Carrara Challenge #40 NOIR WIP - A warm welcome to our PA sponsor, Fenric

Stezza

yep, the sand filter works fine in my 8.5pro

applied it to my wabbit season then added it as a layer in PSE with a soft overlay at 20%

Mistara

Stezza said:

yep, the sand filter works fine in my 8.5pro

applied it to my wabbit season then added it as a layer in PSE with a soft overlay at 20%

 

wascally wabbit looks smart enuff to outwit that wabbit hunter!

Vyusur

 

Andrew, I like the atmosphere, shape patterns and the angle of view in this picture. The overall composition reminds me of Casino Royale.

UnifiedBrain

Diomede said:

@UnifiedBrain - wow - that is a polished WIP.  Looks ready for entry.  

Thanks, but there are too many fun buttons to push.  One day to do the render (I'm getting faster) and 3 days to experiment in GMIC. :)

 

 

Rendered in Carrara with no postwork except sig.

Filters:

GMIC Black & white - Black & white

Toon 3 (with many exclusions)

GMIC Colors - Basic adjustments

GMIC Artistic - Lylejk's painting

GMIC Patterns - Canvas texture

 

Vyusur

Stezza said:

yep, the sand filter works fine in my 8.5pro

applied it to my wabbit season then added it as a layer in PSE with a soft overlay at 20%

Very positive! Wabbit is awesome.

 

Vyusur

UnifiedBrain said:

Diomede said:

@UnifiedBrain - wow - that is a polished WIP.  Looks ready for entry.  

Thanks, but there are too many fun buttons to push.  One day to do the render (I'm getting faster) and 3 days to experiment in GMIC. :)

 

 

Rendered in Carrara with no postwork except sig.

Filters:

GMIC Black & white - Black & white

Toon 3 (with many exclusions)

GMIC Colors - Basic adjustments

GMIC Artistic - Lylejk's painting

GMIC Patterns - Canvas texture

Great work, UB! For some reason, I like BW version better.

 

UnifiedBrain

Diomede said:

I made some morphs for Don to change his nose and chin to make them less comical (hopefully).  I also cut his hair and narrowed his mustache.  Finally, I helped him look more fomal with a collar, tie, and overcoat.  The collar and tie are designed to be props attached to the bone skeleton, while the overcoat is designed for draping with VWD.

Definitely less comic.  Love the coat!

 

 

Stezza said:

used G2 with dwarf morphs, modeled hat and used gel lights.. post in PSE 

Noir Fudd!  You are so talented.

 

 

Vyusur said:

Nice hat(s), Selina, very well done! I like the soft shadows as well.
Today I took some photos of my own hat that I wear in summertime.

Do you have a machine gun to complete the ensemble? :)

 

 

Mistara said:

practicing on the radish.   jellin

Hope to see some of your G3-G7 folks.  Your renders in the other thread are looking very realistic.

 

head wax said:

quickie from me, will visit tomorrow and comment

beaut to see al the modelling going on - lovely Radish Mistara :)

just a few shots of one scene -  interesting when you are doing a narrative to break up angles

 

the big news Sand Filter won't work in my car 8.5 just 8.1 

the sand in these is done in post 

fill a layer with grey uses parameter overlay then add noise -

erase bits as necessary

primoval smoke, gives weird effect when hitting transmaps?  ?? eg eyelashes and hair 

lighting is in the main three spots all with cone effetct reversed 

the cig smoke is from a plane with a smoke png  textured to it

I'm with Vyusur, I like this one the best.  Great atmosphere.  But I'm confused about the story.  He looks like he is getting shot (from a futuristic gun), but there is no gunfire.  But there is also a noose!

 

UnifiedBrain

Vyusur said:

Great work, UB! For some reason, I like BW version better.

Thanks.  I really appreciate the feedback.  I figure that most people will like the B&W, as it is more noir-ish.  Or maybe it is less harsh, or maybe the canvas texture looks fake, or something else.  But one of my biggest issues is that I never had any formal art training, so I am hungry to try new things (while maintaining my sense of aesthetics).   I envy everyone who got to spend years fulfilling different art assignments in school.

