Planetside Software Forums

Someone recently asked for some medieval characters. Here are six fighting knights of the high middle ages. (75MB!)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5wx1obfqcx0k4mu/Knights.7z
Edit: link updated. The comments below refer to the old link.

I started with a male nude base mesh created by Nick Zuccarello
( http://www.digital3dmodels.com/nick-zuccarello/ )
who generously gave me the permission to share the final models here.
I had to remove the genitals (poor guy!) and simplified the feet. I rigged and skinned the character and created the chainmail coiffe, helmets, belts, the spores and some weapons and shields.

I then loaded a sword fight motion file, which looked quite nice and only lasts for a few seconds, but it was enough to extract some nice and dynamic poses.

The tunics and the lower part of the hauberk (a long sleeved chainmail shirt that reaches almost down to the knees) were made by running a cloth simulation and were then converted into editable meshes.
They are separate objects (!!!) that fit perfectly to the according knight. Thus you are able to use TG's colour variation feature to get some more variety in populations.
Use the exact same settings for the tunics like those for the knights (don't forget the seed!) if you are creating a population.

The models are far away from perfect. Since I don't have that much experience in rigging and skinning, some parts are a bit overstretched in some places, but it's not too obvious if you don't get too close with the camera.

I created the chainmail textures by digitally weaving rings in 3ds max. I rendered some depth maps and a diffuse map out of that pattern, and the rest was done in TG.

The tunics' textures (not the tunics themselves!) are completely exchangeable. They have all the same size, so you can add some more variation by using the same knights with different tunic colours. Just copy the contents of one tunic's part shader, paste it into another tunic's part shader and delete the old contents.
It was great fun to work out all the details like seams, dirt, blood and so forth.
The face textures can be swapped as well. I didn't spend too much time (actually NO time) in refining the texture outside of the face itself, since the rest is covered by the coiffe.
One of the faces is mine. You may know the others too ;-)

Be aware that the intensity of the bumpmaps are set for a model size of 1.0 which should be approximately the correct human size. If you scale the knights up or down you'll have to adjust these settings accordingly.

All the textures are either made by myself or made of free images from the web. As I said Nick gave me the permission to use his base mesh to create the knights and share these.
So you may use the models as you like. If you are going to show your images using these models anywhere else than here I'd be glad if you'd mention my name.

Let's see some nice medieval scenes now!

By the way, I'd like to create some horse riders as well. Does anyone have or know about some good and free (galloping) horse models?

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Thanks for sharing Hannes. Very generous. It should inspire some epic fights.

Here is a link for some horses (not sure they are good enough)

http://www.planit3d.com/source/poser/p_morphs.html

and some textures here

http://www.lynescreations.com/lynefree26.htm

David

By golly, I can't tell which one's you. Second left? :D

That's some very nice work Hannes. It's great that you had a possibility to share it! Thank you.

Yeah... unfortunately all my male models need to be castrated too. ;D

Thanks for your generosity, Hannes, but that's an awful site. All I can find is some small knights.7z.exe, which I don't trust. And a lot of ads junk.

My malware software blocks the site.  :o

Thanks guys.
Oh boy, this site is indeed really awful. I just found it this morning just to share the knights. Ulco, I just tried it. It works. It takes a while until you find the right button, but it's the "knights.7z" file (75MB). 7z is another compression format.
Anyway what's the best file sharing site? I could upload it there and update the download link.

Dropbox, I'd say.

OK, Dropbox:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5wx1obfqcx0k4mu/Knights.7z

(Same link as the updated one in the first post)

Please tell me if it's not working.

Works...pulling it now... ;)
Thx a lot :)

First link worked for me...thanks Hannes....

Off topic:
That is a very cool picture bobby! ;)

Haven't looked at the objects but in the render they look quite nice Hannes.
Thanks :)

By the way, I'm the one with the blue tunic and the shield. ;)

Hannes not sure about the legal aspect but have a look here for the free ? (galloping) horse models:
http://people.csail.mit.edu/sumner/research/deftransfer/data.html#credit

Thanks a lot, Kadri! Not sure about the legal stuff as well, but I'll have a look at it. The one horse file is an object sequence, so there could be an animated horse riding through a TG scene! ;)

:)

Love it man! Thanks a ton!

Wow...these are brilliant models...Would you consider doing a similar set of "average Joe's and Jane's" to add that human element to the landscapes we're all getting better at? Just a needy thought, heh heh heh

I continue to recommend https://mega.co.nz It's free, you can upload up to 50GB, and it's not so much a personal cloud-based file sync tool like Dropbox (where you may have other personal files and so might want to delete a large download eventually, thus breaking the link you posted). It's more appropriate for general file hosting in that regard. Terragen.org is also still viable for this purpose (needs some work though!).

