Muggins wants breakfast. Isabel’s brain has other ideas.
Continue reading Zombieville Chapter 2.2: “Talking to the Plastic People”
Girl, implicated: the child in the labyrinth in the fantastic
Greer Gilman, master of purple involuted mock-Jacobean epics, muses about one of my favorite themes. The girls who have adventures in labyrinths fare differently compared to the boys. [Also she has a bone to pick with Tehanu’s crabbed domesticity in Ursula Le Guin’s novel of the same name. So do I, Gilman. So do I.]
I like her observation that the girls [Ariadne, Alice, Eilonwy from — yack! — the endlessly irritating Book of Three, Arha/Tehanu, Sarah] find their ways out; they know where they’re going. Meanwhile, the boys [Theseus, the White Knight {?}, Taran, Sparrowhawk/Ged, Jareth] don’t; they get lost and bonk around aimlessly. They’re "clueless," Gilman says, which is to say without a clue…or without a clew, Ariadne’s map-like ball of thread that knows the way through the passages. ["Clue" as a hint of a guide derives from "clew" qua thread. I love etymology!]
So why do we only hear of the boys getting out and through the maze? Why don’t we ever hear of the girls who get to know their labyrinths and walk through the darkness, unafraid of Minotaurs?
Beats me. For some reason, Inanna’s descent to the otherworld ain’t considered as compelling. Why not???
Pfffffft.
Goin’ to read Moonwise again, even though it drives me up the wall.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1673607.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
What would a creepy doll be afraid of?
I was playing around this morning with some recent digital acquisitions and came up with this picture. Caption: "I’m pretty sure I made a wrong turn somewhere because this definitely does not look like a shopping district where I can acquire some less skimpy pants."
Continue reading What would a creepy doll be afraid of?
Organizing my digital content according to how I think
The organization of digital content has always been a challenge for me. Lots of content creators organize their stuff by the broad categories defined by Poser’s old runtime directory structure, but then they stick, say, all their characters under their name. I do this too; with my freebie shaders, for example, I stuck them all in a folder named ModernWizard, which then subdivided into the various shader sets I issued. I dislike having my own runtime organized in this manner, though, because that’s not how I think.
I tend to think more thematically, as illustrated by the following subfolders into which I’ve divided my collection of digital clothing:
- AccessoriesInclMasks: ruffs, glasses, hats and an inordinate number of masks
- BasicWearCorsetryUndies: self-explanatory
- BondageGagsGasmasks: likewise
- Dresses&SkirtsEveryday: in contrast to the next category
- FetishSkimpUniforms: metal bikinis, French maid outfits, impossibly short skirts and such
- GothPunkRomantic: Goth, punk, pseudo-medieval and pseudo-Renaissance wear
- PantsOutfits: more everyday stuff, from tuxes to overalls to crop tops and bellbottoms
- Shoes&Socks: footwear that’s not associated with whole outfits
- ShortsOutfits: self-explanatory
- Winter&Coats: things to keep warm in
Just in case you had any doubts about where my digital fashion interests lie, the most populous category is, of course, FetishSkimpUniforms, followed by GothPunkRomantic, then PantsOutfits.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1673039.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
New Orleans-like cemetery for $10.40!!!
As all two of my regular readers know, I really like cemeteries, but have trouble finding realistic representations thereof among digital models. Over at the Daz store, for example, Spooky Plots by LaurieS and Lisa’s Botanicals looks more like a digital rendering of Halloween decorations than an actual graveyard, as does Pretty3D’s Lost Cemetery. Sure, you can find some nice individual tombs, but most digital cemetery sets seem to have been created by people who have never even seen a tombstone in their lives.
Imagine, then, my ecstasy when Danie and Marforno’s Tranquility Lane appeared on sale at Renderosity for 60% off! Danie and Marforno specialize in timeworn, vaguely fantastical sets in which one can dramatically pose one’s scantily clad female models. Let’s call them the masters of the Gothic lite pinup.
Occasionally, though, Danie and marforno deviate from Ye Olde Phantaisie Weirdnesse [seriously — why does Cult Diaries have tusks everywhere?] and do something more realistic and evocative. Enter Tranquility Lane, a cemetery set obviously modeled after those in New Orleans — hell, there’s even French on the crypts and signs. Of course, I have no personal experience with crypts clustered as tightly as urban apartment buildings — we don’t stack dead people up here in New England; instead we tend to spread them out. However, even though Tranquility Lane does not reflect my personal schema of a cemetery, I can repurpose elements of the set, such as the monoliths, fences and certain mausoleums, in my ongoing quest to represent digitally the type of graveyard with which I am familiar.
Oh yeah — and I got this for $10.40, 60% off its usual $26.00 price! Whoo hoo!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1672947.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Front Porch Forum is fascinating.
Around these parts, we have Front Porch Forum, a uniquely Vermont Internet development, which provides E-mail lists for every town in the state [sometimes for several neighborhoods within towns, if the towns are large enough]. Like most E-mail lists, it contains classifieds, notices from town government and local services, requests to borrow things, thank you notes and loads of rants. I belong to the Winooski one and one for the neighborhood in Burlington where I work.
A few days ago, someone posted on the Winooski FPF that she didn’t like a sign that Sneakers [restaurant] put up in a little garden in an island near our horrible traffic rotary. It said "Sneakers — Yield to Bacon," which she, as a member of a Muslim household, found insensitive. She added that it was a safety hazard, impeding visibility for drivers and pedestrians, and wished that it was removed.
As Seven Days, our local newsweekly reports, poo flinging ensued. An inevitable backlash of posters castigated the original poster as a coward, a terrorist and the epitome of what was wrong with today’s "politically correct" society. Soon a representative from Sneakers posted, apologizing for upsetting people, explaining the joke behind the sign and adding that the sign would be taken down. The inevitable backlash then apparently subsumed the restaurant in its bitter wash; Seven Days reports that Sneakers has received so much bile on its Facebook page that it took said page down.
For the record, I recognize that the sign was offensive to the original poster, even though it wasn’t intended to be. I disagree with her particular targeting of the Sneakers sign as a danger, however, since other local businesses put up little signs in the sponsored gardens on the rotary islands, and she didn’t seem to have a problem with them. I thought that her original complaint was a reasonable statement and justification of her opinion, and I also appreciate the restaurant’s respectful response. They did include the "Well, we didn’t mean it!" line in their apology for offense, but they did apologize sincerely, and they took down the sign as a gesture of good faith. If only more institutions acted with such sincerity and sensitivity…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1672507.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
From The Book of Three [1965] to The Arkadians [1995]…
…Lloyd Alexander tells only one story: inexperienced and obtuse male hero + trickster-like storyteller/bardic character + unaccountably crabby female love interest + unfunny comic relief non-human animal-like character + irritating verbal tics for practically everyone + epic quests + secret royal heritage + Destiny = profit. I’m reading [or trying to read] The Book of Three right now, and it’s driving me up the wall. All the characters come across as grating and annoying, with the exception of Gwydion, who’s sensible and low-key and who just seems to belong to a different, less slapstick story.
Of Alexander’s extensive YA oeuvre, I remember most fondly the Vesper Holly series. Impossibly smart and improbably gifted, teenage orphan and heiress Vesper bounces from adventure to adventure in 1875 in various fictional countries, death and daring at her heels. She’s a charismatic and indefatigable Mary Sue, but the stories work, in large part because they are told by Brinnie, her comparatively useless guardian. As an old straight white dude, he gets on my nerves to no end, but his combination of befuddlement, admiration and ultimately love for Vesper allows the reader a more accessible peg upon which to hang their sympathies. I really enjoyed these books growing up, and now I’d like to seek them out again…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1672218.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Chittenden County Vermont Doll Club meetup: 08/23/2014
Yesterday CCDC welcomed its largest complement of attendees ever! A whole dozen of us attended, including newcomers Pink and their husband [from Maine] and Pink’s friend from Quebec [who doesn’t have any dolls…yet]. We spent the entire extended duration [noon to 4:00 PM] talking dolls, posing and photoing them, in between side conversations about mutual interests such as Monster High, Internet-based cartoons and fursuits. As far as I can tell, everyone enjoyed themselves. 😀
Continue reading Chittenden County Vermont Doll Club meetup: 08/23/2014
Scorpion therianthrope problems
I never gave a detailed description of Hattie, the scorpion therianthrope who attended the mini universe’s Xmas party last year. I’m not sure if she’s mostly human, but with a scorpion tail, like Soom Vesuvia, or if she’s half-human, half-scorpion, like Impldoll Colin. If they’re like Impldoll Colin, do they have claws and pincers?
EDIT: Okay, I just checked. Apparently the scorpion therianthropes are more along the lines of Impldoll Colin, although I didn’t specify whether they had pincers and/or claws. If I want to make a digital version of Hattie [which I do], I’ll have to purchase a scorpion and modify it to be a lower body for a therianthrope.
As an aside, I notice that Impldoll’s sculpting has become more refined over the years, but I think their sculptors still struggle to find a signature style. The sculpts and concepts, especially of the Star and Idol lines, smack strongly of Iplehouse to me.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1670934.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Lana Wachowski has hair like Anneka’s!
Her vibrant pink, knotty hair looks like the 1:1 equivalent of my 1:6 scale action figure Anneka’s. As cool as I find the color of Wachowski’s hair, I seriously query her white woman’s appropriation of dreadlocks. >_>
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1670820.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Possibilities of skyboxes
Flipmode just came out with a nifty digital product, Easy Environments: Autumn. It contains a road, bordered by a stone wall, a fence and some turning deciduous trees, surrounded by a 360-degree skybox that makes the set “[gleam] and [gloom] / ‘Neath billowing skies that scatter and amass.” [Thank you, Dante Rossetti, for Silent Noon, which contains the best description ever of such dramatic clouds.] Quick-rendering light sets were also included, promising to duplicate the type of light pictured in the skybox.
When I saw this set, I felt an involuntary pang, as the dappling of shadows across the landscape epitomized for me the melancholy of fall. I bought the set for the lovely panorama, but then couldn’t get over the fact that the mountains contain no trees whatsoever. There should be some fall colors on the distant hills too, right?
I tried to rectify the barrenness of the background with the help of a Wikimedia Commons panoramic photo from the top of Mount Mansfield. I spent hours dividing up the panorama into four pieces [one for each side of the sky box] and blending it with Flipmode’s sky. I even made a texture for the bottom of the skybox, which originally showed more parched, treeless ground. After all that, the result looked like a bad overlay, despite all my hard work. I thus concluded that I could not get a forested skybox out of Easy Environments: Autumn, so I returned it.
Not all is lost, however. I still have the Mount Mansfield overlay panels. I have another idea. I got a great discount on Dreamland Models’ Movie Sets: 81 Blocks last night. Regularly $24.95, it was down to $7.48, so I picked it up. It’s marketed as a huge city environment, but I snagged it because it contains a skydome, low-res forest props and low-res deciduous tree props with several materials. I’m thinking of rendering some panoramic shots in this set and making my own forested skybox.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1670550.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Zombieville Chapter 2.1: “Persistent Kitty”
Zombieville is back! So is everyone’s favorite character, Muggins the cat!
Continue reading Zombieville Chapter 2.1: “Persistent Kitty”
3-D printed 1:6 scale crutches: no longer being 3-D printed
While I was lying in bed earlier this week, I hit on a possible way to construct 1:6 scale forearm crutches without the exorbitant expense of printing something so long. I can bend plastic drinking straws to the appropriate 15-degree angle and then fill them with Aves Apoxie Sculpt so that they stay in that position!!!! I have also recently acquired some dowels that I can cut down to make hand rests for the crutches. I haven’t decided how to make the forearm cuffs, but that’s easy compared to the engineering challenge of making the crutch shafts. Diagram below.
Continue reading 3-D printed 1:6 scale crutches: no longer being 3-D printed
Stuff I ordered from the Daz store, but then forgot about, but which I’d like to use.
Stuff I ordered from the Daz store, but then forgot about, but which I’d like to use. published on Read more posts by the author of Stuff I ordered from the Daz store, but then forgot about, but which I’d like to use., ModernWizardNo Comments on Stuff I ordered from the Daz store, but then forgot about, but which I’d like to use.
- 3 Piece Suit for D3. Part of my ongoing quest to find a decent suit for everyone…
- Air Bike. Probably illegal, but prevalent, in Intellectum.
- Alien Plants. Big plans for these never materialized…
- Basic Hair. A short, clean style, more attractive than it looks on the product page.
- Bus Maxis and Bus Pegasus. I’m beginning to think that everyone in Intellectum gets around on petipet machines.
- BWC Runway. Jareth wants to have a fashion show.
- Classic Deco. I’ve used the chairs, but that’s it.
- Daz Squirrel. Will eat any French fries my runtime has to offer.
- Daz Water Pump and Grain Silo. Plop a stove-in barn next to the silo, and it’ll look just like Vermont! …Anyone know where I can get a collapsing barn?
- Disconsolation. A waterfront set that demands atmospheric fog and low lighting.
- DM Time Shadows. Ye Olde Genericke Machines by Danie and Marforno, who do great moody environments. Good background for the Wrathful Scientists, now that I think of it.
- Epic Wings. Amazingly enough, almost properly scaled for actual use by human beings.
- Fly Girl. Another thing for which I had big plans that never materialized.
- Generic Sci Fi Corridor. Another possible location for the Wrathful Scientists.
- Hilly Surround. Showed up in my renders of Intellectum’s Fink, but dropped back into obscurity.
- Home One Bathroom. Whoops, I forgot I had that…and I explicitly bought it to easily add a fully stocked w.c. to my runtime.
- If You Build It Picket Fence. In case I need to render a representation of the American
DreamLie. - Newport Outfit. How did I forget that I bought a modern, realistic, pretty generic outfit? Ah I see…I got it as a bundle and only paid attention to certain items in the bundle.
- Interiors The Model Agency. Purchased as an inexpensive, fully stocked office interior and then…summarily forgotten.
- Lune Portail. This could work as a cemetery gate.
- Maple Tree Pack 1. Big plans for these were only half executed.
- Mediterranean Patio. For al fresco dining. I have a lot of these Nouschka Design sets that I got as freebies the first time I was in Platinum Club; they don’t get out much.
- Neo Stop. A regular fixture in Intellectum.
- Noggin’s Duck Mallard. Purchased when I wanted to reproduce in 3D the Make Way for Ducklings sculpture in Boston Public Garden. The duckling poses are hilarious.
- Ranaki. Now that I’ve finally figured out how to convert those frog legs to G2F, I can redo Grenk.
- Regenerator. I bet the Wrathful Scientists have one of these in their
shacklab. - Sculptural Genesis Ultra Fun Kit. Time to put lampshades on people’s heads!
- Shackled! The more I stare at this set, the more I realize that I would only use pieces as background props in a stereotypical medieval dungeon. I could never put people in chains; it reminds me too much of the Middle Passage.
- Shelter. Wait a minute — this comes with snow? How did I miss that?
- Space Base. You know, just in case anyone needs to go to the moon.
- Skulduggery. Really cool bodysuit and makeup effects!
- Technopolis. A whole neighborhood of Intellectum! Swanky, new, rich…
- The Conservatory. I dunno — looks like a greenhouse to me…
- Time Traveler. Exposed wires — coooooool.
- Tubo Hotel. Probably not a hotel, but a makeshift community near Intellectum’s dump, constructed with abandoned sewer construction materials.
- Versailles Tail. The less gravity-defying cousin of the pompadour.
- Unicycle Bob. What the hell is this? Who knows? But it’s by petipet, which means that it probably belongs in Intellectum.
- Waste Container. Probably a part of the Intellectan shanty town next to the dump.
- Wynter Hair. That built-in headgear probably picks up radio signals or something.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1669853.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Marty McFly in 1:6 scale!!!!
Hot Toys is making him! I wonder if he’ll be appropriately short… Because Back to the Future was one of the formative movies of my youth and because I used to have a huge crush on Michael J. Fox, I might pick this one up…or at least the head. Probably just the head.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1669516.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
ThreeZero 1:6 scale Tyrion Lannister preorders open now!
Estimated to arrive at the end of this year or beginning of next, it’s a little Peter Dinklage with bad hair! I really want him to be Guillaume Doucette, Béatrice and Delphine’s dad.
