The title tells all ... and you gotta like this! The Euros costume is very nice indeed -- I do like the textures which ship along with it, in particular the fact that you can mix and match every little bit of it, without even kicking in any texture of your own. The morphs on the overskirt allow for the illusion of real movement -- you get the impression that he's really moving, speed and power, through a kata. You know what a kata is. It's ...weellllll, it's hard to describe, if you don't know what it is, so it's over to Jackie Chan to explain in deeds rather than words:
Edit: video removed ... it's dead now, something about the account linked to it being terminated. Hey ho. That's YouTube for you!
That's the opening credits of Snake and Crane: The Arts of Shaolin, which was made waaaay back when. Jackie was a mere child. But now you know what "kata" means ... kind of practising your martial arts without a partner. Yeah, I know, these vintage Hong Kong punch-up movies are far from Great Cinema, but if you like martial arts, as I do, and you can see past the two-dimensional acting and slapstick drama (!) they're also a heck of a lot of fun in their own way. It also helps if you have a big soft spot for Jackie Chan!
(You want off-topic? We can do off-topic here!)
Anyway --! full marks to the Euros costume. The backdrop is one of Doctor Mike's photos of the Esk Valley, taken a couple of years ago when he was over there at an archaeology conference, which makes sense, him being an archaeologist and all. The hair is Spartakos, which you can get via Renderosity. The set is a huge mixture of props fro DM's Instances, and B9999's concrete fence/post kit. The sword is DM's Kerrick's sword, from the Kerrick's Throne set.
The skinmap Michael 4 is wearing is actually JM Falcon, but I've turned OFF all the raised veins, leaving the skin bronze and smooth. Incidentally, you can always do this, if you find a skinmap too veiny. Go into the surfaces tab, look at the bump or displacement values, and just zero them out. Done.
Next, I'm going to play with some props I got the other day ... elven boats. I thought I'd do them on the bank of a misty river, which will also give me an excuse to play in Photoshop. I'm liking Photoshop a great deal, as I get more familiar with it. There's just one or two things that I wish (ooooh, I wish!) they would do differently. Then again, I imagine most users say the same thing -- we all have out little pet quirks.
Jade, 11 July
That's the opening credits of Snake and Crane: The Arts of Shaolin, which was made waaaay back when. Jackie was a mere child. But now you know what "kata" means ... kind of practising your martial arts without a partner. Yeah, I know, these vintage Hong Kong punch-up movies are far from Great Cinema, but if you like martial arts, as I do, and you can see past the two-dimensional acting and slapstick drama (!) they're also a heck of a lot of fun in their own way. It also helps if you have a big soft spot for Jackie Chan!
(You want off-topic? We can do off-topic here!)
Anyway --! full marks to the Euros costume. The backdrop is one of Doctor Mike's photos of the Esk Valley, taken a couple of years ago when he was over there at an archaeology conference, which makes sense, him being an archaeologist and all. The hair is Spartakos, which you can get via Renderosity. The set is a huge mixture of props fro DM's Instances, and B9999's concrete fence/post kit. The sword is DM's Kerrick's sword, from the Kerrick's Throne set.
The skinmap Michael 4 is wearing is actually JM Falcon, but I've turned OFF all the raised veins, leaving the skin bronze and smooth. Incidentally, you can always do this, if you find a skinmap too veiny. Go into the surfaces tab, look at the bump or displacement values, and just zero them out. Done.
Next, I'm going to play with some props I got the other day ... elven boats. I thought I'd do them on the bank of a misty river, which will also give me an excuse to play in Photoshop. I'm liking Photoshop a great deal, as I get more familiar with it. There's just one or two things that I wish (ooooh, I wish!) they would do differently. Then again, I imagine most users say the same thing -- we all have out little pet quirks.
Jade, 11 July
