The Return of Yoda...
Some thought it wouldn't happen. Had I left the world of mutant monkey heads? Had I forgotten that Yoda was still an unfinished project, and that five years ago I had promised his return in Japanese?
Fortunately, it occurred to me to do something! So, for the 5th anniversary of my previous Yoda post and my 100th post on this blog, I'm glad to present my latest variant on Yoda!
I'd been thinking about this project on and off; in 2016 I'd replaced the cylindrical lightsaber with one from a different project (similar to my replacing a spherical hand with my sound project's claw), googled a tutorial to get a glowing lightsaber effect, modified the hut's door a bit and added some image textures from a fan texture pack in a version I dubbed mark 4.5, but not having the artist's permission to share it, I decided it was best to to try again. A little while later, I decided to go for a bit more of an overhaul featuring a much more accurate hut--apparently, throughout my years working on Dagobah, it never actually occurred to me to look for a reference image.
Last year, after Googling a good reference and finding some image textures complete with normal maps (given that this is my 100th post anniversary, I may as well plug them as a link-of-the-post: www.textures.com), I'd created a mark 5 with my largest improvements since possibly my 2012 jump to rendering, with a recreated hut, added mist, and much more advanced trees. In the time since, I've just finished version 5.5: Yoda now has a left hand, his feet are now closer to the ground, and I've slightly enhanced both hands' appearances so they look a little less spherical.
With all this said, as with my 2013 texture revamp, I feel like this version of Yoda could still use some work; I'm considering revamping the Yoda model (again, with the possible exception of his head), adding more details from the reference picture like the tree on Yoda's hut, and making the area a little swampier.
As this is my 100th post, I feel like I should also say something on that. To be honest, I feel amazed by how far I've come since my beginnings in animation, when mutant monkey heads and sound in video were serious breakthroughs for me; if I had shown my younger self some of my projects like ABYDOS even a year and a half before I'd released it, I don't think I'd have believed it was possible. What I mean by this is that if you think you stink at Blender or any modeling program, don't let that stop you from learning and creating. It may take a while (on and off it took a good 5 years for me to get to this point), but with practice, looking at documentation and googling often, stretching your limits and seeing what random buttons do (AFTER saving just in case), you can do really amazing things.
Fortunately, it occurred to me to do something! So, for the 5th anniversary of my previous Yoda post and my 100th post on this blog, I'm glad to present my latest variant on Yoda!
Last year, after Googling a good reference and finding some image textures complete with normal maps (given that this is my 100th post anniversary, I may as well plug them as a link-of-the-post: www.textures.com), I'd created a mark 5 with my largest improvements since possibly my 2012 jump to rendering, with a recreated hut, added mist, and much more advanced trees. In the time since, I've just finished version 5.5: Yoda now has a left hand, his feet are now closer to the ground, and I've slightly enhanced both hands' appearances so they look a little less spherical.
With all this said, as with my 2013 texture revamp, I feel like this version of Yoda could still use some work; I'm considering revamping the Yoda model (again, with the possible exception of his head), adding more details from the reference picture like the tree on Yoda's hut, and making the area a little swampier.
As this is my 100th post, I feel like I should also say something on that. To be honest, I feel amazed by how far I've come since my beginnings in animation, when mutant monkey heads and sound in video were serious breakthroughs for me; if I had shown my younger self some of my projects like ABYDOS even a year and a half before I'd released it, I don't think I'd have believed it was possible. What I mean by this is that if you think you stink at Blender or any modeling program, don't let that stop you from learning and creating. It may take a while (on and off it took a good 5 years for me to get to this point), but with practice, looking at documentation and googling often, stretching your limits and seeing what random buttons do (AFTER saving just in case), you can do really amazing things.
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