As one of the closest things to an antagonist that Zombieville has, Guillaume has an unduly grandiose opinion of himself and a VERY LOUD VOICE with which to broadcast this opinion. Back when he was a disability rights activist, he was pompous, sure, but much less irritating. He used his pushy manner and VERY LOUD VOICE to good effect, for example, when heading the campaign to replace the quaint cobblestones on Church Street with even pavement that people wouldn’t trip over. In fact, Béatrice and Delphine have fond memories of helping their dad unleash a can of institutional whup-ass on the UVM campus group that offered "midget bowling" as an event in their spring carnival. That, however, was over a decade ago…
Nowadays, Guillaume has become much more bitter. He hijacks public forums with his jeremiads about how the quality of life in Burlington has declined since he was a boy. He intensely dislikes PWS, who he calls "zombies" for shock value. According to him, PWS are "hogging media attention" and "draining state coffers," thus diverting coverage and funds from people with "legitimate" disabilities. [He actually says "legitimate." No one is quite sure why.] His argle-bargle about "cleaning up this town" eventually coalesces into a campaign for local public office, which, much to the PWS community’s consternation and his daughters’ embarrassment, he wins.
Of course, I could just heavily mod a body from my stash to make him, but no! I wanna little Peter Dinklage in my life!!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1669244.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
3D freebies: Aliza Hair for Genesis 2 Female
Aliza Hair for Genesis 2 Female
Daz Studio only
Tested only in Daz Studio Pro 4.6 64 bit.
Created with PhilC’s Hair Designer, this is my first
freebie hairstyle, Aliza, a spiky, layered, morphing
hair prop straight out of the 1980s for Genesis 2
Female. Perfect for when G2F wants to cosplay Jareth
the Goblin King from Labyrinth [the inspiration for
this ‘do]! :p
Aliza, which autoparents to G2F’s head, is based on the
default figure, so you may need to translate and scale
to fit morphed figures. Aliza has a length morph for
the back, plus a simple movement morph for each side,
as well as a single texture. There are a few material
zones for greater customization.
After installation, you will find Aliza in My Library >
People > Genesis 2 Female > Hair > ModernWizard >
Aliza.
Just so you know, this was a fun experiment, my first
with Hair Designer, not a professional-grade endeavor.
It’s somewhat messy, geometry-wise [especially where I
cruedly deleted all those excess polys], but I hope you
can have some fun playing with it nonetheless.
Use for whatever purposes you like, commercial or non-
commercial. Just don’t repackage and call your own.
Have fun!
You can see my digital artwork, as well as my other
creative pursuits, at my blog:
http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org
If you do use any of my freebies in your work, drop me
a line [ModernWizard at the Daz boards and ShareCG,
ModernWiz on Renderosity], as I’d love to see what you
make. Thank you.
Continue reading 3D freebies: Aliza Hair for Genesis 2 Female
Stowe Antique and Classic Car Show, 08/09/2014: hood ornaments and headlights!
Stowe Antique and Classic Car Show, 08/09/2014: hood ornaments and headlights! published on Read more posts by the author of Stowe Antique and Classic Car Show, 08/09/2014: hood ornaments and headlights!, ModernWizardNo Comments on Stowe Antique and Classic Car Show, 08/09/2014: hood ornaments and headlights!
Oh yeah, and some cars too… :p Continue reading Stowe Antique and Classic Car Show, 08/09/2014: hood ornaments and headlights!
I used to think that modding BJDs worked on different principles than modding action figures.
I used to think that modding BJDs worked on different principles than modding action figures. published on Read more posts by the author of I used to think that modding BJDs worked on different principles than modding action figures., ModernWizardNo Comments on I used to think that modding BJDs worked on different principles than modding action figures.
This is probably because the BJD community places such a high value on aesthetics, which means that laboriously sanded and delicately layered works receive more approbation than messy, experimental, jerry-rigged ones. I have learned, however, that, in the end, resin BJDs are no different than plastic action figures. Both types of dolls mod very well with an application of hacksaw, rotary tool, Aves Apoxie Sculpt and hot glue. Continue reading I used to think that modding BJDs worked on different principles than modding action figures.
Tonsil Hockey Deux returns!!!
I forgot to mention that I E-mailed IOS recently to ask if they would rerelease Infernale. They said yes — this November. Whoo hoo! Tonsil Hockey come home!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1668133.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Walker 3.0 completed; millions rejoice
I finally got the wheels for Peter’s walker in the mail today, ordered from a supplier of remote-control vehicles and supplies, RC Planet. I mounted one wheel on each foot of the walker with a piece of plastic-coated wire hot glued in a hole that I drilled through the side of each leg.
Collecting materials for Xandy’s clothes
Xandy, having been derooted of her face-obscuring bob, shows off her purple bra, from an unknown source in my collection, and tailcoat from a Phicen Lady Magician figure. No stuffing of cleavage was necessary to make this fit, much to my relief. Continue reading Collecting materials for Xandy’s clothes
Babycat can sleep pretty much anywhere.
Here she is on her cat platform, using the windowsill as a pillow. Fat kitty!
Continue reading Babycat can sleep pretty much anywhere.
Stowe Antique and Classic Car Show, 08/09/2014: flea market items
We went to the Stowe Antique and Classic Car Show today, held in, of all places, Nichols Fields in Stowe, VT. This is its 57th year, and it’s the largest car show in the state.
Continue reading Stowe Antique and Classic Car Show, 08/09/2014: flea market items
“Male Sexy 02”
That’s the name of one of the default poses bundled with the Genesis figure. This amuses me greatly.
Prepping Xandy for her pompadour
I ripped out enough of Xandy’s original purple bob so that the cropped remains would not show from under her lofty new wig. Since I had such fun designing my digital pompadour, Zabby, I decided to give Xandy an actual manifestation of the same style, with a few differences.
Continue reading Prepping Xandy for her pompadour
Andrea scanned a tutorial about making a pompadour wig from faux fur.
Right here! I could do this! Lord knows I have enough fur. Maybe I could decorate her hair with little spiderwebs and bats…and a bird skull, if I can find one. 😀
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1666433.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Xandy has concerns about structural stability.
She thinks the stand upon which she is currently suspended may not be rigid enough to support her. I’m inclined to agree, especially as it’s made for a doll with legs that touch the ground, which Xandy obviously does not have. I should probably just have a hemispherical crinoline out of wire, open in the front, to serve as her stand and carousel surround, but I’m not there yet.Continue reading Xandy has concerns about structural stability.
Doll and toy museum in Bennington!
Definitely worth a trip! Contains dolls, dollhouses, trains, planes, cars, trucks, games, etc.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1665793.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Xandy updates
Well, Phicen just recently released a Lady Magician figure with a tailcoat, so I went to my preferred retailer for such things, SMcG Customs, and snapped up the parted-out tailcoat, as well as a set of white gloved hands. The Lady Magician figure has large, globular breasts, so I may have to pad Xandy’s bra or something…
I have also discovered a cheap wooden merry-go-round music box. It’s so cheap that I feel no qualms whatsoever about purchasing it and customizing it. I would repaint it black, white and purple and remove those crude wooden horses. I wonder if some horse skeletons from gaming miniatures would be the correct size for ride-ons instead?
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1665714.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Xandy the ringmaster of the creepy carnival
Poor Xandy. I was so excited about getting her, but she has just lain around in pieces since arriving in January. I decided back then to make her into a merry-go-round mecha mannequin, but I never got farther than removing her legs, setting aside her purple cape for part of her outfit and purchasing some stars to attach chain clasps to.
However, now that I have pretty much finished up Polly and need to wait for cooler weather to hack up Yamarrah’s torso, my thoughts now turn to the neglected Xandy. At first, I thought she would be a magician/ringmaster merry-go-round mecha mannequin with a circus theme. Then I wandered off into thoughts of automatons, brass winding keys and top hats. I now entertain the idea of Xandy as the ringmaster of a creepy carnival, probably because my last creepy doll, the dead version of Isabel, came out so well.
As ringmaster of the creepy carnival, Xandy now veers more in the direction of Halloween. I still like the idea of her having a tailcoat, white gloves and a wand to represent her magicianship, but I also want to make dark, voluminous, sparkly skirts out of my purple sequined fabric and black velvet. I can make her a pointy hat and give her a bit of a repaint for a stitched-up Glasgow smile.
The greatest challenge would be the procurement of a Halloweeny carousel for underneath her skirts. Department 56, manufacturers of miniature themed villages, used to make a Ghostly Carousel that would be perfect, but it’s out of print and probably ridiculously expensive. As an alternative, Lemax makes a Scary-Go-Round [har!] for its Spooky Town line, and that item is new this year, so sure to be in print. Unfortunately, it just appears to be a regular carousel with costumed kids on it. Boooo. I want Halloweeny animals to ride!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1665455.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Awesome hair with integrated cornrows and bows [made of hair]!
Coooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1665190.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Don’t run over your tail, Polly!
Polly tests out one of my Barbie wheelchairs, for which her tail is too long. I still haven’t decided how I want to customize her chair. Polly has stated, however, that she would rather have this green checked shirt than the I BELIEVE IN CHAMP shirt. Well, one less thing I have to make. :pContinue reading Don’t run over your tail, Polly!
Digital hair: from Aliza to Zabby [and everything in between]!
I worked more on both of my digital hairstyles in progress: Aliza and Zabby. Aliza is inspired by the Goblin King’s ‘do in Labyrinth, while Zabby is inspired by the stuoendous hair sculptures of late eighteenth century western Europe.
I improved Aliza by crudely deleting unnecessary polygons in an attempt to make a smaller, less unwieldy mesh. I also redid the movement morphs. Here’s the updated hairstyle demonstrating the effects of LeftSideXTranslate and RightSideXTranslate morphs.
Continue reading Digital hair: from Aliza to Zabby [and everything in between]!
Finally I’m resenting the walker less.
I decorated Walker 3.0 with lots of black electrical tape and some black craft foam for the seat cushion. Besides breaking up the glaring expanses of fluoro orange, the electrical tape suggests joints or sockets, adding to the impression of a piece of equipment constructed from various bars. The black also stands out vividly on the orange field, attracting the eye and thus drawing attention away from the uneven texture.
To make the walker even more useful, I added a basket and a purse-like bag so that Peter can hold stuff. Now that it looks less like a horrible failure and more like a mobility aid customized by one of my favorite Zville denizens, I feel more well disposed toward the walker. Still needs wheels though…
Continue reading Finally I’m resenting the walker less.
Walker 3.0: now we’re finally getting somewhere!
Five months ago, I received the 1:6 scale walker pieces that Batchix printed out for me. However, I was so bitter about my earlier failures that I just glared resentfully at the pieces for the next five months. I did not look forward to the assembly — what with removing flash, drilling, pinning and gluing, I anticipated another messy failure and even greater bitterness.
I overcame my grudge last night to begin work on Walker 3.0. Batchix helpfully provided blueprints, some of which are shown below, to aid me in assembly:
Continue reading Walker 3.0: now we’re finally getting somewhere!
Digital hair: Aliza done!
The 1980s called. They’re in awe. :p
Continue reading Digital hair: Aliza done!
Digital hair: Aliza in progress
I decided to give my first [eventual] freebie hair model a name beginning with A. Here is Aliza [not named Jareth because Jareth, no matter what I’d like to think, is not a variant of my name :p ] so far:
My first hair model: Orszebet
We all have to start somewhere, right? Behold my first custom hair prop, Orszebet for Genesis 2 Female.
Continue reading My first hair model: Orszebet
Drag queen interviewing fellows on purposes and meanings of drag
Wow, Slate actually has an interesting article for once! On Outward ["expanding the LGBTQ conversation," whatever the hell that means], Miz Cracker writes a post on "Getting into Drag: The Many Meanings of Being a Queen." To answer the question of what drag is, the author interviews other drag performers. In bullet form, her findings are as follows:
- Drag ain’t necessarily about looking glamorous and fashionable. Nor is it necessarily about appearing unclockably feminine.
- Drag may be thought of as an acting job, performance art in which one creates and embodies a character.
- Drag usually has subversive elements in which the performers comment on and criticize society.
- Drag has an ambiguous relationship to trans identities. For some people, drag is a means to seriously explore alternative gender presentations. For others, it is not particularly reflective of their own gender identities.
In my estimation, Miz Cracker neglects some important aspects of drag. For one thing, she doesn’t really interrogate drag queening’s history as an art practiced by men, frequently in comic contexts. Thus it has an ambiguous relationship to the concepts of femininity and womanhood. In its exaggerated style, does drag reflect a loving tribute to women and femininity? Is it rather an over-the-top misogynist mockery? Drag is not inherently fabulous and therefore unproblematic, and I think a truly substantive inquiry into its nature should address its messy history.
For another thing, how does race play into dragging? Toward the end of her article, Miz Cracker refers to Kizha Carr’s treatment of racism in one of her routines. She also adds that drag "is the only forum where [she] can speak candidly…about the issues shaping [her] life," one of which includes racism. Right, so drag queens of color may take race as a subject for commentary, but how does race more generally inflect queens’ initial decisions to go into drag queening and then the development of their art in general? Drag queens from different racial and ethnic backgrounds probably have different reasons and philosophies, depending on their cultures of origin, that help them interpret their work, and we can’t have a full discussion about the meanings and goals of drag without that information.
Finally, how does socioeconomic class contribute to the discourse on drag? All the queens in Miz Cracker’s article, including the author herself, talk about performing in bars, dealing with sexual harassment from audience members, etc. In other words, the queens spend much of their time playing small venues and not earning tons of money. They work hard and depend on an uncertain income. Even though Bob TheDragQueen appears in the article with bling that says RICH clamped between her teeth, she and her sisters probably really aren’t.
What’s going on here? Aspirations to upward mobility? A proclamation of self-worth through looking richly caparisoned? I dunno, but I’d sure like to find out.
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Polly my little mermaid is done!
Well, I mean that I have finished her wig and faceup. I still need to make her "I BELIEVE [in Champ]" shirt and her customized wheelchair. Maybe I should take some inspiration from one of my digital models and give her a steampunk power chair!!
Continue reading Polly my little mermaid is done!
Just in case you doubted the racism and sexism driving the world of 3D content…
Just in case you doubted the racism and sexism driving the world of 3D content… published on Read more posts by the author of Just in case you doubted the racism and sexism driving the world of 3D content…, ModernWizardNo Comments on Just in case you doubted the racism and sexism driving the world of 3D content…
…check out the E-mail that landed in my box yesterday. For context, Daz produces digital models and ancillary content; one of their most popular characters is Aiko, a model with manga-inspired proportions and appearance [who, I might add, grows less manga-like and more realistic with each iteration 🙁 ]. The latest version, Aiko 6, debuted recently, and so has new content for her. Daz also recently released Lee 6, "an Asian-inspired character for Genesis 2 Male(s)" [their words, not mine], so content for this character has been appearing as well.
Continue reading Just in case you doubted the racism and sexism driving the world of 3D content…
Polly’s faceup
I really need to finish it and do something about her hair.
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Digital wigs, here I come!!!!!
I finally sprang for PhilC’s Hair Designer, which is basically a hair construction kit, containing morphable straight and curly units of hair in various lengths, with which one can assemble one’s own digital styles, either props or conforming figures. The resultant products may be redistributed as freebies, if I ever feel like it.
I’m so very excited! I have many ideas for digital wigs to create, thereby filling grievous voids in the universe of 3D content. For example:
- the Goblin King’s hair from Labyrinth
- a decent Farrah Fawcett ‘do
- Pippi Longstocking braids
- a detailed mullet with lots of feathering along the sides
- a true Gibson Girl bouffant
- 1980s hair with bangs fixed into a fluffy wave with hairspray, sides held back from face with barrettes
- a center parted wedge cut, longer in front than in back, with bangs and a buzzed nape
- straight, shoulder-length, center-parted hair with sufficient volume, bangs and an integrated headband
- my hair 3 weeks after shaving it: sticking out straight and soft about a half an inch in all directions
- a fantastical pompadour-like ‘do that can rise and expand to truly comical heights and widths
I’m also excited just to play around with the hair units to see what sort of hair sculptures I can make. Amazing hair experiments appear, for example, both on high fashion runways and on the heads of creative women of color, giving me many ideas. The integration of props adds whole new avenues of possibility. I love the way, for example, that Neftis’ Wiccanya Hair Pack includes trees and horns. Hmmm…
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Additions to the 1:6 scale fridge
At the suggestion of a Figurvore member, I added a local menu to the fridge. [I found it online and reduced it to 16.67%, then printed it out.] I also added a LOVERMONT sticker, since Vermonters really like to proclaim their attachment to their state.
