DKC Atlas Forum

[Cyclone]

Thanks for the comments.

I can't wait to see more detail/texturing/refinements — especially on the central monolith.

What would you suggest the head needs? That piece is really hard to texture.




DK Barrel Falling Apart


DK Chest Pound


The Cart used by the baddies when the march out of the banana hoard

[Qyzbud]

Hey, nice update! Great to see a bunch of new advancements.

The DK barrel looks good, and I love the animation; it's great seeing the letters fall off, and to see all the pieces coming to rest on the ground — great job on the physics!

DK's chest pound is developing well, too; a bit of variation in the movements (to make it look more natural/realistic), and it'll be even more convincing.

The cart/rickshaw is a cool design — where'd your inspiration come from? The crown decorations on the side are a nice touch!

I can't wait to see more detail/texturing/refinements — especially on the central monolith.

What would you suggest the head needs?

Well, others mightn't agree with me here, but I think of the overall shape/texture of the stone head as being less 'lumpy' — like, a cleaner/more refined carving. That said, it's a statue that's been ravaged by the extreme weather of DK Island's ecosystem for many years, so there's a lot of cracks/erosion/'roughening' of the surface... but I think you could do a more convincing job of this 'weathering' effect.

Also, there are lighter (shiny?) patches, darker shadows, and of course mossy areas that make the original look so good.

[Cyclone]

I had this idea for that cart for awhile and envisioned it being pulled by a Krusha or something.
Making the island less lumpy would mean redoing a bunch of stuff. Shadows would be hard to make darker with the way the scene it lit.

[Qyzbud]

Ah, I see... I must say your texturing efforts in this latest render have significantly improved the way the stone looks to me — well done!

[extremu]

(super long quote deleted by moderator)

In Donkey Kong Country the Donkey Kong does not have a happy face.
Snes that should be the focus.

[Phyreburnz]

I absolutely LOVE the barrel and the animation of it breaking! I also really like the cart, and I would love to see some more of your own creations.

[Cyclone]

Thanks Phyreburns.

Does anyone have final comments on DK Island before I call it finished for the time being?

[CaptainEddie]

Like Qyzbud, I think the DK head needs to be smoothed out and maybe even reshaped a bit...

And to make everything look denser/bigger, I'd recommend ading smaller trees in Kongo Jungle, more trees in Vine Valley, etc... Otherwise, it looks great!

[Cyclone]

Sorry. Repost. I shrunk the palm trees and the house and added more Vine Valley trees. Comments so I can move on to other parts of the project. Is it better with the smaller trees?
Thanks again!

[Qyzbud]

I think the smaller trees make the island feel a bit larger — which is good — but I must say I do prefer the look of the larger trees themselves... and I believe the scale you had them at before more closely resembles their size in the original scene. Perhaps a handful of the jungle palms could be scaled up a bit, to add to the 'random seed' effect, and to give the jungle a greater feeling of natural variation. Otherwise, perhaps try scaling the trees to around halfway between their current and previous size?

The coniferous forest looks good with a few more trees, but I think they would look a bit more true to the original if the foliage/branch structure of each tree was a little more dense.

Important question: Are you aiming to replicate the scene precisely (with enhanced quality/resolution, of course), or are you planning to make it more of an approximation, with liberties taken in regard to exact tree placement, terrain contours, general proportions, etc? I ask this because you appear to be modelling in a fairly faithful-to-the-original way, but certain elements (tree size/style/placement, shoreline expanse, stone head shape, etc.) are more 'approximate' in comparison to the original scene.

Either way, you're doing an astonishingly brilliant job bringing the island to life.

[CaptainEddie]

I must apologize- I wrote that post in a rush and wasn't able to properly explain my ideas. I have ample time now, so let's see if I can adequately express myself.

I agree with Qyz that the trees looked better taller; I should have explained that there should be some small trees. If you look at the game's render of the island, you'll notice that some of the trees are shorter than others. This gives Kongo Jungle a feeling a natural variation, as Qyzbud pointed out, but I think their primary function is to obscure the player's vision of the ground. The ground gives too much away about the model's size, so its covered up by tree tops to give it a sense of scope. When we look at the map screen, we understand that the island's size and porportions aren't accurate. Rather, the map screen communicates the visual theme of the next "world" by taking its most iconic terrain (Kongo Jungle's trees, Kremcroc Industries' factory) and enlarging them to supernatural sizes. I don't know if this the same feel you're trying to go for, but that's how the folks at Rare conveyed the size and scope of the island while remaining economic with their technology.

At least, that's how it seems to me. I could just be crazy!

Either way, fantastic work! Your models are absolutely amazing! And I'm sorry for the confusion!

[Cyclone]

Important question: Are you aiming to replicate the scene precisely (with enhanced quality/resolution, of course), or are you planning to make it more of an approximation, with liberties taken in regard to exact tree placement, terrain contours, general proportions, etc? I ask this because you appear to be modelling in a fairly faithful-to-the-original way, but certain elements (tree size/style/placement, shoreline expanse, stone head shape, etc.) are more 'approximate' in comparison to the original scene.

