DKC Atlas Forum

[Qyzbud]

Spoiler!

Here's a small update. Added the cape body and feet. Makes a huge difference I think. Body feet, texturing needs works still.

I don't see any room for improvement, its perfect

Was that sarcasm? How is it perfect... Still needs arms lol

No sarcasm there, I know he is not complete, so perfect so far.

Haha, you guys.

I agree with Cosmic; very nice work-in-progress. When he's armed (and dangerous) he's gonna be a sight to behold.

[Cyclone]

Well in that case Cosmicman thanks! Finally page 2 it was starting to be a long page with all the renders...

[Qyzbud]

Added the arms, hands and gold bracelets. Looks like an actual character now. Any thoughts? What areas need work. Does he look too fat to you?

Spoiler!

Previous image:

Things left to do...

- Adjust the proportions
- add more muscularity to the side view profile to match reference
- do extensive re-texturing (the hardest and longest part I think)
- add the gold chest plate armour
- merge the two halves of the body and head
- skinning and rigging and posing

Edit - Added cape test animation:

(link to RapidShare download page)

[Qyzbud]

Looking good!

He does look maybe a little fat, but with the golden chestplate to break up his green girth a little, it might look just right.

His cape looks good in your animation, by the way. (although the video is still suffering from that pixellation issue...)

[Phyreburnz]

He looks perfect to me! Great job!

[Qyzbud]

Chest plate done.

Found a new tool in my 3d software that should speed up the re-texturing I hope.

Spoiler!

Previous images:

If I'm posting too many Work In progress renders let me know. This is kinda like my DK modeling blog

His cape looks good in your animation, by the way. (although the video is still suffering from that pixellation issue...)

Sorry I ran out of time trying to find a mew codec before posting that animation. Are you using a mac or pc to view the vids? How does a divx sound or wmv?

[Qyzbud]

Oh yes! That's looking amazing!

Please, keep the WIPs flowing... I love to see 'em, and I'm sure others do, too.

I alternate between PC and mac... DivX would be better than WMV for me, and I imagine for most people.
By the way, what others are you able to render to? Is MP4/M4V a possibility? How about MKV or WebM? Just curious.

[Phyreburnz]

That looks fantastic!

The only thing I think is a little off is the shape of the breastplate. I found this image, and if you look, it's a little more square right around his crocodile/man-boobs.

Spoiler!

[Soniccuz]

He looks brilliant!
Really your work looks top quality to me.

I don't have much of an eye for critique, but the tail does stick out to me. It's like the shadow is lending it this reddish glow.
Someone like to back me up this, or is it just me?

[Qyzbud]

Nah, I see it... on his inner thigh area too... it's like there's a golden light source shining from his nether regions.

[Soniccuz]

Lol, yeah, I noticed it there too. It actually looks alright to me in small sections like that, and did I just insult a crocodile's manhood?

[Qyzbud]

You did indeed — watch out for flying crowns!

But yes, I agree that it's not as odd-looking in the front.

Beware — appropriately inappropriate humour below...

Spoiler!

By the look on the king's face, one might assume DK stuck a golden banana where the sun don't shine...

[Ribbedebie]

Whaa, how are your modelling skills so perfect. It looks exactly like him, oh my gosh. ;w; Gorgeous work.

and believe me when I say it's not a bad thing if he's too fat!... alright, I'll shut up...

[Cyclone]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. Fixed the chestplate and turned off those red lights in the nether regions

K.Rool Fighting Stance

How bad do the fists look? Passable or needing redoing? The skinning didn't go quite like I wanted it to. But better pose then front view.

Tail still needs work and the head isn't merged with the body yet.

Thanks!

[Simion32]

My god this stuff is great! I think you worked for Rare in a past life or something.

You definitely have all the necessary talent.

[Qyzbud]

Agreed — he looks amazing!

I love the fighting stance, and the fists are great — no need to redo them as far as I'm concerned.

I can see why you lit his unmentionables now; the shadows are very strong, so a bit of neutral ambient lighting might be a good idea after all. I wouldn't suggest any radical changes to the lighting, as everything else is looking spot on.

The skinning looks good to me, so if you can find a way to improve it, I'll be very impressed.

