WIP - coming attractions: Grace Kelly
I am so excited about this head morph that I decided to share with you a preview of my work in progress. It still needs a lot of fixing. The profile is way off but I am getting some serious help in polishing away any flaws in the sculpt - I bought a resin lifecast of Grace Kelly's face from 1954 (GK was 25 years old then). I plan on using photogrammetry to create a 3d computer "scan" of that lifecast which I will then align with the head morph in DS and push and pull the morph's features, so they match those of the lifecast. I hope I explained the process at least somewhat clearly. LOL.
The bottom line is - get ready to make some awesome renders starring the coolest blonde of the Golden Age of Hollywood!
Cheers,
AOBB
Comments
What you've got so far is gorgeous already! And your promo renders and lighting are really lovely!
But Eeeeeeek! Look at you going all crazy high tech?! What software / process are you using for creating the 3D scan of the cast? I'm very excited about this new aspect and can't wait to hear more about it as you get further in. I can only imagine the extra layer of realism this is going to add to your already excellent sculpting abilities. I feel like I want to get some popcorn and watch what you do over your shoulder.
SapphireBlue, you are so sweet! Thank you for the lovely words about my work!
So, you want to know what exactly I am going to do to get that scan...
I don't know if you've heard of photogrammetry, so I'll explain: it is basically producing 3d representations ("scans") of objects by photographing these objects from multiple angles and then loading the photos into a special program that computes the 3d model out of the photos which can then be exported in obj format. This software has really good reviews, it works (I've already checked it out) and it is free!:
https://www.3dflow.net/3df-zephyr-free/
It accepts "only" 50 photos, which should be plenty for getting all the details of the lifecast.
I also purchased from Amazon a black 12" turntable that is controlled by a remote. I will put the lifecast on the turntable and rotate it, so the camera will stay basically stationary. I plan on putting up some plain, dark background so the lifecast shows better and I will glue marker strips onto the lifecast, so the photogrammetry software can better "understand" the shape it is recreating. That's it! Now take that popcorn and go see Top Gun: Maverick!
Thanks for explaining the steps you're taking AOBB! It's a very interesting and exciting process. I knew only a little about photogrammetry and came across autodesk's software for use with real-world architecture, but didn't know how easy or hard it was to approach it for smaller projects. I'm very curious about your final sculpt now, and how you feel about the whole process at the end of it. I'm always terribly curious about too many things...
I'll probably watch the new Top Gun once it goes streaming... I'm too lazy and love my creature comforts too much to go plonk myself down in a theater... (I mean, no footstools, I can't laugh hysterically if I want to or give a running commentary, no one wants to hand me that volume remote... the list is endless...)
The best of both worlds is to have a really big screen tv set. Or visit one of these:
https://www.ipic.com/
The lifecast of GK was shipped today and should arrive on Friday (hopefully!). Then I have to get my husband to shoot the photos of it, so it will take me some time before I'll be done with the sculpt. Just letting you know, so you don't expect the head morph to be ready tomorrow! I believe that sometime next week I'll have it ready for upload. I cannot wait to compare what I sculpted based only on photo references and the lifecast scan - how much they will differ and in what way. It will be a good learning experience!
Grace Kelly is an all-time favorite of mine! To Catch A Thief is in my top 5 movies, so I am tickled you are making a Daz-able version of her! Your scupts are always top tier so I'll be looking forward to this when you are ready to release!
If you'd like suggestions for your next project (and I am sure you don't ;) )
Judy Garland (so we could expand on the WofOz universe via Daz)
Lucile Ball
Cheers!
@Chumly - yes, I remember you writing about it (and posting a lovely photo of hers). That is one of the reasosns I decided to take her likeness on now.
Or my all-time heartthrob, Ingrid ...
Ingrid Bergman might be in the works some day. I don't make any promises though, because I am commitment-phobic and I also make my decisions about whom I'm going to work on next in the "now" without thinking ahead of time.
Of course ... just as it should be.
Oh my gosh, I'm super impressed that you're thinking of getting this ready sometime next week?! I was sure this was a loooong process and we could enjoy your captain's log every week of progress, and ooh and aah over this very interesting task. Things take as long as they take in the end, but I'm seriously impressed by how you and perlk tackle all this work so quickly. I've been meaning to work on some little freebies and they just get lost among my gazillion 'current projects', all of which seem to float in time-defying stasis... Oh, and how nice to know that others also have commitment phobia! But sadly mine is also often accompanied by finishing-a-project phobia and focussing-on-a-single-project-at-a-time phobia... (And I'm totally going off on a tangent, sorry......)
@marble - Thank you for your undrstanding!
@SapphireBlue - I know you are kind of joking but please don't put yourself down! You did commit to making images with my head morphs and you already have a sizeable gallery of them, so things don't look that bad! . I want to finish the Grace Kelly sculpt asap, because I'm just so curious about the end result. Will all that technological hullabaloo be worth it? I hope so! Maybe it will take me a bit longer than planned but it definitely won't be several weeks! One way or another it's going to be fascinating (as Spock would say)...
Wow, Grace Kelly sculpt is so pretty and all the suggestions are great too. Jane Russell would be my suggestion, but I am happy just for the mystery of who you'll be doing next too.
AOBB - Thank you for the link to this free 3DF Zephyr. I have tried downloading it, but all the links fails to download from all the areas. How can one get it otherwise?
@launok - Hello, I have tried to download the 3DF Zephyr program just now as a test via the U.S. mirror download link and it worked just fine. Unfortunately, I don't know of any other places that would legally host download links for this software (which doesn't mean they don't exist). Have you checked your firewall and security program settings? Maybe those are interfering?
@nonesuch00 - thank you for your kind words. Never say never - maybe one day Jane Russell's head morph will appear on this forum...
I received today the lifecast of Grace Kelly's head. With the help of my wonderful husband I "scanned" it and tried to adjust the shape of the sculpt I made based on photo references to that of the lifecast scan. Well, I wasn't impressed with the results. Somehow the "fixed" sculpt didn't look right to me. I came to the conclusion that it is a good idea to create the scan and use it to decide what needs to be adjusted in the sculpt and then implement those changes not looking at the scan. The outcome feels much more natural to me, even if I ended up using some artistic license.
My version of Princess Grace is finished and is ready to be packaged as a head morph and uploaded if not today then tomorrow.
Stay tuned!
AOBB
Your enthusiasm and speed with this is infectious! I'm going to try tackling some of my projects a little faster than a snail now...
This makes a lot of sense even if I can't say exactly why. An artist's artistic license is probably what lets something come to life - I'm glad you're trusting your judgement!
Thank you, SapphireBlue! Please take your time with your projects - trust your timing...
Grace Kelly's head morph is ready for upload and your rendering pleasure!:
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/579376/aobb-s-head-morph-princess-for-g8-1f-based-on-grace-kelly-no-materials-or-textures/p1
Have fun!
AOBB