Entrance to a housing complex

Modeled and rendred entirely in Shade. The main "watch tower" however I exported to Silo to uvmap so the seams could match the design. The cars and the tree are from the Shade Collection series.

Near_me is an amazon warrior! W.I.P.

So struggling between real life, doing some more charros, and my japanese outfit for Koji G2, now I add an amazon warrior set for Near_me, a cute manga doll released recently by e-frontier.

As of now, I made her a body morph in Zbrush 3.1, which I then tweaked in Silo2, and the body armour, done in Silo2 and detailed and textured in Zbrush. I found it easier than I thought to incorporate the displacement maps and normal maps into Poser, I'll have to use this more often...

Charro suits for G2 Poser figures, now available!

Finally, some extra time well spent.

The shirts, pants, hats and skirt were modelled initially in Shade using curved surfaces, then tweaked and uvmapped in Silo. The buttons on the shirt were also done in Silo. The ribbon in Shade.

The shoes were completely done in Silo.

The texturing colouring was done in Zbrush. The occlusion from the bucles was baked in Lightwave.

Finally, image postwork was done in the Gimp.

You can find a link to the product page here.

Doodling with Silo, Shade, Zbrush, Lightwave, the Gimp and Poser

A closeup on some clothing items I did recently. I did use a lot of programs on this one!

The shirt was originally done in Shade with curved surfaces, exported as a polygon mesh to Silo, where I inserted the buttons, tweaked the mesh, and made some understandable uv maps. Same with the pants, in Silo I made the belt and the basic bucle.

The bucle I exported to Zbrush, where I did the floral thingies. I exported the displacement stuff to Lightwave, where I baked the occlusion information, and saved as a texture.

The bump texture of the shirt I did in the Gimp.

The flower thingies in the pants I also did them on Zbrush. I also did the occlusion thing on the pants via Lightwave.

I think I could have also made a bump map for the pants, but it did add nothing to the image.

And all this I rendered in Poser7.

I could have done an occlusion pass in Poser, but baking the occlusion makes for a faster render when you need multiple views.

Koji G2 formal kimono WIP, almost done!

I think it is now just a texture thing, making some textures with some kamo on the haori and stuff, but the hard work is mostly done.

CFE station for Atlixco, Puebla

Keeping in the overall mexican contemporary style, this is part of several alternatives for the Atlixco, Puebla branch of the CFE (or Federal Comission for Electricity).
Modeled and rendered in Shade, using some Vue palmtrees, and some Shade content.

Haori Hakama and Tabi for Koji G2, W.I.P

This is something I'm working on in my spare time. As you can see, the main issue seems to be the bump texture. Still working on it, and I know I'll get it right in the end ;)

Modeled in Shade and Silo, rendered in Poser7, no postwork.

The figure is G2 Koji, by e-frontier, btw...

Weekend trip to Tehuacan

Tehuacán, or Tehuacán de las granadas (Tehuacan of the pomegranates), lies some two hours south of Puebla city, and is famous as a centre of denim manufacture, chicken egg production, and of course, its fabled mineral water.
Until quite recently is looked more like a sleepy town, this being specially true due to the fact that is is almost year round a very hot and dry climate. Who wants to work with that heat?
So anyway, a friend of mine that works in the tomato greenhouse industry near Tehuacan invited me and a cousing of her to visit, and so we did. Arriving early, I took the chance to buy myself a beautiful Sahuayo hat, and walk around downtown, with its enchanting central square (or Zócalo), admire it's colonial architecture, and so on.
While part of the state of Puebla, it retains it's own charm and personality.
Later we met my friend, had some nice chit chat, and went over to her place to get ready for a night of partying.
Curiously enough, the disco, located to the left of the city hall, once was a house of the famous ex-dictator Porfirio Diaz. Music was a bit for teenagers, though nothing extreme, no mosh pits or slam contests. Everybody was quite nice. Very hospitable people.
Of course the next day we basically slept the whole day, we danced THAT much. And there is no nightspot curfew, so we danced till quite late.

On the way back, I allowed myself a bit of night chill in order to watch the stars in the heavens above. The sky being so unpolluted and clear, with hardly a cloud in sight, it was just the perfect opportunity for stargazing.

