Well... here it is my first skin... or should i say my shameless COH textures kitbashing.... yup.. i got some COH textures and used tthem into this aprximation at a char i made there with my trial account some time ago... hope you like them.. i just got a bunch of textures and been adapting them to Freedom Force... so... what do you think?
(http://server2.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-EsmeraldHuntress.jpg)
i will still do some touches or at least would try to
It's cool, hmm...did you avoid highlighting, I noticed it has a very few number of highlights. ^_^
Oh and to get your work critiqued, I would say go to Mesh Matters (http://meshmatters.awardspace.com/). :D
well yes.. still need to learn more about highlights.. so i just did the shiny metals and thats all... oh and if any real skinner does want some of those textures i could send them when i finish in a couple of days, kinda lazy getting them :P
i think you managed toe kitbashing pretty good, tho the mask's eyes looks a bit big for her face id call it a pretty decent first skin :)
Say, that's a pretty nice first skin! I would agree that the mask seems too big...and actually the zipper down her front torso does too for some reason. But I really like her overall design! Archers rock! Good work! Keep 'em comin'!!
Quote from: The_Baroness on January 06, 2008, 02:44:12 PM
well yes.. still need to learn more about highlights.. so i just did the shiny metals and thats all... oh and if any real skinner does want some of those textures i could send them when i finish in a couple of days, kinda lazy getting them :P
oooh, id love to have those textures! if its not to much to ask :)
No problem... now that I'm officially free on my well deserved summer vacation i can finish my job of taking all those textures... well at least the ones i like more ;)
And yes, for some reason the zipper looks bigger over the breasts...will see what i can do with that and thank you for your comments :)
Quote from: The_Baroness on January 07, 2008, 02:39:07 PM
No problem... now that I'm officially free on my well deserved summer vacation i can finish my job of taking all those textures... well at least the ones i like more ;)
And yes, for some reason the zipper looks bigger over the breasts...will see what i can do with that and thank you for your comments :)
Unfortunately, it's a mesh issue... for some reason most female meshes (sans VX meshes) have that warping issue.
Since the zipper has alteady been spoken about, the only two thngs that I would consider for improvement, would be:
1) The use of effects, it's really hard to tell if your metals (ie. the zipper) have any reflection to them
2) Maybe outline onder the mask to create the illusion of a shadow.
Otherwise, that is is an outstanding first skin. Great Job.
Quote from: Cyber Burn on January 07, 2008, 06:56:13 PM
Since the zipper has alteady been spoken about, the only two thngs that I would consider for improvement, would be:
1) The use of effects, it's really hard to tell if your metals (ie. the zipper) have any reflection to them
2) Maybe outline onder the mask to create the illusion of a shadow.
Otherwise, that is is an outstanding first skin. Great Job.
On my screen the reflection shows up pretty good on the metals. Remember that in a still shot like this, they won't be as noticible as in an active view.
But to echo the others, this is a great adaptation. Please continue. :)
I tried putting together a "base" skin from the CoH pigg files, but never got the hands and feet to work well. So that project got sidelined for now.
Thank you for your comments, i fixed the zipper and looks a lot better now, and made some minor adjustments to the legs.
Here it is a picture of that and 2 faces for her one with her eyes showing and the other with smaller white eyes, and.... a base skin i made for the leather 3 costume of COH ready to be colored and used in anything that comes to mind
(http://server3.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-EHuntress.jpg)
and one very important thing the base i used for this is from C6
Quote from: The_Baroness on January 08, 2008, 02:43:33 AM
Thank you for your comments, i fixed the zipper and looks a lot better now, and made some minor adjustments to the legs.
Here it is a picture of that and 2 faces for her one with her eyes showing and the other with smaller white eyes, and.... a base skin i made for the leather 3 costume of COH ready to be colored and used in anything that comes to mind
(http://server3.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-EHuntress.jpg)
and one very important thing the base i used for this is from C6
the chick in the white looks like The Boss from metal gear solid 3.
They look nice. Especially the white girl. That's a tight leatherlike outfit right there.