Muggins…
…is already the most popular character in Zombieville. >^-_-^< Maybe I should take up Janna’s suggestion to do some Mugginsville side stories…
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Zombieville Chapter 1.3: “A Weird Place”
Figurvore prop challenge: I made a fridge!
This month’s Figurvore prop challenge was to construct something kitchen-related and to provide photos of dolls using the item. Originally I planned to make a popcorn popper, though I had no use for it, but I turned my mind instead to one of the gaps in my set collection that has long frustrated me: the lack of a 1:6 scale refrigerator. Sure, I’ve got a stove, a sink, a microwave, a coffee maker, a table and chairs, a toaster, a blender, cooking utensils, silverware, plates, bowls, a hutch, crockery, a colander, etc., etc., etc., but I wanted a fridge dammit!
Names for my eventual digital hairstyles
If all goes according to plan and I purchase PhilC’s Hair Designer and start generating my own digital hairstyles, I have decided that they will all be called by permutations of my name.
I don’t know if I still have it, but, in my youth, I collected variants of my name. I got well north of 60, I think, before I moved on to other pursuits. Some of my favorites include the following:
- Orszebet
- Lillibet
- Wiz [a former coworker’s nickname]
- Yelizaveta
- Ealasaid
- Isabel
- Ilsabeth
Special mention goes to Zibber, my brother’s name for me when he couldn’t pronounce Elizabeth. This once irritated me to no end, but now I find it hilarious.
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Avant-garde tentacular prostheses!!!!!
Thanks to melopoeia who sent me this link, I just now learned about Kaylene Kau’s prosthetic arm designed for people who have amputations below the elbow. Its tentacle-like design simplifies the usually complex design of manual prosthetics, resulting in an appendage that requires fewer parts and motors than most arms of its type. Though Kau conceptualized this prosthesis at least as far back as 2010, it’s news to me.
This is so cool! I definitely need to make one of these in 1:6 scale so that someone in Zombieville can use one!
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“Spastic” has NEVER been an “innocuous” term over here.
In one of Weird Al’s recent parodies, Word Crimes, about a prescriptivist’s rant against supposed language misuse, he sings:
Saw your blog post
It’s really fantastic
That was sarcastic
‘Cause you write like a spastic
When I heard this part of the song, my esteem for him immediately plummeted, as "spastic" is, in my world, a derogatory, dismissive term for a very energetic and/or clumsy and/or forgetful and/or fidgety and/or unintelligent person. It derives from "spastic" as a description for people, particularly those with cerebral palsy, because of their muscle spasms. Said spasms, which cause uncontrollable contractions and may cause involuntary movements, may cause a person’s limbs, head or core to shake. Speech may also be interrupted. People who didn’t know any better interpreted these spasm-induced movements as signs that disabled people were overly excitable, clumsy, forgetful, fidgety, uncoordinated, etc. It became a shorthand insult, which then itself was shortened to "spaz," a term most prevalent in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Let me tell you about muscle spasms, at least from my secondhand experience. My sister Jill, who has cerebral palsy, regularly experiences them. My ex-wife, who also had cerebral palsy, had them. Janna regularly has them as well. In all their cases, their muscle spasms manifest as uncontrollable twitching and jerking in the affected body parts. In all cases, the spasms cause them pain and sometimes keep them up at night. In none of their cases do their muscle spasms have any connection with their overall levels of energy, coordination, excitability, forgetfulness and/or fidgetiness. In none of their cases do their muscle spasms limit their brain functions. To take an adjective for disruptive, excruciating pain and transform it into a dismissive term for a silly person is a prime example of rank ableism.
This is why I object to Language Log’s discussion of Weird Al’s use of "spastic" and subsequent apology. Ben Zimmer, author of a post discussing the term, claims that "spaz" and "spastic" have "become innocuous playground slang in the U.S. but a grave insult in the U.K." He asserts that Weird Al apologized for using "spastic" primarily because it offended British listeners.
NO! You are wrong wrong wrongity wrong, Ben Zimmer. "Spaz" and "spastic" have always been derogatory and insulting because they transfer terms for disability into the realm of insult, thereby turning disabilities into insults. Weird Al should not have apologized because "spaz" is an insult over in the UK. He should have apologized because ableism is nasty and harmful in general the world over.
Anyway, even though he apologized for his ableism in Word Crimes, Weird Al’s ableism remains on display in his song Lame Claim to Fame. STOP USING "LAME" TO MEAN "PATHETIC" PEOPLE!
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Wig stands for Isabel
As the next ep of Zombieville will be set in Isabel’s bedroom, I needed to complete the interior decoration thereof. Isabel, because she dislikes her grey hair, shaves it short and wears a variety of meretricious wigs. In a natural extension of her interest in dolls, she has customized her wig stands by repainting them, renaming them and giving them personalities.
Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuz
I just found a cool new podcast, 99% Invisible, and kicked off my listening with the ep "Feet of Engineering," all about high-heeled shoes.
Zombieville Chapter 1.2: “Face to Face”
Isabel sees herself in the cemetery of her dreams.
Genius discovers studio umbrella lighting!
Well, I didn’t really discover it. I’ve always admired Robing over at Roville for her meticulously crafted interiors and her mastery of clear, even lighting. So finally I asked her what her lighting techniques were. She reported that she used overhead light + 2 inexpensive studio umbrella lights. Clearly I need to acquire some of these, even though I have very little studio space. I’ve been putting up with crappy lighting for as long as I’ve had a camera, and I’m really sick of uneven, washy-outty, dim, supersaturated, etc., etc., etc. shots.
Here is a complete two-light set that’s relatively cheap. I’m considering its purchase.
This tutorial on portrait lighting gives tips on best positions for the umbrella lights.
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Breaking news: Queen not as misogynist as other rock bands
I’m deeply saddened that I find this noteworthy, but I have to say that, in my albeit limited survey of Queen’s music, I have found remarkably little in the way of condescension, objectification and misogyny directed toward women in their songs. I’m still waiting in dread for the inevitable sexist stereotypes to crop up and drop my opinion of them, but so far they seem on a level with Men Without Hats. That is, they care less about slagging more than half the population and more about doing what they love: making music!
Take, for example, Queen’s Killer Queen. It’s a character sketch of a rich, powerful woman who has expensive tastes and an indomitable will. After an enumeration of her expensive preferences in company and cuisine, the lyrics describe her as "Dynamite with a laser beam / Guaranteed to blow your mind / Anytime" — i.e., she’s attractive and sexually powerful, but she doesn’t threaten, piss off or annoy the speaker. He calls her "dynamite," in the sense of "highly skilled at what she does," "sexy" and "explosively awesome." He wants her to blow his mind!
Even the verse in which she’s compared to a cat comes across as laudatory. While woman:cat similes tend to connote peevish competitiveness [cattiness] and sexual objectification [qua pussy cat], the simile here calls the woman "playful as a pussy cat." The verse describes how she pursues the speaker avidly, then suddenly stops, "temporarily out of gas." The speaker recognizes that she’s playing a game — "all out to get you" — but doesn’t think she’s a cocktease or playing hard to get. No, he goes along, happy to play with the woman. The song ends with an acknowledgment of the woman’s irresistible effect on the speaker ["Recommended at any price"], as well as listeners ["Wanna try? / You wanna try…"]. It’s very obvious that the song Killer Queen is sung as a tribute by a dude who desires, respects and perhaps even loves a woman for traits that other people would probably deride.
…People like, for example, the Rolling Stones. The Stones’ analogue to Killer Queen would have to be Stupid Girl, in which the singer sketches a character similar to the Killer Queen. The woman in Stupid Girl dresses expensively, values material goods ["…she digs for gold"], pursues men aggressively ["…she grabs and holds"], etc. The singer even trots out a feline simile: "She purrs like a pussy cat / Then turns round and hisses back." Heck, the Killer Queen and the Stupid Girl are probably the same person, just described from different points of view.
While the speaker in Killer Queen thinks that the woman is the best partner he’s had, the speaker in Stupid Girl absolutely loathes the woman. It’s right there in the title of the song! Finally, the comparison of the woman to "a lady-in-waiting to a virgin queen" implies that she’s close to power, but actually lacking it, really just a glorified servant. Furthermore, the virginity of the queen in the simile passes by association onto the woman, connoting sexual inexperience, coldness and inaccessibility. The speaker clearly can’t stand the fact that he desires this woman, so he projects all his hostility onto her and vilifies her for being interested in people other than himself. [Gee, I wonder why? He’s such a catch! :p ]
In my imagination, this is how the story goes: There’s a young woman — let’s say her name is Regina 😉 — born into wealth and power. She’s neither particularly good nor particularly bad, neither particularly selfish nor unselfish, just a person of average character. She really enjoys her material privileges, though. She knows that her wealth and attractiveness give her a certain license, so she exploits this in her active, assertive search for romantic and sexual partners. She always has the flashiest and latest and best and most expensive of everything, and she carefully, deliberately cultivates her status as trendsetter. She holds meetings with her staff, for example, where they go over long-range ramifications of, say, choosing vegetarianism. For another example, she has a panel of people who critique every outfit she wears, looking not only for high quality, coordination, fashionability, originality and daring, but also for rip-offs, appropriation, offensiveness, copyright infringement, etc. Regina has a reputation for being somewhat mysterious and reclusive, but this is mostly because she spends so much time analyzing every more in private before she makes it in public.
Regina’s work pays off. People wear what she wears, eat what she eats, travel where she travels, support the causes she supports, While not an actor or singer or model or fashion designer or hereditary titled person, Regina hangs out with all the coolest of all these groups, or, more precisely, they seem to hang out with her because they want her awesomeness by association. In short, she has become one of the most powerful people in the country. As a style icon, she has enormous influence to shape the most basic aspects of people’s lives, from the contents of their closets to their moral considerations. Regina shamelessly enjoys this power.
There are two people — let’s call them Freddie and Mick 😉 — who represent the divergent opinions that the public has about Regina. Freddie recognizes Regina’s achievements. He understands that people in Regina’s position are neither inherently sexy nor glamorous and that Regina has carefully crafted the role of style icon for herself. He realizes that the creation and maintenance of such a status requires a lot of time, money and energy, and he’s impressed by her ambition, acumen, intelligence and hard work. He notes that, while she does not have a traditionally defined profession, she has turned "style icon" into her own demanding, full-time job. And, of course, like many people, Freddie feels the effects of Regina’s glamour. Her quick movement through dating/bed partners just proves to him that she’s admirably lusty, playful, fun-loving, probably "dynamite" 😀 in the sack and exhausting to anyone she moves on from. He lusts after her; he has a huge crush on her; he thinks she’s amazing and really enjoys their friends with benefits hook-ups. If anything, he has a little hero worship going on that keeps him from seeing Regina as an imperfect person, like him.
On the other hand, Mick contemns Regina as an airhead heiress who does nothing and is famous for being famous. In his eyes, she wastes her fortune on trivial tokens of femininity, like clothes and cosmetics. Her assertive pursuit of sexual and romantic partners makes him think that she’s a slutty whore…and also a frigid b***h because she declined to date him after having sex one night. He hates her because she’s a woman who has the temerity to be happy without him in her life. It goes without saying that Mick is, of course, a miserable, wretched excuse for a human being. :p
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Pelvic thrusts, silly hats and general hamming up
Freddie Mercury and Queen doing Another One Bites the Dust. I love Freddie Mercury. He has just such an amazing amount of irrepressible JOY in his performances. He moves with such grace and poise and control — everything he does on stage is dancing!
Goofin’ off with We Are the Champions. So caught up that he starts air guitaring with the mike stand again. ^_^
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Nirvana covers The Man Who Sold The World
That song always gives me chills, forever and ever, and it gives me further chills to hear Nirvana cover it.
And here’s DB himself, covering it acoustically, probably during the Earthling years [aka The Time of the Nasty Nasty Soul Spot].
He covered it live at the Beeb a few years later in 2000 [the Neo-Scrawny Years] with that unforgettable Bowie smile.
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Anatomy of a set: The Cemetery of Her Dreams
I had a few inquiries on MWD about the cemetery set for the latest episode of Zombieville, so below I’ve collected some notes and photos that I created during its creation.
Oh look — Weird Al made a parody about my signature style!
The clothes, not the rude behaviors. 😀
See here.
All of those outfits are RAD!
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Even more of my favorite digital content creators
Again, in no particular order.
- maclean. In a commercial field dominated by skimpy clothing and pseudomedieval architecture, maclean concentrates on utilitarian basics. His Home One series of models, for example, contains an apartment interior, a house interior and various rooms. I recently purchased the Home One Bathroom and Home One Kitchen. They both reflect the bourgeois residential interiors that I regularly encounter and feature everything from the basic fixtures and appliances to the little details such as silverware and toothpaste. All that for $12.95 a set! How can you go wrong?
- petipet. I first encountered his creations in the form of Resort Lagoon, a houseboat/raft offered as a Platinum Club freebie sometime in March. I found it so unusual, opulent and entertaining that I wrote an entire mini universe story around it [which my computer then ate grrrrrrr!]. I then discovered his sleek neo-retro vehicles like Bus Maxis and Bus
Totally Not Postwar GreyhoundPegasus, and I was hooked.
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The recast “debate” wears on.
The topic of recast BJDs continues to provoke heated discussion; witness the entire Tumblr devoted to pro- and anti-recast people slagging each other under the cloak of anonymity. The creativity with which pro-recast persons justify their unfair and illegal actions boggles the mind.
Zombieville Chapter 1.1: “The Cemetery of Her Dreams”
Zombieville is back with Chapter 1.1!!!
Continue reading Zombieville Chapter 1.1: “The Cemetery of Her Dreams”
Lauren the octopus therianthrope
Years after attempting my first octopus therianthrope in Daz, I have made another one. Meet Lauren, a minor character in the mini universe. She last showed up conducting the orchestra at the Christmas party. I don’t know very much about her except that she’s a cheerful extrovert, very sweet-tempered and outgoing. Pretty sure she’s trans too.
Continue reading Lauren the octopus therianthrope
Animated mood icon sets…
[Remember those?] Anyway, they never capture the subtleties of human face-making the way that indiscriminate use of animated GIFs can. Today, for your viewing delectation, here’s a completely decontextualized GIF of Frank giving exactly zero craps about your big song and dance number:
"I think I left my curling iron on…"
THAT MOUTH!!!!!
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Yamarrah’s enhanced faceup
Because it’s been too hot to go outside and do her torso/abdomen mods, I have stayed inside and brightened Yamarrah’s faceup. What’s shown below is pretty much done; I just need to even out the color on her tongue and regloss it.
I’m pretty sure she’s trying to decide her favorite creemee flavor: either vanilla/chocolate swirl or black raspberry. ^_^
Tonsil Hockey Deux returns…
Melface mentioned at the last CCDC meetup that she was getting an IOS 80cm body with a custom head on it. This news perked up my ears because IOS is the maker of Infernale, aka Tonsil Hockey Part Two, aka Put A Sock In It [Or Maybe A Ball Gag], a wonderful vampiric headsculpt with squinty eyes, open mouth and not one, but two [yes two!!!] tongues.
With Melface’s incoming IOS hybrid in mind, as well as my current open-mouthed, tongue-showing doll, Yamarrah, being modded, I naturally turn my thoughts to Tonsil Hockey Deux. I still want that headsculpt, and I really, really, really want to make a kinky vampire with a ball gag in her mouth. In fact, my desire has rekindled to the point where I put up a Wanted to Buy thread on DOA, hoping that someone will sell me an Infernale head. Well, I can dream, right? :p
I really like dolls with closed eyes, open mouths, protruding tongues and pointy teefs. My ideal BJD headsculpt would therefore be a vampire with closed eyes, magnetic swappable tongues and a big, lopsided, smirky grin.
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3D freebies: Stripey for Dawn’s Glam Ponytail
Stripey for Dawn’s Glam Ponytail
Daz Studio only
Tested only in Daz Studio Pro 4.6 64 bit.
Based on my experiments with putting stripes in hair, this is a trio of material presets for the Glam Ponytail for HiveWire3D’s Dawn figure.
After installation, you will find Stripey material settings in My Library > People > Dawn > Hair > Glam Ponytail > Materials > ModernWizard > Stripey.