[Super Luigi!]

I agree; you make the concept art come alive and look just like it would in the games. Great and outstanding work, Cyclone!

[Cyclone]

My god this stuff is great! I think you worked for Rare in a past life or something.

You definitely have all the necessary talent.

Thanks Simion! I'm overwhelmed by the positive feedback... Not used to getting it with my modeling. While I think my skills are decent I don't think they are Rareware quality.

Qyzbud you seem to be knowledgeable in CG art and modeling. Do you have much experience with it?

[Qyzbud]

Well, as far as I'm concerned, you definitely deserve praise for your work. Perhaps your average 3D modeller is a bit of a perfectionist, so maybe they see perfection, and just say 'yeah, looks good'... and others are so used to the immaculate CG in games/movies these days that they forget how much patience and talent is required to produce it... but we fans truly appreciate the brilliance of what you're creating.

As for my own experience; well, like practically all aspects of digital art and general creativity, I've tried my hand at it to a degree. I did a two-week summer course in modelling/rendering/animation using Maya, but that was a few years ago, and I dare say I've lost most (if not all) of the skills I developed. I've been meaning to get back into it — at least a little — but I never give myself the time. Your work inspires me greatly, though.

By the way, I added a gallery of your renders from this topic to the DKC Atlas Facebook page (fully credited, of course). If you wish me to make any changes, just let me know.

[Qyzbud]

As for my own experience; well, like practically all aspects of digital art and general creativity, I've tried my hand at it to a degree. I did a two-week summer course in modelling/rendering/animation using Maya, but that was a few years ago, and I dare say I've lost most (if not all) of the skills I developed. I've been meaning to get back into it — at least a little — but I never give myself the time. Your work inspires me greatly, though.

By the way, I added a gallery of your renders from this topic to the DKC Atlas Facebook page (fully credited, of course). If you wish me to make any changes, just let me know.

Maya is a good program. It's animation tools are better then 3ds max I think. Thanks for posting the gallery. Nice to see a collection of models. Hopefully I don't run out of steam and can add more to it.

Gnawty Walk Cycle Improvement

(link to RapidShare download page)

Older Version

(link to RapidShare download page)

K.Rool Belly Jiggle Test

(link to RapidShare download page) ← link fixed by Qyzbud

Tell me what you think of the new walk Gnawty Walk Cycle. Still look like he's moon walking?

The K.Rool belly jiggle just a test. Think it looks odd that the chest plate which is a ridged suface deforms like that. Hmm maybe a bit of artistic license doesn't hurt?

[Cyclone]

Qyzbud. DId the animations play properly for you? I used the H.264 codec. On my computer the colours look better if played in windows media player.

[Cyclone]

Hey guys, need a critical eye on Mr K. Rool here — mainly the head and body. Reason being I'm about to merge the head to the body so I need to fix any thing that obviously needs more work/refinement. Sorry for all the questions lately. Need fresh eyes looking at it. Much Appreciated.


(link to RapidShare download page)

Thanks!

edit - OH gosh sorry for the triple post

[Qyzbud]

Sorry I didn't reply before — it's been a busy day. House inspection tomorrow...

Qyzbud. Did the animations play properly for you? I used the H.264 codec. On my computer the colours look better if played in Windows Media Player.

Yes! Vast improvement! The H.264 avi's you've been posting are looking much better (they look amazing!), and seem to be a small fraction of the file size, too. I've yet to try them in WMP, but VLC (and the Chrome Browser internal player) on my Mac is playing them beautifully.

Tell me what you think of the new Gnawty Walk Cycle. Still look like he's moon walking?

It's definitely an improvement, but still needs a tiny bit of tweaking. I think the leg movement of Gnawties is a bit more of a 'circular' motion; not much different from how you've got it now, but I know there's room for a little bit more adjustment before you've got it just right. Also, I think you still need to add a bit more 'bounce' to his side-to-side rocking as he walks. I wish I had time to go into more descriptive detail about these things — hopefully you get what I mean.

[...]need a critical eye on Mr K.Rool here. Mainly the head and body[...]