Well... after some wonderfull time enjoying my summer vacation disconnected from the world... here it is some of the things i have done... the adapted textures of coh for the females of freedom force and an update to my emerald huntress that i think looks way better ;)
(http://server2.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-COH_female_bases_1.jpg)
(http://server2.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-COH_female_bases_2.jpg)
(http://server3.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-COH_female_bases_3.jpg)
and the updated emerald huntress... though i still need to improve more
(http://server3.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-emerald_huntress_V2.jpg)
Hope you like them :) and any comment would be appreciated
Very cool adaptations! Me Likey.
those would make great bases for recolors.
Quote from: bearded on February 13, 2008, 08:37:10 PM
those would make great bases for recolors.
It sure would. Very nice work on the different textures/designs.
These are all quite nice.
So now I have to raise the quality of my own skins again...
Thanks for the comments, I'll be uploading them on my yahoo group today and will begin with the males.. i must say adapting this textures have helped and teached me a lot of things
Nice work on all these! I especially like the Tech Modern and the normal Emerald Huntress's outfit. Great job on the texturing as well.
Well today took a rest from that texture adapting and felt the urge to have my lovely scrapper in Freedom Force so.. here she is... Gothic Doll...
(http://server3.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-Gothic_Doll.jpg)
it came out a lot better than i expected :)
Nice costume design and character.
Maybe you could work on the seams and highlights some more.
Hey, so far so good. :thumbup:
Well... thanks for the comment... this is my first attempt to use highlights and work on the seams...
(http://server2.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-Goth_doll_seams.jpg)
i think looks better than before but i hope i will improve some more
Wish i could offer you more advise or tips on skinning, but i believe there are more qualified people (experienced skinners) here,that could do a way better job at that. ^_^
Like they say, practice makes perfect. You'll definitely improve if you keep going at it. :)
Quote from: The_Baroness on February 16, 2008, 05:50:31 AM
Well... thanks for the comment... this is my first attempt to use highlights and work on the seams...
(http://server2.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-Goth_doll_seams.jpg)
i think looks better than before but i hope i will improve some more
Here top seems to kinda of "ooze" into her skin...as if it's painted on rather than being a seperate piece of cloth/clothing. I'd suggest making it look as if the clothing is casting a shadow on the skin while adding a bit of highlight to the clothing. In the end I guess I'm trying to say...take ye Phtoshop line tool, set it on a one thickness and goa round certain areas with black (blur it after wards) and then on the inside of those places ye put it (following on how )....ye know what...the more I looka t what I'm trying to say the more it gets confusing becuase there's no pics...let me put together a tutorial for what I'm talking about.
-DJ
:doh: :lol: yes... those where my expresions, really got confused :) but thank you , thank you a lot for your help
Well.. I'm kinda stuck adapting the textures to male skins... not satisfied with what i have now so i tried to do a few thigns to see if i can mprove a little... i used some old skins as a guide to what i wanted and here it is what came up
(http://server3.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-Image6.jpg)
A first attempt to skin Valkyrie from CoH, nightshade and phobia, tried to follow as much as i could the original skins...
comments suggestions, please tell em how cnai improve this :)
This is teh thrid time I've looked at this post, and I'm still trying to collate my thoughts on it...
The skin using the COH texture: Quite simply I'd either reduce the brightness of the reflect layer, change your lightmap, or make you refl layer correspond with the detail on the skin, as it stands you have this general single reflection over the body and it's obscuring the detail. Doesn't Valkyrie have large headwings? I'm pretty sure you could skope those from a Thor mesh.
As for the other two, the colours are nice and strong, but the edges of the materials blur together.
I feel a skin needs to be crisp and sharp with obvious detail, especially since we will be viewing these characters from a distance in FF. Nightshade would look infinitely better with some simple highlights detailing the edges of the colours.
Where the Purple meets the black, use the brightest purple to draw a one pixel thick line around the purple parts. Use black to do the same around the balck parts, meaning the two lines should exist exactly next to each other.
Download the skins of an artist you like and study how they used lines and seams to create the illusion of depth and detail on a skin.
I would suggest tracking down some good tutorials, especially those that deal with highlights (Lunarman and Murs both have made skinning tutorials recently) applying them to your skins in the future as it helps create mass and dimension on an otherwise flat object.
I look forward to seeing an update soon.
I want to thank you for the comments Caravaggio, was putting them to practice when i had a major crash... now i am putting my pc back together, and thankfully had almost all the FF stuff backed... so i will try to improve... but as i said before... just a newbie in a very hard craft :)
Your style remind me a lot of AllyCat's. I really love the textures you created. Top notch.
