Update 2: Everything is rigged now, but I have been adding more controls to tweak certain areas. I separated the feathers on the top of the wing and put them on their own bendy bone chain so they can be shaped to make the profile of the wing look nicer in various positions. I am also experimenting with adding some more drivers to the wing curvature controls, so the bending on the feathers can be tweaked, turned on, or turned off. Lastly, I am adding some more rotation controllers to each feather section to help resolve some intersection that happens when there is more extreme bending coming from certain poses.
It sounds like a lot now that I'm writing it out lol. I made this more complex than I originally planned for, so I'd like to wrap it up soon so I can continue with the rest of the project without feeling like it's stuck in completion-purgatory.
Gah! I saved a bunch of screenshots, except that my PC didn't actually save them, whoops! I went to add them here, but apparently I have to retake them now... *facepalm*
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Update 1: I've been working on a character model since last year, and I have since gone on many detours to work out problems. One of the first detours was making a wing generator, which then devolved into making a feather generator. Months later, both of those are done (albeit, probably with some room for improvement lol).
Now I have moved onto rigging the wings, and, as a surprise to no one who knows me, I'm now in the weeds with that too. This is my third (or fourth?) iteration / idea. So far, it's going way better than I thought, but heaven have mercy there are so many bones.
I have not yet rigged the medium-sized feathers, so they're just floating off by their lonesome. They were cramping my style when testing xD
Now that is very cool indeed... could have made a set of wings, but oh no, lets make a generator for wings, and a generator for feathers too
Thats what i have always loved about creative art & design with computers and software, and especially the Blender community
From where it all started many moons ago, to where we are now shows such talent and creative vision that is honestly astounding... digital story-telling, endless skilling up, game changing tools and resources, inspiring artists, and open source communities that just blow the scene to bits (in a good way, and with SFX too), im loving where Blender has taken us, and what it has rolled out, as well as its consistency
Sticking to its open source, free to all approach, because of that i believe we have some of the most talented and enthusiastic artists, doing amazing projects that inspire, just like this one here
This is why i love it so much, and have respect for those who can create amazing productions such as this, with ambition and passion.
Love what you are doing here Wes, and i like your vision too, making generators is a fantastic idea, albeit with something as intricate as this, i can see how it is taking so long Brother... maybe one day you'd be willing to do a course on something like this, i know i'd like a wing and feather generator for a gaming idea i have had tucked away in my head for a long time, but i do not wanna buy something like that on a store page, i would much rather gain the skills and know how, to make it myself and customise it for my own needs
...i do have a lot to learn before i get to that level of skill though, anyway sorry for the rant, i look forward to seeing the end result Brother, awesome work (no rush)
I really appreciate your thoughtful comment, Charlie! I often feel like I fall short of my personal goals as an artist, so reading about your perspectives is quite nice. I would like to make some more tutorials eventually, though it might be hard for me to do for the wing and feather generators as I can't fully remember why I built parts a certain way. I swear it made sense at the time haha
Yeah, thats the way it goes sometimes, when creating, observing the steps to recreate are not usually on the mind, unless that was the intention from the start... i'm looking forward to gaining some top quality tuition in animation and rigging now i am here on CG Cookie, but boy was it always something i just couldn't get my head around very well, apart from play with the bones and try to make poses lol
The complexity of the modeling and texturing, not to mention rigging the feathers/wings is a task I would not want to delve into. I have the utmost respect for you, taking on this behemoth of a task. Keep it up!
Really nice work so far.