Again, I wish I had time to really look for things to suggest — hopefully I'll be able to do so in a few hours, or early tomorrow. The jiggle of his golden breastplate is a bit odd, as you mentioned... but other than that, to me, he is looking great; I love the 360 view you just shared — really gives the model a tangible feel. You've done amazingly.

Also, don't worry about the triple post... it's best to avoid multi-posting, but the quality of your work more than makes up for that.

[Qyzbud]

Updated the Gnawty walk cycle. Exaggerated the side-to-side rocking motion and smoothed out the animation a bit. His left leg(Gnawt'y's POV) also doesn't drag on the ground as much.


(link to RapidShare download page)

Also edited the first post of this topic to include the High Resolution DKC logo and a link to the Facebook page. Qyzbud if you think it's worthy of the gallery you could post the other version of the palm tree, fern, and remove the K.Rool head(since it's unfinished). Thanks

Sorry I didn't reply before — it's been a busy day. House inspection tomorrow...

Not a problem. Your feed back is much appreciated.

Tell me what you think of the new Gnawty Walk Cycle. Still look like he's moon walking?

It's definitely an improvement, but still needs a tiny bit of tweaking. I think the leg movement of Gnawties is a bit more of a 'circular' motion; not much different from how you've got it now, but I know there's room for a little bit more adjustment before you've got it just right. Also, I think you still need to add a bit more 'bounce' to his side-to-side rocking as he walks. I wish I had time to go into more descriptive detail about these things — hopefully you get what I mean.

Not sure what you mean by bounce or circular movement hmm. But maybe I did it with the update...


If others have any critiques on K.Rool's 360 rotate feel free to post them.

[Qyzbud]

I've added the other palm tree and the fern to your render album on Facebook — they are indeed worthy.

I will remove K. Rool's unfinished head if you like; I like the idea of having an obvious 'work in progress' render up there, because, honestly, I would expect many people to look at your gallery and think I was just posting official renders, rather than the brilliant efforts of a devoted fan. If they see something incomplete, it will hopefully be a good indicator that this is an actual project rather than old promo art.

Still, I'll absolutely respect your wishes if you want me to remove it. Maybe you could suggest an alternative way for me to make it clear that these are the recent work of a fan? Oh! How about you create a render using the wonderful 3D Donkey Kong Country title text you created, saying "Cyclone's 3D Donkey Kong Country Renders" or something along those lines? Do you enjoy working with 3D typography? I bet you could make a really sweet banner that we could use to further promote your work. Suggestion: perhaps aim to keep the design of a 'squareish' aspect ratio, so it gets displayed nicely on Facebook without getting cut off on the sides...

Updated the Gnawty walk cycle. Exaggerated the side-to-side rocking motion and smoothed out the animation a bit. His left leg(Gnawt'y's POV) also doesn't drag on the ground as much.
https://rapidshare.com/files/3984706092 ... cycleG.mov

It does look better now, but my eyes tell me there's still something not quite right... I think he needs a bit more 'weight' in each step... that's kinda what I meant by 'bounce'; like his legs/body should react to each contact with the ground a bit more... sorry my feedback's always worded so confusingly, haha. I wish I was better at explaining.

[Cyclone]

Here, at the risk of being repetitive lets try this one more time. I added a bit more 'weight' and contact with his legs hitting the ground. My last attempt. the skinning and rigging is horrible. Can't go any further with it without redoing a bunch of stuff. It's my first attempt at animating an organic character.


(link to RapidShare download page)

If you think it's best you can keep the unfinished K.Rool render up. Have to think about the banner idea. My creativity/imagination of such things is lacking.

Thanks again.

[Qyzbud]

I've looked your most recent Gnawty animations countless times to compare and analyse them... and the only difference I can see between the last two (cycleG and cycleH) is a slightly higher lift of Gnawty's webbed toes in the most recent effort. Oh, and it looks like the poor beaver's left hand has become somewhat dislocated, too... did you perhaps send me an incomplete WIP by mistake? I know your options are limited with the model's current rigging, but this revision doesn't seem to address the points I made at all.

Don't get me wrong — what you've done is amazing, and definitely an excellent first attempt at animating an organic character — but I know that you're a perfectionist like me, so I was hoping to give good advice to help you hit that 'perfect' likeness... I hate to think of you having to re-skin and re-rig just to achieve my idea of how Gnawty moves.