Fashion Dress for Terai Yuki 2

A beautiful trendy dress, if you ask me ;)

Available here

A simple love story

This is the video with which I won the antics3d focus competition.
Let me tell you a bit about antics3d.

In case it doesn't show up in the flash thingy, here is the direct link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=7FAmNp8zsz0

Antics3d is a pre-visualization program, used extensively in the tv and movie industries as a tool to help explain everybody involved in the making of scenes just how the scenes are intended to look like. It is a wonderful alternative to sketch storyboarding, and has many very useful tools to set up cameras, lighting, virtual sets, and so on.

However, me being a 3dcg archviz illustrator, what do I have to do with antics3d?

Well, antics3d has more than meets the eye. The drag and drop way that one can create complete scenes can also be applied as a previz architectural tool. It even has a 3dsmax plugin which enables 3dsmax people to add to the huge library of premade content to quickly and effortlessly populate scenes, with people, cars, streetlights, doors that open and close, etc etc etc. Really great stuff. And fun.

So anyway, I was doing a bit of previz work for a friend, when I decided it would be more fun to do the work with a simple story. It would help showcase the intended work better, and would keep the potential client a bit more engrossed on what was being presented (as most clients are not too deep on architecture).

Well, here is the video. I should have done some cleaning and stuff, hidden the camera paths and so on, but it shows just what can be done in some 3 hours with the software.

Gaby Valero sings to a packed audience in the Zocalo!

Gaby Valero, a good friend of mine, and singer extraordinaire, sang to a packed audience in the Zócalo de Puebla (main square in downtown Puebla), Mexico. She sang as part of the repertoire showcasing the cultural season this year.
Accompaining her were three extremely talented musicians, one of which I have the luck of knowing personally, and let me say, he is a really virtuoso on the violin.
Shown here is the backstage bootlegged video ( :P just kidding).
What really happened is that when she got to the stage, there was nowhere to put her stuff, and I volunteered to help her out, so I became her "logistical manager" for the event.

I just won the best video of Antics3d Focus Group!

I checked my mail, and this is what I got:

(from Antics Focus Group, email address suppressed)

Dear All,

The quality of the feedback provided and the videos submitted were of a very high standard, however, there can only be two winners and they are:

Winner of the Best Feedback Competition: Colin Le Roux

Winner of the Best Video Competition: Juan Manuel Bautista Hoepfner

Both winners will take home $500.

Once again, thank-you to everyone and please feel free to email me, at anytime, any additional feedback, user requirements, or project updates you may have. We will also keep you posted about other opportunities to contribute to the development of this product.

Best Regards

David Harragin

David Harragin
Antics Technologies Ltd

Linen Hall
3rd Floor
162-168 Regent Street
London
W1B 5TD

Tel: +44 (0) 207 038 3900
Fax: +44 (0) 207 038 3901
Web: www.antics3d.com

So congratulations, Colin! And congratulations to me too! :D
I'll upload the video soon, after I finish some pressing assignments

Content Paradise winning image

This is the image that won.

I won the Content Paradise image contest!

For the benefit of those not registered as Passport users in Content Paradise, I attach a screenshot of the all-important announcement that I won :D

Gaby Valero has a new homepage!

Gaby Valero, an extremely talented singer, and artist in general (did I say she's a friend of mine?) now has her own homepage. It is as of yet a work in progress, but I'm sure soon we'll have a very nice place to visit in internetdom.

You can visit her homepage at www.gabyvalero.com

Amazon Warrior for Lucy Jet, now available

In a record time (at least for me) I did this set from the ground up in two days. Certainly an achievement I am proud of. Now available for sale in Content Paradise, here

Nemesis Warrior, now available!

Yay! :D

What can I say? I like him!

Available here

Nemesis Warrior for Poser G2males, almost ready!

This is what I've been working on my free time this week. It is supposed to be a counterpart to my all sweet and cute Amazon Warrior.

G2James hair fit for Terai Yuki2, on sale!

This is a hair fit for the "barbarian" hair that comes with the G2James Poser figure. What amazes me most in how the impression on the figure changes with just a different hair.

On sale at Content Paradise too.

Miki2 hair fit for TY2, on sale now!

Miki2 and Terai Yuki2 are both wonderful figures for e-frontier's Poser. I like the Miki2 hair, but unfortunately, it does not quite fit Terai Yuki2. Not anymore!
I made a custom fit workaround, now for all the world to enjoy!

