Nothing too brilliant today -- just CG doodling, I suppose. The Kreeping Krudd is going around here, and everyone has it. Self, Dave, Mel Keegan -- sinus headache, sore throat, general exhaustion. Call it a head cold, if you will. I think "Kreeping Krudd" better describes it!
So I was just messing about with artwork for its own sake, because I can't get my brain to focus on anything more complex, and I wound up wandering through lists of props. Now, here's a set of renders to whet your imagination.
It's a fantasy setting -- that's a real sword and sorcery type set (it's DM's Elven Shed, which you've seen once or twice lately, because it's new), plus a backdrop I did in Bryce about a year ago ... plus assorted props from here and there, and then -- aha. Michael 4, wearing a pair of ripped denims that puts this character out of place, out of time. Those jeans are yelling "modern day," while the set is yelling "Robert E. Howard" or "Michael Moorcock."
And your imagination immediately tries to spin rational explanations for how come this contemporary dude with the distinct look of Sean Bean is in this fantasy world! Actually, it's the Remendado skinmap dropped right onto Michael 4 ... literally right out of the box, without any pushing and pulling from me, just with the tattoo options turned on. I always liked the Remendado skinmap, because it reminds be so much of "Beano." This is one of the first skinmaps I ever invested in, and then --
The hair is the Aether hair I got very, very recently ... something old, something new. Want more? Those ripped jeans are actually a Michael 3 costume, but they fit Michael 4 extremely well, with just a little bit of work. The vest is from the M4 Veranil costume set, which I've had for better than six months, but the brocade texture applied to is is worked up from a texture set I got only about two weeks ago.
I was asked a while ago, will Michael 3 costumes fit Michael 4? The answer is, sorta-kinda. You do have to do a lot of work here and there to make them fit, and some costumes, no amount of work will make them fit. For instance, those ripped jeans are part of a costume set by Billy T, and I didn't actually buy it for the jeans (which, it turns out, fit just fine), but for the terrific leather jacket which is the other half of the costume. And I've just about given up on trying to get it to fit on Michael 4. Soooo...
I did actually download the installer for Michael 3 a long time ago, and I do actually have a number of hairstyles and clothing props for M3. I might just experiment with the M3 model, see what happens. Now, everything I know about him says he's not as posable as M4, but it would be interesting. Alas, I can't give you a magic formula for making M3 costumes and hair fit M4, but if you muck about with the morphs provided -- and if the particular model has enough morphs to muck about with! -- you can have a lot of fun seeing what's doable.
Another question was, "Do you know if M3 skinmaps can be applied to M4?" Short answer: yes, you can slap any skinmap on anybody -- and I know this because a couple of times I'd slapped a Michael 4 skinmap onto Victoria 4.2 by mistake. The controls do work: wham! The skinmap lands on the model. The results are something else again. It's just plain weird, how an M4 skinmap fits V4 -- or doesn't. But it stands to reason that M3 and M4 should be closer in dimensions, because they're both the same gender, after all! In reality? I haven't the foggiest idea, guys, but I do have the Michael 4 installer squirrelled away somewhere. Why don't I run it, and see what happens?! I'll get right back to you...
Jade, 22 May