This freebie uses a modified seamless hair texture tile, created by MSTene, available at Renderosity.
Use for whatever purposes you like, commercial or non-commercial. Just don’t repackage and call your own. Have fun!
You can see my digital artwork, as well as my other creative pursuits, at my blog:
http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org
If you do use any of my freebies in your work, drop me a line [ModernWizard at the Daz boards and ShareCG, ModernWiz on Renderosity], as I’d love to see what you make. Thank you.
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Yamarrah now has a functional upper torso!
After languishing in pieces for over half a year, Yamarrah now has a functional upper torso!!! Today I took her new torso [specially cast by Mirodoll to match her Iplehouse realskin head] and modded it to accept her original Domuya arms. I filled in the large shoulder sockets with some Aves Apoxie Sculpt so that they would more snugly accommodate her shoulder balls, which were on the small side. I managed a snug fit by layering Aves Apoxie Sculpt on the inside of each socket and then, after letting it stiffen for about 45 minutes, rolling the shoulder ball around in the Apoxie Sculpt to create a new socket, perfectly shaped for her shoulder ball.Continue reading Yamarrah now has a functional upper torso!
Flower in the window
Flower came to work a few weeks ago to take advantage of the wonderful natural light there. Here he is in the window. I tried to frame shots so that they could include him, as well as the flourishing trees and Lake Champlain, but he wanted the camera to focus on him alone.
Continue reading Flower in the window
Recent significant developments in the digital realm!
In no particular order:
- Underwear. Using Daz’ Map Transfer Utility, I down-converted my standard texture from V5 to V4, then stuck some of Lululee’s Lacey [sic] Lingerie on various parts so my digital dolls are always wearing underwear, especially under short skirts. Happily I have learned that multiple UV sets can coexist on a single figure, thus allowing me to maintain the V5 UVs for Jareth’s makeup, for example, but use the V4 UVs to give him some underwear. Thank God…I hate it when they go commando. :p
- Lighting. I’m slowly figuring out how to light my scenes to give them more realism and sense of dimension. I refuse, however, to do shadows, as they take too damn long. So my people look like they’re hovering above the floor, but at least they don’t look like paper dolls anymore.
- Finally some good basics. LilFlame, one of my preferred vendors of kinky stuff, is having a 40% off sale at Renderotica, which I am not linking to because I dislike their landing page. I took advantage of it to purchase the cuffs, collar and corset shown below.
- Advances in hair texturing. I figured out how to put stripes and patterns in hair! Mwah hah hah hah!
Just to illustrate my stupendous accomplishments, here’s Jareth, being a gleeful dork as usual. ^_^Continue reading Recent significant developments in the digital realm!
I need some good leather shaders.
The ones I currently use [because they’re free] don’t have any texture, bump or displacement maps. I also think they’re too shiny. I’d really like a set that includes polished and unpolished, new and creased, rawhide, etc., etc.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1652564.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
3D freebies: Loud Fabrics 01 Shaders Updated with Bump Maps and Tiling Utilities for Daz Studio
3D freebies: Loud Fabrics 01 Shaders Updated with Bump Maps and Tiling Utilities for Daz Studio published on Read more posts by the author of 3D freebies: Loud Fabrics 01 Shaders Updated with Bump Maps and Tiling Utilities for Daz Studio, ModernWizardNo Comments on 3D freebies: Loud Fabrics 01 Shaders Updated with Bump Maps and Tiling Utilities for Daz Studio
Loud Fabrics 01 Shaders Updated with Bump Maps and Tiling Utils for Daz Studio
Daz Studio only
Tested only in Daz Studio Pro 4.6 64 bit.
Loud Fabrics 01 gets better! In this update, there are 16 shader presets for seamless, tiled, boldly printed fabrics with eye-catching patterns: Bluish Blooms 01, Bluish Blooms 02, Broadway Dots 01, Broadway Dots 02, Bubble Yum 01, Bubble Yum 02, Electric Blue Honeycomb, Flaming Hearts 01, Flaming Hearts 02, Green Circles on Yellow, Green Circles Inverted, Little Red Bows, Magenta and Lime Dots 01, magenta and Lime Dots 02, Pink and Purple and Pink Pinwheels. Most patterns are replicated from Loud Fabrics 01, but there are a few new ones and variations.
Unlike the original Loud Fabrics 01, these shaders feature bump maps. To make these shaders even easier to play with, I have included a vast array of tiling presets, all the way from 0.25×0.25 to 50.0×50.0. These presets only affect horizontal and vertical tiling, so you can use them on any DS shaders, not just the Loud Fabrics series.
An improvement on Loud Fabrics 01 [the original], Loud Fabrics 01 Updated features bump maps!
These patterns were all generated and tweaked in PatternCooler, Harvey Rayner’s awesome free Web-based pattern-generating Web site:
http://www.patterncooler.com/index.php
Use for whatever purposes you like, commercial or non-commercial. Just don’t repackage and call your own. Have fun!
You can see my digital artwork, as well as my other creative pursuits, at my blog:
http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org
If you do use any of my freebies in your work, drop me a line [ModernWizard at the Daz boards and ShareCG, ModernWiz on Renderosity], as I’d love to see what you make. Thank you.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1660407.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Warehouse 13 closes with a lackluster season 5.
This truncated set of 6 eps provided no particular closure, no interesting character development and nothing particularly interesting. The overall flaccidity of the 6 eps just highlighted the show’s problematic aspects even more excruciatingly.
In no particular order, the problems were:
- Steve. The show never did this character justice. He had great potential, especially as someone with the power of discerning whether people were telling the truth, but the show never really knew what to do with him. Without a tortured past full of secrets like the other agents [or at least not enough of the past for a multi-ep exploration], Steve had no grounding, no motivation, no hook. He also never really had anything to do except for to be Claudia’s best friend, to die, to be resurrected and to keep the home fires burning while everyone else ran away on adventures. He was a thoroughly dull and objectified damsel in distress type. I feel like the writers identified him by a cluster of traits — former ATF agent, Buddhist, gay, human lie detector — and just had him mention those identities occasionally in lieu of developing an actual personality.
- While we’re on the subject again, let’s bring up homophobia, one of the show’s perennial failings. In 6.4, Savage Seduction, Claudia and Steve investigate a frat where the brothers are using an artifact to split themselves into two parts: studiers and partiers. Claudia and Steve’s quest started promisingly with Claudia grumbling about "kids these days" [even though she was the age of the students] and Steve’s revelation that he had been part of a nerd fraternity with "book group and holiday a cappella." Then Steve got a hold of the artifact and turned into two Steves, one of which was usual Steve and the other of which was a painfully swishy stereotype. Where did that come from? Steve had never shown any indication of harboring painfully swishy stereotypes. It could have been interesting if those were his long-buried fears about what he might have to be when he found out he was gay, but nah — the show just played swishy Steve for laughs. Claudia also made a passing remark that she liked swishy Steve "a little bit more" than usual Steve, which was indicative of the show’s whole treatment of Steve’s sexuality: it was only ever developed jokingly, with reference to stereotypes, even if Steve was bringing them up to say that he differed from them. The show could not take him as a gay guy seriously and invested way too much prurient energy into his sexuality.
- Speaking of sexuality, the show also capitulated to cultural pressures of heteronormativity. After five seasons of him being annoyed at her exactitude and her being annoyed at his immaturity, Pete and Myka realized that they loved each other. Well, that was pretty obvious. But why did they have to end up as a romantic couple? They may have loved each other and worked well together, but they were not characterologically compatible, so why did the show hook them up? Boring, boring, boring.
- Furthermore, racism featured prominently in Warehouse 13’s final season. It was like they crammed all the racism that they hadn’t gotten to into a single truncated set of 6 eps. There were the gratuitous "g***y" references with the fortune tellers in the Ren Faire ep. There was the trash heap of "fiery Latino" stereotypes in the telenovela ep. Then, in the last ep, Leena, who was bumped off for no reason at the end of season 4, was given a flashback scene in which she foresaw her own death in the Warehouse and then, when Mrs. Frederic said that she would try to prevent it, said to her, "But it’s okay." No, you stinkin’ show — do not try to retroactively sell me on the useless death of one of the show’s two main characters of color. I won’t buy it.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1652430.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Yup, I think he’s pretty much done.
Usually I’m not a fan of green in faceups, preferring pink, magenta, red, orange, yellow and black, but I must say that Flower is rockin’ the green here. Since the last picture earlier this evening, I progressed the freckles further down his torso and also onto the tops of his shoulders. I also started sealing his mouth with high-gloss varnish and added the style of eye makeup that’s been my signature since the very first faceup I ever did on Sardonix 1.0. Of the BJDs who bug me, Sardonix, Mellifer, Timonium, Yamarrah and now Flower have the upswept eyeliner and the down-slanting eyebrows.
Anyway, behold Flower the Unsubtle! What a change! I always knew he was fabulous…
Flower and the unexpected freckles!
Flower has languished, paintless, since he finished playing Mackenzie in Me and My Muses, but I have finally been giving him a new faceup recently. Continue reading Flower and the unexpected freckles!
Chittenden County Vermont Doll Club meetup: 06/14/2014
Nine people and God knows how many dolls attended last Saturday’s get-together. For the very first time, other types of dolls outnumbered the BJDs! Monster Highs represented very well, thanks to Shannon. Continue reading Chittenden County Vermont Doll Club meetup: 06/14/2014
More of my favorite digital content creators
In no particular order.
- Grey Cloud Design. She specializes in meticulously sculpted interiors with fabulously done drapery and luscious textures. The Montespan Interior Scene got me hooked on her stuff, and I look forward to getting the Montespan Bedroom and the Classic Curtains Set 1.
- Richabri. He makes a variety of everyday sets — laundromat, parking lot, shooting range, hot tub, photo studio — both detailed and affordable. I especially dig the Roadside Diner. He also specializes in kinky stuff — again, simple, well-made and affordable.
- Alfaseed. Known in the past as Awful Soul or Aery Soul, these vendors do fantasy skimpwear par excellence. All of their pieces feature sculpted wrinkles, drapery and other details that give them a dynamic feel, as do the fantastical movement morphs included in most flowy pieces. Furthermore, most Alfaseed pieces play well with pieces from other Alfaseed sets. I don’t have any Alfaseed clothes [yet — waiting for Arkham Angel to go on sale, hah hah hah], but I use a very early release of theirs, New Age Room, a lot as a simple and elegant set.
- AprilYSH. The hair goddess! Arguably the best and most talented creator of Daz/Poser hair, she provides highly detailed and asymmetrically sculpted meshes with easily customizable textures. Many of her models include a hair model and some accessory, like Calais Hair and Ruff 2, which contains a hair model, a ruff, a custom character morph and a custom character texture. Another favorite, Deeta Hair 2, comes with a hair model, a veil and a fascinator.
- Adzan. Creator of densely sculpted, well-textured clothes for Hiro 3 and David 3, loaded with movement and style morphs to add realism. All the meshes convert superbly for use on other figures, even G2F [my latest base model]. Pretty much everyone in my runtime has worn the jeans and sneakers from Small Sins at one time or another.
- PhilC. Known primarily for his ancillary utllities such as Wardrobe Wizard, which I have found indispensable for converting clothes so that I can dress who I want in what I want.
- Capsces Digital Ink. The goddess of morphing! Though she defaults to a toony style, the detailed head and body morphs that she creates for many Daz humanoid figures greatly enhance their customizability.
Maybe more later…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1651318.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
This is SO COOL.
Vanishing Point recently released a standalone therianthropic figure, SquidMan, clearly influenced by Davy Jones from Priates of the Caribbean 5000. I just love it when people take standard ideas and head them off into little-used aesthetic regions.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1651025.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Favorite digital content creators
In no particular order.
- SickleYield and Fuseling. I dig her their collaborative products [Burlap Dolly and Ball Joint Doll for G2F], as well as SY’s always well-sculpted everyday essentials. Heck, she’s the only person who offers Six Sickle Sandals 2, which includes close-toed webbing sandals of the type I regularly wear. I also like SY’s sense of humor; she has a freebie outfit for G1 called Impractical Rogue, for example, providing equal skimpwear time for the dudes as well as the gals. And there will always be a special place in my
heartruntime for FSL’s Latex and Rubber shaders. - Traveler. A true Renaissance man over at Runtime DNA, Traveler does bugs and plants with equal finesse. He also has a fetishy Technophilia series, for all your robotic, cyborg and gasmask-related needs. The Breathless package, which allows one to build one’s own gasmask — ventilators and goggles and helmets and tubes and valves, oh my! — is a useful and easy-to-use set offering hours of recombinatorial fun. No links because RDNA is temporarily offline. 🙁
- WillDupree and MAB. These two team up on a variety of therianthropes. I started off with Catgirl for V4/A4 just because it was on deep discount several years ago, and most recently got Popobawa for G1 for the bat wings!
- Stonemason. A specialist in urban and sci-fi environments, Stonemason makes urban decay look beautiful. I only have some of his cheapest items, such as The Tomb and Fairy Tale Collection Tower Interior, but I lust after Abandoned Interiors Warehouse, for example.
More later.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1650783.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Stuff I use all the freakin’ time in Daz
Just for entertainment, here’s a list of some of the digital models and resources that I regularly rely on in my art:
- Daz Studio 4.6 Pro. The main program.
- SmithMicro Poser 10. An ancillary, used primarily for Wardrobe Wizard.
- PhilC’s Wardrobe Wizard. A clothing conversion utility.
- Adobe PhotoShop Elements 9. The main program for postwork.
- Daz Genesis 2 Female [base comes with Daz 4.6]. The base figure for everyone.
- Daz Bree for V5 [comes with Victoria 5]. A texture set for me, Jareth and Jennifer.
- rebelmommy and shellyw’s RBSD V4 Merchantbase. For the eyes.
- Dimension3D’s GenX2. For porting morphs from gen 3, 4, 5 and 6 models all to the same G2F base.
- Daz V3 and M3 Shapes for Genesis, as well as Daz A3 and H3 Shapes for Genesis. For autofitting gen 3 clothes to G2F.
- MallenLane’s Victoria 4 for G2F. For autofitting V4 clothes to G2F, especially skirts and dresses, and using V4 skins on G2F.
- Capsces’ Morphia for V4 and Brom for M3. Morphs I have ported with GenX2.
Tune in later when I start figuring out the fun stuff, like what clothes I use most often.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1650457.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Jareth the goof, or, Sometimes the best things in life are free!
I’ve finally approximated something close to Jareth’s usual expression, which is about one-third playful, one-third fabulous and one-third off-the-wall. Hey, I even threw some lights in there! You don’t know how much of an accomplishment it is to finally have him able to stick out his tongue.
Continue reading Jareth the goof, or, Sometimes the best things in life are free!
I really like the Life in the Dreamhouse Web series…
…with Barbie and all her friends because, for the most part, it manages to balance light humor at no one’s expense with slapstick and clever in-jokes. Midge as snorting, safety-obsessed introvert who talks like the 1950s also cracks me up — and she’s so cute when she appears in Smidge of Midge in greyscale!
I also really like Ken, who ultimately ends up being portrayed as just another character who happens to be Barbie’s boyfriend, rather than the major plot motor and deus ex machina of the series. He’s goofy and utterly devoted to Barbie [“Barbie sense…tingling…”] and supremely confident enough in his masculinity to invent a super-sophisticated closet for all his girlfriend’s clothes. In other words, rather than having gay panic over activities often coded as queer, Ken does IT, back-end programming for the Super Style Squad [actually saying, “Beep boop bop,” with Skipper as they hit buttons ^_^ ]. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see a cartoon where all the characters, male and female, take fashion, style, clothing, etc., etc., etc., seriously, and no one shits on it for being trivially feminine. That’s actually kind of revolutionary.
Life in the Dreamhouse would be even better if it ditched its racism and ableism. For example:
- The cast needs more POC in significant speaking roles besides Nikki.
- While we’re discussing Nikki, she needs to develop a modicum of personality beyond Sassy Black Friend. For God’s sake, she even does the head jerks and vocal fry so routinely associated with this stereotype. Everyone else has some interest or trait to differentiate them [Teresa’s monkey, Midge’s macrame, Summer’s high energy, Skipper’s use of gadgets, Ryan’s really bad songs], but Nikki has nothing.