I'm trying to have the scene look as close as possible to the original. The only thing holding me back is my skill level and to some degree patience. I really suck at texturing. In terms of the head shape its more that I don't feel(for the time being) like redoing the head which means redoing the texturing. I agree about the tree size and made them too small. What did you mean by "shoreline expanse"? Thanks

CaptainEddie no problem. I know what your saying. I'm trying to go for the feel that rare did with the render.


Changed the Vine Valley Trees and scaled the jungle trees for a more natural feel.


Technical test of animate tread marks.

[Qyzbud]

Hey, I like that cart test — looks great with the deforming soil!

I'm trying to have the scene look as close as possible to the original. The only thing holding me back is my skill level and to some degree patience.

Your skill is very impressive, but I know there's a lot that goes into creating and animating a 3D scene, so it's not surprising that some aspects are tougher than others! I can imagine that texturing would be very tricky to get right. You've done amazingly so far; don't worry if it's not quite up to the dizzying heights of your perfectionist standards.

What did you mean by "shoreline expanse"?

I was referring to the beach — the sandy area between the jungle/cabin/cave and the ocean... it's a lot more narrow in the original pic:

Original scene	Your render
	Wider shoreline ↑ ← Narrower shoreline

Changed the Vine Valley Trees and scaled the jungle trees for a more natural feel.

I do think these changes better reflect the feel of the original scene, but I think with time and tweaking (down the track — don't stress about it now!), you'll be able to capture a perfect likeness. Perhaps some day every tree in the original will be represented exactly in your scene... that's something I will be very impressed by.

[Cyclone]

Important Question
Who thinks I should merge all the limbs together together to make it more realistic? If I do that it may end up not looking as close to the SNES model rare used as it does now. I'm curently going to try to do some face morphs to add some different facial expressions. Thanks in advance!

Below is a repost so you don't have to go back a page to see them.

Some hair wips. still got to spend awhile styling the hair so it looks proper in all angles.

Click images for a larger version if your curious as to how it holds up to HD like res. Doesn't hold up to perfect though.

Reference

[Qyzbud]

Well, I would love to see how he looks with a real 'skin' under all that fur; even if it departs slightly from the appearance of the original model, I think it'd be an improvement.

You do save incremental backups — at least before significant structural changes — right? If so, it's not like you have anything to lose (apart from the time invested, of course!) by trying out this idea.

[Cosmicman]

Wow this is some amazing work, all your work really looks like the game renders!!! I always wanted to see Dk island in 3d, yours is absolutely perfect.

[Cyclone]

Thanks Cosmic man. Your work is amazing to!

Made some changes to the proportions of the head. Oh and merged the toes to the feet.


Doing Some face morphs. Happy, Worried, Sad, Mad. I'm finding this hard to do. Suggestions welcome. Thanks.

[Cyclone]

Good or No good?

[Qyzbud]

'Happy' looks good, and will look even better if you incorporate an open mouth as part of the expression.

'Worried' needs some work, I think; the brow region stretches a bit too much, and he looks more excited/curious than 'worried'

'Sad' is better, but the brow still looks a bit too stretched.

'Mad' face is excellent — truly badass.

[Cyclone]

Thanks again Qyzbud,

Do you like the changes to the proportions of the head? I made it wider to reflect the reference more closely.


Also I incorporated the changes you suggested to the face morphs. This is one of the most important parts of the animation, getting the emotions good.

Default


Happy

Scared


Sad


Mad


Edit: Adjusted the sad face a bit.

[Qyzbud]

Facial/head proportions are great; I didn't realise they needed to be tweaked, but I can tell they're better now.

The expressions look really good (well done on the open mouth!), with the hilarious exception of the 'scared' face — what the?!

I like that you're getting creative with these expressions, but I don't think DK's brow is meant to bend like that.

[Cyclone]

Well I tried

I just have no clue how to make hmm look scared.

[EvangeliKong]

Makes his eyes pop out like in the games.

[Cyclone]

Another attempt at making DK look scared. Scared and surprise do look similar

[Qyzbud]

That looks much better.

A thought; Perhaps a frowning mouth (downturned edges) would make it look more 'scared' and less just like surprise...

[Ribbedebie]

I have a little tip for his eyebrows - maybe you could look at him in the cartoon. He had some wild expressions and his eyebrows played a big role as well, they seemed to move and arc freely to convey his expressions. I can't really explain how, so have a look at this silly little GIF;



But I really dig the work you're doing. It looks fantastic!

[Cyclone]

^ Thanks for the tip. His eye brows look straight. I suppose I could do that but It won't look as much like DK from the snes games.

If this doesn't look scared I guess It doesn't matter. DK never really gets scared in the first place?

[CountryFan]

In DKC, he freaks out when standing on an edge, and in DKC2, he totally freaks out when K. Rool gets up.

[Qyzbud]

DK never really gets scared in the first place?

Exactly.

In DKC, he freaks out when standing on an edge, and in DKC2, he totally freaks out when K. Rool gets up.

...except those rare occasions.


Great work on the new look — much better!

