Don't feed the plant (large images)

[Blaizer]

hehe hi again folks

I finish this little model the past week to kill a bit the boredom. This was like a little test to try the displacement maps on modo. Mudbox ended generating too many errors (artifacts) when rendering the displacement map, this was a pain to fix in photoshop.

Again, modelled and rendered exclusively in Modo. A work of 3 days in my spare time and something quite different than the things i usually do. I think it's a curious plant ^^, don't you?, i hope you like it. I enjoyed a lot making this little render.

http://usuarios.lycos.es/blaizer/pltest.jpg

A version with the mouth opened
http://usuarios.lycos.es/blaizer/pltest3.jpg

Here are some renders while it was in WIP stage and a render to test the shaders of the main objects in scene. Some europeans must recognize the pencil hehehe. I Don't know if northamericans use the same brand of pencils like here, staedtler.

http://www.blog.whiteblaizer.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/lapiz3.jpg
http://www.blog.whiteblaizer.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/planta_en_proceso2.jpg
http://www.blog.whiteblaizer.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/vasija_render2.jpg

Well that's all, if someone have any comment, question or suggestion for the next render, "i'm all ears".

Thanks in advance

[Rens]

damn that looks great!

only thing i can say is try adding some more colors to the plant, specialy the leaves. Maybe some pink or purple would give it a sweet look.

awesome work /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Pavel]

hoooly...yours plants is so coool...
i need such real!!!

[MoP]

Very nice, fun style and great renders /images/graemlins/smile.gif
I agree that some more colours on the plant might appear more natural. The leaves especially look a bit strange when they're just one colour with no variation.

I like it! /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[zenarion]

I want that plant /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Slaught]

word.
Great work!

[Dennispls]

Really really sweet stuff and great render:)

[perna]

Beautiful renders!

[nealb4me]

Very cool, I know you were just playing but the pencil looks extremely rigid. Could do with some teeth marks in it or so /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Jeremy Lindstrom]

Maybe add some dirt around the bottom of the plant as well, looks like a bulb base just sitting on top of the dirt. Looks great tho!

[notman]

Damn good job. I thought you were pimping a plastic model you made and had on your desk (based on first image). The straw in the glass actually gave things away a bit. It looks metallic.

[jgarland]

I really love this render. It's got so much style. Looks like something straight from Pixar, and for only three days work!

Keep up the awesome work. I want to see more. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Tumerboy]

Very nice piece overall, though I think the plant looks a bit too plasticky or waxy.

[ghost-d]

Very nice idea, great realisation = good work.

[Soccerman18]

Great job on this, reminds me of Little Shop of Horrors. The leaves do need some color variation and texture to break up the smoothness a bit. The second image is up as my background right now. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Jesse Moody]

damn thats hot and yeah we use those pencils. at least i do. i would say add some color to the plant too though. Would really make this piece "POP"

[cyi]

This is awesome. I love your style, Blaizer. The only crit I have is that you might want to give more of an impression of the plant being rooted in the soil. At the moment, it just looks like his little stump is sitting on top of the dirt, not anchored in it. I need to try Modo!!!

[StJoris]

Loads of style! And it can draw pretty well too, is that folder on the left a chart with the elements? Kinda hard to see.

[D4V1DC]

Hey great design you have there I would love it as an actual figure maybe look into having it fabricated into a 3D porcelain or hard plastic model.

I'd buy that /images/graemlins/smile.gif think about it. Looks about $50.00>(+)< /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Uly]

"Feed me Seymour!"

Awesome... But I'll look pretty lame if noone gets the reference.

[LoTekK]

Dammit, Uly beat me to the quote. :] Love the render, though I agree some color variation would be nice. Loving the style of the "head", too. Ace stuff.

[adam]

haha, refreshing!

[Daz]

That's a stunning piece Blaizer. Really awesome lighting and rendering. Not sure what you were going for, but it definitely reads as a plastic toy and not a living plant. As said elsewhere, a much more detailed colour map, and a less plastic looking shader might help bring it to life. You could maybe try some very slight motion blur on the pencil and tentacle too perhaps. Seriously cool work.

[EricElwell]

sweet!

You do make the coolest teeth and jaws. Very nice!

[Quickel]

I agree on a little more color work on the plant, but awesome render! Haven't had the opportunity to try out Modo yet...

[hawken]

I thought that was real. What nice rendering modo has. Pencil texture is spot on.

the only thing that lets it down, are the leaves, which look too shiny.

[Cubik]

Two tiny things:

There is no refraction on the pen(?) in the glass of liquid

http://webphysics.davidson.edu/faculty/dmb/EdibleOpticalMaterials/glass_of_water.jpg

There's some aliasing on the books which is pretty distracting.

But this is a beautiful render with nice believable materials, excellent work!

[technodookie]

Blaizer, that is freaking awesome! The texture job on the surrounding objects adds even more to the realism.

Cubik - good eyes

[Blaizer]

Thanks a lot guys ^^, with all the kind words i feel more motivated now. The render took me around 10 hours to complete at night at 3500x pixels (i thought i had finished with this), with all the shaders and maps i'm using now, the work have became so heavy. I tried several times to kill the plastic look in certain parts, it's something really hard to do when using the SSS of modo (it's not so complex as mental ray), due that i don't want to remove that wet look of the head (flubber experiment hehehe). Now i'm making some tests with specular maps to remove the bad look.

Well, here you have a test image with some improvements. Still much work to go. I had the oportunity this afternoon to go to the park, so i taked some photos of leaves, and this is the result of photoshoping ^^. No displacement maps this time for a fast render, and again a render directly from the renderer.

http://usuarios.lycos.es/blaizer/hoja3.jpg

I have also solved the problem with the liquid, i forgot to increase the refraction amount. Good eye hehe, i didn't notice that hehe, thanks a lot. The next render will be more credible.

I will update the render soon.

see you all, and thanks again for all the support, comments and suggestions.

[Xaltar]

Looking much better, still needs some color variation on the leaves, maybe make them a little darker on the edges and in the center where the "main vein" runs. Although there are leaves that look almost exactly like what you have here it would just add a bit more "pop" to the piece.

Just my opinion and I'm really nitpicking /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Nice work

[Rens]

just a nasty paintover,

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g84/Xadeko/plantthingything.jpg

[stimpack]

I think this looks wonderfull. mayb instead of just color changes to the edges, do some speckles here and there. either way it looks great, glade to see you get to enjoy some personal work in your down time.