- Furthermore, the show needs to stop using Afros as a visual shorthand for disastrous hairdos. When all characters have shiny, sleek, straight hair and curly, kinky, gravity-defying clouds of natural locks are depicted as the ridiculous punchlines to jokes, people with such curly, kinky hair are derided by extension.
- The ableism needs to go too. Any use of “lame” as an adjective meaning “bad quality, boring, uninteresting, etc.” should be scratched from the script pronto. Ditto for any appearance of “crazy” for “wild, unusual, strange, exciting” or “cray cray” for same. Just cut it out.
- In terms of additions, I think that Life in the Dreamhouse would be greatly improved by the appearance of Becky, a photographer friend of Barbie who uses a wheelchair. I mean, c’mon — if they can devote the air time to a running gag on the inadequate single elevator in the Dreamhouse, surely they can devote an episode to its upgrade and Barbie and Becky’s happiness when Becky can finally get to the second floor to see her super-awesome closet, right?
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1649981.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Zombieville Prologue 5: “Isabel and the King of Toxic Waste”
Isabel finally learns her interlocutor’s name and his problem with the world.
Continue reading Zombieville Prologue 5: “Isabel and the King of Toxic Waste”
3D freebies: Loud Fabrics 03 Shaders for Daz Studio
Loud Fabrics 03 Shaders for Daz Studio
Daz Studio only
Tested only in Daz Studio Pro 4.6 64 bit.
This is a set of 40 shader presets featuring seamless, tiled, boldly printed fabrics with eye-catching patterns: Blue Bubbles, Blue Maze, Cool Discs 01, Cool Discs 02, Cubes&Curves 01, Cubes&Curves 02, Cubes&Curves 03, Green Bubbles, Green Diamonds, Magenta Tropics, Pastel Diamonds, Pastel Squares, Pink Maze, Pink Swirlies 01, Pink Swirlies 02, Purple Bubbles, Purple Maze, Purple Squares 01, Purple Squares 02 and Purple Tropics. There are 20 different patterns, each in large and small tiling versions, for a total of 40 brain-breakingly brain shades!
An improvement on Loud Fabrics 01, Loud Fabrics 03 features bump maps!
These patterns were all generated and tweaked in PatternCooler, Harvey Rayner’s awesome free Web-based pattern-generating Web site:
http://www.patterncooler.com/index.php
Use for whatever purposes you like, commercial or non-commercial. Just don’t repackage and call your own. Have fun!
You can see my digital artwork, as well as my other creative pursuits, at my blog:
http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org
If you do use any of my freebies in your work, drop me a line [ModernWizard at the Daz boards and ShareCG, ModernWiz on Renderosity], as I’d love to see what you make. Thank you.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1660149.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Zombieville Prologue 4: “Will Work for Brains”
Isabel learns that it’s a difficult proposition to find brains to eat, especially if you have to beg. Continue reading Zombieville Prologue 4: “Will Work for Brains”
If only putting on real makeup were this easy…
…then I’d be about as happy as Jareth is now.
Continue reading If only putting on real makeup were this easy…
3D freebies: Loud Fabrics 02 Shaders for Daz Studio
Loud Fabrics 02 Shaders for Daz Studio
Daz Studio only
Tested only in Daz Studio Pro 4.6 64 bit.
This is a set of 30 shader presets featuring seamless, tiled, boldly printed fabrics with eye-catching patterns: Cool Daisies, Cool DNA, Modern Art 01, Modern Art 02, Modern Art 03, Orange Vortices, Pink Vortices, Primary Daisies, Purple Cubes, Purple Targets, Purple TVs, Trippy Triangles 01, Trippy Triangles 02, Warm DNA, Yellow Confetti and Yellow Vortices. There are 15 different patterns, each in large and small tiling versions, for a total of 30 brain-breakingly brain shades!
An improvement on Loud Fabrics 01, Loud Fabrics 02 features bump maps!
These patterns were all generated and tweaked in PatternCooler, Harvey Rayner’s awesome free Web-based pattern-generating Web site:
http://www.patterncooler.com/index.php
Use for whatever purposes you like, commercial or non-commercial. Just don’t repackage and call your own. Have fun!
You can see my digital artwork, as well as my other creative pursuits, at my blog:
http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org
If you do use any of my freebies in your work, drop me a line [ModernWizard at the Daz boards and ShareCG, ModernWiz on Renderosity], as I’d love to see what you make. Thank you.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1659738.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Now I want hamburgers.
Exnem over at Renderosity makes the most realistic and versatile digital food I’ve seen. Witness the Amazing Super Burger Pack, which, with a 55% off [!] sale + my Render Rewards, set me back a whopping $3.53. Cleverly done and beautifully sculpted and textured, this is a wonderful product. And now I want a burger.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1648992.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Daz documentation STINKS.
Every day I learn how to do something new in Daz Studio, but no thanks to the rudimentary documentation supplied on the Web site. Daz Studio Pro 4.6 contains some very useful and powerful tools and little to no instruction on how to use them. Thus most of the cool features are hiding, unused, in the menus.
Today, for example, I learned that Daz can convert textures between UV sets. In plain English, this means that textures made for one character model can be converted to another character model. This is great ’cause I still use Victoria 4 textures for my main characters, even though my base figure for everybody is G2F [Genesis 2 Female, who is 2 generations newer than V4]. I also have some M4 [Michael 4] and K4 [Kids 4] textures that cooperated automatically with G1 [Genesis 1, 1 generation removed from V4 and friends], but which will not automatically cooperate with G2F. I should be able to convert them over to either G2F UVs or V5 UVs, which G2F can read automatically.
I also need to see if I can convert Jareth’s texture from V4 to V5 so I can use draagonstorm’s Instant Rainbow of Makeup, which is a hell of a lot easier than making makeup in Elements and manually applying it.
Funny how my desire to accurately render Jareth drives my adoption of new technology in the doll and digital worlds… :p
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1648837.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Zombieville Prologue 3: “The Goth and the Zombie”
Isabel Forrest meets a homeless zombie PWS.
Continue reading Zombieville Prologue 3: “The Goth and the Zombie”
Degendering romantic behavior in Queen songs
I’ve been listening to Classic Queen on heavy rotation for the past few days. After grossing out about my favorite songs with stalking in them, I am pleased to note that, at least on this album, Queen avoids that trope. In fact, their lyrics even bend the gendered norms in some cases, describing romantic experiences of one gender in terms usually reserved for another.
Example 1: One Year of Love. The singer says, “It’s always a rainy day without you / I’m a prisoner of love inside you / I’m falling apart all around you / And all I can do is surrender to your love.” Assuming that this is a man singing to a woman [hooray for heteronormativity -_- ], this is very unusual language for the masculine narrator. The typical masculine experience of love involves pursuit, penetration and conquering. The singer, however, describes imprisonment, dissolution and submission — traits much more commonly associated with the feminine experience of love.
Example 2: Tie Your Mother Down. At the end of the song, after urging the listener to get her family members out of the way so that she and the singer can screw, the singer says, “Give me all your love tonight / Give me every inch of your love.” In the vast majority of rock songs sung by dudes, if there’s “love” with any dimensions associated, it just means “penis.” [See Not Fade Away by Buddy Holly: “My love’s penis is bigger than a Cadillac / I try to show it, but you drive me back.” Just stop stalking her already!] Therefore the attribution of a quantified love to the singer’s addressee [presumed female] is unusual. The feminine action of loving is described in more masculine terms. I have no grand conclusion, especially not based on these two examples, but they sure make me like Queen even more!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1648248.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Stop singing about stalking!
I realize that a bunch of songs by my favorite artists are about stalking. For example, Love Is Strong by the Rolling Stones. "A glimpse of you / Is all it took / A stranger’s glance / It got me hooked…" Mick Jagger sings, then detailing how he follows the woman for vast distances. For another example, Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran. "Burn through the ground / Break from the crowd / I’m on the hunt; I’m after you…" Duran Duran sings. In the second example, the man is literally chasing the woman, trying to run her down. She’s trying to escape, probably in fear for her life, if not her safety, and it’s a poppy, upbeat New Wave hit!
Stalking songs disturb me differently than domestic violence songs [e.g., the Rolling Stones’ Under My Thumb or There She Goes by the Velvet Underground]. In the domestic violence songs I listen to, the abuse is framed as part of a dysfunctional relationship. Somehow this lets me critique it more effectively. In stalking songs, though, the abuse appears as an acceptable behavior in the context of a two-way, loving relationship. This is false on two counts because a) it’s an unacceptable behavior in any context and b) there’s no two-way, much less loving, relationship in the stalking songs. It’s an entirely imaginary relationship based on misogynist objectification. The singers of stalking songs seem so wrapped up in their own little worlds that they are more impervious to critique.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1647926.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
One expression changes everything.
Here’s Jareth. On the left, usual wear. On the right, draggin’ it up. Same person, same pose. All that differs, beyond outfit, hair and makeup, is the expression. But what a difference!
Continue reading One expression changes everything.
Zombieville Prologue 2: “The Goth vs. the Public”
Isabel Forrest, warrior against bigotry and inaccuracy everywhere, takes on anti-zombie media and passersby.
Continue reading Zombieville Prologue 2: “The Goth vs. the Public”
The perfect silly cyborg set for Dawn!
I downloaded Hivewire3D’s Dawn because she was free and I wanted her odd bouffant/ponytail hair. I didn’t play much with the figure and quickly left her for G1 and eventually G2F, now my preferred base. For BlackRain and SixthSense’s new RuntimeDNA release, B.L.U. XR-512, however, I would either reinstall Dawn or just invest in EvilInnocence’s CrossDresser to convert it to V4 and then autofit to G2F. I think I should just spring for CrossDresser — free base program, $9.97 license to convert from any supported figure to V4 — because it might crunch some clothes better than Wardrobe Wizard.
I probably need a tag for "robots" at this point…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1647129.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
3-D printed 1:6 scale crutches: education
I just signed up to attend a free orientation at Blu-Bin tomorrow, which will give me the necessary information about their policies, parameters and products! After reading a mediocre Meetup.com review, I’m not expecting miracles, but at least I should come away knowing what file types Blu-Bin accepts, the different properties of their printed plastic, how they scale models correctly and the general cost of items.
I just got a few more ideas for things to make besides forearm crutches:
- single-footed canes
- four-footed canes
- white canes [for visually impaired people]
- below-the-knee prostheses
- below-the-elbow prostheses
I would really like to create one of the old-fashioned below-the-elbow prostheses with a functional forked hook, but that would require finding a hook. A below-the-knee prosthesis would probably be easier, since it wouldn’t be articulated at the end.
The possibilities are exciting!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1646914.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
New faceups for fairies
Decided last night to take the colors from Flower’s skirt and use them as a palette for his new faceup. Pink! Magenta! Possibly some reddish purple! With accents in lime green [color of his eyes]! I find the pink/purple/lime combination a wonderful one. I may add some swirly viny lines too…
Also decided last night that Polly’s faceup will feature predominantly turquoise, with accents in white and navy blue. There will also be a lot of dots, for example, forming her eyebrows and maybe coming up and out like bubbles from the outer edges of her eyes.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1646711.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Leg-o’-mutton sleeves! Feathered cape! Dramatic swoopy skirts!
The new Dragon Keeper for V4 outfit hits all my aesthetic buttons. Well, except for pinkness and sparklitude, but I can add those. The feathered cape looks like the larger sibling of AprilYSH’s Calais Ruff, seen below looking fabulous on my standard model:
Continue reading Leg-o’-mutton sleeves! Feathered cape! Dramatic swoopy skirts!
3-D printed 1:6 scale crutches: measuring angles
I decided to make forearm crutches for Brandeis because her cane ain’t the appropriate height. Also, as it’s very lightweight, it falls over and does not bear weight.
First, I acquired a protractor from Wikipedia. I then acquired a representative photo of a forearm crutch in profile. Then I overlaid the protractor on the picture of the crutch to determine the major angles involved in its construction.
Continue reading 3-D printed 1:6 scale crutches: measuring angles
Custom 3-D printed 1:6 scale forearm crutches?
Andrea linked me to an auction that included a pair of Power Team forearm crutches. I thought I might bid on it, but it turns out that the shipping alone would be $20.00. :p I really want more 1:6 scale mobility aids, but that price is a little steep.
This morning I realized that I have a knowledge of what actual crutches look like, a 3-D modeling program and a local 3-D printing shop, Blu-Bin. I can make my own crutches!
Here’s my plan: I’ll use the modeling app to create the crutches themselves, with their specific -15 degree bends at the top and their handrests at the appropriate position. The crutches will be longer at both ends than necessary so that I can cut them to fit the various heights of my dolls. The forearm cuffs I will make separately out of wire, ribbon or some flexible material and then glue on later.
This project requires no precise, symmetrical bending of wire or steel rods, as my early iterations of the walker did. I only need to do basic 3-D modeling with some cylinder primitives, then hack and glue. I’m an expert manipulator of primitives, rotary tools and glue guns, so I think that this project will probably be simpler than the walker.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1645971.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Little updates on little people: Isabel, Polly and Muggins
This weekend I added a death’s head to Isabel’s bag, which becomes a plot point later in the prologue. I just printed out this design [a vector of a design element, used with permission from Gravestone Artwear] on a color printer, glued it to another sheet of paper to give it more rigidity, then used Mod Podge to attach it to the flap of the bag. Not bad for an eminently lazy execution.
Continue reading Little updates on little people: Isabel, Polly and Muggins
Just when I’m on a human/tree hybrid kick…
…Soom comes out with Saule, a Faery Legend who’s part willow tree. His ear attachments look like twigs, while his lower legs look like roots. His wings have the appearance of weeping willow branches. Too bad those wings are so heavy and unwieldy that I find them impractical to use.
Contemplating the purchase of Saule, I realize that I need to give Flower another faceup, since he’s done being Mackenzie. I also need to finish Polly. And Yamarrah’s also in pieces.
EDIT: Saule would be a superb base for the dryad concept I had exactly a year ago.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1645413.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Mad Mazzy Mickle Goes Looking for Love
I think I have enough skillz now to render the three main characters from my fictional cult classic film, if not their highly specialized vehicles. Now if I could just find the poster I drew a few years ago….
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1645073.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Smashing!: Jareth’s latest outfit
Earlier today I mentioned Jareth in the same entry as various theatrically costumed rock stars from the mid-1970s. I think David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and probably Adam Ant [though not from the 1970s] would approve of the get-up below.
Continue reading Smashing!: Jareth’s latest outfit
This is not an Awkward Stock Photo!
Okay, so she’s in her underwear on a skateboard with no protective gear. That’s awkward. Other than that, though, this is a wonderful shot with an amazing-looking model who is clearly having fun. What’s not to love?
I don’t know why Shutterstock labels this as “Funny Overweight Woman Skateboarding.” Why is this photo amusing? Because she’s in her underwear? Because she’s having fun? Because she’s fat? And why do the keywords include “fatty,” “funny people,” “crazy” and “humor?”
Oh those hilarious fat people, thinking they can enjoy themselves! They should know that they’re supposed to be miserably ashamed of their disgusting flab and that they should go around completely covered in heavy, shapeless drapery all the time so that no one else has to see their grossness. Seriously…any fatty who thinks that anyone wants to see them in their underwear clearly has a mental illness.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1644656.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Labyrinth news: novelization reissued with bonus material
Janna surprised me a few days ago with a hardcover reissue of A.C.H. Smith’s novelization of Labyrinth, [re]published at the end of April. This version contains the same novelization text as the original 1986 paperback, but omits the insert of color stills. It does, however, contain previously unpublished goblin drawings by Brian Froud, as well as pages from Jim Henson’s journals, in which he jotted notes about his original conception for Labyrinth in 1983.
I care nothing for the novelization, as it’s indifferently written, but the supplemental material intrigues me. I’m most interested in Jim Henson’s notes, which I haven’t cracked yet, except for a brief glance, during which I caught the phrase "Goblin King = death?" That made me think back to the afterword of the 20th anniversary edition of Brian Froud’s book of conceptual drawings, Goblins of Labyrinth, in which he envisions Jareth "with the worms of death eating through his armor." I haven’t been able to forget that image, so I’m curious to see how Henson wanted to develop it. I also wonder exactly which fairy tale Froud’s referring to.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1644358.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
It takes a certain type of person to rock a white satin jumpsuit…
…with flame fringe on the kirtle sleeves and bellbottoms, not to mention the neckline that plunges somewhere into the region of the crotch. That certain type of person is Freddie Mercury.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for someone to wear a striped vinyl jumpsuit with integrated platform shoes and a similar neckline, you’re looking for David Bowie.
