My first real model--Velociraptor
 

Hi guys, here is my finished raptor.
I hope you like it, any comments welcome and thanks again for the help in the past of making this model.
Here is the full size image (1280 / 1024).
http://www.lighteningjim.co.uk/raptor_full.jpg

the model is very nice but I think you sholdn't put this project away now.

Hi, thanks for the reply.
I don`t know how to go about doing any more apart from maybe a bit more detail but as far as the texturing side i`m not any good at artist work so i left it a bit like the raptor colour goes with the desert (sort of :) ). I don`t have access to adobe photoshop or after effects, i do have paint shop pro 5 and i might be able to borrow a friends paint shop pro 8. I know some people say to only use photoshop but i find PSP is good enough for me, e.g. i know how to use most of the package like layers etc.
Any help much appreciated, Thanks.

looks really good but it looks like hes floating on the desert.

real nice the only thing i would recommend is to do texture or do something with the claws. everything else looks real whereas the claws just have simple shaders.

Is the shadow rendered or painted in? It looks too sharp and has no fall-off, i.e. is doesn't fade the farther it is from the source of the shadow. Good point too on the claws, but that is an easy fix, just paint in some scratch, dirt, etc to make them look as though they've been used. They are, after all, on his feet and therefore would suffer some wear and tear in daily use.

Don't sweat not having photoshop as long as you can do what you need to in Paint Shop Pro or whatever else you have. I know PSP was mainly designed for image editing, but guess what, so was photoshop. Granted it has evolved or been manipulated to do more, but at it's core, PS is still an image editor.

PS is however an industry standard, so if you expect to be competitive commercially then eventually you want to learn it.

If you want something more "painterly" there is always Painter IX or for free, Project Dogwaffle (Don't look at me, I didn't name the program).

Hi, Thanks for the comments, i`ll get right on it.
(mhcannon)- the shadow was done with mays as a `USE BACKGROUND` shader on a plane for the floor so all of the scene is rendered as one, i don`t know if this is the propper way to do it but it works for now but any help on this much appreciated.
Thanks..

the model is great. This could be made much more photorealistic with a bit more work. The model needs a more detailed texture and more definition around the legs to define some muscles. I don't think the direction of the shadow cast by the dino matches that on the background image. Furthermore you could probably play around with the camera settings/position/ scale of the dino to make it fit much better into the backround. You could then doctor it a bit in your image editor, like add some dirt covering some of the foot so that it is sinking into the sand/ blur him a bit (maybe depth of field) as he is too crisp compared to background.

If the shadows was rendered, then you might want to do a couple of different things. Instead of casting on a flat plane, sclupt the plane to simulate the bumps/curves of your terrain in the background image. In the attributes for the light, increase "light radius" to get softer shadows. Also adjust the lights decay rate to get that fall-off I mentioned before. Quadrautic decay seems to be the most accurate to real life. If this is all too much, in PSP, run a blur and distort the shadow and fade it with a big eraser.

Project dogwaffle is actually a really good program, and its very cheap (And theres a free version, which is almost as good). I use it for a lot of my textures now.

Speaking of textures, the secret for good ones isn't necessarily fancy art knowledge, its the amount of time invested. The secret is always detail, so I would:
1) make him glossier, like a snakeskin
2)add stripes and stuff-this will make your model
3)maybe some scars/bruises(this may be kinda hard, don't worry about it too much)
4) if you feel up to it, painting your own bump map is usually well worth it (IMO);

Also, relative to the background, you raptor seem very sharp, very bright, and very big. Just keep that in mind :)

-All in all, though, its your image. Do what you want

Hi guys, Thanks for all the comments, i`m going through the detail part now. I have a slight update for now e.g. i`ve altered the shadow a bit, done some alterations on the floor/shadow to show up some dips/bumps in the sand. I`ve also put a shine onto the skin and also changed the depth of field a bit to add a bit of a blur to the model. Please tell me what you think. I`ts taken some time as the computer kept grinding to a halt and maya kept on crashing :( . I think i sorted it out now ( I HOPE ;) ).
Thanks again for the comments, It all helps.
Also can anyone please tell me how i would go about adding a bit of detail e.g. like say vains on the neck or wrinkles. I tried it on the bump map i have at the moment and no luck. Any help on this much appriciated.

Are they appearing at all with through the bump mapping? If not or if faint, you may need to increase the alpha can in the bump's attributes

It looks good but there is something wrong with the lighting. Look at the background. It is lit by the sun plus some ambient light (sunlight reflecting off the ground and sky). Your model looks like it is being lit evenly from all directions plus a spotlight on his back. Think about the angle of the sun and how it would illuminate the raptor. It would be hot on his back but would cause shadows on much of his skin that is not being directly hit by the light. Look at the rocks or cactus in the background. See how shadowy they are. That's because the sun is a single light source (directional) plus, since there isn't much cloud coverage, the sunlight is not being diffused (scattered).

One other thing; the background is much softer than the raptor. The raptor is too sharp. You can fix this by applying a small amount of blur to the model if you are compositing with a program such as After Effects.

Nice looking model :)

it still looks like hes floating to me. i think its because hes standing on a hill, and yet his legs reach their bottom at the same place. i think you need to make hte leg closest to us extend down a little farther than the one behind it.

