I had to have a break from the frustrations of my forest modelling. The current alpha is making it impossibly slow. I have got several sets that just crash out on me and I wanted a break before starting again in version 11.1 or 12s. I'm sure things will improve eventually and I will pick them up again.

Anyway this is not the lion that Bob has called for. This is just for fun and the challenge. Currently 1514 patches and I should be able to lose a few more in the hair before it's finished. The face, arms, legs and hair all need extensive tweaking before I start texturing. And, of course, he still needs his whiskers and bow. This will just be an occassional project.

[attachmentid=14314]

Wow, that looks a lot like Bert, and that's a pretty low patch count.

Nice work but would not want to clean his litter box

Thank you, Martin!
Thank you, John! No worries regarding the litter tray. I have heard that royalty don't do those sort of things. ;-)

Here is a bit of an update with a quick test of hair.
I'm keen to rig this model but I want to change his body so that it is more like the costume that Bert Lahr wore. I'll keep this version going too because I quite like his stocky build.

I forgot to do his eyebrows.

[attachmentid=14389]

Texture tests soon.

[attachmentid=14391]

Haha, That is fantastic!. Great job.

Thanks, Zaryin!

Another slight update.
A first pass at facial textures.

[attachmentid=14458][attachmentid=14457]

That's a great job so far, Paul!

Thanks, David!
I've got flattening problems at the moment. Something keeps messing with my flatten pose and forces me to start over which means painting the maps again. Grrr! I want to get the body maps painted so that I can drive the hair colour from a map.
The maps in the attached image appear to be out of line but, what the heck, I'll post anyway. Lots to fix still, especially those teeth! ;-)

[attachmentid=14470]

Your a trip to paradise Paul .
BT

Gulp!
Blush.
Uh, Thanks, Bob, I think!!! (Or does that mean, "Paul, you're killing me"? I hope not! ).
If I ever make it to paradise I will post the pics here and leave directions. ;-)

Really nice Paul!

Thank you, Robert!

[attachmentid=14502]

Dang, he looks like the original. If you need anyone to do facial work.....

Maybe Bert should get a cameo in TWO.....

He could be one of the statues...

Maybe there's a way to play this up in the trailer Bob had in mind. Bert and my lion fighting over the part, only to hear that there really is no Lion in the film.

Some kind of really hammy audition process, a la Bugs v. Daffy?

Bert gets a new suit.

(low res 360 of current state):

[attachmentid=14719]

[attachmentid=14650]

I need to do lots more tweaking and texturing and constrain the fan bones.
No pose sliders yet either.

Haha, that is awesome! That hair is looking fantastic. I love how this is turning out.

Yeah, pretty cool. The hair seems abit thin maybe? And shouldn't he be bare at the front? Or am I remembering wrong.....guess I should google it.

I think this is a wonderful model and hope someday to be to this level. you have really captured the cowardly lion!

Steve

Thank you, Zaryin, Ken and Steve!

I decided not to go exactly with the body shape of Bert Lahr in 'The Wizard of Oz'. Well, not yet anyway. To me he still looks like he could be a man in a costume but has less of a saggy feel to him, which I like at the moment. I might change his hands into lion paws though.

Paul - this is terriffic stuff. Made me smile. That still IS the lion. Congrats.

..doug

Thanks, Doug!

I think I will start playing with his facial rig today and get the intermediate bones constrained for the body.
I need to spend some time tweaking his crown too.

I just discovered that you can save QT7 movies from the free player with looping enabled so I replaced the one above with a looping version of the same thing. Thanks, Apple!

Paul,

I must say... I really think you "nailed" Bert... I can hear him saying "Put 'em up, put 'em up." Someday, after modeling my mechanicals, I hope to be as good at modeling something/someone as well as you have this feller!

Thankyou, Charlie!
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Bert speaks out:

[attachmentid=14803]

First pass lipsynch.

There is an error with his mouth right at the start but considering that his tongue isn't even animated in this clip it's not too bad for a first pass. I am going to work on his hair soon and try and work out why many of the intermediate bones, in his body, don't appear to be working. They are all properly constrained with the correct percentages. Maybe when I switch on tomorrow they will all be working. That happens sometimes.
Sorry about the file size but I'm surprised that I managed to get it down to less than a megabyte with sound. Cool!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

Outstanding! Yes, the hair needs more contrast/body to it. I also think his head should be moving abit as he speaks.
When he says King of the forest, he should lurch forward for emphasis IMO.

PS It seems like his upper lip should move more no?

Thanks, Ken.

His head 'is' moving in fact. When he says, "King", he tilts it up and back slightly in a haughty, proud, yet very subtle, movement. The head motion was very quickly and roughly thrown together late last night so it is not a polished job. Oh, you mean the, "King of the forest", bit! Yeah, it could be emphasized a bit more.

I didn't want him to lurch forward as this could be read as threatening and I want him to remain timid and gentle with just a little bravado. ;-)

I think I might have to rig his body again, some bad placements in the shoulders. So that is preventing me from exagerating his movements at the moment.

Cheers!

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