Just wondering; would you mind if I uploaded some of your animations to the DKC Atlas YouTube channel, and perhaps our Facebook page? Again, fully crediting you, of course. I'd probably just put them on YouTube — at least at first. You can always embed/share YouTube clips on Facebook, anyway. This would be a good way to make the clips more accessible to viewers of this topic, and would help promote your work to a wider audience, too. Actually, it's about time I added some content to the DKC Atlas YouTube account... it's looking a bit quiet right now!

Edit: by the way, I strongly prefer the mp4 format you were using for video — much better playback performance in VLC/Windows at my end.

[Qyzbud]

Sorry for the late reply. Took longer then expected

I do appreciate your perfectionist comments. They help a lot. Thanks. I don't mind you posting the animations on YouTube. Post away.

I tried again (had some ideas) with the Gnawty. I would like his legs to stay on the ground longer but the rig and geometry don't allow it. So I decided to give a subtle bobbing to the tail and have his belly jiggle a bit. The belly jiggle may need work but but it might be a good direction to pursue.

Gnawty with tail bobbing and belly jiggle

(link to RapidShare download page)

Gnawty with just tail bobbing

(link to RapidShare download page)

Gnawty in a simple scene walking in dynamic grass with wind
Note: just a preview render; production render would take 2 hours...

(link to RapidShare download page)

What would you rate the one you think is best out of 10. 10 being perfect - 1 being crappy. Just curious. Thanks again.

[Qyzbud]

Wow, I love the look of our Gnawty friend walking through the grass (so does MrsQyzbud!) — great effect/concept, even if it is just a draft/beta.

I'm not a fan of the jiggling tummy; I know it's just an early ideation, but it detracts from the quality of animation in its current form... maybe if it were made to be a lot more subtle? I do like the bobbing tail, though; it's a bit of a departure from Gnawty's in-game movement, but it looks good to me.

Hard to rate your work out of 10... most of it would get a high 9 or a perfect 10 (yes, I'm a fan ), but with Gnawty's animation I'd give Cycle J (or the most similar cycle without the bobbing tail — either way) an 8 at this point.

Keep up the good work!

Note: I've begun to upload to YouTube all of the videos you've linked to in this topic, and have embedded a bunch of them where appropriate here for the convenience of all. They are currently 'unlisted' videos, so they won't show up publicly via YouTube's search/recommendations etc, but they can be linked to/embedded, of course. I'll finish the job tomorrow, time permitting, and will pick out a few of the best for 'public' sharing.

[MrsQyzbud]

I LOVE GNAWTY SOOOOOOOOO MUCH!

HE'S SOOOOO CUTE!!! ^.^

[Qyzbud]

Okay, I've cast my critical eye over this scene...

• The retexturing job you've done is brilliant — an enormous improvement — but I must say the repeating texture on the roof takes away a little from the presentation/realism.
• I think the vines ought to be tied/looped/hitched a little higher on the posts, and should probably be a bit of a darker, more textured green.
• The the rock/dirt embankment out front of DK's house seems a bit too vertical — it ought to be maybe a 76.5°slope, rather than the roughly 90° it appears to be now.

* Irrelevant parts of quote removed by Qyzbud *

Here is a quick render with the areas you mentioned fixed.



Previous Version

Spoiler!

Previous image — broken until Cyclone's site goes back online:
http://www.inspiredvisuals.com/DK/DonkeyKongCountryProject/JungleHijynx/DK'sTreesHouse19(CompTest).png

After looking more at the belly jiggle, I think you're right - the one without looks better and less distracting.Thanks for uploading the youtube vids. much easier for people to view.

[Qyzbud]

The improvements are good!

A bit more 'earthy' texture on the sloping embankment would look great, when you get a chance... and maybe including one of those footholds would help set the scene, too. It'd probably be right where the scene cuts off in your current renders, so you may have to expand the view slightly, or just pan down a bit; it wouldn't matter terribly much if the top of the tree was cropped, as it's never fully visible in the game, anyway.

Speaking of the tree; I know the original artwork in DKC is fairly high-contrast, but I think the shadows are a bit too intense on the tree's underside. I think it'd look a lot better if there was a touch more ambient lighting — like with K. Rool's nether regions.

