Just wanted to post that I will be tweaking Woot's texturing (hair coloring, freckles, eyelashes) in the next couple of days, as Cosmonaut (Kevin) has sent me the model. AND...

I was hoping that no one else is doing anything to him & if so we should coordinate so as to not step on his toes ... er...your toes...no my toes...um... you get what I'm trying to say? You being the who who might be doing something to him other than me. And if there is no other who then never mind.

Oh, we (if there are a we) are soooo in trouble. Nah...It's probably just me. Well actually it might be ItsJustme who might be tweaking something on Woot.

I'll shut up now.

Until later.

Thanks for the notice, Nancy: your Majesty, Nancy, that is... You can have all the exclusivity you need to Wooty up Woot. However, in case you're ever considering it... Maybe, you know, maybe, just kinda, you should... Might learn to use SVN... Just a thought?

'Tis really quite easy.

This is scary stuff for me - opening up my system to the big bad out-to-get-me-only world...BUT despite that, after many drugs:

Last night, I downloaded Tortoise (I did not install) & I signed in to the community window for the first time, after many failed attempts. I eventually viewed the repository even without Tortoise (which was a surprise) - saw how I could check which components I might want, hit the receive button just for giggles, and it looked like commands were sent - which was also a surprise. Obviously I didn't get anything.

I will install Tortoise - I tremble at turning off my antiVirus software (& also bypassing my firewall & turning on some port that I have no idea how) which appears to be required. I have been watching the threads about Tortoise - so I'm not sure I have the right version - and I have been watching how people are trying to commit.

Hee hee ... I'm especially watching Rodney...

Seriously, I do need to know the folder structure for models, maps, materials. Are Darktree materials stored somewhere on the svn ? & I assume then that I have to have the same folder structure on my system ? Are they separate from the model?

Is the structure for Models: Modelname/Maps & Modelname/Materials ?

Perhaps this is described somewhere else.

Nancy, you REALLY need to be on SVN! Can Rhett or Will call you on the phone and walk you through? Would that help?

Sure - I'll take any holding hands I can get ... Tomorrow is good ... too many drugs tonight.

That would be mighty great appreciated to get help. On the SVN that is.

Did somebody say DRUGs?!?!? head turns left den right den left den right.....in paranoia, and all I've had is coffie, coffy , coffeene..........

SVN is a drug of it's own.......

what a woot !!!

Sorry Nancy, I haven't actually tried yet.
I still have to move the 'Tin Heart' to the right folder and THEN commit.

I'm bad. I admit it.

OH yeah - Woot goes psychedelic - kidding, kidding. Just remember you can always lock me out from the svn.

Started playing with Woot last night - changed hair color, brows, added eyelashes - took the glow out of his skin - changed eyecolor - didn't add scalp map (to hide his roots) or freckles YET.

I will play with his hair coloring more - seems to be a red phobia thing going around and he could use some deeper tones. I also might fiddle with a slight de-drabbing of his clothing to match his new found glowing hair coloring courtesy of Vidal Sassy-Soon.

Everyone knows if you change your hair color - you have to buy new clothes. You do know that, don't you?

I did start with the freckles but will tweak it more before I post, as currently he appears to be suffering from a very bad skin disease, and he wouldn't want you to see him like that.

Meanwhile that MuhHair shader is amazing. I must play with it more as I have no idea what all those properties will do.

And his lashes need to be balanced some - seems like 1 side got singed in the campfire.

Who has that key anyway?!?

Woot's hair... too red... hurts... eyes.

You are off on a great experiment.
Keep it up!

If in your wanderings with Woot you happen to pass by some dark purple shadings it'd be interesting to see how his hair would look with a touch of purple tint. I know the Winkies have gone human... just more for curiosities sake. If it looks good even better.

Go Nancy! Go!

He's starting to come alive! I can't wait to see the freckles.

First pass at freckles - well actually first pass that I liked - the others were either freaky too much or not freaky enough.

I was having a hard time deciding how heavily freckled he should be, and how stylized he should be.

Will add freckles to tops of arms & hands as well

Still have to play with hair tones/color, lip gloss, eyelashes, clothing tones, textures.

EDIT: Now looking at him - it seems too subtle - I wonder if I should make him more stylistically freckled.

Toned down the hair to Copper.

I actually prefer the previous "Blaze" hair color as I feel it gives him more zip & is more in tune with fantasy land. It definitely screams redhead - whereas this tone is getting too close to reality.