Out of curiosity...
How did you access the COH textures?
I used the Piggviewer to see the textures and then had to make screenshots to paste them to paint shop pro...
Ahem... piggviewer?
Well... let you see into the files of CoH... i think this link may work..
http://sourceforge.net/project/downloading.php?groupname=piggviewer&filename=Piggviewer_5_7.zip&use_mirror=ufpr
Quote from: The_Baroness on April 22, 2008, 07:15:52 PM
Well... let you see into the files of CoH... i think this link may work..
http://sourceforge.net/project/downloading.php?groupname=piggviewer&filename=Piggviewer_5_7.zip&use_mirror=ufpr
Cool! How do I use it? Does it have a gui, is it command line? Do I drag and drop a PIGG on top of it?
just unzip and then open the program and search for the pigg you want to see, it is pretty simple really... wish i could explain more or better, but that is a skill i seriously lack in english, in spanish i a a lot better explaining things
Quote from: Valandar on April 22, 2008, 07:33:36 PM
Quote from: The_Baroness on April 22, 2008, 07:15:52 PM
Well... let you see into the files of CoH... i think this link may work..
http://sourceforge.net/project/downloading.php?groupname=piggviewer&filename=Piggviewer_5_7.zip&use_mirror=ufpr
Cool! How do I use it? Does it have a gui, is it command line? Do I drag and drop a PIGG on top of it?
It does have a gui; you open the pigg files via menu options. I had found a great tutorial online a year ago, but can't find it now. There is one on cohguru.com, but it is not as detailed as the web page I found before. If I can find it again, I'll post it here.
I'm really liking your skins, primarily because FF has always seemed to have too much testosterone (hence my tendanvy to make primarily female skins). I like the utilization of the CoH textures, they have some very nice 1's, keep it up; I look forward to seeing your skinning mature (FR needs some more female skinners). Oh, and thanx for the nod AA ;) (wow....didn't notice how old this thread was........)
:) thank you for your words Aly Cat, i admire many skinners and your work is one of those who inspire me
I'm a little stuck right now, have not touched anything seriously since march probably... though will probably start again now that i feel the need to make my avatar :)
Have not made anything really serious but have tried some of the advices on test skins... and here is something i put together sometime ago, not really satisfied how it came out but i think it is a good first try.. will probably fix it a little more... i know the top needs to be fixed around the neck and ebtter align the boots, specially right one with the foot... and the lighter parts should be more transparent..... well a WIP
(http://server2.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-sisterpsyche.jpg)
I see you're using the VX mesh for that skin, a good choice since it does not have the chest distortion like other meshes & it has quite a few other good features. The only issue that they have, and Vertex & I have talked about this before, is that the hairs are not as good as some of the other female meshes. Looking forward to see what you come up with; almost makes me want to start up again. ^_^
Wow... color me impressed.
I know it's a WIP, so here's a few things to check out. There's a real faint line where the two legs meet in front. It's just enough to distract, but that's no big deal. I would either put a belt on her, or have the cut on the top end a little below the waist, just because the divider between the top and bottom half of all FF meshes is really unnatural. Everything else you already mentioned.
The face work is really good. Looks very nice. Well done. Eyebrows may go off a little too far, but that's not a big deal.
If you're not happy with the hair, I suggest downloading NifSkope. It's a neat little tool that allows you to copy and paste pieces from other meshes together. Or, if nothing else, just ask someone to do it for you. There's plenty of people here that will help.
All in all, this is a great start! Keep up the good work!
If I'm not mistaken, the face is actually the base made by my good buddy Matrix, which may have came with the mesh. I'd check with Bobby (Vertex) before 'skoping any of his meshes; I have not talked to him in quite some time so I'm not sure of his standing on having his stuff 'skoped. I know he had talked about updating the VX females a while back, but I don't know what ever became of that.
Unless my memory's playing a trick on me (and it usually is nowadays), Bobby/Vertex is on the permissions list. Let me check...
EDIT: http://freedomreborn.net/archive/index.php?topic=44332.msg611745#msg611745
I'm not losing my mind after all! :thumbup:
thank you for your comments, and yes the face is the base skin , i am not really going to attempt to do my own faces yet... not that experienced or talented, so for a long time you will only see those wonderful bases :)
I like vertex work a lot, my only complain would be the mapping of the female meshes since it makes impossible to move skins from other meshes to the vx ones
I may do a version for other meshes or skope ink's black canary hair on this one
and ...