And if you’re looking for someone whose idea of smashing constitutes a purple Rococo pompadour, a feathered ruff, skin-tight pants and thigh-high ballet boots, just hang in there — I’m rendering him tonight. :p
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1644274.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Still air-guitarin’ on the mike stand 10 years later.
Now watching Queen’s Legendary concert from 1975, I see Freddie Mercury playing air guitar with his mike stand, just like he was 10 years later, during Live Aid. Even rock stars can’t resist the power of the air guitar ’cause it’s so damn cool! 😀
Fabulous costumes!!!!!!!!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1643866.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
I’m just here for Freddie Mercury.
While watching the music video for We Will Rock You, I can’t help but notice the difference between Freddie Mercury’s moves and those of the rest of the band. Though the guitarist does get his groove on during the solo at the end, most of the band just stand there stiffly, moving no more than necessary. Meanwhile Freddie Mercury is performing in inimitable Freddie Mercury fashion.
I was going to compare him to my usual referents — you know, Ivan Doroschuk, Mick Jagger, Tim Curry — but I really can’t because he’s in a league of his own. Ivan Doroschuk moves, but he does more flailing and bouncing. Mick Jagger and Tim Curry make faces, but I don’t think of them as so completely self-possessed as Freddie Mercury. He demonstrates absolute control in every expression and motion of his limbs: a combination of fluid precision and sheer joy of motion. Kind of like Shirley Bassey or Lesley Gore. And his voice is incredible. The more I think about it, the more apt a comparison is between Freddie Mercury and Shirley Bassey — both fabulous performers with stunningly powerful voices and charismatic stage presences whose love for what they do so clearly shines through in every word they sing.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1643608.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
“Sexy sexy sexy, stabby stabby stabby…Look at my fingers in a circle.”
Peter Dinklage sums up Game of Thrones in 45 seconds with an Eddie Izzard-like silliness. This just makes him even hotter!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1643444.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Atomic Age lingerie!
Do you know how hard it is to find a digital version of one of those pointy bras from the middle of the last century? I thought I wouldn’t have any trouble, as this style appears popular with people who do "pinup," "vintage" or "retro" renders. Using these terms, along with "bra" and "lingerie," brought me nothing but a lot of girdles and garter belts. Hooray for girdles and garter belts [great band name!], but they’re not what I was looking for.
Further poking around ["1940s lingerie Daz Studio," "1950s lingerie Daz Studio"] revealed that the magical search term was "bullet bra." Using the magic phrase, I came up with outoftouch’s X14 Revenge for V4, which will do nicely for my purposes.
I have to wonder about the term "bullet bra," though. Is that really what people called it back then? I mean, I always thought they looked more like rocket cones. Either way, I find it fascinating how the aerodynamic, long and curvy look gained popularity not only in vehicular style, architecture and furniture, but also in clothing. Perhaps World War II and the ensuing arms race gave people weapons on the brain, affecting their sense of style so that, slowly and subtly, everything started to look like bullets, bombs, missiles, rockets and satellites. From today’s perspective, we think look up the aesthetic as a set of cool design elements, but it arguably represents a generation’s deep-seated and thoroughly legitimate fear that they were going to do themselves in with their own technology.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1643171.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Everyone’s getting older and/or fatter! ^_^
I just scored Zev0’s Aging Morphs 2 for G2F on 60% off sale, which allows me to realize a long-held dream: old and/or fat digital people! Some of the morphs provide effects of aging, while others change the distribution of weight on the face. I’m gonna make everyone fat and wrinkly now!
..Well, except for Jareth. He’s not fat [not in his usual form anyway]. Aging, yes. Fat, no. But digital me and Jennifer and Allyson and and Felicia and Fay and Win, plus any other mini universe denizens I develop, plus all characters for Intellectum, are gaining fats and signs of aging. Now my digital populations can start to look like my doll populations!
This is gonna be so much fun!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1642862.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Zombieville Prologue 1: “The Goth”
A year and seven months in the making, Zombieville finally debuts today! Thrill to the epic tale of Isabel Forrest, your average sarcastic feminist, as she turns into a flesh-eating weirdo and adjusts to life on the edge of death.
Isabel Forrest walks through downtown Burlington, Vermont, while providing audience participation on an egregiously inaccurate magazine article.
Baroque architecture, BDSM lust novels and very expensive puns: starring Jareth and Jennifer
Baroque architecture, BDSM lust novels and very expensive puns: starring Jareth and Jennifer published on Read more posts by the author of Baroque architecture, BDSM lust novels and very expensive puns: starring Jareth and Jennifer, ModernWizardNo Comments on Baroque architecture, BDSM lust novels and very expensive puns: starring Jareth and Jennifer
I made this mini universe story this weekend just so I could have a chance to make this pun. Well, I also did want to use my new Montespan Interior Scene and Jareth’s fabulous Baroque outfit. Anyway, enjoy.
Note: Jareth is reading the third in the 50 Shades Trilogy. All the faces he makes come directly from my own reactions, although, in my case, there was a lot more yelling at the book. :p
Continue reading Baroque architecture, BDSM lust novels and very expensive puns: starring Jareth and Jennifer
3D freebies: Outrageous: Bold, Bright Materal Presets for Innocent Hair
Outrageous: Bold, Bright Materal Presets for Innocent Hair
Daz Studio only
Tested only in Daz Studio Pro 4.6 64 bit.
This is a set of material presets for Daz/goldtassel’s Innocent Hair for Genesis 2 Female [available at the Daz store]: Emerald Explosion, Glowing Grape, Pink Pizzazz, Radioactive Red and Sunflower Spectacular. Three presets for each color allow you to recolor the entire hairstyle, just the bangs or just the buns.
After installation, you will find Outrageous material settings in My Library > People > Genesis 2 Female > Hair > InnocentHair > Materials > OutrageousbyModernWizard.
Now you too can create hairstyles that make people’s eyes bleed!
"I’m sorry — I can’t hear you over the sound of how loud your hair is."
This freebie uses the trans maps from the original Innocent Hair. The texture, however, is a freebie created by MSTene, available at Renderosity.
Use for whatever purposes you like, commercial or non-commercial. Just don’t repackage and call your own. Have fun!
You can see my digital artwork, as well as my other creative pursuits, at my blog:
http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org
If you do use any of my freebies in your work, drop me a line [ModernWizard at the Daz boards and ShareCG, ModernWiz on Renderosity], as I’d love to see what you make. Thank you.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1659572.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
ModernWizard elsewhere online
the tacky trove: ModernWizard’s repository of free shaders, textures, morphs, poses, hairstyles for Daz Studio!
Vermont Doll Lovers: Do you like dolls? Do you live in or near Vermont? Do you want to make friends with other fun-loving doll enthusiasts? Then come to our meetups. We welcome everyone!
Zombieville: Thrill to the epic tale of Isabel Forrest, your average sarcastic 37-year-old feminist, as she turns into a flesh-eating weirdo and adjusts to life on the edge of death. Told through photostories starring my customized 12-inch dolls, the serial melodrama posts new episodes on Mondays [or Tuesdays, if Monday is a U.S. holiday]. You can read it here on my DW or on its dedicated site.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1674158.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Statues, dolls, robots, therianthropes and other humanoids
I got my first chance of trying to make a humanoid digital model into statuary when I make my digital replica of Story’s Angel of Grief. This was before I discovered the utility of shaders, so I created a seamless marble texture tile and laborious applied it to the angel’s body, hair, wings and dress, as well as her plinth.
Then Muusa The Myth, a character package and set for V4 by Forbidden Whispers, FWDesign and Daz, appeared on deep discount. It contains a fully human texture, a full stone texture and various textures to represent the character in the process of enstonement. The set, of course, contains a platform to stick her on after transforming her. I used the stone texture and my go-to texture for digital people, RBSD Merchant Base by rebelmommy and shellyw, to create a more stepwise progression on enstonement, thanks to the help of my limited Photoshop Elements skills. I really enjoyed myself, and I’m now trying to apply these skills to another set of stepwise transformation textures — this time, a tree. What type of tree depends on what type of tree I can find locally to scan bark and leaves from.
Anyway, back to statues. Now I have my own Ingenious Rock Shaders by JGreenlees/Daz, so I can make statues of people [and gravestones] without manual application of my own texture tiles. Whoo hoo!
I also just found this hilarious product in the Daz store: Canary3D’s Sculptural Genesis Ultra Fun Kit. It’s a kit of Daz shaders, full-body poses, hand poses, objects to hold and objects to stand on — all to aid in the creation of humanoid statues based on Genesis figures. The great number of material shaders alone make this worth the price, even if I weren’t going to use it for statues. The wonderful details — like the conforming fig leaf to stick in the statue’s crotch and the shades so that one can make figures into lamps — move the package from merely cool to must-have.
Yeah…like I need more humanoids in my runtime…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1642003.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
ASL music videos
Queer interpretation of Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know. The facial expressions and acting make it all clear here — person 1 is a whiny, self-entitled creep, and person 2 is liberated upon ridding their life of them.
Solo interpretation of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody…with bonus translation in notes. Performer’s facial expressions and body language during guitar solos show how much fun he’s having!
Both of these translations illustrate how putting a song into a different language change, transfigure and enhance it.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1641748.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Intellectum: The Fink [a neighborhood]
Welcome to the Fink, the part of Intellectum where no one wants to live, not even the residents. The Fink’s official name is the Southern Valley District, but only people from outside Intellectum call it that. All Intellectans know the Southern Valley District as the Dragon’s Sphincter. Those who live in the neighborhood refer to their home turf as the Fink.
Continue reading Intellectum: The Fink [a neighborhood]
Intellectum’s back!
Intellectum, a fictional city that I first created in summer, 2010, lives! The city started off as a setting for the mythical, magical, sci-fi Library of Intellectum, which I explored in a series of digital renders. I entertained thoughts of doing a doll-based melodrama with the characters and places, but it never happened. Anyway, now that I’m using Daz for the characters in my head, Intellectum has resurged as a convenient place in which to deposit all those nifty ideas that will not appear in the mini universe with Jareth et al.
Here’s the Library of Intellectum again. Most of it is Block 17 from the Dystopia City Blocks series by Ajax, billyhome and Moebius 87. I changed the diffuse on almost all the elements to achieve Intellectum’s peculiar grungy, yet perky and pastel, look. I also added a Poser primitive for the dome and shade it with George Haze’s freebie metal shaders for Daz.
Constantine TV show Y/N?
Apparently one appears this fall on NBC. Look — a trailer. Could be good, could be horrible. There’s a whole elaborate mythology built into the source material, which gives the show a chance at some solid worldbuilding and long-term plot arcs, a lack of which contributed to the exhaustion of Supernatural, another show with demons from Hell. I wonder how much of a sense of humor this one will have, as a well-developed sense of camp keeps my current demons-from-Hell viewing, Sleepy Hollow, entertaining. I’ll check out an episode and see what happens.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1640981.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
New digital stuff I can’t wait to use
…But have to wait to use anyway, as my compooper is off in the shop, having its screen replaced.
- Montespan Interior Scene by GreyCloudPublishing. Jareth’s fainting couch!
- Flying Cadet Lola Pepper by Val3DArt. Besides dolls and robots, I apparently also have a weakness for gloriously impractical jetpack gear, of which this set is not my first. My favorite details here include the helmet with wings and ear trumpet, the uselessly cog-decorated vambraces and especially the hotpants with dynamite belt [a truly inspired touch!]. The helmet, vambraces and leggings go to robots, the top and dynamite shorts to — who else? — Jareth.
- L’Arahna for V4 by Val3DArt. No human/spider hybrid dolls allowed in the house? No problem! I’ll acquire digital ones instead. Though I strongly object to the fact that the arachnid portion has eyes and fangs right below where the human portion meets it, I can deal with it. I’m thinking that I’ll use the arachnid portion as a robotic mobility aid for a character with a disability anyway, so maybe the eyes can be headlights or buttons or something. ["Wait — let me just hit the LEG RETRACT button…"] As a bonus, the package includes a heavily laced underbust corset and matching bracers.
- Mildred Busybody by Tempesta3D and lunchlady. I don’t buy lots of characters, i.e., morph and texture packages, as I prefer to digitally sculpt my characters on my own using various morphs and then use one of my all-purpose textures on them. But sometimes it’s love at first sight, and I absolutely have to acquire someone. Mildred Busybody, with her caricatured features full of personality and her realistically aged texture, caught my eye in this way. This is exactly my sort of aesthetic, and it’s fabulous!
- FWRD Aikaterine by FWDesign and renapd. I love this character’s face, especially the chin and the nose, plus the way they work together with the lips. As soon as I saw her, I said to myself, "Wow, she needs to gain about 200 pounds, and then she’d look awesome!" She would also look very cool in combination with Mildred Busybody.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1640869.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Robert Pattinson and the Twilight Saga
In these interviews, he tries really hard not to slag the franchise that earned him bundles, but he can’t refrain from some rather insightful criticism of the series’ failures. His observation that Stephenie Meyer sees herself as Bella makes lots of sense, especially since she got the original idea for a key Twilight scene from a dream.
I actually really like the guy. From what I’ve seen, he’s rather down-to-earth, playful, a little silly and accessible. Being sexy doesn’t hurt either.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1640537.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Hmmm, something seems to be out of scale here.
Obviously the window is too small. :p
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1640430.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Digital pigs: free to a good home
Oh my God, these freebie Poser figures of pigs by Lyne are adorable. Look at the one rolling on its back! I need some free pigs stat! I notice that this person also has bunches of other free animals, always good to know.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1640186.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
All G2F, all the time!
I moved all my main Daz dolls [me, Jareth and Jennifer] from the Genesis base to the Genesis 2 Female base. I have loads of gen 4 [Victoria 4] content that, for some reason, skips a generation [i.e., Genesis 1] and autofits on G2F much better than on G1. I assume this is because the lack of breasts on G1 messes up the V4 > G1 refit, while the presence of breasts on both V4 and G2F makes conversions much less painful.
Anyway, despite the presence of breasts on the default G2F shape, I can turn the figure into Jareth, who does not have breasts, without a problem. I assume the process will work for any minor characters — for example, Win and Frederick — that I decide to port over from G1.
I’ve finally attained my long-awaited goal of 3-D digital people: a single base mesh that can encompass a vast diversity of body shapes AND fit pretty much anything on the market while doing so. Daz’ autofit feature allows the G2s [G2F and Genesis 2 Male {G2M}] to stretch the mesh of any outfit designed for them so that it will fit pretty much any combination of shaping morphs. Autofit also lets G2F wear G2M’s clothes and vice versa without expensive conversion processes. YAY EVERYONE CAN SHARE CLOTHES!
…In practice, of course, this means, “YAY I CAN ACCURATELY RENDER JARETH’S WARDROBE!” :p Just like the BJD version of him, the digital version of him demands vast and expensive quantities of clothing. Everyone else hangs around in jeans and T-shirts, which I think would cause Jareth Toxic Shock Syndrome if he put them on, and he wants masquerade-worthy get-ups. I’m certainly not complaining, though, because clearly I like playing dress-up.
Tangentially on the topic of masquerades, I just picked up GreyCloudDesign’s Montespan Interior Scene, mostly ’cause of the exquisite fainting couch. Makes me want to do some scene involving this set, the Totally And Completely Unrelated to Interview With a Vampire — Hah Hah Who Are You Kidding?!!! There’s No Copyright Infringement Here! Lestat de Lioncourt Suit for G2M and Chris Cox’ freebie Rococo gear [dress, textures and appropriately decorated wig] for V3/V4. Come to think of it, the two outfits complement each other well. I just need an excuse to get me into the first and Jareth into the second, as there’s no way I’m wearing something I can’t sit down in.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1639903.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Muggins come home!
After an excruciatingly long wait, I finally received word at the end of last week that Muggins is all ready to ship. I just need to pay the $171.00 balance on her. I just put down a $50.00 installment on the remainder, and I hope to have her soon so that she can take her rightful place in Zombieville — i.e., getting into all of Isabel’s projects while talking in brackets and being ridiculously friendly and cute.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1639522.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
3D freebies: Loud Fabrics 01 Shaders for Daz Studio
Loud Fabrics 01 Shaders for Daz Studio
Daz Studio only
Tested only in Daz Studio Pro 4.6 64 bit.