I'll put in a vote for the toned down version...I'm no expert, just a voice in the audience.

Great stuff, Nancy!

Sorry Nancy, but I like the toned down version too. Love the freckles.

Nancy, can you do something with his fingernails, it looks like he was painting his nails with white out.

Hmm... I think any of the guys are going to go with the "toned down" hair. Nancy, Woot now looks "alive!"

ummm, you can count me as another vote for the toned down color too

Very nice work so far though Nancy, he's really starting to look good.

Yeah - I was thinking the same thing - I noticed he needed a manicure when I started thinking about adding freckles to his arms & hands - I had just been examining the face.

Lee's Press-on Nails in vibrant rainbow colors coming up! hee hee. Oh c'mon, he needs something to go with the nose ring(s) I have planned. Double hee hee.



Except for Rodney - he wants purple (I will humor him later) ... but yes I knew that...

It's toning me down that's the hard part.

WoW Nancy!! Woot's looking really great.
I've never dyed my hair before ....I look good as a red head!
Thanks for the extreme makeover!!!

Just upped his blush some - added pink to fingernails, could do with actually decalling cuticles - BUT - When I started looking at his hands - it seemed to me that his fingers (and arms) are too long for such a young kid - he almost looks like a knuckle dragger. The fingers should be stubbier - much cuter. I didn't want to mess with the arms, fingers if there are any plans to shorten, plump his fingers, arms ?

In any case I tryed out a black watch tartan plaid (and other combos I won't scare you with).

I've been rendering him from the action window - and I noticed that when I tested the color balance against Yves' dreamy pastel-ly castle scene - he appeared bland, washed out - so in photoshop I upped his overall saturation, to make him stand out - I'm hoping that the magic-lighting-man will also add warmth to him to make him zing more. See what you think with the 2 examples.

I'm into zing.

What's the opinion on the black watch plaid?

(I'm trying to play it safe on Woot - but watch out Mrs Yoop - think Mimi on the Drew Carey Show - there will be no hesitations on going as outrageous as I can get away with)

Too late now. However, he does turn into a monkey.

Looks good.

Increasing the saturation appears much better.

Me too.

Go for it. We need some people unafraid to show some initiative.

Nancy, fingernails look better, but do not like the plaid. Since I did the initial texture on Woot's clothing, I'm guessing my vote doesn't count. Red looked nice, but looked too much like royalty.

The red hair looks fine, but the blonde eyebrows seem weak.

Are darker eyebrows possible?

FWIW, as someone with red hair, I can say that the current blonde-ish eye brows are accurate. I'd guess Nancy has relatives with red hair. I'd say the hair still looks a little ... coppery? But it's pretty close.

Aye - here's the dilemma:

For me, it's a real struggle to fit into another style. My tendency is to go for something surprising, unexpected - not to get it to look real. Eventually the viewer forgets that the wolf's nose is purple, and they accept it.

I am not a realist - my style is expressionistic. My color palette is always fantasy. As long as the palette stays in fantasy - it becomes consistent - and then believable.

Mixing palettes/styles is where the trouble starts.

That is the struggle I am having. I want Woot stylized, impressionistic, vibrant. I don't naturally pick toned down or normal, accepted colors - my brain don't go there.

I am loving the lush interpretive fantasy saturated palette that is developing with Yves' castle scene - those colors aren't real - they are gorgeous. Check out my previous post - the last 2 renderings with the more saturated Woot versus the toned down Woot, against that background. I definitely prefer the zippier Woot.

So I did purposefully go with blonde eyebrows, as I have noticed some redheads do have blonde eyebrows & blonde eyelashes. Yes it's a very strange thing in my family, the women all seem to become natural redheads as they age, including me. But our eyebrows are dark. Weird.

I too thought well - maybe the eyebrows are too blonde - or too glowy - but I like glowy. I tried darker - but I prefer the blonde. I think. So I'll leave it for now. Will post a test later with darker. And I like the coppery hair so far. I would even make it redder but I'm trying my hardest to fit in.

Note: Red hair comes in all shades:
http://dougbarber.com/red/index.html

I appreciate the comments and I definitely consider them - Sometimes it comes down to subjective choice - the next person to touch Woot can make him Purple.

Here's a Red Inca cloth test - I want to change that leather color sooooo bad, especially the cap - but I'm resisting. I also added freckles to his arms and hands which doesn't show all that much in this shot.

