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Post by kiladecus on Dec 27, 2011 11:35:21 GMT -9
Greetings everyone, A while back, I came up with an idea that sounded good, but would require a LOT of work. Paper Make iT! and I have joined forces a while back, and we have been working on a few projects together. Due to some computer issues on my end, they haven't seen the light of day yet. This should be remedied as soon as I can get some issues resolved. Any way, I came up with a concept and sold PMI on it. We actually have been working on test and concepts. The main principle is to have a program that will allow you to choose different elements in various colors (1,600 of them, actually) and just as you might select pieces of a puzzle, build a page of 10 figures. There is still a lot of work to go on this, and trust me, PMI has had his share of coding and issues, as well. Any way, there will be four basic heads (for now) and they will be greyscale, that you can select, and choose elements to put on them. They are: Human Male; Human Female; K'VYK (alien); and Robot. I want everyone to look at this and put your "Parduz" on, and give positive, and honest feedback. I am still treading unfamiliar waters, so ANY constructive criticism is welcomed. In each case, they are going to have a plain, bald appearance. You name it, I will have it. I am shooting for scars, patches, hair, and so on and so forth. I guess this is also a good place to ask for suggestions! I have roughly 520 elements I will need to do (NOT counting the backs). I think I may have thought of nearly everything, but feel free to post pictures and requests here. I have a lot to go, but I want to make sure the pieces look acceptable before I do 520 elements just to have someone say, "These really suck!" Thanks for your attention, and let's see some feedback and requests come pouring in. Attachments:
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Post by okumarts on Dec 27, 2011 12:55:54 GMT -9
I've been working on something like this, but using standard PDF layers. I'm fearful the file will be HUGE so this current project will be a test run. Your project is so much more ambitious and useful. Scarecrow had something similar with his Star Trek make a figure site, but I could never get it to work with my mac. I think it would be an awesome item that I would love to buy. I think the biggest challenge I am having is making the figures less static and giving them some unique silhouettes and yet keep everything compatable and not jumbled. It's actually a real challenge. I'm also having issues with alternate weapons, but I think I can fix them digitally. I like the head so far. I'm curious to see how the rest of this will turn out.
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Post by kiladecus on Dec 27, 2011 16:54:34 GMT -9
Paper Make iT! is a genius! He came up with a plan that will solve anything I throw at him. I don't want to give away too much, but it operates on a unique style of masks more than layers... at least in the traditional sense. Think of it as a store. Your workspace is the shopping cart. My plan is to continue to create elements, and display things here as I go. PMI has already pointed out quite a few "errors" with it. I have a lot of "polishing" to do. Once it is done, you can have countless combinations of weapons, armor, characteristics, and equipment. When I told PMI what I had planned, he made it work. When I came up with crazier ideas, he made it work. When HE started coming up with ideas, I reacted, and it is working very well. It is overly ambitious, I admit... but as long as he is working with me, I am taking all of his help he can give. Here was an early test from a couple months ago... It has improved a LOT since then. Attachments:
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Post by Parduz on Dec 27, 2011 17:38:41 GMT -9
As a programmer, i see how hard is this project. Reminds me the good ol' HeroMachine...
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Post by kiladecus on Dec 27, 2011 18:05:09 GMT -9
That is a good comparison! Only it will have features that (I am told) will automatically fill in the back as you select the pieces on the front. A couple notes: The face has two terrible colors on it. These are just to demonstrate the shading. What I like is as you pick the colors, it will be greyscale, so the colors will blend automatically, and white is always white, and black is always black. In this case the melon and the brown colors will look like flesh with shadow. The Hero program had TONS of things, and I won't get that involved. I am gearing it first off to be compatible with ERA OF WAR. I plan to make my army sets with it, and then add more "fantasy" stuff down the line. It will be pretty in depth. But, it will not bog down your hard-drive. The files will be SMP, and they take up VERY little space on your hard-drive! Also, YES, it can run on Windows or Mac. I use it with FLASH player, and there are other versions of it. Like I said, PMI knows his stuff and he brings it BIG time! I have been trying to keep this a secret, but now that I am doing the HARDEST elements, faces, I will need the most input on them. Armor is easy. The pieces in the test above were ones I drew in like 10 minutes.