Good point Elemental_Khaos, the model was obviously designed on flat plane.

Hi guys, Thanks for all the comments, i`ll get onto all of them as soon as possible. But for now :( i`m going to re-install maya and if that don`t work i will have to re-install windows and every thing else, what a bummer. The reason is that i can`t do much as it is running tooooooo slow i`m waiting 1-2 minutes just to move a UV and then maya crashes now and again. I don`t know the exact problem at the moment whether its the model or not ??
But for now here is the latest update to see if i have the right idea on the stripes. "I`LL BE BACK" as soon as i can. Sorry about this :( . P.S. in case you are wondering, i have:--- 3200+ Barton AMD CPU @ 2.2ghz, 512 mb @ 400mhz, and a MSI GeForce 5700 FX 256mb Graphics card, and some other things... so i`m not too short of power. It started stuttering out of the blue not to do with the modeling coz other things, games etc. do it also.
Thanks again and i`ll HOPEFULLY see you soon..
I`m not giving up on this.

sounds to me like a virus or spyware. download, update and run ad-aware by lavasoft http://www.lavasoftusa.com

also you may wanna try defragging your computer tonight, dpending on how much you have on your comp it will probably take a few hours.

Hi, thanks for the info, i`m gonna do a total re-install anyways on a spare hard drive i have and ONLY have my 3d work on it.
I always run: zone alarm, avg anti virus and ad-aware when ever i`m online and all the tests/scans were ok. So doing a re-install will get rid of all the crap m$ put onto the computers (or some at least ;) ). Thanks.

its not always a virus or spyware. Alot of the time the computer has had just too much stuff on it. Even when you uninstall things registry entries and different file are still on the computer.

UPDATE...
Hi, just sorted it all out (I THINK).
Turns out it was the 3D model after all that, something was wrong somewhere, But the game i had problems with works fine now.
Anyways doing a clean re-install i got rid of some of the M$ crap on the computer. ;)
I took the model right down to the basics and left just the left hand side, deleted all the construction history i had (I couldn`t delete it before as i had a bone/skin setup) and deleted anything i didn`t need anymore.
I`ve just gotta put it all back together again and i`ll have a update picture maybe next day or so.
----------------------------------------------
UPDATE...
Sorry i havn`t been in much over the week, i hope to get back to modeling soon as possible.

More ideas
 

It looks great however I agree with the others. You need to fix the claws, add some muscle definition, fix the shadowing, blur the raptor a bit, work on the floating, and work with the textures. Something that wasn't mentioned that would make a huge difference, would be to use darker colors. The raptor is far too bright, that takes away from the realism. The eyes could have a little more gloss too. But hey it's looking great, just keep at it.

Hi, sorry for lack of updates but i havn`t had much of a chance to tweak the model, plus the dam thing still runs a bit slow.
I can do the muscle definition and have an idea for the floor around the feet, but i need help on the lighting part.
I am using 3 lights, 1 as the sun which is quite far away from the model, 1 to the right and 1 by the belly just enough to give a bit of light.
All are point lights, am i right on this ??
I`ve tried 1 ambient light as the sun and the model is too soft, e.g. no bump.
I have also tried a directional light but the model is way to dark even with the intensity turned all the way up.
Also shadows only seem to show up using the point light way.
Any help much appreciated, Thanks.

I'd like to see your final render so far.

The model is just great, but it just doesn't look great, the lights, the textures and the materials are terrible, I think. Maybe you shuoldn't use the backgruond image at all.

Mayby i shouldn't say so, cos i couldn't do a model like that myself. :)

If you are using Maya 6 and want to use this background image why dont you take advantage of Mayas IBL (Image Based Lighting) option. Right now the model needs sorting texture wise too, as its looking too much like a plastic kit. Get some good lizard reference such as Iguanas and Komodo Dragons and go from there.
I dont wanna sound too harsh but this is a c+c forum afterall., and the only way to see your mistakes is have others point them out.

Cheers
_J

Mayas IBL? I don't think the creator of the raptor knows much of it (and i wuold like to learn abuot it myself :D). Tell us more. Where is it, how to use this option?

Hay, any comment is good nomatter how harsh it is, It all helps me out to see what i`m doing wrong.
This is my first real attempt at modeling and so far i`m pleased of how it`s going and how it`s turned out.
I know i`ve got to do lots of things and all the comments help out.
I`ve also tried that image based lighting thingy but i havn`t a clue but it sounds good in the maya help.
Thanks.
P.S...
I`ve been doing all of my renders in software mode to get the shadow to work.
Is there a way to get the shadows to work in hardware mode in which the model looks much better in detail ???

A Quick showing of what i meen of hardware render.
Also no background !!

IBL is in the render globals menu, its part of the mental ray renderer. Just hit Mental Ral tab and Image Based Lighting is down in the lower section. Hit create and it will create a sphere or cube, and then you can load an image onto the sphere. In the AE for the sphere you must hit the Emit Light Tab in order for this to work. Be warned render times are quite long but the result can be worth it.

_J

I'm tempted to agree that the background image isn't needed. It will probably be quite tricky to get the model to sit convincingly in the background picture. There is one way to massively improve this image and i think its relatively simply. You need to paint up a better texture. As Jango said find reference of lizards. At the moment the raptor looks far to mint condition. You are using just 2 colours for the skin by the looks of it.