- Oshyan

I'm an idiot!
Oshyan, you recommended that before, didn't you? Anyway I forgot that I have an account there... :-[ :-[ :-[

thank you Hannes :)

Testing a new chainmail shader. After I got more experienced with chainmail (made my own shirt) I decided to create a new shader. I created single flat riveted rings in 3ds max, made a heightmap out of those and that's the result.
Making a more detailed knight as well. I'll keep you informed,

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Looks great Hannes!

Smart move! Looking really good.

great texture...hand rolled is often the best way...you get what you want cuz you know what that is, and don't stop till it appears...

That's right!

I smell skirmish in the air... :P

i think the best idea for me, is to download a full 3D caracter models (its free) in 3dmax or maya for example
make an animation movement by some free animation files
and use terragen as baground also as animation

I already tested it
here it is a simple examples




just with biped without skinnig and ringing with caracter and materials



so its will be very interesting way for a short animation movie

BAD ASS Hannes!

Here is another shader test. I made the textures perfectly seamless. There is a visible seam at the edges of the cube but it's caused by the UV mapping. It's an imported chamfered box. TG has an almost identical object, but there is no possibility to make it 2-sided, so I decided to create a cube in 3ds max and imported it into TG.
Once again it's great to see how TG can create convincing shaders that are more than the usual terrain surfaces.
Btw I unchecked raytrace objects to get real displacement. I probably wouldn't do that for a character render, but for testing purposes it's quite interesting.

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Wow, that's quite something!

wow, nice test...TG is really an awesome app. Now if we only didn't have to disable ray trace to get displace the world would be a better place eh?

Hannes could you please show a wireframe shot of the chainmail model
you used to generate the heightmap(depthgrab),if you don't mind,that is?
Just curious. ;)

Sure, no problem.
Not much to see... :)

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Wow, what a nice render (of course looking much better with RT off). Chainmail looks stunning. We really need that render option selectable by object. Hope it arrives soon.

Indeed!
Btw, I used this tutorial to create the chainmail displacement:
http://www.3dtotal.com/index_tutorial_detailed.php?id=223&search=chainmail#.U3ZG9Sjxe1w  (Link fixed)
Chainmail is really fascinating. It took almost four months to create my own (real) chainmail coif and the shirt. 17000 rings, almost 26 pounds and a lot of blisters on my hands.

I would like to see a pic of you in the chainmail.  ;D

Thanks,interesting variant.
Did you use riveted rings for your real one also?

Oh,and the link gives a 404.

OK, I fixed the link.
No, I didn't use riveted rings. Just butted ones (I guess, this is the right definition). It was the first time I ever wove a chainmail shirt, so I didn't want to be disencouraged after the first 500 rings  ;D.
Maybe the next one... :P
Yossam, I'm afraid I don't have an image of myself in chainmail yet. But as soon as possible I'll post one especially for you ;). I'm waiting for the right weather. It's been raining a lot recently whenever my wife and I were on medieval markets. I don't want the shirt to rust prematurely ;D

Can't wait..............you just look like a person that would look right at home in it.  ;D

OK Yossam, I'm making a fool of myself. Here's an image in medieval outfit, but yet no chainmail...

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See I told you............you belong on Game of Thrones.  ;)

Whoa, you take this seriously. Someday I'd like to attend one of those real knight tournaments (e.g. this one in Germany: http://www.ritterturniere.com/de/ritterturniere.html). Would make for great pictures, I am sure...

This is indeed great fun. We have a lot of tournaments and medieval markets in the area where I live. I took this photo last year exactly when the knight's sword hit the apple.

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Quote from: Hannes on May 16, 2014, 04:24:36 PM
This is indeed great fun. We have a lot of tournaments and medieval markets in the area where I live. I took this photo last year exactly when the knight's sword hit the apple.

Great capture...I envy you your location...nearest we have here to that is a freakin rodeo...LOL....I do wear a cowboy hat well...

Actually there are a few just over the border but they refuse to let me into the USA eh...wassup wit dat?

Hannes here is a link of the ramparts celebration in Dinan in Brittany (about 200 kms from my place)
It happens every 2 years in July.
Have a look on videos and photos.

http://www.fete-remparts-dinan.com/

Thanks for showing us your medieval self, Hannes. Looks really awesome. One of these days I must attend some medieval festival!

