Songbird Remix's Product Preview Thread

[JOdel]

I got an email from Rendo a day or two ago regarding an issue with the Iray settings. This sounds like something more serious. I'll give things a day or so more to sort out and then re-download.

 

[Ken Gilliland]

I got an email from Rendo a day or two ago regarding an issue with the Iray settings. This sounds like something more serious. I'll give things a day or so more to sort out and then re-download.

Yes, initially the release happened before was supposed to (on Dec 30th). There was just a small issue, the 3DL version got saved over an Iray file.

What's weird is that I know I personally tested that file for that fix and everything was perfect for that patch.

A user contacted me this morning, saying that none of the DS "haired" caterpillars could be posed. I was sure she was simply clicking the hair rather than the main character, but checked it none the less and she was right... they weren't working (but all of the hairless ones were).

I went through this morning and saved all of the haired caterpillars as "property" saves (morph settings and materials). Then loaded the caterpillar (found in Resources) and applied those property files, fitted the strand based hair and resaved them. I then turn off my computer and reloaded DS and the caterpillars, just to make sure they were all working again.

I don't have the slightest clue what went wrong since I have renders of Iray haired caterpillars working properly (after I finished the set)... the only thing I can guess is that some time right before its submission, I may have updated the data folder with a newer version of the caterpillar model that the haired caterpillars didn't like. Resaving them today with the base model corrected that.

 

[Ken Gilliland]

Here's a few more Iray Butterfly renders...

This using the Gulf Fritillary and the Western Tiger Swallowtail.... I, of course, use my own plants in the close-ups for the butterflies... that's mostly because they hold up well to close-ups. The Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) from Big Cypress was used in the Gulf Fritillary image and the Royal Penstemon (Penstemon Spectabllis) from Hummingbird Garden in the Swallowtail image.

 

[Ken Gilliland]

The corrected Iray Caterpillars volume 1 are now live on the Renderosity store server

 

[JOdel]

I'm assuming that this has the corrections to the posing as well?

 

[Ken Gilliland]

I'm assuming that this has the corrections to the posing as well?

It should now working as it was intended to... responding to the poses and the hair following the character. Merry Christmas

2 more Iray renders, the Gray Hairstreak on some chuparosa (Justica californica) and a m/f Purple Emperor pair. The male Purple emperor has a purple sheen to its wings.

 

[Ken Gilliland]

Since I'm sort of glued to my work chair for the next few weeks, so I started yet another butterfly set. At least I'm getting lots of stuff done while I'll laid-up with some lower back issues.

I decided that volume 2 will contain 8 different types of Swallowtail (the base set already has the Western & Eastern Tiger Swallowtails). Here's a peek at 3 of the species in the new set...

 

[JOdel]

Gorgeous. Looks like there is a *wide* variety in butterfly shapes. Even when you narrow the category to just swallowtails.

 

[Ken Gilliland]

Butterflies will be released in the first weeks of January. There will be three sets:

• Nature's Wonders Butterflies (Base Set)- includes the Monarch, Viceroy and Eastern and Western Swallowtails, plus 7 poses and 8 partial poses.
• Nature's Wonders Butterflies of the World V1: Common Butterflies (Add-on Set)- includes the American Lady, Mourning Cloak,
  Red Admiral, Gulf Fritillary, Cabbage White, Gray Hairstreak, Alfalfa Butterfly and Purple Emperor.
• Nature's Wonders Butterflies of the World V2: Swallowtails (Add-on Set)- includes the Kaiser-i-hind, Bhutan Glory, Zebra Swallowtail,
  Giant Swallowtail, Pale Swallowtail, Old World Swallowtail, Cairns Birdwing and Palawan Birdwing; plus one additional pose.

 

[Ken Gilliland]

I decided to throw together the thumbnails of all the stuff I did (and redid) in 2023... quite an eclectic group

 

[JOdel]

Yup, a very productive year!

 

[Ken Gilliland]

Tomorrow will be Butterfly release day for me so here's one last batch of the butterfly renders I've done.

Next week, I'll be undergoing a couple surgeries (disc replacements, other lumbar repairs) so I don't expect to be working quite as much as I have been (at least for a little bit)... but when I do get back to working, I want to create some much super hi-res plants/flowers for my butterflies (Hummingbird Garden v2) and move on to a couple bird projects (Qwls v3 and Mynas).

 

[Flint_Hawk]

I'll be saying prayers for you! I hope your recovery from the surgeries goes well & speedily!

Those are going to be exciting projects to look forward to!

 

[Alisa]

What Flint_Hawk said!!!

 

[Ken Gilliland]

All the butterfly sets are out
Jan.2024 - Ken _Gilliland's SPECIAL New Releases

 

[Ken Gilliland]

My Mynas are out... Songbird ReMix Mynas

 

[JOdel]

Oh, excellent. I potentially have a need for a mynah.

 

[Ken Gilliland]

A couple of my Myna renders in Iray...

First, the endangered Bali Myna. There's less than 50 left in the wild. Their biggest problem is poaching for the pet trade.

A pretty complex scene... the Bali Mynas are, of course, the center of attention. at the bottom right is a Gray-breasted Spiderhunter with a caught spider. Up towards the right middle are to Pheasant-tailed Jacanas and to bottom left corner is a Migrant Hawker (dragonfly). Finally there's some Flock formation linnets in the upper left third of the image.

Here's the endangered Javan Pied Mynas. There's also less than 50 left in the wild for this species too. Habitat destruction and poaching are the culprits.

 

[randym77]

Love the common mynas. They are EVERYWHERE here in the 50th state. They are introduced, not native, but have become part of the culture here.

 

[Ken Gilliland]

Love the common mynas. They are EVERYWHERE here in the 50th state. They are introduced, not native, but have become part of the culture here.

They are very common in the lowlands... this is something you might find interesting...
"The Common Myna was introduced into the Hawaiian Islands in 1865 by William Hillebrand to control a plague of cutworms and army worms (Lepidoptera). By as early as 1879, this bird was abundant; today, it is one of the most common and most widespread avian species in all of the human-inhabited islands. George Laycock, naturalist and author, wrote “To some Hawaiians the myna bird is amusing, to some he is of no concern one way or the other, but to some he is a threat to the mental health of the human race.”"

If you want to see a great selection from true Hawaiian birds, the best place to go is the Hakalua Forest Nature Preserve in Maui. You'll need be part of a special tour to get in, I like Hawai'i Forest and Trail. You won't be disappointed, you'll see a good amount of the true Hawaiian birds-- most of which I have in my SBRM Hawai'i set, and most of which are on the brink of extinction.

Here's 3 more Myna renders from my new Myna set. Left: Common Mynas; Middle: Golden Mynas and Right: Yellow-faced Mynas.