Available here in Content Paradise

Amazon Warrior for Terai Yuki set, on sale at last!

Here is the link. For sale in Content Paradise.

Amazon Warrior character set for Poser, almost ready!

Indeed, just a thing of tweaking files, making some more promo images, decent thumbnails and stuff. It has been seme weeks of hard work, but I think it has been worthwhile.

It is a set of clothing, accessories, as well as some morph targets for e-frontier's Terai Yuki2 character, which works in Poser.

I have used Shade and Silo extensively for the modelling, Silo and unwrap3d for the uvmapping, the Gimp for generating the bitmap textures. And of course, Poser for posing, rigging, and rendering.

The wings on the angel are not mine, they were part of the bonus content for pre-purchasing Poser6. The famous Winter Queen set.

Inspirational image, "lost", short animation

Just as the title says, a short "turntable" animation.

Inspirational image, "lost", Poser version

I did some thigh-strapped swords, and decided this time around to render in Poser7, as I in fact pose my characters in Poser, less guesswork involved.

Inspirational image, "lost"

Just something I fancied out in my free time. It is also a work in progress on a character set I'm working on for the Terai Yuki2 figure for Poser. I like the overall redness of the image.

Restaurant facade in Puebla, Mexico

This is yet another revision on the restaurant, hopefully nearer to the clients needs!
Modelled in Shade (except for the palm trees, they are tweaked Vue5infinite palmtrees).
Also rendered in Shade.

photomontage on proposed restaurant in Puebla, Mexico

This is in fact the second version of the restaurant. Really not much to work on, no working drawings, only photo references and some quick sketches. But for a day's work, I think it is quite convincing.
Modelled and rendered in Shade pro, with a bit of help from Silo2beta.

Ita, Andrea, Juan

A really beautiful photograph showing us three in the really enchanting garden in the house of some relatives. As you can see, we are all quite happy.

Trip to Valle de Bravo, Mexico

I know, this trip was done some time ago, but I have just found some spare time to upload some pictures. The ravishingly beautiful girl in the image is my girlfriend, with her daughter, which is a very sweet child, especially for her age.

Weekend retreat residence in Atlixco, Puebla, another view

Another view of the same house...

Row of houses in Morillotla, Puebla

Just as the title says, a row of houses. Some contemporary undertones get blended with the more traditional massive structures reminiscent of prehispanic architecture result in a contemporary solution that is modern and at the same time, discreet.

Free natural stone textures!

If I see interest in these, I'll upload more. Enjoy!
http://www.sharecg.com/view.php?upload_id=2120
http://www.sharecg.com/view.php?upload_id=2119
http://www.sharecg.com/view.php?upload_id=2118
http://www.sharecg.com/view.php?upload_id=2116

Weekend retreat residence in Atlixco, Puebla

Atlixco is a small city near Puebla, Mexico, with a very agreeable climate, where wealthy people from Puebla have weekend retreat homes. This is a project for precisely one of this homes.

Modelled and rendered in Shade.

Tragedy in the family

A very loved aunt has just passed away. May she rest in peace

She said yes!

The girl of my dreams that I had been dating just accepted being my girlfriend. I am soooo happy!

Her name is Ita.
And I am in love. And on a diet ;)

Saint Anthony on its head

For those in the know, you know what this means.
For those that don't...
I'll explain to you on Monday.

House no. 16

I kind of like this house, probably because I had been doing lots of two storied houses, it is refreshing to do a single storied one for a change. Obviously the roof tiles dominate most of the view, so it was imperative that they be a good looking.
Modelled and rendered in Shade.

Interior reflecting corridor, test render, refractive glass version

Virtually identical scene. I changed the shadows to be a bit more diffuse, tweaked the specularity of the glass, extruded it to a thickness of 10mm, added refraction.

Nice fishbowl effect, and now it is evident I needed more GI samples... but it is a nice scene anyway.

Row of houses in Puebla, Mexico

Just as I anticipated, the design changed a little. It is still a preliminary design, so I suppose there will be more updates on how this goes.

I would have liked to play more with the cars and human scales etc, but the deadline was looming.

Human figures are Poser7 figures, all the rest is modeled in Shade. Rendered in Shade with Callisto, GI from a skylight.

