The Space Opera Working Thread

reply to post by nenothtu

Ancient Hillbilly proverb say : "The fire that burns hottest consumes itself and burns out the fastest."

Oddly, the same thing is said by Rocket Scientists when they speak of stellar evolution - the hottest stars, although the most massive, still burn themselves out fastest because of their prodigious rate of fuel use.

mmmm hmm!
and the next verse is: "If you feel like there's something not quite right, there's most likely something wrong."

Okay...so....just how ticked off is neno at Margo? Or...do you know?

reply to post by wildtimes


I don't really know how ticked off he is at Margo. It's generally pretty difficult to maintain one's dignity and bearing while being chased naked down a public hallway and squealing like a little girl, Once your bearing and dignity are gone, who really cares if your ticked off at them or not? In my limited sphere of experience, girls generally don't care if I'm ticked off or not, until they see me headed towards the door with my ruck sack. Up to that point, they always think they are in control, and so seem not to care whether I'm irritable.

Speaking of control in the Battle of the Sexes, I was told once a long time ago (by a woman) that in any relationship, the man ALWAYS has the upper hand. The woman will try, wheedle, and scheme to take that control, and once the man gives it up, he can NEVER get it back. NEVER. Ever. Because of that, I rarely ever actually give up control, but I'm not above giving the impression that I have, for the sake of maintaining the peace. I ALWAYS have a ruck sack packed and ready to go in an instant, however, in case it gets out of hand!

I don't think neno would be too different in that regard, except he's not good at giving false impressions - which may have been a big factor in his troubles with Margot. What she saw was what she got, but she made the mistake of thinking she could "fix" that - neno is beyond repair.

Oh - before I fergit, regarding the Dag 3d models, I've run across this and am trying to track it across the electronic wastelands to see if it will be of use.

It's not Cloud, but it appears to be a female version of him, which it's my impression ought to fit Dag.

reply to post by nenothtu

What she saw was what she got, but she made the mistake of thinking she could "fix" that - neno is beyond repair.

Ah yes, the old "I can train him" motto. Nope, not without causing damage, one can't. I've survived enough committed relationships' demise to know this....it's no use nagging, wheedling, manipulating, forbidding....
that only drives a wedge; and the person doing the driving of that wedge is at fault for expecting anything at all to change.

This is not to say that people don't change, as we all do, whether fictitious or living in the fleshly realm...
my husband and I get along well, though we are both affected by each other's emotions...we don't nag each other. Sure, we have ups and downs, blips on the radar, failures of communication, misunderstandings...but we're learning to be less sensitive and more grounded, less likely to project onto one another. We both feel safe, and very secure in our relationship. I know that.

reply to post by nenothtu


All I get is a logo that says "iwannafile.com" with a thumb up inside a red stylized sun, and some grey rays.
But you are correct.
Cloud strife in my opinion LOOKS like a girl anyway...rather effeminate features...his face anyway....

excited to see what you grabbed though.

reply to post by wildtimes


Here's what is supposed to show there:



I dunno why you get what you do - I checked the link, and it came out OK here, so it's probably some difference in settings.

I've not been able to track down the original vendor yet. I don't know if the models are static, or "rigged" for posing, or if I may have to learn how to rig them if I ever get them tracked down.

The woman who I patterned the original Margot (she of the misty spirit realm) after, was one of those "I can fix him" types. I used to call her "Attila the Honey" when she got too serious about fixing me, which somehow failed to amuse her.

reply to post by nenothtu


Okay, very cool!! Yeah...
that body with my cloud-avatar's face....can you do that??
Even if not, the top model (largest of those pictured) is very, very close....

reply to post by wildtimes


The top character is the one I've been chasing across the internet, without any luck. It seems it is a character from the same game or movie or whatever it is, named "Lightning". before much longer, I'm going to abandon the search and start on the mountaineer solution - MAKE whatever I can't find!

I'm going to zap that picture from above pretty soon - the watermark is just too annoying.

reply to post by nenothtu

I'm going to zap that picture from above pretty soon - the watermark is just too annoying.