Quote from: Aly Cat on June 12, 2008, 09:07:29 PM
Looking forward to see what you come up with; almost makes me want to start up again. ^_^
please please start up again :)
Yeah, that's a big issue with Vertex's female meshes, which I think was intentional to pull away from the heavy dependance on using bases that everyone uses & to branch off into making your own unique base ;tho' I believe only Matrix & I ever made bases for the VX females and mine came AFTER they were made so have never been released. As for returning; anything is possible.......
Well... inspired by the great mesh by tommyboy i tried to skope Zinda and made this... (neither the hat, belt or gun are skined by me)
must say that for the first time i am happy with a hair... and as usual, suggestions, coments, whippings... uh.. no.. not that..
(http://server3.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-zinda.jpg)
It's loking pretty good but might I suggest some highlighting around the emblem and some shading on the top of the face/head to make it look like the hat is casting the shadow. Other than that....'eres those whippings ye wanted. *breaks out a leather whip and whips Baroness ont he tuss a few times*
-DJ
ouch.... i said not to that... anyway...
here is how she looks now... added the shadow and changed the belt a little to that of black canary
(http://server2.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-zinda2.jpg)
That belt looks much better, it helps break up all the dark tones...nice work on the hair, too.
Thanks Carravaggio... but the belt, gun and hat are not mine... and i dont think i can improve them so if or when i release this, will just suggest where to get them... though will try to skin them and see what comes.... now the cop hat is a recolloring of the normal cop so will see if i can do something similar, i took it from pulp versatil mesh, the gun is from checkmate knight female, and the belt is ink's black canary
ok here are some ideas i had about this group... still need to smooth them a little more
Caupolicán : Based on a historical figure Should be the classical superstrong character
Tralca: Means thunder in mapudungun, a short haired woman with powers much like storm
el Condor: (3 versions, 60's (dies trying to save Allende from the coup September 11, 1973) , military one during Pinochet's regime, and 3 one amuch younger one trynig to redeem the name, second one is a hero of the state but for his actiosn is a villain during the dictatorship of Pinochet)
Not sure if they should have the same motiff... probably one would be an armored flying guy (second one) and the first and 3 should carry a shield
Second one should now be called Condor Negro and be a villain
Husar de la Muerte: Weapon Master, shadowy figure based on Manuel Rodriguez, so.. black uniform with silver skull insignia
other possible names, need to asign them a story and powers:
- Caleuche
- Pincoya
They all sound great to me :)
Would it be possible for Condor Negro to be female, the daughter or granddaughter of one of the originals, angered over their treatment? I like the idea of three Condors, shows continuity and history, plus silver age costumes were awesome (pirate bootcuffs FTW!)
I usually sketch up some quick one two tone thumbnails to help me work out what the costume will look like, and to help create uniformity, but you might be going for a visually varied team, rather than a unified one.
Looking forward to what you put together, keep us all informed :)
Another idea could be that Condor Negro is the daughter of the second one... and yes, they will be a team but not likely to have uniforms... will try to sketch them or do a very very rough skin just showing the colors and designs but plain colors and no details...
You could always grab some sort of body template, like the Timmverse templates; plain outlines of male and female figures you can colour in Photoshop to get an idea of how costume composition looks.
Well... i finally got to skin the belt and hat (well.. hat is just a recoloring of the original cop from irrational) and made a variation... if you are all ok i can upload the skope and skins to my group
(http://server3.uploadit.org/files/Baroness-zinda3.jpg)
Well here is The 3 version of Condor.. the actual one... very early WIP... very satisfied how the shield came out, plus an image of the Chilean flag
as usual coments, suggestions etc
(http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk44/Baronesa_1980/condor3WIP.jpg?t=1214222983)
getting closer.... i think...
(http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk44/Baronesa_1980/CondorWIP2.jpg)
comments and suggestiosn are welcome and appreciated
I like the leather straps texture from COH.
