2024 Edit: the original images have ... gone. They can't be recovered, so -- if the post title says "exotic fantasy," then let me fill in the blank spaces with images that fit the description!
Textures -- bump maps, displacement maps, materials -- here's where digital art gets to be the biggest fun. Adding layers and layers of texture to an image so it goes from 'nice' to drop-dead gorgeous. Start with Michael 4 (DAZ Studio 3's base model), add a pair of jeans and a pukka shell necklace. A bridge. Two bushes and two trees. Four lights with deep shadow maps set...
And the results will be nice. This is what I had time to do the last time I worked with this shoot. Then, uploading them yesterday I thought to myself, hmmm ... this needs more.
A few years ago I bought my partner a 3D Art magazine for his birthday -- at $18, a magazine makes a good pressie. He didn't have much use for it at the time. But there was a CD-Rom taped to the cover... I opened it the other day out of curiosity, and found a whole folder or textures. And boy, did I have fun with this!
The jeans, above, are wearing one of my own textures, but the bridge and the lanterns have been re textured with stones and mosses from the texture set I stumbled over on an old disk; and I also set displacement maps for them, to make the whole shebang look old and worn and weathered. Then adjusted all the lights. Result: wow.
One more thing to blog about today: I finished the cover for the new Keegan novel just yesterday. Here it is:
What's it all about? The simplest thing is for me to just link to the book's page on Mel Keegan's website -- so consider it linked!
In the next couple of days we'll be launching the book, and if you like gay SF, this one is a must-see. The book is great; I just packaged it a couple of days ago, and as soon as the ISBN thing falls into place ... we publish. It's being published to our own pages first; it'll take about two weeks to make it into the Amazon paperback "engine." It goes to Sony, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords as an ebook before the end of June; it goes to Kindle and a couple of other venues in July. Whew!
Jade, 10 June
What's it all about? The simplest thing is for me to just link to the book's page on Mel Keegan's website -- so consider it linked!
In the next couple of days we'll be launching the book, and if you like gay SF, this one is a must-see. The book is great; I just packaged it a couple of days ago, and as soon as the ISBN thing falls into place ... we publish. It's being published to our own pages first; it'll take about two weeks to make it into the Amazon paperback "engine." It goes to Sony, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords as an ebook before the end of June; it goes to Kindle and a couple of other venues in July. Whew!
2024 edit: the book was rejacketed in 2019, with a new cover, which I think works better:
So if a great (LGBT) SF romp is your cup of tea, stay tuned here!
That's all from me for today. You can see what I've been doing for the last few days ... like the man said in the movie, "I need a vacation."
That's all from me for today. You can see what I've been doing for the last few days ... like the man said in the movie, "I need a vacation."
Jade, 10 June