Vyusur

UnifiedBrain said:

Vyusur said:

Great work, UB! For some reason, I like BW version better.

Thanks.  I really appreciate the feedback.  I figure that most people will like the B&W, as it is more noir-ish.  Or maybe it is less harsh, or maybe the canvas texture looks fake, or something else.  But one of my biggest issues is that I never had any formal art training, so I am hungry to try new things (while maintaining my sense of aesthetics).   I envy everyone who got to spend years fulfilling different art assignments in school.

My pleasure!

As for your question, If I had a gun, I wouldn't admit it.

 

UnifiedBrain

OK, I finally decided that what I like most about a comic noir is the deep blacks and the relatively clean highlight lines.

So to get the deep blacks, I ditched the canvas idea, even though I like it's more gritty look.  And I also eliminated some lights, with a goal of using only the minimum number of highlights necessary to recognize the object shapes (yet still keeping enough light in the scene to make it aesthetically pleasing).

Comments, plus or minus, are always welcome.  I'm probably splitting hairs. :)

 

0oseven

My WIP - exploring ideas 

Love unifiedbrain's black n red , Elma phudd , the hats,  headwax's 'quickie'   

 

Mistara

thank you 

every radish reminds me of fraggle rock  lol

Stezza

cool Ooseven... reminds me of this song which I haven't heard in years!!

just watch out for her foot going into the step.... 

Mistara

UnifiedBrain said:

OK, I finally decided that what I like most about a comic noir is the deep blacks and the relatively clean highlight lines.

So to get the deep blacks, I ditched the canvas idea, even though I like it's more gritty look.  And I also eliminated some lights, with a goal of using only the minimum number of highlights necessary to recognize the object shapes (yet still keeping enough light in the scene to make it aesthetically pleasing).

Comments, plus or minus, are always welcome.  I'm probably splitting hairs. :)

 

 

the lighting made me think of the Hellfire Club 

Stezza

thanks for your comment vyusur 

@unifiedbrain maybe some DoF could be applied.. I can't get drawn to a focal point the way it is set out at the moment.. there's a fight between the cigar lighting the gun the car  and the Rick's Club sign for me... but it is a very hellish image which is what you're trying to put across... I think.. 

Headwax

Stezza said:

yep, the sand filter works fine in my 8.5pro

applied it to my wabbit season then added it as a layer in PSE with a soft overlay at 20%

Thanks Stezza, amazing the characters that you pull out of the hat!

UnifiedBrain said:

OK, I finally decided that what I like most about a comic noir is the deep blacks and the relatively clean highlight lines.

So to get the deep blacks, I ditched the canvas idea, even though I like it's more gritty look.  And I also eliminated some lights, with a goal of using only the minimum number of highlights necessary to recognize the object shapes (yet still keeping enough light in the scene to make it aesthetically pleasing).

Comments, plus or minus, are always welcome.  I'm probably splitting hairs. :)

 

 

wow that's terrific - my onlyc and c would be to delineat the profile of the face more accuartely - to quote Norman Rockwell (?) Get the face and hands right then they will for

 

Vyusur said:

Nice hat(s), Selina, very well done! I like the soft shadows as well.
Today I took some photos of my own hat that I wear in summertime.

wow Veronika I was so impressed when I saw this, I thought it was a photograph ;)

 

 

Diomede said:

@Selina - that is one awesome hat, with many great morphs.  Could easily be the Zoot Suit hat or the Pimp'n hat.  The mannequin test is great.  Well done.

@UnifiedBrain - wow - that is a polished WIP.  Looks ready for entry.  

Here is my last WIP for a while.  Just showing the transformation of Don Coyote, Man of Laredo to Don Corleone, Man of Toledo.

I had created Don for the Incompatible Time challenge before Philemo had given us that great hair-to-prop plugin.  Don looked like this with his western shirt and blue jeans.