Thanks guys. Yes, it's great fun to go to these festivals (thanks for the great link, Kaedorg!!!) dressed up like this. It really feels like time travelling.

Back to topic: I wrote that I was creating a new more detailed knight character. I wanted him to be a little bit more historically correct (as far as it's possible). I was searching the internet a bit and found that my knight seems to be already quite authentic. I thought for example that these pant-like trousers (which were actually stockings and suspenders!) should be a bit more loose, but if you look at old illustrations, the chainmail shirts and trousers seem to have a slim fit. Actually there were belts and laces to hold the stuff together, to prevent the loose sleeves and trouser legs for example from flapping around while fighting.
So I am going to refine my existing models and the textures.
Here is a short lighting animation I did for testing the reflection behavior of the chainmail shader.

For you, Yossam. This is my chainmail coif and my most heroic facial expression. ;D ;D ;D

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Cool.....................thanks.  8)   


Think HBO might be interested?

King : Lord Hannes, tomorrow you'll go to the No-return Mountain and you'll kill the 10 Dragons alone with your sword.

Lord Hannes : Yes, Your Majesty

Couples of seconds after : see picture above ....

 ;D ;D ;D
...and then, off camera, there's Lord Hannes peeing his pants, which is quite unfavourable in chainmail...

Well, at least it won't be caught inside the chainmail pants.

By the way, that 'cap' must be pretty heavy.

3.5 kg. After some time wearing it you get a headache. Those knights must have been very robust.

Quote from: Hannes on May 18, 2014, 04:32:55 AM
3.5 kg. After some time wearing it you get a headache. Those knights must have been very robust.

or numb skulls, heh heh heh...Great shot man.

Thanks Bobby! You're absolutely right. After some headache your head feels a bit numb! Thank god my brain is a rudimentary organ.

Quote from: Hannes on May 18, 2014, 02:31:23 PM
Thank god my brain is a rudimentary organ.

hee hee hee

Like my wife always says "Once a king always a king but once a night is enough."  Seriously though Hannes great models.  Thank you.

I'd like to show you the actual WIP of refining the model. This is a 3ds max render. I'll have to include the ends of the belts into the cloth simulation, which is going to be tricky. I added bulged corneas to make the eye reflection more natural, added belts to hold the chainmail stuff together and did some more detail work on the sword belts.

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Damn that's good.............. :)

Quote from: yossam on May 19, 2014, 03:51:16 AM
Damn that's good.............. :)

Double Damn...impressive

Awesome!

Next WIP iteration. (Still in underwear... ;))

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 8)

its will be very interesting if you do the rigging with biped, after that the caracter will be ready for animation
example :
(http://www.gulfup.com/?2IVatk)

That's exactly what I did.

wow, perfect. but i think after that terragen scene will be used only as background in 3ds max

This is some great stuff your doing Hannes.  8)

I never thought to make a model of my self! What a fun idea. although I don't like how I look in photos (see my avatar).
A 3d of me would probably make me self conscious. And then I would just end up having an affair with a slutty Daz3d girl.

 ;D ;D ;D
Well, it's actually not myself as a 3d model. This guy is way better in shape than I unfortunately am :'(. I just used an image of myself because it fitted perfectly to the shape of the model's head. So I don't think, it's a narcissistic personality disorder ;)

I have built the characters completely new from scratch (not finished yet) and have run a new cloth simulation, which is way more accurate and the belts fit better.
Still a lot of work to do, mainly texture work. The chainmail texture is quite distorted on the coifs, and as you can see on the attached image the texture of the back part of the tunic is black at the upper end.

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I envy you for your modeling skills! Superb.

Thank you, Ulco. Since I used a premade nude male mesh, there wasn't much fancy modelling needed. The most challenging activity was to not throw the computer out of the window when the cloth simulation was going wild ;)!

A little update. I adjusted the coif's chainmail texture, fixed the tunic texture at the back and added some bump on the metal parts of the scabbard.

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I'm impressed.................. :)

as i told you before
its very easy to use terragen scene as background fix or animation
and work with caracter in 3ds max

look this easy animation

(http://www.gulfup.com/?XZv7BW)


but you must do the ringging before

if you finish this step i can give you some animation files ready to use it

this is an example of some animation files in 3ds max, but without caracter just biped,

Quote from: Hannes on May 24, 2014, 12:08:37 PM
A little update. I adjusted the coif's chainmail texture, fixed the tunic texture at the back and added some bump on the metal parts of the scabbard.

Wow, quite the improvement...well done.
echo Ulco even though you used a blank mesh still an impressive project.

Thanks s lot, Bobby. I really love to add and fix all those little details, when the main work is done.

