[SilverBlade]

Hi Everyone, I've been working on this sucker since i heard about the competition.
The idea was to have this huge dragon sitting on a mountain top, surrounded by dead corspes (skeletons), that he as devoured, and one in his hand, yet to be put in there.
I kinda wanted a king kong with the bride in his hand, but with the dragon instead.
Anyhow I've modelled in maya, displacements done in zbrush, and rendered in turtle.
Theres a couple of sketches I did forehand.
Still alot to do in little time, texturing, lighting and otherstuff to be added, better pull my finger out.
Anyhow hope you likes.


[Edited on 29/9/05 by SilverBlade]

[SilverBlade]

[SilverBlade]

[Nuki]

Absolutely love it. Looking forward to seeing it finished

[helell]

He's adorable, kinda like a pound puppy crossed with Petes Dragon, can I take him home with me?

[SilverBlade]

Heres the maya scene, so you can get an idea where Im going with it.

[jaxxx]

hey man is very good you dragon , I like it so much , but the pose is very natural, is amazing

[SilverBlade]

Tweak, Render, Tweak Render, Tweak Render, A piece of art is never finished, its only abandoned.
Still got some more tweaks to do..If only I had more time...sigh!, any critiques welcome.

[Tetsujin]

wow, man thats sick! so sick!
the dragon is unreal, prolly the best i've seen in any 3D scene. background is awsome and blends in really nice.. texture is fantastic..this peice should definately win..

[Nuki]

Wow. looks fantastic. The colours work really well. keep up the good work :P

[Breki]

Love that dragon, amazing work!
mommy please save me! !

[kelly_romeo]

Is that FK/IK switching I see in that rig? Very cool. (I'm sticking to a simple Fk posing rig for now, but plan to come back later and put in a full rig.) What other niffty setup features are you adding into this dragon? Way-ta-go!

Tweak Render, Tweak Render... yep, I use that method as well. =)
-Kelly

[SilverBlade]

Well this is as final as it going to get, running out of time.
Yes its fully fk/ik switching rig, with stretchy spline ik in neck, body, and tail.
Anyhow
Its Dungeons and Dragons 2020, the beast holds his beautiful victim, while the other dragons swoop the city for more victims.
Thankyou for all the kind comments.
Hopes you like this final render.

[SilverBlade]

Whoops, silly me, thought the deadline was october 1st, just realised its oct 1st to oct 16th, so i guess
some more tweak render, tweak render, tweak render eh!
Good luck everyone.
Any critques welcome.
Thanks again everyone for kind comments.

[vivien]

very nice! great work man.

[dgould]

Hi Craig,
Guys at Weta told us about this. If you're open to some composition and lighting comments I'll be happy to oblige.

----
D A V I D G O U L D
www.davidgould.com

[Edited on 2/10/05 by dgould]

[SilverBlade]

Thanks Dave, Sure, write um here, or send my email, craiglstevenson@hotmail.com

[SilverBlade]

I was thinking about putting a dark knight, riding the dragon, and some reigns around the head of the dragon, wonder what everyone thinks about that? or should I leave it as is?
Craigus

[dgould]

Here are some ideas, pick and choose as you please.

Composition
---------------
a) Remove the fg smoke. It just covers the subject and flattens the image.
b) Curve the dragon's neck back into towards the centre of the frame. This way the creature's head is more visible. Currently he is looking off screen left and you wonder what he's looking at. Curving the head back towards the centre will give it focus. It will also remove the long straightness of the neck. Also open his mouth showing his teeth. This will give him a more menacing appearance.
c) Move the lightning strike down to the left. In terms of "tangents", it currently looks like the lightning is coming from his neck. Reduce its size and place it further back in the scene. It is unfortunately distracting your attention away from the dragon.
d) Move the entire fg about 1/3 to the right. Currently he is dead centre and it would be better if he were placed on thirds (photographic concept). It is OK to lose the tail since it isn't adding much to the image.
e) Place his left arm upwards so that it isn't a twin of the right arm.
f) Stretch the right wing out so that the webbing is more visible. Place the lightning behind the webbing for some interesting translucency.
g) Roll the entire camera to the right. This will create a more dynamic horizon line that will be moving upwards from left to right. It will also give the creature a more menacing appearance and the rock precipice will be more interestingly aligned.
h) Make the dragons in the bg less motion-blurred and much smaller. Given the perspective foreshortening they should be a lot smaller.

Lighting
---------
a) More translucency in the wing webbing.
b) Put in more rim lights both sides.
c) Underlight the dragon more. This will help show off his form and size.
d) Reduce the main key light. It is tending to "fill" him in.
e) Take down the specular on the skeletons and his claws and nails.
f) Put in more "beauty" lights for his face and eyes.
g) Create a more distinct horizon line so that you can see the separation between the city and the sky.

---
D A V I D G O U L D
www.davidgould.com

[dori3d]

Your scene is coming up very nice SilverBlade. I like the whole atmosphere surrounding the dragon !...