Thanks for the heads-up. I copied it to my puter...

reply to post by wildtimes


I finally found the model, and in sheer disgust at the low quality of it all, I'm just going to make one from scratch. It seems that various parts of the model are integral body parts, so the clothes can't be changed. For example, if I remove the boots, the LEGS disappear.

I think I can do better myself, and make it versatile enough to be our Dag, in nearly any situation.

reply to post by nenothtu

I think I can do better myself, and make it versatile enough to be our Dag, in nearly any situation.

I'm sure you can!! You never cease to amaze me, neno, with your eclectic encyclopedic knowledge, and your skill with visuals.
Awww...."our Dag".....:blushes: ....thanks.

Okay, I've made a new post involving Dag and Adam, with Margo and Neno in passing, to fill in what they were up to while neno was having his holo-fun and his clothes freshened, and the rest of the women (I guess the Yallers are all aboard, too?) were enjoying all the 'activities the Yydryl had to offer.'

She's about to head into the common areas; I've no idea what she'll come across, but she is now aware that Margo is on board, and she has taken some solitary time and missed her 'appointment' with Adam.

Where is everyone now?

Neno is in the Library?

I'm figuring Gert is being held inside Cecilia, and perhaps she's been questioned by now? Or not. Don't know where Brittle is, or anyone else, but she's emerged from her personal recovery and if yall just tell me what the plan is, she'll be ready to join...with built-in tension between herself and Adam, and questions about Margo and, um, neno. Heheh heh.

Originally posted by wildtimes

Neno is in the Library?

I'm still breathless from that post - who knew neno could read?

A rough draft (VERY rough!) for Dag. I need input from folks with artistic eyes on what and how to change it to bring "Dag" out:



I sculpted this from scratch using the "Genesis" figure. I'm not even slightly happy with it, but I'm stuck on what I need to do to it to bring Dag out. Don't be gentle - I know it ain't right as it stands!

Two things I know need changing are the skin tone and the hair color. I just don't yet have the "porcelain" skin variant or the right hair color - what I plan to probably do is hunt down the textures used, and change THEM to conform to color, rather than hunting down new textures altogether.

The eyes are somehow wrong - too big, too little, wrong shape, wrong brows... SOMETHING ain't right about them.

The lower face and mouth, I dunno... too "skinny"? You say, I can't 'cause I can't put my finger on it.

Input for changes appreciated!

reply to post by nenothtu

The eyes are somehow wrong - too big, too little, wrong shape, wrong brows... SOMETHING ain't right about them.

The lower face and mouth, I dunno... too "skinny"? You say, I can't 'cause I can't put my finger on it.

Input for changes appreciated!

LOL! Yeah, that looks like Dag in about 35 years of being married to Adam.
Okay, not a bad start, though.
Aside from hair color and skin tone.....

the eyes...a bit too close together. Brows also.
The chin/cheeks, neck, she looks anorexic

I'm thinking longer face (as in, lower chin), wider nose and jaw, thicker neck...reduce the nose protrusion at the brdge...mouth looks okay for width, maybe lips a tiny bit fuller.... eyelashes and hairline are good...except where her bangs come forward over her left eye (our right), they're not attached to her upper hairline.....
also, her eyes are not deep-set enough...I see sockets, bags, wrinkles (AGGhhh!!! NO!! I get enough of that in the mirror!)
Please make her pretty....please, please...pretty please...??

But, hey, colossally good effort!! Very good start!!

So, but, you liked the post?
I've been checking every 10 minutes or so to see if anyone had feedback....

poor neno....how humiliating!!!!
Maybe it will become their, uh., secret?
How'd I do with Margot and him????

Please, don't spare me the flames. If it sucked, it sucked.

Take two:



The first one had too much of "Muckles" in her. Head shape overall was out of whack - too much cranium, too little labium. Face overall was too small in relation to the entire head. I tinkered with the eyes some more, the nose (shortened it and widened it just a bit), the chin (wider, less pointy), and the jaw line.

Eyes still look more "Deborah Harry" and less "Cloud" to me, but I'm not sure there's much more I can do with them. I made the neck bigger, less pencil-like. You ought to see the rest of the figure - it's ALL out of whack! I applied several global morphs to get a basic Dag, and the fed into each other in unpredictable ways that I'll have to go back and tinker with in a more local scale.

