KAIN: the posing process

 When you're doing a custom pose, you want to spend plenty of time working with the model.  If it doesn't look realistic it's going to be awkward and not look good.  Since I've taken it upon myself to custom pose the Kain models, it has taken me 3 days to:pose, take a break, re-pose, take a break, and start the posing process all over.  I even took pictures of myself in the pose in the mirror to see how my legs,hips and arms would be realistically positioned.  Of course I'm trying to keep it in line with the Amano artwork as much as I can, but there are certain limitations working with the models of course.
  Here is what I've learned so far.
   Kain is standing on one foot, with all of his weight on his left foot, and his right leg raised beneath him.  His right hand is holding his lance up next to his side, while his left hand rests at his side, and his head is slightly angled down with his hair blowing behind him.
  In order for this pose to make sense, his left leg must be underneath his center of gravity, so somewhere between his shoulder blades.  When you stand on one leg, your weight distribution shifts, and therefore your hips are going to be angled as well.  Holding your right leg up, you'll notice that your right leg will probably come underneath your center of gravity as well, and that your ankle will always (naturally) fall in line with the shin.  Holding your hand naturally at your sides you'll see that they don't fall straight, the muscles in your arms keep them from falling into a straight line, there is a slight bend.  Your resting arms clavicle will be even if not slightly pointing downward due to the weight of your arm.  The arm that holds the lance's clavicle will be close to parallel if not somewhat upright.  For the most part the right arm is just held back and the wrist is angled down.

whew that was long but based off of that I would suggest that you take plenty of time when custom posing a model, and also you should use multiple reference materials.  The "iconic" Kain poses that I used all had a profile shot of him, from one side only.  A 3D model on the other hand is more than a profile shot.

After all that, here is what I ended up with....

One thing I had to compromise was the hand.  I couldn't manage to put it in a fist of sorts, so I just put it in a relaxed pose as most people probably would when they have their hand at their side.  But I believe that I've ended up with a quality product,  time to work him in sketchup...

I

GOLBEZ Progress

I've completed the non-caped part of Golbez, I have to re-arrange the cape to fit on paper.  What i've noticed is that these large caped figures can get kinda "heavy" and hard to work with if you use cardstock for the cape.  I've been using regular paper for the capes.  So in my Exodus (that's for you Kaizo) and this Golbez model I put the majority of the cape peices on sheets with nothing else on them.  In this case, Golbez has large pauldrons, which I'll make out of cardstock, but that is all that will be on those pages, the rest of the cape layout will be printed on regular xerox paper.  I'll get it done maybe next week.

A question about future models

I have yet to compile a list of projects which I want to complete for the year (set some goals and deadlines).  But when I get the chance I'll compile it as well as some information on what I learned from the process of making Exdeath.  I think that this would help other future builders.  If I had a better computer, I think it'd be easier to just make some videos.  Something like Kaizo's tips and tricks video.

In any case, I think I'll pretty much stick with the dissidia/duodecim models for the time being.  I saw some gameplay footage of Duodecim, and it would appear that they don't have the preposed statues as in the the first game.  WHICH is excellent in a way, because it means there is more of a need for posing models.  The question is, which kind of pose to use.
I'd like to build Dragoon Kain and Holy Dragoon Kain from the After Years

 The Dragoon Kain,
1 Yoshitaka Amano conception.  This one is classic! Absolutely classic, and the Duodecim artwork looks like it mimics this pose (Speaking of mimic when are they gonna put Gogo in another game?)







2 The DS pose of him.  I like this a lot as well.  There's movement, stability, and a sense of preparedness in his stance.  I'm also a little more inclined to this model because he's holding the lance in his left hand.  (Even in the duodecim artwork they have him holding the lance in his right hand).  I know, I know, just because you're left hand dominant doesn't mean you can't hold something in your other hand.  I also figure the model could  be flipped along the vertical axis in order to make him hold the lance in his right hand.  



3 For the Holy Dragoon, I don't know what other posing options I have, but I really like how this image is balanced in 2d.  The pose is really interesting!  However in reality, the question would be how to I make a model like this stand on it's own?  Somehow I'd find a way to make this work.  I can't see any other pose for him, and I don't know if I'd want to make him just standing flat footed on the ground.

With these models in mind, and the prediction that there will be no pre-posed models I want to get some opinions on poses.
I think I have a pre-conceived notion of which poses I think are most feasible, but I'm open to suggestions or criticisms.  The thing with the Amano rendition and the Holy Dragoon, is that the poses are too similar, and I rather like some amount of variation.  The DS rendition has more action to it, and would make the model seem more interesting.  At least that's what I'm thinking as of right now.  But tell me your thoughts and maybe I might be persuaded otherwise.  So if you have any other pictures for reference images you think would be good, send them my way.

GOLBEZ Progress

24 January 2011
I've defeated Golbez, but alas he is still after the crystal...

I've been a bit busy, but I've still been trying to work on Golbez.  So far he's a pretty straightforward build.  Here is what he looks like as of tonight.

I hope to have him done by the end of January maybe.  I've been taking plenty of pictures, so hopefully I'll be able to provide better instructions upon completion.  I think I'll have to redo the layout for the cape.  Previously the cape just barely fit onto all the pages I had set up, however I had forgotten to check the page size, as a default Pepakura was on a style of paper that I don't use.  But there is a potential "problem" with Golbez' cape.  It involves the horns on his shoulder, I'm afraid that these horns are just going to have to be attached onto the cape, rather than built into the cape if that makes sense.
   I don't want to have to edit the model in sketchup and then redo the entire layout.  It's not being lazy, its just there are more models that I'd like to work on.  And depending on how bad it looks I might have to release the cape in a separate PDO.  I don't like the idea of doing that and I think I'd only resort to that if the cape ended up looking absolutely terrible.