This is a set of 16 shader presets featuring seamless, tiled, boldly printed fabrics with eye-catching patterns: Bluish Blooms, Broadway Dots Large, Broadway Dots Small, Bubble Yum Large, Bubble Yum Small, Electric Blue Honeycomb, Flaming Hearts Large, Flaming Hearts Small, Green Circles on Yellow, Little Red Bows, Magenta and Lime Dots, Pink and Purple Medium, Pink and Purple Narrow, Pink and Purple Wide, Pink Pinwheels Large and Pink Pinwheels Small.
These patterns were all generated and tweaked in PatternCooler, Harvey Rayner’s awesome free Web-based pattern-generating Web site:
http://www.patterncooler.com/index.php
Use for whatever purposes you like, commercial or non-commercial. Just don’t repackage and call your own. Have fun!
You can see my digital artwork, as well as my other creative pursuits, at my blog:
http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org
If you do use any of my freebies in your work, drop me a line [ModernWizard at the Daz boards and ShareCG, ModernWiz on Renderosity], as I’d love to see what you make. Thank you.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1659388.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Jareth as Jareth — complete!
With bonus shadows, raytracing and 3Delight render engine use!
3D freebies: Sleepy Expressions for Genesis 2 Female
Sleepy Expressions for Genesis 2 Female
Daz Studio only
Tested only in Daz Studio Pro 4.6 64 bit.
This is a set of 7 facial expressions for Genesis 2 Female: Drifting Off, Nightmare, Pleasant Dreams, Sleepy, Trying to Stay Awake, Yawn01 and Yawn02. Use them when it’s time for G2F to head to bed.
These poses affect facial features only and will not touch facial scaling or transforms anywhere else on the body.
Use for whatever purposes you like, commercial or non-commercial. Just don’t repackage and call your own. Have fun!
You can see my digital artwork, as well as my other creative pursuits, at my blog:
http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org
If you do use any of my freebies in your work, drop me a line [ModernWizard at the Daz boards and ShareCG, ModernWiz on Renderosity], as I’d love to see what you make. Thank you.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1658976.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
3D freebies: Negative Expressions 01 for Genesis 2 Female
Negative Expressions 01 for Genesis 2 Female
Daz Studio only
Tested only in Daz Studio Pro 4.6 64 bit.
This is a set of 10 facial expressions for Genesis 2 Female: Blah, Bleak, Forced Smile, Hah Hah Hah I Hate You, Not Funny, Pissed, Pout, Sad02, Start Panicking and That Looked Painful. Use them when G2F needs to make sad, mad or bad faces.
These poses affect facial features only and will not touch facial scaling or transforms anywhere else on the body.
Use for whatever purposes you like, commercial or non-commercial. Just don’t repackage and call your own. Have fun!
You can see my digital artwork, as well as my other creative pursuits, at my blog:
http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org
If you do use any of my freebies in your work, drop me a line [ModernWizard at the Daz boards and ShareCG, ModernWiz on Renderosity], as I’d love to see what you make. Thank you.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1658755.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
3D freebies: The Eyes Have It! Partial Eye Poses for Genesis
The Eyes Have It! Partial Eye Poses for Genesis by ModernWizard
Daz Studio only
Tested only in Daz Studio Pro 4.6 64 bit.
This is a set of partial eye poses for Genesis, allowing you to easily change the following pose controls for the eyes:
Left-Right
Open-Closed
Squint
Up-Down
There are five poses for every parameter [0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%]. Each pose affects both eyes. However, the poses change only the parameter listed, so you can mix and match poses within this kit or apply them to your other favorite poses to add more expressiveness.
Use for whatever purposes you like, commercial or non-commercial. Just don’t repackage and call your own. Have fun!
You can see my digital artwork, as well as my other creative pursuits, at my blog:
http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org
If you do use any of my freebies in your work, drop me a line [ModernWizard at the Daz boards and ShareCG, ModernWiz on Renderosity], as I’d love to see what you make. Thank you.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1658130.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Jareth making faces
I finally, finally, FINALLY got Jareth’s eye makeup to look like the Goblin King’s. I’m not looking to copy the face paint exactly, but just get the general shapes right, which I think I did. I’ll spare you the boring details of how long it took and just show you a picture. I used some eye makeup Photoshop brushes by Obsidian Dawn in my efforts. Otherwise the credits for sources are the same as last time. Only new thing is the expression, one of many I have made over the past few days. I call it "Just You Wait." ^_^
Apparently I am stocking up for some Labyrinthian renders.
I took advantage of some discount coupons at Renderosity yesterday to purchase the following items, all of which make me think of my favorite movie.
First there was Beautiful Darkness, a V4 eye makeup resource by PureEnergy and hotlilme74, because Jareth’s eyeliner may be thick, yes, but it doesn’t make the sharply demarcated swoopy shapes that he prefers. Labyrinthian because the Goblin King has eyeliner as seen in this kit.
Next I started poking around in the "Fairy: Props/Scenes/Architecture" subsection of the marketplace, where I discovered that content creators have a puzzling obsession with making mushroom houses for sprite-like characters. While ignoring the plethora of fungus-based residences, I happened across ironman13 and EmmaAndJordi’s Enchanted Bubble, which I quickly snapped up. I can think of all sorts of fun things to do with this: blow soap bubbles, trap people inside it [okay, not so fun], scry with it, repurpose as crystal balls… Labyrinthian because magical balls [hah hah hah] feature prominently in the movie.
Then I clicked on yet another fairy ring set and discovered an adorable figure atop one of the mushrooms. A little research informed me that she was Anceata, one of a pair of figures by my latest favorite figure creator Nursoda. Of course I had to check Anceata and Semil out, and they promptly hopped into my cart. I tried to convince them that they were unwanted, as I already had a scrawny figure with a big bobble head, pointy ears and oversize hands [Telka, also by Nursoda]. However, Anceata pointed out her devastating cuteness, especially with her round and pointy little chin, wide mouth and glasses, so I allowed them to stay. Labyrinthian because Nursoda explicitly cites Brian Froud, designer of many Labyrinth puppets, as an inspiration for his work.
Links to other suggested products on Anceata and Semil’s page directed me to Poisen’s Eyeball Garden 2 Posable. I’ve always found the eyeball lichen one of the most memorable and inventive elements of Labyrinthian scenery, but also one of the most revolting. Since I’ve been kitting out my runtime with fantasy elements, I decided to toss the eyeball plants in there. I have successfully reduced my revulsion by telling myself that these are not actually plants with vertebrate eyes, but instead plants whose flowers mimic said eyes for unknown reasons. I’ll bet you money that the slightly sadistic alchemist responsible for other Experiments is behind the eye plants too.
By this time in my order, I was only cents away from $40.00, which would make me eligible for a 20% discount. I wondered if there was anything I could that would put me above that threshold. I went with Schurby’s Landscaping Hedges, mostly because, in a Labyrinthian mood, I was thinking of hedge mazes. They’ll also be nice for putting in front of digital houses, though.
Speaking of digital houses, I got another item recently that reminds me of Labyrinth: the Ant Farm’s NeverHome. This neighborhood of narrow, peaked houses resembles the ramshackle structures of the Goblin City in their brownness and pointiness. I like how they look realistic enough to be interpreted as standard residential buildings, but stylized enough to be slightly uncanny.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1638657.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Yayyyyyyyyyyyyy, Grenk!
My frog therianthrope, Grenk, turned out much more sprightly and engaging than expected. Here she is, full of confidence. She’s very excited because she’s going to some on-land human event, which gives her a chance to wear what she thinks are the spiffiest duds ever.
3D freebies: Poses for Snuffles by ModernWizard
Poses for Snuffles by ModernWizard
Daz Studio only
Tested only in Daz Studio Pro 4.6 64 bit.
PLEASE NOTE: You need to have limits turned off for these poses to work.
This is a set of 12 poses for ryverthorn’s standalone figure, Snuffles, available at Renderosity: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/snuffles/76426/
Two poses, -EarsAlert and -EarsAnnoyed, affect only eyes/ears, while the other 10 are full-body poses.
Use for whatever purposes you like, commercial or non-commercial. Just don’t repackage and call your own. Have fun!
You can see my digital artwork, as well as my other creative pursuits, at my blog:
http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org
If you do use any of my freebies in your work, drop me a line [ModernWizard at the Daz boards, Renderosity and ShareCG], as I’d love to see what you make. Thank you.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1658399.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
The Experiments: Ramona, Linnea and Beep
Besides clothes for a very happy Jareth, I have also acquired some standalone digital figures or character morph packages mostly because I thought they were cool. I think of them as the Experiments, as the only reason I justify their inclusion in my runtime is that I imagine them to be the results of some slightly sadistic alchemist’s magic hybridization attempts.
Experiment One: Ramona.
Jareth as Jareth updated
Jareth hamming it up while impersonating source material:
Easy way to make Jareth happy: get him new clothes
Here he is showing off his latest acquisitions:Continue reading Easy way to make Jareth happy: get him new clothes
Hi there, Addoms Hagar Burial Ground!
The family plot of some ancestors of mine, located on the outskirts of Plattsburgh, New York, has received thorough treatment on findagrave.com, thanks to one Chris West. There’s a shot of the roadside historical marker sign, as well as the 20th-century commemorative plaque in the cemetery itself. There’s also a front view of the whole thing, complete with raised plot, surrounding stone wall topped with fence and steps into the burial ground.
I’m most excited to see records of all 13 burials in the cemetery, with accompanying photos of headstones. Naturally, I sought and found my favorite: the stone of John Addoms Hagar [1822-1833]. The record does not have a transcription of the epitaph, but I can clearly read the best part from the photo:
In Death he exclaimed
I see the Angles.
I really need to get back there for more photos…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1637507.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Polly, my little mermaid, in progress
Polly, my 1:6 scale mermaid BJD, arrived some time ago, but frankly I was too distracted by shiny digital models to do a proper box opening. I have, however, been working on her slowly [in between gazing with adoration at digital models]. Pictures below.Continue reading Polly, my little mermaid, in progress
All my sets and medium-size things, 04/13/2014
As it’s been a half a year since my last inventory and I need an updated idea of what I’ve got in prep for Zville, here’s my photo stock-taking of my sets and medium-size things, less the backdrops. I was going to take a separate shot of every single item, but I got lazy.
Grouped into rough categories, in no particular order…
Continue reading All my sets and medium-size things, 04/13/2014
Digital disco fever
I have been wanting Stayin’ Alive for Hiro 3 for about six years, which is forever in digital time, but could not justify its $22.50 price. Well, it went down to $5.63 last month, so I tergiversated for a while, then decided that I still really did want it. Purchased! Still have to download the free complementary disco ball and dance floor… Gotta find an excuse for the denizens of the mini universe to throw a shindig…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1636526.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Only Lovers Left zzzzzzzzzz
Well, this looks painful, even if it has Tilda Swinton, Mia Wasikowska and Tom Hiddleston [acting ability dubious, as I have never actually seen anything with him] in it. I watched a trailer for it and nearly fell asleep. Blah blah blah black roses blah Byronically tortured musician with stringy-haired Weltschmerz blah blah blah regal androgynous lover blah blah long-term relationship of stormy passion blah blah blah more Goth stereotypes than you can shake a pentacle at blah blah love triangle when energetic little sister comes to town blah blah mopey mopey blah blood Popsicles snoooooooooooooore.
Well, okay, I actually liked the blood Popsicles…at least until the characters went all metatextual and starting discussing how odd they were. Look — I don’t mind people sitting around and talking, especially since it’s all my characters really do. However, when the people start narrating what’s obviously going on in front of their faces, I find it a tedious turn-off.
Kinda surprised these vampires didn’t die of boredom.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1636154.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Chittenden County Vermont Doll Club meetup: 04/05/2014
Megan, Lyrajean, vermont chick and I showed up to the CCDC meeting last Saturday, where dolls outnumbered people:
Continue reading Chittenden County Vermont Doll Club meetup: 04/05/2014
Humanoid plant seeks someone to heterosexualize with.
I hate it when beautiful animation and character design is ruined by a threadbare universalization of gender essentialism. Shame too because they’re exquisite human/plant hybrids. They’re not technically therianthropes because they’re not human/non-human animal hybrids, but I’m tagging them as such so I can find them again.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1635910.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
She looks like a fat Pippi!
I just bought Nursoda’s original Poser figure Vila this morning. Designed to be a small winged fairy, she comes with textures, hair, dress, wings, facial expressions and poses. I wasn’t in the market for her, but I picked her up because of her adorably stylized features, her lovingly sculpted fats and her similarity to Pippi Longstocking.
Upon getting Vila, I scaled her up, reduced the size of her head and gave her a full outfit, naming her Penni. Cuteness ensued. ^_^
Continue reading She looks like a fat Pippi!
Am I learning anything from my latest foray into digital?
I’ve been pondering this question since I started making little photostories with the characters in my head. Specifically, I have been wondering if the skills I develop in my digital photostories can transfer to my doll photostories.
At first, I thought my digital skills nontransferrable because digital and doll photostory formats differ significantly. My digital photostories feature landscape photos with speech bubbles applied, so there’s no multipanel page layout to consider. By contrast, my doll photostories feature photos of various shapes and sizes, several to a page, with speech bubbles applied.
As I have quickly learned, much, much, much less happens in a single digital landscape photo than happens in a single doll photostory page. This makes sense, as a digital landscape photo is not really equivalent to a doll photostory page. A digital landscape photo is more properly comparable to a single panel on a doll photostory page.
Even comparing a digital landscape photo to a single doll photostory panel, I still find that much less happens in the photo than in the panel. I have always tended to cram one person’s entire set of lines in a single panel, but digital photos don’t conduce that. I’m much more likely to separate a single person’s lines into multiple photos at natural speech breaks.
For example, here’s some dialogue from the latest digital drama between me and Jareth:
Me: Hi, Jareth!
Jareth: Is it merry-go-round time? I have the best outfit —
Me: Pas encore. J’ai une question. Why do you always… [etc., etc., etc.]
In a doll photostory, I would be very likely to stick a photo of me in the left panel and a photo of Jareth in the right panel and put this entire exchange in between the panels. In a digital photostory, my first line is a single photo, as is Jareth’s line. " Pas encore. J’ai une question"
has its own separate photo, as does the question in question [har har]. In summary, digital photostories at least double the number of pictures involved, which means that they require more time and more work for less narrative movement.
The comparatively slow pace of digital photostories drives me up the freakin’ wall! The kinky carnival [which I will do one of these days, I promise], which would be just a single, exceptionally long written scene, now stretches into multiple vignettes of God knows how many photos [because I haven’t taken them yet]. It will take me days to do. Meanwhile, my mind already skips onto the next project, waiting impatiently for my execution to catch up.
Though I find the slow pace of digital photostories exasperating, I realize that it is precisely this deliberate progress that I seek to emulate in Zombieville. I have put so much effort into backstory, characters, dolls, sets, props and everything that I want to linger in this world for a while. I want to take sharp, detailed close-ups and set panoramas so that people can appreciate my customization and construction. I want to slow down the conversation so that people can really absorb some of the detail that I worked so hard to give the characters. My impatience doesn’t want me to tell the story so slowly, but everything else about me does so that I can enjoy my creation along with my readers.
To answer the subject line’s question, why yes, I am learning from my latest digital foray. I’m learning how to tell a story slowly.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1635531.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Making my own digital hair?
…With PhilC’s Hair Designer? I’m basically using my copy of Poser 10 as a really expensive clothing conversion utility [har har], so it would be nice to put it to work doing something else, like helping me create hair…because you can never have too many wigs!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1635261.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Seriously, dude, who peed in YOUR cornflakes?
Someone is very upset with me below. If you can guess why, let me know.
Continue reading Seriously, dude, who peed in YOUR cornflakes?
Hey, it’s Felicia!
Allyson’s [step]sister and roommate! All dressed up to go to the fair! [She does not do what she calls "the kinky thing."]
Hey, it’s Allyson!
Jennifer’s girlfriend! All dressed up to go to the fair! [It’s a kinky carnival, okay?] The hair, the glasses, the socks and the sneakers are usual…it’s just the dress and the underwear that she trots out for special fetishy occasions. 😀
Continue reading Hey, it’s Allyson!
