lizards, they are such elegant predators... except in their walking :p). Julius has accomplished this mostly through the colouration. Though a few slight hints on the skull anatomy help too.

I would very much love to capture this same feel...

Fortunately I have some fantastic reference photos of the Australian Perentie monitor lizard (Varanus giganteus), which I think if slightly modified would make an excellent Mosasaur colour pattern.

I have a couple ART Evolved articles in the works off what I've been doing with my extant references...

There are still other influences on what I'd like my Mosasaur to look like. Dan Varner is the man when it comes to restoring these marine killers back. So I'll be looking at his work from time to time.

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I've had a huge respect for the line drawings of Russell Hawley, and have found them a very good reference for the difference in skulls between various families of Mosasaurs. I've cut his Tylosaurus out from a selection of other Mosasaur types as this is what I am striving to emulate.

In addition to my recent discovery and inspiration from Csotonyi, this Mosasaur by Luis V. Rey has become one of my key references. I especially love the lower jaw and all the teeth on this guy!

Lastly is this old reference of mine, by I think, John Sibbick. If anyone knows one way or the other I'd appreciate it. Anyways I love his paddles.

I have one big question before launching into my effort. Monitor Lizards and Snakes, Mosasaurs closet living relatives, both have lips covering their teeth. Did Mosasaurs too?

This makes a huge difference to my restoration effort. So I'd like to know.

Anyways I'm going to conclude this huge online ramble. Just firing a few of my thoughts and feelings onto paper (after a fashion :P). I find it sometimes helps.

Start updating you once I've dived into this project.

Sauropod Piece

I figured since I'm planning a big 2009 progress portfolio I'd post the complete version of my Sauropod piece.

I didn't manage to test and apply as much to this piece as I would have liked. I had intended my Brachiosaur to be the test bed for my launching into Vertex modelling, however Traumador's recent fame cut into that time. So the models are a little more simple then I'd intended...

Of course I'm very proud of the shading and textures on these guys. As you can follow in my live blogging efforts these guys represent a new method of shading I will be following from now on. I'm not pleased with the stretching of the shader of the right Brachi's neck though...

I AM very happy with the poses and positioning of the Brachiosaurs, especially my two fighters. The one on the left, with his sideways bending neck, proved quite difficult to get just right. Fortunately my skeletal system was quite adaptive (I'm learning more bones is best... though it can take longer to pose something).

I wish I'd had more time to fix up the forest a bit. The clearing is a little too much of a clearing if that makes sense.

Oh well, something for the next gallery... speaking of which I guess I should get on that. I'm thinking a series of 3 underwater environments. Possibly with a New Zealand flavour as I prepare to leave this country once and for all... If only I could think of a third distinctly different underwater setting from here. They don't have many fossils from before the Cretaceous!

New 3D Modelling Frontier

Despite the Brachiosaur piece not being quite as grandiose as I'd hoped (so very few of them ever are though), it marks yet another step on my growth as an artist.


In particular I have conquered UV texturing mapping, and honestly can't see much in the way of improving it to shade my creatures. Not that I'm not saying there isn't room for fine tuning and tweaking. However as far as major improvements and innovations sadly I'm going to need new software for any more of those.

My current Paintshop square texture mapping does not allow me to directly paint on my models (nor are there any ways for me to do this in Paintshop Pro that I can find... anyone know differently?). Which means this is on the backburner until I'm relocated back in Canada and can start worrying about building up my infrastructure.

One of the last major ways I can innovate my 3Ding and expand my skill base, without a software shift, is in how I actually build my models. At moment I've restricted myself to Spline modelling, which you see pictured here.


In this type of modelling think of any object as a tube like construct. I can instruct the computer at any point I choose along this tube to insert a new cross section, which you can see as black shapes through out that red object. By drawing different shapes in each cross section the computer must stretch the object between the cross sectional points to connect the the two different shapes.

This method of modelling has its advantages, which can be seen in ever piece I have ever constructed in 3D. Yet it has its limitations too. The biggest of which is changes to an object become hard outside of them being up and and down (again as the cross sections have to be mostly parallel to each other). This makes it hard to make localized details or angled indentations and protrusions. If I try to create these I typically have to simplify them due to the number of cross sections I'd have to create otherwise to get odd angled protrusions...

An easy solution to adding these details (as at moment I'm rather happy with Spline modelling for initial basic construction) is Vertex modelling. In this system an object becomes something like a mass of clay that can be manipulated (pushed and pulled) by a series of points generated on its surface. You see them here as dots connected by lines. Move any of these points and you effect the nature of those lines (which represent the objects surface) which allows you a great deal of control of details.

So far I've only tinkered a bit, and never properly learned any of the tools of specific controls.

I have produced one model with a slight degree of Vertex detailing as of last week. The new Traumador character Vicsurus the Daspletosaurus. I wanted her to look particularly battle worn, and so needed some scarring on her lips. This is where I got after an hour or so of playing. It is by no means anywhere close to where I want to be, but of course it is a start.

So expect plenty of updates and posts recording my adventures into the Vertex...