Still work to be done here - more critique, please!

The post was great, and Margo and neno seem to be on the money - except that poor neno forgot where his cabin was, and was running buck nekkid through the corridors! Here he was, thinking that the only folks he'd run into were going to be 'droids, and... oops! It's like a game of nekkid hide and go seek on the scale of an entire ship - but then there was Dag unexpectedly elected IT!

I can only hope that Yydryl didn't zap his poor bare behind with a laser before he found his cabin! ROFLMAO!

Poor Adam - getting set up for "the talk" while he was still groggy in his sleep!

reply to post by nenothtu


Okay, I think the eyes are too cat-like...the outer corners are too much higher than the inner corners. Neck, cheeks and chin are almost there, much better.....just another few degrees wider......(sorry, I'm a real stickler for symmetry and pattern-matching...to a neurotic degree)....
Perhaps even a little wider at the cheekbones....
but, yeah, much closer!! Hair looks good!!


As far as neno is concerned, I think Margot prolly chased him past his quarters and he took refuge in the stairwell??
made his loin-cloth and then thought he'd ambush her?

It was fun....
yeah, poor Adam.....

Just not quite......well, weighed and measured, and found wanting....
but, he could always come around; and I intend to give him a chance to do so!!!

BIG SMILE! Thanks for the feedback and visual!!

We're BAaaaccckkkk. !!!

Okay, so, I don't know how DAZ works, but...could you download a shot of Cloud onto a grid? And then use the same grid to build your new Dag??
Giving it some crosshairs, you know....

Still, awesome effort! The best I can do is steal other people's images....!!

reply to post by wildtimes


Take Three:



Changes:

changed eye angle

changed face shape to accommodate a wider chin and jaw

increased neck size

Widened cheek bones

Filled out lips

Okay, so, I don't know how DAZ works, but...could you download a shot of Cloud onto a grid? And then use the same grid to build your new Dag??
Giving it some crosshairs, you know....

There is a program called "Face Shop" that makes custom face morphs and textures, sometimes with unpredictable - and often comical - results. It needs "mug shots", one frontal and one profile, to work best. I fiddled with it just a little trying to make custom head morphs from actual photos of people, and amused myself for several hours. Generally it did Ok with the actual shape-changes, but the texture overlay is what really made the faces. The problem there was that any bangs or stray hair - or odd, raking, lighting conditions - came out in the textures to wrap the head in, and had to be air-brushed out.

I'm not very well versed in it, but I could give it a go.

One other problem is that if the face skin tone doesn't match the body skin tone, it comes out looking like Frankenstein's Monster, with obvious seams...

I'm working on getting the body in shape, too. I had to inject so many variations of "girly morphs" that it came out a caricature, and I'm trying to smooth out the too-curvy curves. You could put an eye out with them chesticles! They gotta GO!

Dag, Version 5b:

Smaller version:



Bigger to pick out details:



I mashed down those prodigious pectoral protuberances as far as I could find controls to mash. If you think they're a bit much NOW, you should have seen them before. The word "scary" is the first to come to mind...

Fiddlin' with the other controls may have made some untoward face changes, so if there's fixin' you think need doing, just shout it right out!

Ignore the "poke through" here and there - I'm still tyring to figure out how to fix it.

Okay, I had just reviewed the head shot.....and thought the only remaining problem was the lips....they are turned slightly up, and perhaps need to be down-turned a fraction of an inch.
Otherwise it was great......

aherm,....as for 5b......yeah, more mashed is good. Actually, when I saw Margo(t) [which are we going with?], I thought holy moley!!!
Wow...those look painful!

Thanks for the spoiler alert, though...yeah, erm,
aherm, ....no...mashed without lumps, please.


Anyway, the new 'face' looks like the eyes got crossed......otherwise it's okay.....again lower the nose-bridge, and separate the eyes a smidge.....?
but...otherwise, Great! We're nearly there!! Just hair color after that!! (Oh, and eyes lavendar if possible as well as lips)....