After looking more at the belly jiggle, I think you're right - the one without looks better and less distracting.

Yeah, it was a good idea though. Perhaps don't give up on the concept completely; a more subtle approach may indeed improve the animation further...

Thanks for uploading the youtube vids. much easier for people to view.

You're welcome! Yeah, I think it was a worthwhile undertaking that everyone can benefit from.

[Cyclone]

A bit more 'earthy' texture on the sloping embankment would look great, when you get a chance... and maybe including one of those footholds would help set the scene, too. It'd probably be right where the scene cuts off in your current renders, so you may have to expand the view slightly, or just pan down a bit; it wouldn't matter terribly much if the top of the tree was cropped, as it's never fully visible in the game, anyway.

Speaking of the tree; I know the original artwork in DKC is fairly high-contrast, but I think the shadows are a bit too intense on the tree's underside. I think it'd look a lot better if there was a touch more ambient lighting — like with K. Rool's nether regions.

The embankment is not finished(just modeled the outlines. Need to 3D paint deform in more details) and the composition will probably change. You're right the foothold would be out of frame. Here is the reference I'm using.




I'm going to try to model the first part of the Jungle Hijinks level. I I was thinking we never get to see DK's banana horde being stolen so what about a march of Gnawties(and maybe some other baddies I may model.) walking out with a bunch of bananas while DK is jamming away with his tunes in the house?

[Qyzbud]

Cool idea! It would be great to see (and hear!) the DKC backstory unfold in glorious 3D full-motion video... it's a very exciting thought. I must say, I don't remember Gnawties playing a part in the great banana heist of '94, and I'm pretty sure it happened during 'a dark and stormy night' while DK was asleep... but I don't see why you shouldn't be allowed a bit of artistic licence.



Besides, knowing DK's lackadaisical approach to guarding his hoard, I wouldn't be all that surprised if a bunch of Gnawties could make off with a decent amount of it during broad daylight while he's got his music blasting through the jungle...

[Cyclone]

You are right. I was way off. Scratch that idea. I guess I would have lots of work to do to animate the back story.

Here's an unworthy update on DK's house. Thought I would post it anyways. Iv'e been busy with Christmas and playing Skyrim(awesome game!) I will try to keep the updates going though at least once a week. (A way to push myself to contrinue this project. )


I lightened the underside of the tree a bit as suggested, Added the foothold and zoomed out to reveal it. The composition isn't as good but a bg may fix that. Also the lighting probably isn't consistent.

[Qyzbud]

Great to see your progress, as always.

The tree looks better this way — nice job.

I agree that it will look nicer when a jungle background balances out the composition, and the lighting is made more consistent... and of course the deformation you plan to 3D paint onto the embankment, etc. It's all looking very good as it is, but I know you'll make it truly spectacular in time.

Thanks for sharing what you're up to; 'tis a pleasure to see!

By the way; I saw mention of this project on the DK Vine news — nice to know it's being appreciated by other DKC fans!

[Qyzbud]

Spoiler!

NOTE TO ALL:
Cyclone's website is currently unavailable, so many some of the image links in this topic are currently broken.

I've contacted Cyclone to let him know (in case he wasn't already aware), and have re-hosted a few most of the images so that things don't look to broken and empty around these parts. I'm not sure how much downtime we should expect, but hopefully it will be back online soon.

UPDATE: Cyclone's site is back online
If you're still having trouble seeing images, try a full refresh (Shift+refresh).

[Cyclone]

ooops accidently pasted over this message.

[VideoViking]

Very nice start, Cyclone.

[Qyzbud]

Oh wow, that looks really nice... the jungle's starting to take shape, and it's beginning to actually feel like a glimpse of a truly 3D Jungle Hijinxs! I've been spoiling myself lately by playing a lot of Donkey Kong Country Returns, but even after taking in Retro's stunningly re-imagined DK eye candy, this is looking fantastic.

I can't wait to see this scene fleshed out a little more with traditional Jungle Hijinxs undergrowth, more trees, more ground texturing, etc. etc... and it's going to look incredible once it's animated! I'm picturing the clouds floating past slowly... the palm leaves and undergrowth blowing gently in the breeze... and of course those delightful yet dangerous baddies waddling and slithering their way across the path.

