thought Id post some updateson this to bring up to speed. The amount of geometry in my scene has finally exceeded mental ray, well, my computer. So Im having to break this scene up into two parts for compositing, the character, and then the set. I've been having a go at doing some post work in photoshop every now and then to have a look - Im pretty settled on what Im aiming for now for the final image. But still got some tweaks to make.

I managed to get some more detail out of zbrush. As usual it has brought some cons aswell as pros so I need to go back to z to smooth out some areas, but basically, where I had used layers to hold each part of the finer details on the model, they were all set at like o.1 or o.2 or 0.4, as these settings gave the most subtle and realistic results. But obviously they werent transferring across to Maya. In a moment of pondering (one of many!), I realised I could increase the depth settings on the layers in z to then create my normal map. Which I did. SO, the detail around the hand and wrist has increased, but some funky stuff has started happening around the elbow area. So need to go back into z and sort that out. Im also not to happy with the teeth, and unsure what to do for his right (as we look at it) eye. I had a go at painting it in with like a light glint in PS, but not 100% satisfied with it. So might actually create and textur some geometry for it. Also the lighting set up, as its playing out, is possibly meaning I will have to create some legs for him. And still have it in mnd to maybe create a new left arm that will curl forward and into the front of the shot.

Below is a picture of the background set layer as it stands. Just about done I think. It looks quite gaudy and not lit so well, lacking detail etc, but what I do with it in PS takes care of that. (I think)

Hope every one is getting on well.

Ben