[Cyclone]

I'm currently merging the arms legs etc to the body of DK. Will take a few days. Then I will start to model Squawks.

Perhaps Squawks carries DK through the clouds and drops him onto the island or something like that. Or I will have the bird just fly though clouds in the intro.

[Cyclone]

Progress update.

Lost a days worth of work do to a corrupted file grrr. Attatched the limbs to dk's body. Except for the head. Currently doing some rig pose tests before redoing the fur.

Do you guys want to see fur like this render from retro?
http://www.game-art-hq.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Donkey-Kong-Country-Returns-Game-Character-Official-Artwork-Render-Donkey-Kong-Diddy-Kong-2.jpg

Or what example of fur would you like to see? I have to redo it anyways since I merged the limbs.

I will post a new render once the fur is redone.

[Qyzbud]

Oh man, I hate losing progress... hopefully you're well past the point you were up to when that file corrupted on you, though — 12 days ago, was it? Wow, it's quiet around these parts without your stunning renders livening things up!

Anyhow, I really like the fur you've been showing so far — it's much nicer than Retro's, I'd say! Nicest fur I've ever seen on the big guy, actually.

Any progress on Squawks? Your ideas for incorporating him in the intro sound cool, and it's high time DK got to see the sights of his island home via parrot-powered flight.

[Cyclone]

Sorry for not posting for awhile. Re-doing the hair is taking a long time. Lots of test renders(5-10min each). The hair I did in previous posts was just slapped on.

It's too late... I changed the hair quite a bit. Hope you guys like it!
There is lots of tweaking of the hair to get it more consistent on all angles.

Click on the image shack zoom icon to see full size.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I haven't started Squawks yet. Doing the rigging of dk now.

[Cyclone]

Qyzbud or anyone else what you think of the new fur?

[Cyclone]

Here is a test pose using the rig. It reveals lots of hair and skin weighting issues especially the chest/stomach area.



larger version
http://www.inspiredvisuals.com/DK/DonkeyKongCountryProject/DonkeyKong/DonkeyKong46(poseTest).png

[Qyzbud]

Looking good! I think I prefer the colour/appearance of the previous fur, though...

Spoiler!

These latest renders make me think of DK's 'Red Team' colour in Smash Bros — it's overly red, rather than DK's traditional orangey brown.

Otherwise, it looks pretty good — I'm diggin' that pose.

[Cyclone]

Thanks for the feed back. This better? I made the hair less red, gave him a tongue and opened his mouth wider.



larger version
http://www.inspiredvisuals.com/DK/DonkeyKongCountryProject/DonkeyKong/DonkeyKong48.png

[VideoViking]

This is pretty nice.

Correction, this is pretty nice.

My one minor gripe with the image you posted: he appears less muscly in the image. Is this just because of the arm movement?

[Qyzbud]

Cyclone, he looks AMAZING!

Truly professional-quality stuff.

I can't wait to see his shaggy fur swoosh around when you next animate the big fella.

[Cyclone]

Here is a first iteration of the run cycle which will probably be used in the animation.



*Edit for some reason the colours turned out really dark...don't have time to re-upload it.

[Cyclone]

Fixed the darkness issue, added some wonky physics to the tye, lengthened the animation, and rendered in better quality. No fur on tests.



More animations to come.

[Cyclone]

Here is DK's walk cycle wip.



Comments would be helpful,

[EvangeliKong]

Donkey's arms need to have more movement on them, or then his walking looks well...stoned.

[Cyclone]

^ he looks stoned?

Some more walk/Run cycle tests. I think the walking is improved. Running probably needs more work. What do you think?

Simion would you be able to post an animated gif of DK running? Thanks.

[Simion32]

The run does look really weird. Walk still does need work, too.

Here's your GIFs:

Donkey_Walk.gif (12.32 KiB) Viewed 170878 times

Donkey_Run.gif (13.09 KiB) Viewed 170878 times

[Cyclone]

thanks.. but those gifs move pretty fast

[Qyzbud]

Cyclone, I like the progress you've made so far on the walk/run cycles! They do need some tweaking though, so I'm glad you're taking a closer look at the original sprites.

Here — I've slowed down the GIFs Simion posted:

DK's walk cycle — 0.1 second frame duration

Donkey_Walk_0.1.gif (13.34 KiB) Viewed 170864 times

DK's run cycle — 0.1 second frame duration

Donkey_Run_0.1.gif (14.1 KiB) Viewed 170864 times

Hopefully that's a better speed for studying his movement.

Good luck!

[leo_core]

You are doing a brilliant job!
It is extremely difficult to reproduce the movements so that appear "naturals."
This your last video DK running and walking was almost perfect, I think you only need a few more adjustments according on the gif of Qyzbud posted.

[Cyclone]

Thanks for the gifs. Due to difficulty I didn't fallow the animations in all aspects...

I think the feet movement is much better this time around. There is a little sliding but no point in manually adjusting the keyframes untill I start the the main project animation.

[Jeffrey_Bones]

Great work on DK's animations. He looks superb!!! I can't wait to see what you come up with for the Zinger! (My favorite baddie in the series)