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Post by cowboyleland on Dec 27, 2011 20:03:30 GMT -9
This seems like the Holy Grail of paper fig creation. Good luck on your quest. And yeah, I questioned your colour choices but I think I like the facial expression. Will there be a ton of expressions to choose from too?
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Post by kiladecus on Dec 28, 2011 3:48:31 GMT -9
Eventually... Right now, I am more focused on getting the primary four faces down. They are all scanned, they just need to be "detailed." Because of the amount of "characteristics" there MAY not need to be a lot of actual expressions. With beards, goatees, masks, helmets, and so forth, it will just be more or less "representative" of a face. YEARS ago, when I was doing serious gaming (pre-wife and kids), I made up a pretty complex program I called "Face Generator." It was a program where you could select eyes, mouths, and hair and put it on a blank face. I used this for my NPC's and ALL 384 of my Mech Pilots (our BattleTech gaming group had an assigned pilot for each of our 'Mechs, and we tracked kills and our pilots would even advance). I was the only one with a "Baseball" card of EACH of my pilots. That may come eventually... who wants to have an ENTIRE army that looks constipated, after all. Could just be me, but this face has a cetain "Tom Cruise" look to it. If I do any more, I will shoot for a "Bruce Willis" and "Stephen Segall" look, as well. Keep in mind, at least at this point, it isn't really about the faces. It is just having features that you can line the elements up with. So, when it is said and done, you can have women with beards, robots with eye patches and mohawks, and one of my favorites... metal studs sticking out of the scalp! (I am toying with an "arrow" tattoo for the head in honor of Adam Souza)! I don't want to give too much away, because we are still a little ways out on this. I will post more pics as they are done. Aside from the stuff I have planned, is there anything you would like to see included in the set?
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Post by okumarts on Dec 28, 2011 3:55:47 GMT -9
This seems custom-made for a Gamma World/Mutant Future game. I'm looking forward to it.
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Post by kiladecus on Dec 28, 2011 4:59:30 GMT -9
Here is my second of four faces... the ROBOT. Sure it is VERY plain. This is all it needs, really. Once I have all of the components finished, you can make everything SKELETRONS to Robo-Warriors. I am sticking to JUST humanoid robots for now. I could make an ENTIRE program for robots or mutants eventually. I *may* make a large torso similar to what I was doing for my Rosinski Mutants, since this is a pretty common race in ERA OF WAR, but I might forego that for now. I could always just do them as a separate PDF. I can't include EVERYTHING I would like. It all has to line up to make it work. I like the encouragement so far. Any other feedback? Any ideas, tips or criticisms? Attachments:
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Post by cowboyleland on Dec 28, 2011 8:29:30 GMT -9
I'm hoping there will be a variety of arm poses? Some raised above the head and some more relaxed? Also some two handed weapon options. You need to get a variety of poses somehow but I really don't know what is possible.
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Post by Parduz on Dec 28, 2011 12:44:23 GMT -9
Ok, here i am! ;D
My only concern is related to the black lines: i think they could benefit from some refining, to make them smooth and not pixelated .... like if they were vectors. Dunno if it have to do with image resolution or what, anyway that's the only think that bother me.
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Post by kiladecus on Dec 28, 2011 13:54:03 GMT -9
First off, Parduz, if a jagged line is the ONLY thing you see wrong, then you are either losing your touch, or these aren't as bad as my normal stuff! Either way, I will take that as something good! I am hoping the lines will be cleaned up once they get installed into the program. The images are also about 2"x2", and once they get re-sixed, they may end up being closer to 5mm x 5mm, so the lines may not be a factor! (Fingers crossed). I have actually change some ideas with this. My original plans, as in the above example, were to have separate arms to choose from. I abandoned this plan! The arms will be one piece, and that will allow two-handed weapons (like rifles, and eventually BAS's). Since this is going to be hinging off of ERA OF WAR, I will "match" weapons and technologies for multi-handed weapons options. Basically, if you have a Laser Pistol, you will have a Laser Sword. I will have pistols matched with melee weapons, and pistols matched with pistols. I *may* make the single-handed rifle in the air with a sword in the other, but for right now I am just trying to get my "style" developed so I can get a feel for how I want it to work. Trust me, it won't be one pose with 12 weapons. I have 4 weapon classes, each in Pistol, Rifle, and Cannon. I have about 6 "special" weapons, and countless Close Combat Weapons. The legs will basically come in the same "flavors" as the faces: Human Male, Human Female, Alien, and robot. Their *may* also be armored versions of each. Not a whole lot else to say about that. Due to the nature of the program, you can always modify or add your own work as well (with an add-on). Any other thoughts?
