Unit Preview: Shaolin Monk

[CamJH]

This was a unit request posted by Flamegrape a short while back. I've agreed to do it, because I thought it would be a cool unit to have, plus it can earn double duty by filling a gap in the WoT Mod.

So here's the preview:


Run, Default, Fortify

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*images reposted with 75% shadow
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More previews to come

 

[Kal-el]

looks good.

 

[DoubleT]

Yes looks good, but maybe he should be a little more thinner?

 

[Zeekater]

I think one of the main points in the request thread was that he shouldn't be armed...
He looks very good though, although the animations show up a bit slow.

 

[embryodead]

The unit looks nice, but please do something with the shadows. This is a serious problem with your previous unit too, the shadow is pitch-black... You seem to have the same issue that several other creators had in the past, meaning that you use Poser 5 with Kinboat's default setup, which is for Poser 4. It always looks like that in this case. It's compatible, but in P5 the renderer is much different and you have to lower the shadows for each light to make them look normal. Try lowering the lights' shadow value till you get at the look of other civ3 units. It really does make a difference.

Also, sliding legs never look natural. Humans can't slide look that - I mean when you move your leg to a different place, you have to raise it first, not slide it horizontally. To make it more natural, you can add dynamics just by drawing the movement curve in frames editor so it's not a straight line.

 

[CamJH]

Thanks for all the feedback

@ DoubleT, I originally made him thinner, but Flamegrape wanted his robes to look baggier. Plus I have about 3 different layers of shirts on this guy, so If I try to make him much skinnier, then I get poke through.

@ Zeekater, 2 of the pictures I had to work with had the Monk holding a sword, so I thought it'd be good to implement it. Plus where it'll fit into the unit line, I think it's better it has a sword so that he's not going up against armed opponents with nothing but his robe. But I will add movements into the attacks that use kung fu, not just his sword. The slowness of his movements is also a side effect of the crappy gif conversion. The actual flic is better.

@ embryodead, I switched over to the Poser 4 renderer available in Poser 5's render options, but it gives me the same thing. What's the best way to lower the lights' shadow value, in other words, how would you do it? Also, thanks for the suggestion on the leg movement. It wasn't looking quite right to me either. What had happened was that I mistakenly made the fortify stance on a 45 degree different angle than the default stance, so I had to rotate the body through the motion... thus giving the sliding look. I'll definitely do something about it. I'll have to rerender anyways to fix the shadow problem.
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EDIT= nevermind ED, I figured it out. I've dropped the shadow to 75% and it looks much better. I'll update the previews later, the World Series is on.
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[CamJH]

Here's a preview of Attack A.

So here you go:

 

[Dom Pedro II]

Ah, masta CamJH, you are very skilled with Poser. You wield it with grace and speed like deer in forest...

 

[CamJH]

Laughing my @$$ off DPII

 

[Steph]

you can use animation pro 3 from jasc to make gif.
Also, will you make several attacks?
Like one with the sword and some kicks/punch?

 

[embryodead]

Cool I think 66% shadow might be even better but it may be the preview. The leg movement is perfect now.

 

[CamJH]

Thanks for the tip on animation pro Steph, these crappy previews have been bugging me. I'll make at least one more attack animation for this unit, I always like a little variety. Originally I was going to make Attack A a sword/kick combo, but I didn't like how it flowed from the sword swipe to the kick, so I changed the second half to a punch animation... which came out much smoother. I haven't determined how the other attacks will look just yet. I've got some ideas, but I'll probably do some playing around to see what I like.

The shadows really do look better than they're showing here. I even tested them down at 50%, but they were barely visible at all at that point. If they're still too dark in-game, then I'll drop down to 66%. I'm glad you mentioned something ED, I hadn't even noticed that with my first unit.

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EDIT= Hurray for my 300th post... although it doesn't as mean much anymore.
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[CamJH]

I've now redone (and reposted) all the previews with jasc animation shop. Thanks again for the tip Steph, they look much better.

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EDIT= Probably won't have time to finish up the rest of the animations today... have a presentation in the morning, but I hope to finish up either Monday or Tuesday.

 

[Flamegrape]

Well, it's still a very, very long way from looking like a Shaolin monk. Perhaps it could be given a different color besides orange and called something else.

The two main things that prevent it from looking like a Shaolin monk are the lack of flowing robes and the swords. Yes, kung fu masters know how to use hand-to-hand weapons. But their unique form of attack was unarmed.

 

[Zeekater]

Well, it's still a very, very long way from looking like a Shaolin monk. Perhaps it could be given a different color besides orange and called something else.

The two main things that prevent it from looking like a Shaolin monk are the lack of flowing robes and the swords. Yes, kung fu masters know how to use hand-to-hand weapons. But their unique form of attack was unarmed.
[

I can imagine it is quite hard to do those flowing robes
But i agree, the unit looks perhaps a bit too ... professional with his fancy clothes

 

[Flamegrape]

I can imagine it is quite hard to do those flowing robes

Yes, you are probably right. I didn't want to sound harsh or overly-critical. But the unit does look nice and I would hate to see his work be in vain.

If no one objects, I might try to have a go at making some robes for that will work with the Poser model. But it will have to wait. Right now, I'm working on a CIV3 mod.

 

[CamJH]

I searched to try and find some long, flowing robes for poser that I could use, but to no avail. So I did my best to match up with the wardrobe in this picture:

and the sword is practically identical to the one in this link:
LINK TO VERY LARGE IMAGE
so I figured it'd be OK.

If you'd like, I could change the unit from Shaolin Monk to just Blademaster (since that's what I intended to use him for in a mod). That way, if or when you make the robes, they could be used to make a more authentic Shaolin Monk. Whatever you want.

 

[Kinboat]

I'd recommend making his sword a little bulkier... wider not really longer. Just so it shows up better at different angles. There is a delicate balance between accurate scale and visiblity We don't really want any Anime huge swords that would be impossible to swing... just more visible ones.

I forgot to say it looks good... Which it does

 

[CamJH]

Three more previews:

Fidget, Victory, Death


Thanks for the advice Kinboat. I had been contemplating that already since it seems like the sword almost disappears in a couple of the frames, but now I'm definitely going to do it. It'll mean I have to rerender everything all over again, but that shouldn't be too bad since I already have all the animations ready (well... except for another attack animation ). That being said, I should be able to finish this up tommorrow, or Wednesday at the latest.

 

[Kal-el]

Altering Kinboat's Kensai robes might work for a more flowing robes look, if you are contemplating doing another monk.