Nature's Wonders Sneak Peek Thread

[Carey]

@Ken Gilliland - wow on the art piece!

and I'm learning what SubD can do for the map itself too... SubD HAS to be set at at least 1, if not 2... yes takes longer to render at 4 but I love how the map looks at this setting... which means, too, that Ken's maps are going to be even more spectacular ....(I didn't try subD before... duh!)
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I remember how much my pet Anoles loved licking up strawberry jam!

This is the coloring and scale sizes I've worked out ... now trying the various colors of greens and browns... I got kinda OCD with this !

PS: I CAN'T share my mapping, I'm working with/off Ken's... these are just for my own use, sorry!

could you please burn this into my memory...lol

 

[Miss B]

In any case, here's my first texture-- for the Army Ant. Experts are very clear about what to do in the case of encountering army ants... run away (as fast as you can). While only 0.39-0.47 inch in size (8-10 mm), they are very aggressive and will attack what ever is in their path, traveling at 60 feet per hour and summoning their entire colony (up to 2 million individuals). Their scissor-like mandibles can cut through human flesh.

YIKES! I'm glad I don't see many ants, because I'd never know which ones are just annoying pests, and which ones can be deadly.

 

[Janet]

Very cool ant!

And then there's floating fire ants in the Texas flood: Floating colonies of fire ants add new threat in hurricane's wake

 

[Carey]

This is the Western Fence Lizard, standing in for an Australian Skink. Unfortunately, he finds himself food for a hungry Kookaburra.

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great seeing this through your eyes

 

[Ken Gilliland]

Very cool ant!

And then there's floating fire ants in the Texas flood: Floating colonies of fire ants add new threat in hurricane's wake

Wow, that's a lot of ants and very resourceful. I like the "pro" tip: "Don't touch the floating fire ant colonies. They will ruin your day." lol

*breathes sigh of relief to find they aren't in the Pacific Northwest of the US*

Well, at least for a while... They are in Mexico now and with climate change they are moving slowly North and Southward. I'll let you know when they find Los Angeles.

You'll notice in the video several different colorations on army ants. Coloration is subspecies based and there are over 200 different subspecies of Army ant. I'll be doing a couple different colorations-- I like the blond-looking species because it's different than most other ants, but I'm also doing the blond head/brown body one which is the most common seen.

 

[RAMWolff]

Ants weigh as much as all of humanity? I find that hard to believe but they are quite a nasty but I guess necessary part of the world. YIKES!

 

[Ken Gilliland]

Here's a first look at my Leaf Cutter ant



I'll have a better image once my day-long Field of Depth render completes...

 

[Stezza]

Our love is like a red, red rose... and I am a little thorny

creepy little critters aren't they..

 

[Carey]

these leafs look really great, corse those ants aint half bad either...lol

 

[Miss B]

Nicely done Ken, of course.

 

[Lyne]

Coming along beautifully Ken!!

 

[Stezza]

I think Ken has been working tirelessly on his fire ants this week...

hopefully things will start getting back to normal for you and all the local critters

 

[Carey]

I think Ken has been working tirelessly on his fire ants this week...

hopefully things will start getting back to normal for you and all the local critters

Yes poor fella, been bit by fire ants before, but I have been told soldier Ants are worse, thankfully, last I heard they still only have short spears and flint knives and are no match for Ken's 3D drawing skills....

 

[Ken Gilliland]

I think Ken has been working tirelessly on his fire ants this week...

hopefully things will start getting back to normal for you and all the local critters

I'm trying to get things back to normal today... we decided to go ahead and have the planned (before the fire) family dinner last night. Yesterday was spend cleaning the house which we left abruptly Saturday morning-- a lot of ash everywhere. We were incredibly lucky, thanks in a large part to the dozens of fire departments that came from all over Southern California to fight the brush fire.

Today, we're returning to work, and in a bit of irony, yes, fire ants are on the list

 

[Ken Gilliland]

Yippiee! I finally finished my cursed render. Last week, I set Poser to do this 6-7 hour Field of Depth before I went to bed only to find that the power glitched (due to the 110f heat wave we had). Undeterred, I tried twice this weekend only to have to cut the render off because of evacuations (due to the LA Tuna Fire). Today, the render finally succeeded

So here's my leaf cutter ants... Leaf cutter ants can defoliate an entire tree in one day. They cut and carry leaves back to their nest where they create an environment ideal to grow a special fungus, which turns into a bread-like substance that they eat.

 

[Miss B]

They cut and carry leaves back to their nest where they create an environment ideal to grow a special fungus, which turns into a bread-like substance that they eat.

Oh, I wondered what they were doing with the leaf parts. That's an interesting little tidbit.

 

[RAMWolff]

Hi Ken,
I'm so sorry you were hit with fire. No fun. Am glad your getting back on your feet and that render looks AWESOME

 

[Flint_Hawk]

Glad you were finally able to get this render done Ken!

 

[Ken Gilliland]

I just finished the Poser Firefly version (now on to the SF and Native DS versions). Here's all of the ants featured in the set with their proper sizing (the biggest being about 3/4 inch 18mm and the smallest less than 1/8inch 2-3mm). Since everything is so small, I am including an AntCam to find the model

The Honey Pot Ants will come in two species (US and Australian) with all colors included

 

[Miss B]

I like those Honey Pot Ants because they're so colorful.