15 miles on the Erie Canal

[DocCharly65]

Oh yes! A pleasure to see a bit of the "making of" the Studebaker

[Dune]

Echo. Thanks for showing your workfile.

[sboerner]

No problem! I know this is a Terragen forum, but these models will be placed in a TG scene, so what the hey . . .

Never modeled a four-legged creature before. Here is the horse model after a few hours' work. Right now I'm focused on rerouting edges so the underlying muscle groups will seem natural. Very much a work in progress. Many shapes and proportions not quite right yet. Modeling is being done in Silo, a really lightweight and fast character modeling app.

[cocateho26]

Wow, this project is coming along really well! The model work is awesome as well as scene composition and attention to detail.

The one thing that detracts for me is the color scheme of the trees. There is a sameness to some of the tree models that make them stand out as being too alike, kind of contrasts with the attention to smaller details. I've got a couple simple files I use for color variation, all you have to do in plug them into the color function and tweak to your liking.

All in all an awesome scene!

[sboerner]

Hello, cocateho26. Thank you for the kind words and also for sharing the clip files.

I'm aware the there is a sameness to the colors of the trees (actually, very subtle differences ). But the colors are based on observation. The date of the scene is September 24, 1915. In this area (the scene is in my neighborhood) the trees don't really start to turn until the first week of October, and they peak two or three weeks later.

I did experiment with more vivid colors (see some of the earlier renderings in this thread), thinking I could cheat a bit. But as last fall came and went I realized that it was more important to be authentic.

I wanted the low morning light and also wildflowers. Sept. 24 seemed a good compromise. It's more late summer than fall and several varieties of wildflowers are still in bloom. They soon disappear. So the choice being more colorful trees or wildflowers, I went with the wildflowers.

There will be more scenes in this series and I want to do at least one at peak leaf season. So stay tuned!

[sboerner]

Little more detail (and a head).

[bobbystahr]

Little more detail (and a head).

lookin good!

[sboerner]

Thanks. I'm just grateful at this point that it looks more like a horse than a giraffe or a goat!

[bobbystahr]

Thanks. I'm just grateful at this point that it looks more like a horse than a giraffe or a goat!

LOL

[Dune]

Very handy to work with these photo's as backdrop, you got the shapes really perfect. Seems like you built it up poly by poly (from the hooves up?), whereas I start with a cube and pull stuff out of that for the first crude shape.
Texturing will be a challenge!

[sboerner]

I usually start with primitive shapes, too – cubes or cylinders. This was a cube, several iterations ago. I haven't done a lot of modeling of natural shapes, so this is a nice change of pace. It's a completely different way of modeling than say, making a bridge or a wagon. We'll see how the details go . . . it just has to look convincing from a distance. You're right about the texturing – that will be a challenge since my painting skills aren't all that great.

[luvsmuzik]

Great start! Is this mesh mirrored and bridged to connect? I had a freebie model, but some flaws with hip connections so animating and texturing were really a bummer. I forget, is the tack on the wagon, or are you gonna add to horse? This is where being able to position neck and head with bones comes in.....(always something, isn't there?) I am sure you will perfect it however you do this. 

[mhaze]

This just gets better and better! Very impressive work.

[sboerner]

I forget, is the tack on the wagon, or are you gonna add to horse? This is where being able to position neck and head with bones comes in.....(always something, isn't there?)

That's the next step. I'm thinking that part of the harness will be attached to the model (straps and belly band) and the rest (traces, reins) will be added when they (there will be two horses) are combined with the wagon. Working from old photos and figuring it out as I go.

The base horse model is finished for now. Main mesh was made with Silo, mane and tail added in Maya. Besides the harness it still needs to be rigged and shaded.

[Dune]

That's a great horse! But somehow it seems there's something off at the lower feet. The lowest joints should maybe moved a bit down or altered, or the angle changed. It's worth to perfect this!