 

 

I made some morphs for Don to change his nose and chin to make them less comical (hopefully).  I also cut his hair and narrowed his mustache.  Finally, I helped him look more fomal with a collar, tie, and overcoat.  The collar and tie are designed to be props attached to the bone skeleton, while the overcoat is designed for draping with VWD.

 

Don is callsic Diomede - just made for this challenge - love the way you model - real with a touch of cartoon (or visa versa) PS how is the moustache made?

 

Selina said:

Hi all,

My first simple attempt at a 'gangster' hat - don't know what they're called officially - please critique, ie too tall, rim not bent up enough at back, rim not wide enough, ugly felt shader, whatever - sky's the limit !!!

 
Selina

that's a lovely hat Selina, very clean looking - love that shine on the top too

 

Diomede said:

Thanks for posting about the bridge tool.  I had gotten so used to using the + and - keys that I never paid attention to the properties tray, and so never noticed the options to twist and invert.  Having a hard time wrapping my head around using invert, but the twist option could be very useful.

 

So I dug out one of my books by Christopher Hart. It is focused on Noir comics, and its title is Drawing Crime Noir.  Here is an excerpt on shadows.

that's a great article, thanks for sharing, i used that in my noir work

 

DesertDude said:

 

As an aside regarding the Bridge tool - I discovered last night you can add segments under the Options, along with twisting. Staring me in the face and never noticed it before, lol. Also, bridging between edges works for creating a polygon between edges. I know that seems super obvious but a lightbulb went on in my head when I discovered that. Doh!

well, I ever do modelling again that tip will come in very handy!! isnt there a plus tool to keep adding segments as well??

 

Vyusur said:

 

Andrew, I like the atmosphere, shape patterns and the angle of view in this picture. The overall composition reminds me of Casino Royale.

thank you - the third person adds a little subplot :)

 

 

0oseven said:

My WIP - exploring ideas 

Love unifiedbrain's black n red , Elma phudd , the hats,  headwax's 'quickie'   

 

thanks, and that diagonal in your work is very dynamic

 

UnifiedBrain said:

Diomede said:

 

I'm with Vyusur, I like this one the best.  Great atmosphere.  But I'm confused about the story.  He looks like he is getting shot (from a futuristic gun), but there is no gunfire.  But there is also a noose!

Thanks :) the story? what story? :) No the victim is beinhg given a choice between fdeath by shooting or by hanging .... nice to have a choice

UnifiedBrain said:

 

 

Mistara

head wax said:

Stezza said:

yep, the sand filter works fine in my 8.5pro

applied it to my wabbit season then added it as a layer in PSE with a soft overlay at 20%

Thanks Stezza, amazing the characters that you pull out of the hat!

UnifiedBrain said:

OK, I finally decided that what I like most about a comic noir is the deep blacks and the relatively clean highlight lines.

So to get the deep blacks, I ditched the canvas idea, even though I like it's more gritty look.  And I also eliminated some lights, with a goal of using only the minimum number of highlights necessary to recognize the object shapes (yet still keeping enough light in the scene to make it aesthetically pleasing).

Comments, plus or minus, are always welcome.  I'm probably splitting hairs. :)

 

 

wow that's terrific - my onlyc and c would be to delineat the profile of the face more accuartely - to quote Norman Rockwell (?) Get the face and hands right then they will for

 

Vyusur said:

Nice hat(s), Selina, very well done! I like the soft shadows as well.
Today I took some photos of my own hat that I wear in summertime.

wow Veronika I was so impressed when I saw this, I thought it was a photograph ;)

 

 

Diomede said:

@Selina - that is one awesome hat, with many great morphs.  Could easily be the Zoot Suit hat or the Pimp'n hat.  The mannequin test is great.  Well done.

@UnifiedBrain - wow - that is a polished WIP.  Looks ready for entry.  

Here is my last WIP for a while.  Just showing the transformation of Don Coyote, Man of Laredo to Don Corleone, Man of Toledo.

