Songbird Remix's Product Preview Thread

[dkgoose]

any chance of some baby ducklings and other birds as some future sets?

 

[Ken Gilliland]

Eventually... I have a unfinished "Motherhood2" sitting around. Now that there is pretty good strand hair system available I might restart that... but I have huge "to do" list...

 

[Ken Gilliland]

Lovebirds will probably be nesting at Hivewire3D tomorrow, along with a special free parrot item. I extended the "new" product sale on Gamebirds v3: Pigeons & Doves, the Parrots v1 re-release and Parrots v2: Macaws until Memorial Day (May 25th). While I should probably take a break after doing 3 products simultaneously (Parrots v1-3), I still seem to have some "Parrot Fever" so Parrots v4 is well under way. Parrots v4? Yes, subtitled "Cockatoos of the World". Here's a peak of some of the Black Cockatoos...

 

[Miss B]

Now that there is pretty good strand hair system available I might restart that...

What "good strand hair system" are you referring to Ken? Am I correct in assuming you're referring to use with DS, and not Poser?

 

[Ken Gilliland]

What "good strand hair system" are you referring to Ken? Am I correct in assuming you're referring to use with DS, and not Poser?

Yes, DAZ Studio, but saying that I did experiment with Poser's Hair room on baby birds with some success. I know that revamping the hair system is on the radar for future Poser updates (although whether it really happens is up in the air)

 

[Miss B]

I haven't really played in the Poser Hair Room, but would certainly love to try, so I hope they revamp it for Poser 12, whenever that comes out.

 

[Harimau]

Other ratites (emu, rhea, cassowary, tinamous) are on my radar, but I've promised myself that my long-promised Hornbills set comes first.... I guess this is an appropriate time to talk about my 2016 project list again.

2016 (month listed is an estimate and the list is over-ambitious as usual)
Songbird ReMix Kiwis (February)
Songbird ReMix Asia Volume I: Storks to Bee-Eaters (March)
Songbird ReMix Asia Volume II: Rollers to Sunbirds (April)
Songbird ReMix Asia Volume III: Spiderhunters to Weavers & Buntings (April)
Songbird ReMix Asia Volume IV: Compilation set (similar to Australia V3) (April)
Songbird ReMix Hornbills (July)
Songbird ReMix Peafowl (???)
Songbird ReMix Barnyard Fowl (chickens, geese, cowbirds, etc) (???)

in the idea phase
Songbird ReMix Ratites
and more sequels like Africa2, Europe3, etc

Hi Ken,

I came this post of yours from a while back, January 2016 to be exact, and noted that you intended to do a hornbills set in July of that year. I searched through your website but could not find any sets on hornbills. Is it still on your to do list?

 

[Ken Gilliland]

Yes, that still on my "to do" list as well as everything else I listed. That period in 2016 was a big turning point for me and my birds. I had done the first four birds for SBRM Asia v1 and came to the conclusion that I really needed to update my base model set... so I shelved everything and started testing ways I could improved the models. I went through a period (2016-17) where I morphed a better Thigh/Hip connection where looked better but still wasn't cutting it. In frustration, I moved to new bird models (Kiwi, Nightjars) and stumbled on to the Nature Wonders line. With Vultures and Toucan reworkings, I bit the bullet and did a major reconstruction on the base geometry, sewing the thighs and hip together, solving those issues-- but trashing most of the existing morphs. It took a lot more time to do, but my efforts were worth it. Ever since then, I've slowly been moving through the older sets, occasionally adding in new sets for SBRM or NW.

Those first four birds from Asia v1 I did in back 2016 did to see the light of day in last years' Shorebirds v4 release. Somewhere, I do have a half started Hornbill model, which I will look at. As I mentioned a few pages ago in this thread, I have a completed Sage Grouse/Prairie Chicken model I did at the time I was creating the Peafowl, that I also need to get back too. To add to that, some friends, who have seen my completed Nature's Wonder model (that I completed and rigged in January) are begging me to finish that. Once I get the updates done, I'll be more free to do these projects. The problem is there aren't enough Kens to do everything I want to do... and if I did duplicate myself, the problem would be even worse because each Ken would be going in a different direction finding some new cool bird or critter to do.

 

[CWRW]

The problem is there aren't enough Kens to do everything I want to do... and if I did duplicate myself, the problem would be even worse because each Ken would be going in a different direction finding some new cool bird or critter to do.