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Post by Parduz on Dec 28, 2011 14:08:59 GMT -9
First off, Parduz, if a jagged line is the ONLY thing you see wrong, then you are either losing your touch, or these aren't as bad as my normal stuff! Either way, I will take that as something good! You should do Your style is pretty original: it reminds me a lot some illustration from the 70's. So, as it intentionally look "hand drawn", my way to look at your figures is different than the one i use for Labrat sketches. I mean that i see some "glitches" (mostly, some asymmetry of body parts, or in the faces you show here).. i see them as a feature in your figures. BUT the jagged lines "ruins" that "old feel", so i'll address it
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Post by highlandpiper on Dec 29, 2011 5:35:04 GMT -9
Keep your eyes open for Character Artist 3 by Profantasy Software. Should have updated artwork and you would be able to do all that you have asked for including adding/sharing your custom work.
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Post by Rhannon on Dec 29, 2011 6:23:11 GMT -9
Keep your eyes open for Character Artist 3 by Profantasy Software. Should have updated artwork and you would be able to do all that you have asked for including adding/sharing your custom work. I don't see Character Artist 3 on Profantasy Software site, but only Character Artist Pro. This is, imho, an old program ( There was already some years ago when I used CC3 and some other tools for my rpg-maps ). There is no immediate possibility of figures "backs" but only silhouettes or mirrored images and the poses are too static for me. So I think that now an automated program for good paper miniatures is impossible to do ( if you like different and dynamic poses ). A paper miniature ( or paper figure or paper soldier or ... ) can be hand-drawn every time. Then there may be some changes or mods on a single figure. I hope to be wrong and wait for the kiladecus' next software. But I wait and see how it works. On okumarts' multiple-part figures project, on example, I have no doubt about its final artistic qualities.
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Post by kiladecus on Feb 7, 2012 13:55:50 GMT -9
Just checking in with a quick update: Due to personal reasons, I have removed myself from this project. I HAVE found three likely candidates to complete this. One has shown some enthusiasm, while the other two have remained silent. Claudio with Paper Make it! was sad to hear that I am withdrawing from this project, but since I am unable to produce anything worthy of this effort (due to lack of knowledge of necessary programs, as well as other "issues" currently plaguing me), I truly hope that SOMEONE takes the mantle to see this through to its conclusion. I hope to one day be able to see the vision I had become a reality, and knowing that not ALL of my dreams have died. Thank you for your attention, David
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Post by okumarts on Feb 7, 2012 14:46:15 GMT -9
I'm just in the middle of marking exams. Sigh. It's s cool project that's for darn sure.
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Post by stevelortz on Feb 7, 2012 17:54:33 GMT -9
Just checking in with a quick update: Due to personal reasons, I have removed myself from this project. I HAVE found three likely candidates to complete this. One has shown some enthusiasm, while the other two have remained silent. Claudio with Paper Make it! was sad to hear that I am withdrawing from this project, but since I am unable to produce anything worthy of this effort (due to lack of knowledge of necessary programs, as well as other "issues" currently plaguing me), I truly hope that SOMEONE takes the mantle to see this through to its conclusion. I hope to one day be able to see the vision I had become a reality, and knowing that not ALL of my dreams have died. Thank you for your attention, David Don't feel defeated, kiladecus! One time I spent about a year-and-a-half worth of planning and sculpting on a system for making modular 3-D figures. The project never bore any direct fruit, but I had to push myself, and that pushing did much to grow me as a sculptor and an artist. You are much better off for trying, even if you have to set it aside for a while! Have fun! Steve
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Post by cobra on Feb 8, 2012 17:40:48 GMT -9
An infinite figure designer where you can mix and match various items - almost sound like the old virtual paper dolls that ppl could download 10-15 years ago. They are still around, and are called KiSS (Kisekae Set System) dolls, which are viewable in kiss or fkiss viewing programs. I dont know if that can be used for paper modeling, but here are some history and samples available : www.wmiles.com/ultrakisswww.followtheowl.com/kiss.htmotakuworld.com/kiss/index.html/Cobra
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