Still not thrilled with the cloth choices so far. Woots ensemble should really be coordinated with Scarecrow & Tinman.

Inca Cloth opinions?

Hmmm... Wrong crowd for words like "ensemble" and "color coordinated." I hope your personal taste prevails.

I liked that tartan.

Yeah me too - I like the tartar sauce plaid better

And that is what I like of your style too.

I agree but I don't think this should keep you from going where you want to go with the texturing. Mixing palette and style is unavoidable in a community project like TWO. We will have to deal with that fact for the whole duration of the project.

Don't struggle, Just go where your brain leads you. There is no other ways.

That is basically the idea. But I don't think there will be a next person to texture Woot. There are so many other characters and props and environments to texture. So you texture Woot the way you like him because you are the one texturing Woot.

Personally, I would change his cap color too.

Cool! I would like you to texture Tinman and Scarecrow too. I hope that statement does not scare you.

Ok - Here's with darker eyebrows & a dark green cloth to compare.

I like the plaid better, Woot shows better against the background - but the pattern runs the risk of stretching as Woot moves.

The darker eyebrows also probably work better for animation as well - facial expressions will be easier to read from a distance, even tho I think the blonder eyebrows are more interesting.

So I suggest we go with dark brows & black watch plaid for now - and switch to the dark green if pattern stretching proves a problem.

I am ready for adventures in committing (unless anyone else has any other suggestions?)

ah poo - still have to decal the scalp to camouflage hairline.

Ack! Yes it does scare me ... let me get my feet soggy and my brain sloshing around by doing Yoop first - then I can always come back and rachet up Woot, along with Scarecrow & Tinman.

And since I posted before I saw your response, I want to be sure to say "Thanks" for the encouragement and very welcome advice - it is very much appreciated.

Hello.

I was just about to raise that point. I even made a jpg. I think this is what Robcat was concerned about.

Here's an idea: Have the blonde pigment adjustable with a pose slider. Crank it up for closeups, grind it down for long shots. If done with care, I doubt anybody will notice the color change; they'd just assume the lighting was skillfully tailored for the shot. In that way you'd maintain the unique charm of a distinctive pale-haired character in closeups, and yet he'd still be expressive when seen far away.

Respectfully,

Carl Raillard

Very good idea!

Decided I will try more fantasy type texturing/coloring/outfitting for Woot - if it doesn't work - it's still worth the experimentation - might be able to put it to use for Ozma, if it turns out too girlie. I will also play with the leather/cap coloring for the tartan theme.

I was thinking that possibly Woot can start out with the Tartan type outfit as he leaves his home. His outfit could abruptly transition into the more fantastical clothing - after he spots the Tin castle & as he runs thru the reality barrier & up to the castle - sort of like the original OZ movie that abruptly transitions from B&W reality to the vibrant color fantasy.

And oh yeah - if it doesn't work - you can blame Martin & Yves for encouraging me! hee hee...

Go! Nancy, Go!

Okey Dokey - Woot goes Space Cadet & does the Royal Purple Winkie thing especially for Rodney

First one is Woot in his Tartan plaid with new Navy Blue hat - this is for when he leaves momma and goes off to have his adventure.

When he runs up to Magic Tin Castle - he does a time travel clothing exchange as he fast forwards into Buck Roger's 1950's Space duds. (That's duds..not dudes).

I'd love to add a feather or a Flash Gordon Lightning bolt to his cap & ditch the brim when he's Rocket Man.

I could have done a futuristic Black Bart leather thing - but I thought that looked too sinister. White leather is so Hopalong Cassidy.

He could switch back to Tartan at the end after beinging demonkey-ized

Let me know if any of these outfits make him look too fat ...

(it takes a lot of courage to press that "Add post" button)

You do fantastic work, Nancy! The tartan kicks ass...and for the transformed clothing, my favorite is this one:



Just my opinion, which means nothing.

I, for one, would love to see a plume in his cap.

As far as I'm concerned, he could wear this the whole time but as an interesting visual device, maybe an unexplained (but obvious to the Oz group consciousness) transformation would work.

I like the same one as David.

"Courage?" Just a moment - I've got some out in the car.

Fantastic work Nancy. I concur with both David and Martin on my choice of the best outfit. I like the last one very very much. Personally, I would like him to wear it from the start. In fact, I would like all the characters, including all the winkies to be dressed in the same sort of way. This is fantasy land after all. The whole Oz land is fantasy. Not just the Tin Castle or the journey.