It'll be awesome.

I posted this to Facebook, by the way → link

[Cyclone]

New Years update.. Hope you guys have a good 2013!

Added more trees and ground texturing. It's starting to look a bit like Qyzbud's level maps. not sure thats a good thing? I do have one question though that I wish a few people would offer opinions on. That is, is this a good direction for modeling the DKC series environments. Does it lack depth and too much like the in game perspective. I'm kinda limited to camera angles becuases it's basically half 3D(or 180)

Also the lighting,shadows and texturing will probably change quite a bit. And that thick jungle grass will probably all be replaced with DKC foliage.

Main View


Close Up




VideoViking and LeoCore don't wory I'm still going to work on your requests. I like your idea(and the name) VideoViking.

[sumao]

素晴らしい技術ですね。すごいです。
配布は出来ないのでしょうか。特にスリッパがほしいのですが。
自分はエンガードが好きなので、エンガードもみてみたいです。

[Qyzbud]

Sumao, I used Google Translate to get an idea of what you were saying:

It is great technology. It is amazing.
Why can not distribute. I'd especially slippers.
I like his Engado, I also like to see Engado.

Does エンガード/Engado mean Enguarde? →


Cyclone, I like what you've done; the idea of a linear, '2.5D' scene modeled closely on the Jungle Hijinxs layout is cool, but I think it would be much more rewarding to see the level 'naturalised' rather than adhering so strictly to its in-game appearance. Having the sandy path curve through the jungle undergrowth would look incredible, so don't limit yourself to matching the design to the leaf.

[Cyclone]

What about something like this? Adds more depth to the scene. There will be trees and landscape all around so I', not limited to a single view. I kept the cliff/steep hill so it's more in game looking. I do plan and having a path curve through the jungle. The start of the path could follow the cliff edge and then curve away from it into the dense jungle.



Screenshot of the scene. Don't have enough ram to render all those trees. I think I have to normal map them to reduce the polys.

[Qyzbud]

Yeah, that's a nice idea — kind of the best of both worlds.

I'd still love to see a completely naturalised version, too... but it sounds like you might be able to achieve an atmosphere that feels pretty close to that with the approach you're considering. I'm keen to see it take shape.

What's your PC setup like? How much RAM do you have, and how much more do you think you'd need?

[VideoViking]

Also, what type of RAM do you need?

There's a great website that you can use called Crucial. They have a System Scanner tool which analyzes your computer so it can tell you:

1. The type of RAM installed
2. Your motherboard and its max RAM limit

The System Scanner will open up a web page and bring you a list of recommended RAMs that you can buy. You do not have to buy it from Crucial (some are expensive), but it's a great reference tool. Crucial's the reason why my computer is maxed at 4GB and freely able to work on my fan game and DKCRE without any hangups.

(Hope this is not advertising.)

[Qyzbud]

Good tip, VV; I don't see this 'advertising' as a problem. (I would probably use the system scanner myself if I didn't already know that info! )

[Qyzbud]

はい、私が言っていたのはEnguardeです。
是非とも動くEnguardeが見たいです。
ちなみに日本人ですので、英語はあまり分かりません

Yes, I have had to say is Enguarde.
I want to see is Enguarde to move by all means.
By the way, because it is Japanese, I do not know much English

[Cyclone]

I have 12gigs of ram. The problem while technically is ram, is more like poly management. The trees probably have too much iterations of smoothing(which was required to get the displacement maps looking smooth enough) and could have been modeled better with less polys?

The normal mapped versions below look nearly identical to the high poly versions. But notice the silhouette of the leaves in the normal mapped version is missing the ridges.





With this done I can render many many more trees!

[Qyzbud]

Well that's a whole lot of RAM you've got there... I was thinking to myself "how could he possibly need more..." — then I saw the polygon count — — and it all made sense.

As you indicated; there's very little perceptible difference between the normal mapped and high poly versions, so this will be a bit easier on your graphics rig, eh?

Edit: Actually, to be honest I think I prefer the look of the lower-poly tree — smooth is sexy!