Zbrush Dinosaurs and 3D Prints

[tyrantqueen]

Great work so far...looking forward to getting this guy

[Gorgonzola]

Thanks, TQ.

I've laid in all the scales, so now I'm in the homestretch of it - go over and embellish with some details like some overgrown scales or more distinct folds, then off to posing!

Only thing I'm not sure about are the spines coming off his neck.  I may end up reducing them a bit before I wrap up, since I'm unsettled on them at the moment.

[radman]

How about a wattle?

[Patrx]

It looks excellent; I like the scale detail on the forearms and hands.

How about a wattle?

I like that idea! It'd make it a little more birdlike.

[wings]

Also, I'm getting a feeling that the left and right crests are separated on the top  (as seen in figure 9 a&b from Smith's Cryolophosaurus paper; notice how the left and right crests are split into different directions on the top. If they are joined as a single unit I would assume that if the "crest" was distorted during depositiion/fossilization then you would probably find them (left and right portions of the crest) to be pushed to the same direction (up, down, left, right...) however, Cryolophosaurus seems to have its crest splits in the middle and goes into different orientations.) . This is just an idea which I can't find further proofs since we don't have enough specimen of the animal.

[Gorgonzola]

Wings: Interesting, so the crest branches out at the top after being joined at the bottom?  I was more or less operating off of what photos I could find of some reconstructions and skulls, but looking at them again I can certainly see how a distortion can make it look like it's merged together.

As for the opening, that first dent you point out is just a skin indentation, and probably something I should smooth out since it doesn't make too much sense on reflection.  The second bit you're confused out is the ear opening.

[wings]

Wings: Interesting, so the crest branches out at the top after being joined at the bottom?  I was more or less operating off of what photos I could find of some reconstructions and skulls, but looking at them again I can certainly see how a distortion can make it look like it's merged together.

The left and right crests seem to be diverging from each other at the top (red arrows from the top figures). Not sure how much distortion is on the specimen. It doesn't seem to be too much when looking at the top view (notice there is only a slight bend on the nasals- bottom two figures). Also the crest(s) curves when view from the top (again see bottom figures - curvature roughly indicates by the arrows; the right is even less complete than the left so it is hard to say).

[Gorgonzola]

Thanks for that info, Wings!

I'm still currently trying to figure out how to split the crest effectively, but in the meantime I'll show some other updates on the Cryolophosaurus.

I ended up removing the scale work I did and knocked down those spines I had on the neck - in the end I disliked both of them.  So the scale work is now more suggested than literal, and I added some osteoderms along the sides.

I also couldn't help myself and I did try out one pose already, with two different leg variations.

Finally, I HAD to share this: Scalemonster over on Shapeways posted this picture of the 1/40 Carnotaurus, painted by none other than Martin Garratt!! So cool to see one of my sculpts with his wonderful paintjob.

[tyrantqueen]

Ooooh that Cryolophosaurus is gorgeous Your best work yet. The pose is perfect, I waaaaaant it XD

[edu]

Wow! Love the poses. So natural, so relaxed. The way animals spend most of their life!

[wings]

Another thing that bugs me about the head apart from the prominent looking "skin indentation"; is the elongated shape of the jaw closing muscle of the lower jaw (see http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/dbms-witmer/allosaurus_mechanics.htm, "Pterygoideus ventralis" on the video from the page). Also check the musculature of the tail (see http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0025763, the caudofemoralis muscle on your animal is too prominent).

[Jodee]

What material was that carnotaurus printed in?

[Gorgonzola]

Wings: Thanks for the suggestions, I'll see what I can do to adjust for them.  The caudofemoralis muscle may stay as is though, simply because at the scales and material it'll be printed in it may be better for it to be exaggerated and show up than to be obliterated during the production process.  Of course I can always change my mind on it later, that's just my judgement call for now.

Jodee: I'm not sure entirely, but I think a safe bet would be WSF - majority of the Carnotaurus models at the 1/40 scale have been sold as WSF.

So I may have said this in the past, but it seems every time I've started a new one of these models it ends up being a technical nightmare one way or the other, though it's never the same issue.  This time around I'm butting heads against what I thought was a decent topology flow I had made, yet it ended up smashing too much geometry up in the head and not giving me enough for other areas when detailing came time (and then when the subdivison in ZBrush occurs, it skipped from 1 million polygons to 12...which is a bit excessive.)  On top of that (and this is more of my own limited knowledge coming up against the wall than any actual technical limitation, I suspect), I've yet to figure out a satisfying way to separate the crest, or at least make it look like two crests butting up against each other.  It's sort of the same horror I had when I had to shorten up a bit of the Para legs, except this time around I'm trying to split a mesh, close the open manifold that happens, and have it be the same geometry in the end.  I suspect there's a good answer to it that allows me to keep the time invested in it (because the obvious solution is just to start over with the fix implemented), but I've yet to parse it out.  Unfortunately not as easy as painting over it or erasing and redrawing the section.  Jodee, I'll be R&Ding some of this before I get into modeling your request, just to see what may be the best solution for myself.

In anycase, one good thing about this time around is I've developed better posing methodology that allows a much finer control over various bits and bobs.  Especially happy with how nicely I can pose the feet now without worrying about distortion (which I ran into in the past), and it feels like it's a slightly faster process.  It certainly makes concepting poses much easier, I think, as I've shown below with two other ideas I had knocking in my head.

Apologies for the bit of long winded writing, I find sometimes it's easier for me to think through puzzles if I talk/write them out.

[wings]

Wings: Thanks for the suggestions, I'll see what I can do to adjust for them.  The caudofemoralis muscle may stay as is though, simply because at the scales and material it'll be printed in it may be better for it to be exaggerated and show up than to be obliterated during the production process.  Of course I can always change my mind on it later, that's just my judgement call for now.

I really hope the final product wouldn't have such feature since you shouldn't be able to see it at all... (http://palaeo-electronica.org/2011_2/255/fig_4.htm, Figure 4.4); but still at the end of the day it's your judgement call of course 

[Gorgonzola]

I'm mesmerized by that alligator cross-section.  Very fascinating!

I think after this fellow is done I'll be taking a bit of a break for awhile, and invest in some anatomy books that I've seen recommended around here.  There's also a Krentz sculpting class that I've been intensely interested in that I'm planning to take, so I think after this one I'll step back for a bit and work on studying up.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

The scratching Cryo is a really nice pose..I'll to try that one sometime on one of my pieces.

[jtn144]

Do you plan on releasing all four poses as Shapeways models? I have a humorous idea in mind for the one looking straight up..

[Gorgonzola]

I might, I'm still fiddling around to see what other poses might be nifty.  I'd like to see if I can figure out a prone one, perhaps, and of course a nice, active running one (just because they ARE fun to do.)

The rearing up one - haha, I originally envisioned that as a territory warning or maybe a courting thing.  A couple months back I saw two pigeons contest with each other over a piece of food and I thought it was kind of a neat little activity, so I tucked it away for future use.

[jtn144]

A prone pose would be very welcome as well.

[Gorgonzola]

Update of another pose idea - running.