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Songbird Remix's Product Preview Thread
- Thread starter Ken Gilliland
- Start date
OOh, Kiwis CAN fly!
Sorta.
Until he encounters the ground. But most likely, he will feel it was worth it even in the last second before he goes ... splat.
Sorta.
Until he encounters the ground. But most likely, he will feel it was worth it even in the last second before he goes ... splat.
a fun video Lorraine 
I spent the good part of today building the Field Guide which is an important step in my model development because it alerts me to all the subtle changes I'll need from species to species. It also helps me find any issues my model might have as I start to build morphs for the species. For those unfamiliar with the morph process-- geometry changes destroy morphs you may have built (and you have to remake them) so it's best to have a solid model before you start that process. In this case I did decide that it would be better to break up the 5 Bristle transparency planes for small ones so they could droop down on either side of the bill without risk of texture stretching.
Next on my list is to group the 50+ transparency planes into groups that don't overlap for the UV maps. Here's one of those secret sauce elements of my later models... The Transparency planes are cut up from the body UVs thus I can use the main body map for the diffuse map in all the overlapping transparencies, keeping seams perfectly aligned and separate grouped transparency UV maps to give the illusion of layered feathers, or in this case, fur.
I spent the good part of today building the Field Guide which is an important step in my model development because it alerts me to all the subtle changes I'll need from species to species. It also helps me find any issues my model might have as I start to build morphs for the species. For those unfamiliar with the morph process-- geometry changes destroy morphs you may have built (and you have to remake them) so it's best to have a solid model before you start that process. In this case I did decide that it would be better to break up the 5 Bristle transparency planes for small ones so they could droop down on either side of the bill without risk of texture stretching.
Next on my list is to group the 50+ transparency planes into groups that don't overlap for the UV maps. Here's one of those secret sauce elements of my later models... The Transparency planes are cut up from the body UVs thus I can use the main body map for the diffuse map in all the overlapping transparencies, keeping seams perfectly aligned and separate grouped transparency UV maps to give the illusion of layered feathers, or in this case, fur.
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Amazing work as usual Ken. Not having modeled anything but props and the occasional piece of clothing, I'm totally lost when it comes to this type of model. Then again, you are a Birder, so you already know all about birds which, of course, is a great asset.
Lorraine, did you know there are 5 separate species of kiwi (and several subspecies and variants)? Before this project I thought a kiwi was a kiwi... now I'm a kiwi expert lol
Here's the species list I'll be including in the set along with their locations and Māori names:
Here's the species list I'll be including in the set along with their locations and Māori names:
- Great Spotted Kiwi or roroa (Māori). Found in the northwest of South Island. Current mature population: 5,500 (declining). Status: Vulnerable
- Little Spotted Kiwi or kiwi pukupuku (Māori). Found in the Karori Sactuary and several islands off the North and South Islands. Current mature population: 800 (stable). Status: Near Threatened.
- Northern Brown Kiwi or tokoeka (Māori). Found on the North Island. Current mature population: 30,000 (declining). Endangered.
- Southern Brown Kiwi or tokoeka (Māori). Current mature population: 20,000 (declining). Status: Vulnerable
- subspecies: The Stewart Island Brown Kiwi. Found on the Stewart Island.
- subspecies: The Northern Fiordland Brown Kiwi. Found on southwestern part of the South Island.
- variant: The Southern Fiordland Brown Kiwi. Found on the the remotest southwestern part of Fiordland (South Island).
- variant: The Haast Southern Brown Kiwi. Found on the South Island's Haast Range of the Southern Alps at an altitude of 1,500 m (4,900 ft).
- subspecies: The Stewart Island Brown Kiwi. Found on the Stewart Island.
- Okarito Kiwi or rowi (Māori). Found in Okarito on the west coast of South Island. Current mature population: 400 (increasing). Status: Endangered.
Oh how fun Ken! These are gong to be so cute! And amazing what you are doing with the UV - love seeing cool new techniques!
And love the vid, Lorraine! Neat to see what students from SVA are up to these days. I took some classes there back when I was at Parsons - the coolest was a class with Milton Glazer.
Laurie
And love the vid, Lorraine! Neat to see what students from SVA are up to these days. I took some classes there back when I was at Parsons - the coolest was a class with Milton Glazer.
Laurie
sooo med to small balls of fluffy feathers, long bill, fairly large feet... you've taken on a huge challenge, Ken! I had no idea...
Okarito brown kiwi | New Zealand Birds Online
AND IT EATS MOTHS! oh and lives IN THE GROUND??
Okarito brown kiwi | New Zealand Birds Online
AND IT EATS MOTHS!
oh and lives IN THE GROUND??
[QUOTE="Lyne, post: 8024, member: 13"...AND IT EATS MOTHS! oh and lives IN THE GROUND??[/QUOTE]
Yes, Kiwis make burrows for nesting and roosting. These burrows are approximately 1 to 7 feet in length with a diameter of 4-8 inches. Both the males and females dig them. Most kiwis mate for life and the sexes look similar although females are larger. Kiwis lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world.
And yes, they eat moths... after creating the New Zealand Puiri Moth (coming in Volume 2 very soon), I got this idea for a render using Kiwi and those moths. It's kind of funny that my Nightjars inspired the need for a moth model and the moth model has now inspired the need for a Kiwi Model (which will probably inspire the need for a kiwi burrow model)
oh and lives IN THE GROUND??[/QUOTE]Yes, Kiwis make burrows for nesting and roosting. These burrows are approximately 1 to 7 feet in length with a diameter of 4-8 inches. Both the males and females dig them. Most kiwis mate for life and the sexes look similar although females are larger. Kiwis lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world.
And yes, they eat moths... after creating the New Zealand Puiri Moth (coming in Volume 2 very soon), I got this idea for a render using Kiwi and those moths. It's kind of funny that my Nightjars inspired the need for a moth model and the moth model has now inspired the need for a Kiwi Model (which will probably inspire the need for a kiwi burrow model)
I am soooo glad I'm not a kiwi!
Besides, if I were to be a bird, it would need to be one that could fly. And not straight down a cliff after nailing trees to the cliff.
Besides, if I were to be a bird, it would need to be one that could fly. And not straight down a cliff after nailing trees to the cliff.