I had created Don for the Incompatible Time challenge before Philemo had given us that great hair-to-prop plugin.  Don looked like this with his western shirt and blue jeans.

 

 

I made some morphs for Don to change his nose and chin to make them less comical (hopefully).  I also cut his hair and narrowed his mustache.  Finally, I helped him look more fomal with a collar, tie, and overcoat.  The collar and tie are designed to be props attached to the bone skeleton, while the overcoat is designed for draping with VWD.

 

Don is callsic Diomede - just made for this challenge - love the way you model - real with a touch of cartoon (or visa versa) PS how is the moustache made?

 

Selina said:

Hi all,

My first simple attempt at a 'gangster' hat - don't know what they're called officially - please critique, ie too tall, rim not bent up enough at back, rim not wide enough, ugly felt shader, whatever - sky's the limit !!!

 
Selina

that's a lovely hat Selina, very clean looking - love that shine on the top too

 

Diomede said:

Thanks for posting about the bridge tool.  I had gotten so used to using the + and - keys that I never paid attention to the properties tray, and so never noticed the options to twist and invert.  Having a hard time wrapping my head around using invert, but the twist option could be very useful.

 

So I dug out one of my books by Christopher Hart. It is focused on Noir comics, and its title is Drawing Crime Noir.  Here is an excerpt on shadows.

that's a great article, thanks for sharing, i used that in my noir work

 

DesertDude said:

 

As an aside regarding the Bridge tool - I discovered last night you can add segments under the Options, along with twisting. Staring me in the face and never noticed it before, lol. Also, bridging between edges works for creating a polygon between edges. I know that seems super obvious but a lightbulb went on in my head when I discovered that. Doh!

well, I ever do modelling again that tip will come in very handy!! isnt there a plus tool to keep adding segments as well??

 

Vyusur said:

 

Andrew, I like the atmosphere, shape patterns and the angle of view in this picture. The overall composition reminds me of Casino Royale.

thank you - the third person adds a little subplot :)

 

 

0oseven said:

My WIP - exploring ideas 

Love unifiedbrain's black n red , Elma phudd , the hats,  headwax's 'quickie'   

 

thanks, and that diagonal in your work is very dynamic

 

UnifiedBrain said:

Diomede said:

 

I'm with Vyusur, I like this one the best.  Great atmosphere.  But I'm confused about the story.  He looks like he is getting shot (from a futuristic gun), but there is no gunfire.  But there is also a noose!

Thanks :) the story? what story? :) No the victim is beinhg given a choice between fdeath by shooting or by hanging .... nice to have a choice

UnifiedBrain said:

 

 

 

but, the Avengers and Justice League will save him?

shlomi laszlo

the other camera

 

Persona Non Grata

.

Mistara

bought some sexi shoes to render. 
hairy radish tee hee  or  hairy bikini 

8 more hours til home and carrara fun

UnifiedBrain

About 3 weeks left to enter.  Plenty of time. :)

 

This is just a reminder of the three categories.

 

Category 1 - Choose any subject, must be 100% B&W, must use Carrara Gel lighting effect.  Looking for noir mood.

Category 2 - Portrait or pinup of a noir archetype (Private Eye, Femme Fatale, etc), color (or colour) or B&W fine.

Category 3 - Homage to noir movies and detective books - covers, posters, movie scenes, etc - imitate your favorite or create your own.  Color (or colour) or B&W fine.

UnifiedBrain

0oseven said:

My WIP - exploring ideas 

Love unifiedbrain's black n red , Elma phudd , the hats,  headwax's 'quickie'   

Thanks Ooseven!  I like the drama in your new render.

 

 

Mistara said:

the lighting made me think of the Hellfire Club 

 

Stezza said:

@unifiedbrain maybe some DoF could be applied.. I can't get drawn to a focal point the way it is set out at the moment.. there's a fight between the cigar lighting the gun the car  and the Rick's Club sign for me... but it is a very hellish image which is what you're trying to put across... I think.. 