If there was anything I could offer as help, it would be the following:
1. Seams. there are a lot of different ways to do this, each skinner has a different method, so look at your favourite skinners to try to see hope they manage it. By seams I mean definition between two different types or colours of materials. COH doesn't actually have any seams, and because of the complexity of the models and how they light them they get away with it, but on a FF mesh, definition between materials, such as where the blue and red meet, are paramount.
2. Highlights. Your colours are very rich, but also flat. There is little variation between the midtones and the darkest tone. Use a much lighter tone of the colour to make a highlight on the part of the costume that would be the most raised (the peak of the bicep etc.) I wrote a short guide for it a few years ago, its on the FF wiki (can't find the link right now, any kind soul care to lend a hand?)
Is this the 60's version of the Condor? I think you could afford to create a slightly more complex chest design that incorporates some of the vast white on the Chilean flag.
Its a nice start, I'll be interested to see where it goes.
Sorry if my responses are a bit vague, i taught today and i'm bushed.
Quote from: The_Baroness on June 23, 2008, 05:11:49 AM
Well here is The 3 version of Condor.. the actual one... very early WIP... very satisfied how the shield came out, plus an image of the Chilean flag
as usual coments, suggestions etc
(http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk44/Baronesa_1980/condor3WIP.jpg?t=1214222983)
Where did you get the hair for his mesh? I like it.
Nice Blackhawk
Thanks for the comments Carr, will try to do something about highlights, and trying to see what looks better for the seams... trying a thin line of a lighter tone of the color where they both meet. This is the actual Condor.... and will add a star on the chest later, for the first one i have a diffrenet mesh in mind (think of general glory)
Podmark: that hair comes from AA's avatar and thanks :)
Tried some highlights making an overlay raster, and will probably change the pants...
(http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk44/Baronesa_1980/condorV3wip.jpg)
No se hacer skins (solo he hecho dos o tres en mi vida...U-.-) así que tampoco sé qué consejos darte.
Me gusta que sean colores poco saturados, y el efecto d la bota m'encanta. ^_^sigue así
I don't know how to make skins (i only did 2 or 3) so i can't give you any advice.
I like less-saturated skins and i love the boot's effect.
ok this is how he looks now.. after trying to do some of the suggestions... not perfect maybe, but so far i am very satisfied on how it have improved... thank you all for your help and more suggestions are very very welcome
(http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk44/Baronesa_1980/CondorV3.jpg)
I'd trace the edge of the star with dark blue from the costume, then trace the inside of the star with a bright white to create contrast and sharpness.
Unkoman made a neat tute about making symbols, see if you can track that down :)
well i tried to make the star looks better and , well this is wwhat came out... dont know if i can improve it anymore....
i like both of this but the one in the right is more brighter... like him best
Thanks for your suggestions Carr
(http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk44/Baronesa_1980/Condor-1.jpg)
I reckon the right hand one looks best.
A suggestion: save your screenshots at a higher jpeg quality, as the lower quality makes it hard to see the details on your skins.
Looking forward to the rest :)
Well... Lady Blackhawk for the original Tommyboy awesome mesh... still somethings that i may improve but... skinning extras is at least for me harder than the characters...
(http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk44/Baronesa_1980/Zinda.jpg)
I really like the black costume for Lady Blackhawk. Great job with the jacket.
I'd like to recommend making the yellow on her chest brighter. It seems very dark and or maybe it's the reflection that's making it look that way?
You should try and make the star a little smaller. Maybe check with the wireframe so that the star is not overlapping slightly. Try also "squishing" it may make it appear more symetrical. As with Lady Blackhawk, instead of making the emblem perfectly round, maybe make it a bit more oval will help cover the shape of the mesh better. Maybe lighten the shadow on the emblem too. Kinda of trial and error is the best teacher.
Skirt looks great as does the jacket on Lady Blackhawk.
Like the design on Condor (?). You should make an fx of that shield as well.
Quote from: Aly Cat on June 13, 2008, 06:44:31 PM
Yeah, that's a big issue with Vertex's female meshes, which I think was intentional to pull away from the heavy dependance on using bases that everyone uses & to branch off into making your own unique base ;tho' I believe only Matrix & I ever made bases for the VX females and mine came AFTER they were made so have never been released. As for returning; anything is possible.......
Actually this was done becuase my females use an entirely different head than female_basic or female_longhair.. causing the mapping to be different as well. Was never an intention to drive skinners to do something .. was a fact of life of using a full complete head.