Nacer Eddine, my knight character(s) are completely rigged and skinned. I used a sword fight animation file and used the same character with different accessories at different stages of the animation and converted each of them into editable meshes.

Quote from: Nacer Eddine on May 24, 2014, 02:14:02 PM
as i told you before
its very easy to use terragen scene as background fix or animation
and work with caracter in 3ds max

look this easy animation

(http://www.gulfup.com/?XZv7BW)


but you must do the ringging before

if you finish this step i can give you some animation files ready to use it

this is an example of some animation files in 3ds max, but without caracter just biped,

cool, but there are amongs't us those who can't afford max; for me in this lifetime likely, still saving for the full TG3 which is considerably less expensive, and by the time I assemble the cash animation will be that easy in TG3, hee hee hee.

Quote from: Hannes on May 08, 2014, 11:37:15 AM
Thanks a lot, Kadri! Not sure about the legal stuff as well, but I'll have a look at it. The one horse file is an object sequence, so there could be an animated horse riding through a TG scene! ;)

says this in the text:
If you use these meshes in a publication, please include an acknowledgement like "The mesh data used in this project was made available by Robert Sumner and Jovan Popovic from the Computer Graphics Group at MIT."

downloaded the camels as well...interesting readme...some based on Poser which i think is not allowed; and some based on De Espona model library models,.....from my time Moderating at Rendo Freestuff I know the dude who owns De Espona now was often registering complaints from someone uploading one of his assets....

There's a lot of sites with great models, but you never know where they really come from. This is why I'm glad to have asked Nick for his permission to use his base model for my knights. Imagine you're spending a lot of time working on something, and in the end you're not allowed to do anything with it, because some ingredient of your "masterpiece" is kind of stolen.

Quote from: Hannes on May 24, 2014, 04:36:59 PM
There's a lot of sites with great models, but you never know where they really come from. This is why I'm glad to have asked Nick for his permission to use his base model for my knights. Imagine you're spending a lot of time working on something, and in the end you're not allowed to do anything with it, because some ingredient of your "masterpiece" is kind of stolen.

Yeah, I often had to as gently as possible, educate new members on intellectual property rights, and often they just left....these are 'reverse engineered' and I'm not sure how Poser feels about that as I ran those issues by a Coord I had for that purpose(long time Poser user) but Helgard is quite sticky about his assets. He may never notice and I ain't agonna tell....now....retired is niiiice.

Funny fact: today we were on a fleamarket, and for € 6,- I found almost the exact real spores I built for my knights, which I can use for my outfit.

OK, this is embarrassing! I just wrote that I found some real spores at a fleamarket. Of course I meant spurs.
Since the german word for spores and spurs is both "Sporen", I chose the wrong word. I just wanted to let you know that I won't wear anything like fungi or mushrooms (not even magic ones  ;)) on some medieval festival.

 :D :D Yeah mushrooms are not covering well the body :D :D

That's definitely NOT true! ;)

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He was a mushroom in a past life... :D :D

...or this mushroom was human in a past life. ;D

either way I prefer the earlier one... :D :D :D

Shrooms......................... ::)

Quote from: Hannes on May 25, 2014, 12:07:37 PM
OK, this is embarrassing! I just wrote that I found some real spores at a fleamarket. Of course I meant spurs.
Since the german word for spores and spurs is both "Sporen", I chose the wrong word. I just wanted to let you know that I won't wear anything like fungi or mushrooms (not even magic ones  ;)) on some medieval festival.

LoL, suspected as much but I translate Engrish to English after years of forum moderating...

Amazing stuff here Hannes, thanks for the very kind share and insight too... here are some horses that may be of use?

http://www.sharecg.com/v/34388/

cheers

Jason
:)

Couldn't resist ;). Just finished my leather tunic.

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Cool..............but isn't it a bit warm? Still think you need to be on Game of Thrones.  ;D

It may be a bit warm, but the main thing is, it's heavy!!

Quote from: Hannes on October 12, 2014, 12:24:00 PM
It may be a bit warm, but the main thing is, it's heavy!!

Not to mention awesome...with Halloween coming up I'd dearly love to have that to wear to the Masquerade on the 31st. Well made man.

Quote from: inkydigit on June 04, 2014, 09:12:36 AM
Amazing stuff here Hannes, thanks for the very kind share and insight too... here are some horses that may be of use?

http://www.sharecg.com/v/34388/

cheers

Jason
:)

Cool, flowing tails and all...too bad there are no manes...but still nice and handy. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving Day...I am indeed thankful.