Thanks for the feedback, guys!  I wasn't thinking hell specifically, but it does make sense to see it that way.

Regarding your comments Stezza, the problem is that I fell in love with all of those elements, and probably treated them all too equally.  So I changed the focus and did this in PSE:

 

 

But I still wasn't happy, as I doubt that infrared scopes existed back in the 40's.  And I still hadn't addressed HW's comment about faces:

HW said - "wow that's terrific - my only c and c would be to delineate the profile of the face more accurately - to quote Norman Rockwell (?) Get the face and hands right"

So I decided to go in a completely different direction - full NPR.  I hated losing the car reflections, but liked the outline effect provided by by Toon 3 and GMIC.  Hopefully the focus is clearer, and the face is now less important.

 

 

Category 3 homage, rendered in Carrara with zero postwork.

 

Did some touchup editing to the above in PSE.  Added caption in Comic Life.

 

Four stacked filters (3 GMIC) were Black & white - Black & white, Toon 3, Colors - basic adjustments, and Artistic - Lylejk's Painting.

Carrara text.

Products - Michael 3, Jack Tomalin Eminence, Relic Hunter hat, 1936 AM Sedan, The Firearm Pack Tommy Gun.

 

 

 

 

MarkIsSleepy

Started kind of doodling ideas today.

Quickly sculpted in Blender then textured and rendered in Carrara. The dust is a particle system and the blur was added in Photoshop using Carrara's depth pass.This will probably fall into category 3 "homage."

"MacGuffin"

Here's the scene setup and the paricle settings:

UnifiedBrain

A classic prop!  I have a scene planned for the falcon as well - if I can model it (and that's a BIG if).

Looks excellent.

MarkIsSleepy

UnifiedBrain said:

A classic prop!  I have a scene planned for the falcon as well - if I can model it (and that's a BIG if).

Looks excellent.

Yeah - my sculpting skills did not prove to be up to the challenge, so I just went with it and made a really rough version. I may take a another run at it later and see if I can refine it. I don't do a lot of sculpting but I think I was starting to get the hang of it near the end.

Here's what the high poly version looked like in Blender:

It's only about 100,000 polys at the moment, which is low for a sculpt, but maybe a bit high for the level of detail I have. I like the overall shape and think it's not a bad match to the original prop based on the reference images I found, but I'm thinking of smoothing the head and chest back out and redoing those sections and then doing the wings and tail feathers as separate pieces.

 

UnifiedBrain

Ha!  Your "rough" version is my "in my dreams" version!  I'm counting on well-placed lighting to hide my lack of ability.  Hey, its worked in the past. :)

DesertDude

Looks like everyone has been busy making some great renders.

@UnifiedBrain - love the graphic style and colors in the second image. As for the first one regarding the infrared scope - maybe he travelled through time from the last challenge. ;)

@MDO2010 - nice sculpting - I have never sculpted anything other than picking at Carrara's native Displacement tools in the model room, which isn't really 'sculpting' like other apps.

@Ooseven - looking good. I like the diagonals and the stairs leading up into the mysterious darkness.

@Stezza - clever render - I love the rabbit. :)

@Selina - I hope you get the coat to drape the way you want. Can't wait to see more renders of your cruisin' mannequin.

@head wax - those are all cool 'noir' renders. Have to agree with others the first image works best, but I do like the long cast shadows in the second image.

@Mistara - cool you are experimenting with your own light gels - so much fun.

@Diomede - Your characters are so awesome - great coat. Looking forward to this heist at the North Pole.

I didn't have much time this week to do anything, but today I made some buildings inspired by expressionist images I found  searching the net. And I'm working on some hairdos for the lego character(s). But I'm still without a real idea, lol. Maybe something inspired by the movie 'Dark City' which I watched this week for the first time in years, hoping for an idea to land in my head.

 

Persona Non Grata

.

DesertDude

@Selina - thank you Selina, and thanks for the YouTube link, cool stuff.

DesertDude

​Just having fun experimenting - here is Henry Spencer, aka 'Eraserhead'.