New directions and other misc character stuff

This is probably one of the world's most boring image posts, but I figured that maybe it'd be slightly more interesting than a text-only post... so if anyone was ever wondering what the primary interface definition for an IK/FK hybrid character in Houdini looks like, then the above screenshots pretty much represent all the buttons and knobs required to make that happen (technically I had the same thing in C4D, but C4D lets you split that stuff up across a dozen or so different objects- whereas Houdini usually wants it all in a single place for ease-of-use and ease-of-access).

Anyways...

Long story short, I figured maybe I should detail some of the stuff I've been working on. I would have posted something sooner, but a lot of things were still theoretical and "I think I could" rather than "I know I could". I don't really know how to structure any of this information, so I'm just going to dump it below- but hopefully this should give some indication as to where I'm heading with things.

1) New subject: Sci-fi/fantasy

I've mentioned this before, but probably not the extent to which I'm switching gears. Long story short, I kind of got tired dealing with "real world things" and wanted a chance to just let my imagination run wild for once. I'd like to focus on making cool visual stuff without worrying about what may or may not be possible IRL, which pretty much means ditching anything that is even remotely associated with our society or Earth in general. A good part of this has to do with me wanting to learn more about Houdini and actually have the opportunity to try out different things, but also because I want to try and create something different and unique.

2) Character designs: Inflatable humanoid females in fancy sci-fi suits

Yeah, so... this one has me on edge a bit, because I'm kinda sitting here going "eeeeeeeeeee, I really hope this doesn't scare away my entire Patreon base". I've had a thing for suited characters for a long time now (think of Tali from Mass Effect, or Vale from Halo 5). A lot of my artwork represents things I personally want to see more of, and this is one of those weird things that I happen to enjoy... so it's something I want to take a serious crack at and see what I can do with it.

Character development will likely happen in a few different phases. Initially, I'm not planning on dealing with faces, so these are going to be fully suited characters for a little while. This is mostly because face rigs represent a HUGE challenge unto themselves, and building new characters from the ground up while also worrying about face rigging is just too much for me to handle right now. Once I have a few characters kicking around, I'll start experimenting with face rigging on the side (totally decoupled from the rest of the character rig) so that I can incorporate them into the characters when the time comes (either by modifying the helmets to include transparent regions, or just outright removing the helmets in certain situations).

I also want to be clear about something- the overall tone of this account (inflation/expansion related fetish content) is NOT going to change. These characters are going to represent a significant technical undertaking in that they are explicitly being designed to be inflatable from the ground up. Think of it less like taking an existing character and just morphing them up in size- and more like designing a single character at multiple sizes in tandem, then blending between those to create the illusion of expansion. I want to maximize the visual impact of their inflatable physique, but also minimize the usual signs of morphing- so no warped geometry, no warped textures, and totally smooth inflated curves everywhere else. I'll likely detail how all of this is going to work in a separate post, but suffice to say the expandability of these characters is being carefully considered at each and every stage of their development.

3) Architecture and scenery: A unique take on Solarpunk, albeit slightly more alien in nature

One of the things that bothers me about a lot of modern day sci-fi stuff (not to say that it's "bad" or anything, just that I don't personally find it very interesting) is the overuse of sterile elements like metal and concrete surfaces, excessive pipework, superfluous holographic displays, etc, etc. The overall style that I'm shooting for here (there's a reason why I said "it's not based on Earth") is going to involve a *lot* of nature-inspired design. Green plants, trees, structures that inherit design aspects from various natural phenomena, bio-luminescent elements, so on and so forth. The goal here is to try and create a unique world that's as mystical and alluring as it is beautiful to look at. Houdini has a lot of tools that can assist in the creation and scale-up of such environments, and these are all systems that I want to learn and employ on this project.

So... yeah.

I wasn't really kidding when I said "it's gonna be sci-fi". I'm not going to blame any of you for cancelling your pledges if this stuff doesn't interesting you. That's why I figured I'd post something and try to lay it all out- so that you can make up your own mind and figure out if you want to keep pledging or not. If you do decide to stick around, then I thank you for your continued support and I look forward to showing you all exactly what I've got in mind.