LOL Ken! Boy can I relate to that

 

[Ken Gilliland]

I have two new items in the store... Lovebirds of the World and a free Parrot Pay Pen.

----

Yesterday, I attended an Audubon sponsored free Zoom meeting bird drawing class with artist, John Muir Laws (who I swear is a Matt Damon look-alike)... in any case, here's a YouTube video of yesterday's classes for those interested...

He has more classes coming up...

 

[Miss B]

I have two new items in the store... Lovebirds of the World and a free Parrot Pay Pen.

The Lovebirds went into my Wishlist so fast, it made me dizzy. ~LOL~ I just need to wait for some incoming cash soon-ish.

Oh and thank you for the adorable Play Pen. I picked it up just now, because I already have the Parrots of the World Vol. 1.

 

[Harimau]

I've just purchased Your Parrots 3 - Lovebirds and am waiting for Cockatoos to come out. For your fifth and final volume, can please you include these two unusual parrots, the Vasa and Pesquet's parrots? They are the only representatives of the third family (Psittrichasiidae) of the three families that represent the superfamily of the true parrots (Psittacoidea). The other two families are well represented in your current series, Psittacinae by the Macaws and African Grey, and Psittaculidae by the Lovebirds and Budgies. Of the other two superfamilies, the Cacatuoidea covering all the Cockatoos are in your Volume 4 and of the Strigopoidea (the New Zealand parrots), you have done the Kea and Kakapo, and will be doing the remaining two Kaka. The only ones that are not represented in your series are the Psittrichasiidae comprising the two genera I mentioned earlier. Include them and your series will be complete! Lastly, as a companion to the African grey I would also suggest you include its close relative, the Senegal Parrot (Poicephalus senegalus) as a representative of the Poicephalus genus.

The Vasa Parrots are notable in the parrot world for their peculiar appearance, which includes extremely truncated bodies with long necks and Pesquet's Parrots for their strong resemblance to the Vulture.

The Greater Vasa Parrot (Coracopsis vasa):

The Lesserer Vasa Parrot (Coracopsis nigra):

Pesquet's Parrot (Psittrichas fulgidus)

The Senegal Parrot (Poicephalus senegalus):

 

[Ken Gilliland]

interesting parrots... the Vasa parrot looks like it would be more comfortable with my gamebird model base (a dove with a parrot head and zygodatcyl feet). I'm having to create a third parrot model base to handle some of the cockatoos (like the Palm and Gang-gang) do I could probably throw in the beak/head necessary for the Pesquet's Parrot there. The Senegal already is on my radar for v5.

As for my "fifth and final volume"... who said anything about final? lol There's a lot more parrots out there, Amazons come to mind immediately. After Cockatoos is finished, I will be tackling the update to the base Songbird Remix set along with a couple other similiar sets (Characters, PetShop, European Edition). To keep my sanity and my "Muse" working, I'll jump to something new and fun, like Parrots v5, when I start to burn out. That's my summer plan.

For Fall/winter, I want to update the "Cool and Unusual" and "Threatened" series and tackle a few more remaining model base updates (hummer, syndactyl, woodpecker). And next year hopefully wrap up the remaining updates, but this entire timeline is "wishful" thinking and probably over-promising. Everything has to be right and my "Muse" (energy, creativity and interest) need to be kept a peak level. My parrot project did that this spring but getting lightning in a bottle more than once isn't easy.

 

[Rae134]

I'm totally in love with that Pesquet's Parrot

 

[Ken Gilliland]

How many is "too many" Parrots? I decided to take a screen shot of my Parrots section of my bird library and thought it might be fun to share it. Of course, my library has WIPs plus all the parrots I've converted from unreleased future updates (like Pet Shop, Australia, etc...)

If I'm counting right, 104 so far

 

[Rae134]

never too many as some of them are so different from others (cant wait for the Aussies to get updated hahaha)

 

[Miss B]

That's definitely quite a collection Ken.

 

[Stezza]

I feel a game of parrot bingo coming on

 

[Stezza]

just a Q on all the birds in SBRM

is there a straighten morph for the primaries ... I've looked but can't find any to fix the kink in the folded wing.

 

[DanaTA]

How many is "too many" Parrots? I decided to take a screen shot of my Parrots section of my bird library and thought it might be fun to share it. Of course, my library has WIPs plus all the parrots I've converted from unreleased future updates (like Pet Shop, Australia, etc...)

If I'm counting right, 104 so far

Oh my God, it's full of parrots!

Dana