EXDEATH

Download Ex_Death

Continuation of the Dissidia models.  He is a bit complex, but if you refer to the PDO you should be alright, build from the bottom up, and use logic.  The instructions should help, but I'd read through them first before I built it.  Any suggestions from individuals who build this are always welcomed.

Test build of the Horns Forward Helm

So I'm not sure if I need to scale the helm up a little bit or not.  Whose got the big head now Kaizo?

EX-DEATH:: Pictures

UPDATE: Issues with the EX-mode of EX-Death and what's next.

I thought that EX mode of Exdeath was a simple palette swap, however to my chagrin it is not that simple.  I'm not sure if it's just me, but the textures don't line up the same therefore it is not applied in the correct manner.

The pink line is to be used as a reference.  On the left hand side you can see I'm pointing to the tip of one of his shoulder horns, however, on the other side, it would appear that his shoulder horn is a little bit below the line.  Even more obvious is the position for the fingers.  This would require a little bit more work  to come up with the EX-mode.  I think i'd have to try re-extracting the files, or just shifting the textures in sketchup.

 

As you can see, the textures are all wrong, the finger texture is on his boots, and while part of some of the chest and stomach texture is correct, the rest is all off.  I thought that Exdeath would be easy...Needless to say it has been one long learning experience, starting in October or so I believe.  I may or may not work on this guy for a while.  I'll check out whether or not if I open the SMD file and apply a texture makes any difference.  However that requires a whole new pose and new layout, while I would love to see him done, at the same time there other models I want to get to pose and layout first.  So I'm putting his Ex-Mode on hold for the future.  But fear not, as my convoluted instructions are nearing their finish, the sun is out today and I should be taking pictures soon enough.  the time of release is coming soon.

I haven't decided which model to build next, I have Golbez pretty much layed out correctly, he's ready to be build, I just need to look over the PDO again to make sure I added tabs in the correct places to build him.  Also I was reconsidering how I set up his model.  I have his body separated from his cape/shoulder pads. Which basically means that the last step in the build will be to glue the shoulder pads/cape onto his shoulders.  Which is fine, I guess, but I would much rather like to connect them directly for stability and alignment purposes.  I'll have to mull it over and see how it goes, before I start building him.  

Not that I have released a single build yet, but the forthcoming models will take longer, I'll be doing papercraft whenever I get the chance, but as I have been told by Kaizo, it's all about pacing yourself.

EX-DEATH::At Last

FINALLY!!!  with minutes before January 10th I have completed my first model.  Instructions and all will be released probably later this week, but here you have it.  I know, there is a huge glare problem, and I'll re-post pictures in better light as well, but it was rainy/icy/gloomy here today, and the artificial lighting I have does not make the model look good

EX-DEATH:: 3rd Progress report

Almost there, it looks a little crappyy because its at night and I have a high lumen lamp on which exacerbates how the flaps appear (i.e. the cape).  But I've just got the head, and the accessories left and then I'll be done.

The head pieces are very small and I'm doing some edits along the way which is causing some delays...

[[Credit where Credit is due]]

  I'd like to take this moment to divert attention towards Kaizo, Ace, and Namotasa.  They've helped me with understanding how to extract, pose, and work with models in 3ds, Sketchup and Pepakura in order to soon release a model.  If you haven't checked out any of the aforementioned websites, go check them out, it provides a wealth of information on how to get into this stuff.

EDIT: I'd also like to think Mr. Adults for his help and contributions to all the model support!!!

EX-DEATH::2nd Progress Report

Day 2, its going pretty good so far.  I didn't implement as much horizontal banding as I did in Golbez, but no matter, the build is coming along pretty good so far.  I think I should have used regular printer paper for his skirt.  This is like a puzzle, I'm sure my instructions are going to suck, but pretty much looking at the PDO you can use it and experience to help determine which piece should go where.  Really all that is left is:
1. Cape
2. Right arm
3. Head

With this in mind I should be able to complete the model by the 10th. Enjoy...

EX-DEATH::1st Progress Report

Here is the result of one day of papercrafting for me, I can't figure out if I'm slow or what, but anyway here is what I accomplished.  The figure on the left is the latest one, I stayed up an extra hour just to get a little bit further than I did previously.
    As I'm building I obviously have the pepakura file open, this way I can make any changes that I deem necessary, so far I've had to add a few tabs, change a few tab's shape, and split a few of the pieces for easier building.
I'll post more pictures later of some of these examples, especially for things that I thought I'd try out.  The leg structure is working out pretty well so far.  As I mentioned in the BARTZ layout process, I don't think I like just gluing limbs to other closed limbs, I'd like to try out whether or not cutting the excess and creating a whole works out.  So far so good right?  He stands up on his own right?

I'm going to try and complete him by the 10th, but I have work for the next couple of days so I'm restricted to just working at night.  I'm on page 23 of 54 right now, and a good bit is just cape, but we'll see.  When I say finished, I would like to have completed the model, preparing instructions is a different story.  I'm confident in the Golbez layout, but I'm thinking that he turned out well because I had gone through two other models.  Exdeath isn't hard to build so far, I'd like to think I'm doing an alright job and I'm not even a great builder.  If I can manage through it, then I think you guys could to.