As for the plume, Yes. The minute you mentioned it, I could see it. I say, make it so.

That last one does look fantastic. Nancy... you are a texturing guru!
I'd love to see that with subtley purple tinted hair. The red/orange...um... might work if Woot was transported to Oz like Dorothy?

Conceptually, not only would subtle tinting with purple look good, it'd be more Oz authentic and help everyone see themselves in the character.

I placed the two last ones on my second monitor for like 3/4 hour and after looking at them side by side for a while, my eyes seems to be dragged to the higher contrast one (the previous to the last one) more often. So I will change my mind and select the previous to last one as my best outfit.

Ohhhhh you would have to go and do that...

Originally I was very surprised when the last one seemed to be the favorite. I thought "that little fuschia velour number doesn't stand a chance". I was happily wrong.

I think you're right about a higher contrast working better for most situations. The deep purple goes with almost anything & becomes the new black or a neutral. It would work in scenes that are predominantly green or orange or blue or red or tin or gold or anything.

And it would be easier to coordinate Woot with Tinman and Scarecrow.

I will add a feather ornament to the hat - I love how the rigging allowed me to experiment with the hat shape, I could squash it and sorta hide the brim (not completely) but I would really like to get rid of the brim, as it doesn't look right (for that outfit, or the tartan for that matter).

As for 2 outfits - The reason I suggested the tartan for the beginning is ... and I know I will regret saying this ... is that Woot's mom & Winkie village seem to be European village style design - and they too should be texturized in a fantasy way as well to work.

I will eventually put both versions (Tartar Sauce & Rocket Man) in the svn & the option to use both or just one will be available.

AND I especially have to say I am in awe of how beautifully rigged Woot is. Terrific job David, Mark, Ken?

I've always been a fan of your style and texturing Nancy! I really like the texturing you have done to Woot. I agree with Yves about the the previous to the last one.

Any chance you could try leaf decals instead of stars? The stars look a little disco-glam to my eyes.

Getting back to Woot after short hiatus into SciFi/Fantasy Contest land (I want that Animate dvd)

Added feather, added a pose to make hat look more like a beret (squished top, shrunk brim bone) - Woot can now have his choice of chapeau.

Might consider motifs other than stars - or some combo - might work on feather coloring/pattern - tomorrow with a fresh eye

will eventually commit both versions (plaid & stars)

Great work so far Nancy! I agree....stars seem abit too "cookie cutter" to me. Something more unique.

Other things bugging me....but probably not you. :

Freckles on his face seem green in color. More brown maybe? Also, I'd like to see them more restricted to the bridge of his nose....though it's not so bad in long shots.

Is he going to be in a shampoo commercial?!? That's some shine in his hair. Less shine more contrast/shadows for me.

Keep it going.

Now that I see it, I'm not sure about the plume. At least not in that position. Maybe more horizontal and pointing backward. He looks more like a prince than a peasant with this plume up straight. Probabaly the stars are also contributing tothe "prince" look. What about some more peasant motifs? Same color but different motif. I like that the star motifs are sharp though.

Hmmm, don't know a ton about the story but when I first saw this I thought he made a great looking prince but after reading Yves reply I see he is supposed to be a peasant.

So what is his backstory? His personality? Is he incredibly poor? Questions like these, and more indepth ones, will go a long way in establishing his look. After seeing your work it is obvious that you can texture up one side and down the other so I am sure whatever you end up with will look fantastico!

Part of that is the nature of the muhHair shader, it tends to produce really shiny-shampoo-commercial-ready hair. But Nancy can also tone down the specular color, which should help...

Just to make sure. I don't have a problem with colorfull attires on Woot and I can imagine that the Winkies like to dress in a very colorfull manner even though they are peasants. After all we are in a fantasy land.

But from the impression change that the plume made, I think the difference might be subtle between a prince look and a not prince look. This got me analysing the result: It might not be the plume per se but rather its addition to a set of princial attributes. I think that it might actually be the gold and silver colors that make him look rich and thus prince.

Also, assuming that this is our Woot. If Woot already looks like a prince even though he is a peasant, which very well could be the way Winkies like to dress as I mentioned earlier) then you set yourself quite a challenge to get to texture Tin Woodman so that he looks much more Princier than Woot since he's supposed to be the King.

This said, I have no doubt that you, Nancy, can make Tin Woodman look even mightier than Woot. I just need to remember your earlier reference to the "Cirque du Soleil" to be convinced of that.