Interior reflecting corridor, test render

This is a quickie mockup of a possible layout of some classrooms for a childcare facility. There was not much to work on but the concept, and the deadlines did not allow for much. As it is, I quite like the final result.

Threshold of innocence

I got fed up with working all day and the flu and all, so I took a break and made this picture, which I hope you find pretty.
This is G2 Jessi and Minotaur2 from e-frontier, all posed and rendered in Poser7

Row of houses in Puebla, Mexico

Sorry for being absent so long. Lots of things have happened, the main thing is, I'm back!
This is a row of houses as the title says, with some variations in the facade so as to make a nicer complex in all.

The houses were completely modeled in Shade. The only thing not done in Shade is the Poser figure, imported via Poserfusion.
Rendered with Callisto with a bit of GI courtesy of a clear skylight.

The strange glass and chrome thingies in the front are the electricity metres, wich in Mexico by law must be clearly visible from outside (so the inspectors can have quick access to them). I added them so there would be no nasty surprises later, and because it gives a meaning to the even stranger-looking wall they rest on...

This is an early version of the project, expect lots of changes.

House in Puebla, Mexico, update

This is (I hope!) the final version. What changed mostly was the garage is a bit bigger, as well as the main bedroom (rightmost part on the ground floor). Oh and the arched windows in the top floor. I like it with square windows, but clients are clients...

Hotel, as seen from the opposing corner

Here is the current state of the hotel facade's design after some corrections based on the client's requirements. At the bottom right you can see a glimpse of the French restaurant, where the facade has also suffered some modifications.
Modeled mostly in Shade, some parts in Silo. Rendered in Shade.

The restaurant render in cgtalk

Just in case anybody is interested, I posted the restaurant render in the cgtalk (cgsociety) discussion forum.
The link is here

Low income houses for Zacapoaxtla, Mexico, update

A subtly modified version, with a small tiled roof in the front and some changes in the colour schemes.

restaurant, closeup view, update

Rendering this piece got more complicated than what I had anticipated. In the end, I rendered it in Callisto using a combination of photon mapping with pathtracing, as pathtracing or photon mapping alone gave me unacceptable results. Postwork in Gimp

restaurant, closeup view

I am now tackling the interior of the restaurant. I can feel the pressure, designing as well as modeling and lighting, texturing, etc etc, all at the same time. However, I am quite happy as how it is coming along. Hopefully I will have a render ready by tomorrow morning.
Pretty much everything was modeled in Shade, with the broad and generic templates imported from the original cad drawing as a dxf file.
This time I am going for a night scene, with a view of how the restaurant would greet the user when approaching it from the outside.
I suppressed human scales in an effort to speed up the render a little bit.

french restaurtant, hotel, entrance view

This is one of several versions for the entrance and the other facade

House in Puebla, Mexico, side view

This is one of the sides of the house, of the "traditional" version...

House in Puebla, Mexico, contemporary version

I am working on two possible versions of a house, which basically share the same layout, but differ in the general "mood", so as to give the clients an opportunity to decide which design is best for them.
Here is the more modern version.

French Restaurant, continued

I don't seem to be able to post two pictures in the same post, so here goes the other image...

Building renovation, French restaurant

I am currently involved in a small project with a good friend of mine, it concerns the renovation of the facades of a building which will function as a hotel. My intervention came when most of the building was already finished. What is really taking my free time is the French restaurant for the hotel, which will be located in the basement. The name of the restaurant is really a placeholder name right now, and there is lots of work to do on the interior. The budget is limited, but I feel there is a lot of potential for this design.

I took several photographs and corrected their perspective in the Gimp, and that, with the physical measurements of the building, allowed me to have a rough representation of the facades, over which I superimposed the mouldings, the parasols, and of course, the intervention necessary for the restaurant.

Modeled in Silo 1.4 and Shade pro, rendered in Shade pro. Uvmapped in unwrap3d.

Low income houses for Zacapoaxtla, Mexico

This I did in one working day. As usual, year's end is slow unless it is urgent work. The final corrections I did them in the Gimp, re-rendering was out of the question, the deadline was extreme.
The cars are from e-frontier's car collection for Shade, the human figure is Poser6 James G2. IBL with hyperfocal's free hdr background, with a skylight. Bushes from e-frontier plant collection for Shade. Modeled and rendered in Shade with Callisto renderer.