“Would you care to repeat that bigoted remark?”
"…Or should I just upend the contents of this tray over your head pre-emptively?"
Continue reading “Would you care to repeat that bigoted remark?”
Vermont Rails Train Show, Essex Jct., VT, 03/01/2014
Having familiarized myself with the general layouts last year, I focused this year on the details, particularly of the sets.
Continue reading Vermont Rails Train Show, Essex Jct., VT, 03/01/2014
“Sixty-nine-cent canned goods. Sixty-nine-cent canned bads!”
Jason Messina, who brought you Ugly Furniture, also did a parody commercial for Bankrupt Dollar Store. Favorite line quoted in subject. Bwah hah!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1633669.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
I forgot about the zombies.
Yesterday I said that the no-fail money maker among digital models, designed to appeal to the most subcategories for which Daz/Poser users employ the programs, would be "alien humanoid robots from outer space with kitty ears, morphing tentacles, ridiculously exaggerated secondary sex characteristics and no pants." I forgot a few features:
- impractically spiky and skimpy armor made of leather and/or latex [?!] and/or chromium steel
- huge honkin’ guns and/or swords
- magic plasma balls
- zombie texture
- pin-up poses
I would render this all, but I’m fresh out of tentacles and plasma balls 🙁 [also a great band name].
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1633406.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
People and things to do at the carnival
I’m planning a digital carnival in the next few weeks, more a bunch of vignettes, as I don’t do panoramas, and I’m thinking about who will be there and what they will do.
People
- me
- Jareth
- Sevonna
- Bebe?
- Allyson
- Felicia
- Win?
- Ticket taker
- Fortune teller
- Clown
- Acrobat/Contortionist
- Ride operator
- Barker
- Food vendor
- Janitor
- Parking lot attendant
- Security guard
Things to do
- Talk to Sevonna, Bebe, Allyson, Felicia, Win, etc.
- Merry-go-round!!!
- Ferris wheel
- Water slide
- Have fortune told
- Watch acrobats
- Park car
- Go to bathroom
I have parking the car and going to the bathroom on my list of carnival activities because I’ve always had an interest in the mundane corners of special events — everything that’s going on behind the scenes to support the spectacle. Besides, carnival attendees don’t necessarily have to talk to each other outside of their social groups if they don’t want, so the parking lot and the bathroom provide places where people might break out of their cliques and converse. Furthermore, it is possible that some of the carnival workers might use the same bathroom as the attendees, also giving them a chance to talk…
Okay, after that rationale, there’s definitely some interesting conversation going on at the sinks….
I definitely want to have Sevonna, Allyson and Felicia show up, which means that I need to make Allyson. I’d also like to have some clowns/acrobats/contortionists so I have yet another excuse to use one of my favorite outfits, Just Jokin’. There will also be merry-go-round action and Ferris wheel action. I already have an idea for a chat with the ticket taker, so they’ll show up, as well as a fortune teller.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1633038.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
IK Chains and the EasyPose Tentacles!
It’s the new sound, direct from the abyssal reaches of the Mariana Trench — IK Chains and the EasyPose Tentacles! It’s a bioluminescent fusion of continential shelf rock, overlaid with fast-paced trance beats that you need at least eight arms to play properly. It’s a tentacular spectacular!
Wait…that actually sounds pretty cool. I’d listen to that, especially if cephalopods were providing percussion.
But no, it’s nothing that nifty. Feel free to go read something else, unless, of course, you want to hear me get into a technical discussion of moving digital tentacles around in Daz.
I just have to say that there are a lot of digital tentacles out there in the Daz/Poser world. Seriously — they’re right up there with aliens, robots, scantily clad women and therianthropes among those perennial favorites to render. [No-fail money-making opportunity for anyone who wants to pursue it: alien humanoid robots from outer space with kitty ears, morphing tentacles, ridiculously exaggerated secondary sex characteristics and no pants. I’ll take five!] If, as I have observed, the average Daz/Poser user is rendering scantily clad women and/or cyborgs and/or aliens and/or therianthropes and/or porn, tentacles fit right in to several of those categories.
Tentacles, like cables, rope, snakes, sea serpents, dragons and long, loose hair, represent huge challenges for Daz/Poser nerds because of the nature of rigging — that is, the addition of articulation to a static model so that it can change positions realistically. Rigging of digital models works well on things like people and cars, which are rigid in most places and flexible at only certain areas — it is possible to move one portion of a digital person or car without having to rearrange everything. However, with tentacles and friends, these things are flexible at pretty much any point, resulting in a lack of clearly defined joints and a fluidity of motion. The motions of tentacles and friends are better represented by a sort of articulation that cascades down the tentacle, in which posing one segment subtly affects all other downstream segments.
Fortunately, of course, Daz/Poser nerds have invented ways in which to pose tentacles and friends more realistically. One of them, IK chains — or inverse kinematics — is basically a bunch of back-end calculations that allow one to move, say, the end segment of a tentacle and let the software figure out how the change in the position of the end segment will cascade back to its upstream fellows. Incidentally, IK chains appear frequently in digital models of people as well, allowing the user to select the model’s hand, say, and reposition it, and the rest of the arm and torso will follow realistically, according to the program’s IK calculations. Pretty cool.
Another method by which to pose wiggly things is Easy Pose. Invented by a brilliant dude, Ajax, Easy Pose is a system whereby tentacles and friends’ positions may be changed and controlled by dials like SBendLeft, CurveRight, etc. There can even be master dials that control whole groups of tentacles and friends.
I had somewhere I was going with this, but I can’t remember. I will just close by saying that Tentacular Spectacular would be a great name for a carnival ride.
"Hey, let’s hit the Tentacular Spectacular!"
"What is it?"
"I dunno, but apparently you have to sign this release before they let you on."
"I’ll pass, thanks."
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1632772.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
“Hang this on your wall…because 1982 said so.”
This Ugly Furniture parody of a local resale shop’s commercial is cracking me up.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1632531.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Update on 1:6 scale Peter Dinklage doll from Three Zero
A painted, dressed prototype has appeared on Three Zero’s Facebook page. The likeness still isn’t fully there, but I am pleased to note that the company has accurately reproduced Peter Dinklage’s relative proportions. Thus the doll is a mostly successful representation of a person with dwarfism, as opposed to a cheat accomplished by scaling down a figure of a person without dwarfism to, say, 75%. So cool!
I love the headsculpt’s thoroughly disgruntled expression. "Really? You thought that crack about midget bowling was funny? Wow. The mind boggles at the epic shallowness of your banal bigotry."
He might need to be a Zombieville tertiary…maybe one of the co-heads of the Lakeside Community Co-op along with Sylvia Blomqvist. Or, better yet, an anti-PWS activist whose remarks about "safe neighborhoods" and "the importance of tourist income" thinly disguise revulsion toward PWS, especially those in Toxic Waste.
Lumberjack vs. this guy — hmmmm…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1632278.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
I can FEEL my digital skills improving.
Since I got the idea that my digital peoples should go to an amusement park, I have been looking online for free models that I could use. I found a Ferris wheel [assuming it doesn’t give my computer a hernia :p ], bumper cars and a water park [also assuming that it doesn’t give my computer a hernia either]. I could not, however, find for free a model of my most favorite amusement of all time: the merry-go-round.
Just now, though, I figured out how to kitbash a simple, static digital model of a merry-go-round using a combination of models I already have, primitives and freely available stuff. I used the skills detailed in my entry about stalking the elusive 1:6 scale electric wheelchair, in which I broke down my target item into easily replicable forms. Essentially, a merry-go-round has several basic components:
- round platform for the whole thing to sit on
- thick central column to house motor [and, optionally, operator] and support roof
- torus platform around motor housing to provide deck for ride-on units
- thin columns around perimeter of deck to additionally support roof
- shallow dome or conical bowl, inverted, as roof
- ride-on units that go up and down
- poles through the center of each mobile ride-on unit
- cross-pieces near the bases of these poles to help riders mount and dismount
- stationary ride-on units
Pretty much everything on this list can be generated by the primitives available in Daz [hey, maybe Poser has some too…]. In fact, I could simplify the construction greatly by using an existing free model of a dome, gazebo or pergola as the merry-go-round frame. The stationary ride-on units can be sleighs, of which many free models exist. So far, so good.
The most complex elements are the mobile ride-on units. I’m thinking that I’ll use horses, since I have a horse model hanging around, in two positions: prancing or running with all feet off the ground [good for mobile ride-on units]. I’ll scale and pose the horse appropriately, then export as an obj to delete all the unnecessary rigging information. Then I’ll take it into Hexagon and reduce the level of detail as much as I can get away with. When I import it back into Daz, it should be a relatively low-poly model that won’t give my computer acid reflux when I put several in a scene.
Stay tuned…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1632119.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Hexagon reduces the poly count of detailed models!
It says so right here! Awesome!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1631837.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Genius discovers levels of detail [LOD] for V4 and M4!
To anyone who is not savvy in Daz speak, this means that I just learned how to use an option in Daz Studio to reduce the resolution of Victoria 4 and Michael 4, thus generating figures of a smaller file size appropriate for backgrounds. This is great news because I need some diner patrons and amusement park patrons that don’t hog resources. This is basically like using cheap dolls for crowd filler and saving the expensive, exquisitely detailed ones for the closeups.
In other news, I also discovered the polygon editor, which means that I can delete parts of models I don’t want. For example, I wanted to make a cyborg with partial flesh-mimicking plating [like winston1984’s Fembot]. Looks really cool, but takes a very long time to render, as the skeleton has all the same joints and rigging [= articulation] as the human model. Thus a cyborg with partial cladding ends up requiring as much power to render as two human models.
Solution: Select only certain areas of the cyborg to be open and delete all parts of the robo-skeleton that will not be seen. For simplicity’s sake, I chose to open up the abdomen of the human figure. Thus I only needed the robo-skeleton from about chest to thighs. Everything else, including the demanding and complex articulation of hands and feet, disappeared, thanks to the polygon editor. Result: A robot that is less of a resource hog.
I love the polygon editor. It allows me to perform one of my favorite tasks — hacking things up, reassembling them and taking sloppy, effective shortcuts — in digital space.
Speaking of hacking things up, Andrea recently referred to sticking on one of her dolls’ heads as "the ModernWizard ‘hot glue can fix everything’ approach." Hee hee hee! Hot glue — it holds the universe together…or at least my corner of it. ^_^
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1631593.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Happy people identifying themselves
Check out this photo series by Sarah Deragon, “The Identity Project.” She takes pictures of people and tags them according to how they identify. They all face the camera squarely, some hamming it up, dressing and posturing in ways that they feel reveals who they are. As a bonus, their proud, challenging expressions [for example, the person in portrait 1, who appears to be thinking, “It’s too early in the morning for this heteronormative bullshit!”] also serve as a critique of narrow, rigid identity categories at use in broader society. I would like 1:6 scale populations with all of those skin colors, body shapes, hairstyles and expressions, please…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1631233.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Genius discovers the power of lights and shaders in Daz!
Yesterday I got serious about brightening up my scenes a little bit and seeing what all this shader business was about. I copied some portrait lights from a freebie I downloaded [renapd’s A3Dolls sets] and forced them to yield functional results. Woo hoo!
After that I entertained myself with shaders, installing the Daz defaults, as well as Fuseling’s Sci Fi Dark Mats and Latex and Rubber for DS, both of which I got from Renderosity. The Sci Fi mats do really cool things like apply various neon glows, crackly alien metal effects and organic slime textures. The latex and rubber mats have various patterns, glossinesses and transparencies. I spent a long time last night fiddling with the shaders. I think I could probably layer shaders and achieve something like alien, slimy, semi-transparent, super-glossy, leopard print, lime green latex, but I’m not up for creating glowing snot effects yet. :p
There are a lot of jokes to be made about my indiscriminate use of shaders, one or two of which may show up on this blog.
In other news, latex can either be a) a mark-up language [LaTex], b) a naturally occurring emulsion of micropolymer molecules in an aqueous solution exuded by plants to prevent being eaten or c) a synthetic plastic. The term can also refer to unvulcanized rubber. The overlapping Venn diagram of definitions of latex is in no way confusing. :p …Well, except for the LaTex mark-up language, which always makes me think of brightly colored, stretchy, bouncy equations. ^_^
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Annie redux with Quvenzhane Wells as Annie!
Coming in Xmas 2014! Watch the preview! Hopefully it features less racism and sexism than the 1982 version with Aidan Quinn!
I’m actually really excited about this! I have fond memories of the 1982 version as one of of the few movies of my childhood focusing on a female protagonist’s experience [the other two being The Journey of Natty Gann and Labyrinth] and allowing her to fully develop as a character! Also I like the soundtrack! And my Annie doll!
Wouldn’t it be neat if there was an Annie doll from this movie that actually looked like Quvenzhane Wells? I would snap that up in a moment! Quvenzhane Wells is talented and adorable! I’m going to see this movie, possibly in the theater!
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Cameras and lights in Daz
An old tutorial worth relinking to because I should know this stuff.
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Tiny toy toon train model
Look at this wonderful toony toy train setup for Poser/Daz. The whole thing is a freebie by mrsparky. Adorable!
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Oops, I bought the wrong diner.
I was momentarily distracted by Moonshine’s Diner and its interior until Janna and I realized that it was not a diner — i.e., a narrow, converted dining car of a train — at all. Boo hiss. I’m looking for something more like this: Richabri’s Retro Diner. Costs less and comes with more. Time to return Moonshine’s and purchase Retro.
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Jareth loosely interprets the 1950s…
…In prep for hanging out at the Greasy Spoon Champlain Diner. I have so much fun designing his inimitable style. Have I mentioned that he likes pink and really, really, really high shoes? I’m surprised he’s not showing any leg or midriff, but we can’t flash all of the people all of the time, I suppose. [Sigh.] :p
Is there a diner in my mini universe?
I’m having loads of fun with digital me, Jareth and Jennifer, with one exception: posing. My poses for previous generations of figures do not translate well to the Genesis figure on which the digital versions of us are based, so I spend many tedious minutes tweaking and shoving body parts instead of what I’d rather be doing: either a) dressing them up or b) making them have snarky conversations. To obviate this tweaking and shoving, I’ve been looking for poses crafted for the Genesis figure that I can apply with a mere click and then get to the fun part of having them make smart remarks.
I have a lot to consider when purchasing a pose pack. First, I want poses that will cover the mini universe’s major activities. As mentioned, these are 1) sitting around, 2) lying around, 3) conversing and 4) wearing fabulously silly clothes. Thus I need a diversity of casual and/or conversational poses. I’d also like the poses to apply easily to a variety of furniture. And I’d like the pose pack to be relatively affordable.
With these criteria in mind, I’m considering DAZ/Digiport’s Genesis Poses for Moonshine’s Diner Interior and, naturally, Moonshine’s Diner Interior to accommodate the poses. Now that I think about it, I actually have a whole dang diner, Stonemason’s Deco Diner, from my digital LHF days, that I could probably press into service without having to get Moonshine’s Diner Interior.
So anyway — that’s why there may be a diner in my mini universe.
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Bebe the Boreal harpy
Her name is not actually Bebe, but a musical, piping string of liquid vowels that human language can’t approximate. There is a bebebe sound somewhere in there, though, so she usually just tells humans who don’t speak the Champlain dialect of Avian to call her Bebe.
In making Bebe, I strove to create a character both realistic and stylized. She’s obviously stylized because wings that small could in no way bear her aloft. However, I wanted her physicality to be convincing, so I scaled her down to 85% of a default V4 and gave her a lean, musclebound frame. Her face is a relatively flat plane so as to reduce drag, while her large eyes give her keen predatorial vision. Her top knot functions practically as a way to keep her hair from her eyes, and it’s messy because she doesn’t worry about style when riding the gale. Her extra large hands help her grab dinner, while her drawn countenance, with bags under her eyes, suggests a hard life on the wing.
Bebe likes dancing!
Recommended for smart remarks!
Andrea writes on her Tumblr that she recommends my blog for more reasons than just my trenchant rants on the lack of 1:6 scale electric wheelchairs. One of these reasons, apparently, is such gems as my admiration for crotch jewelry Adzan’s Solar Solace for Hiro 3. I’m not sure which is more entertaining — the fact that someone recommends my blog to other people or the fact that "Invisible Suspenders" is what makes my blog recommendable. ^_^
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Sintel: mediocre story, amazing dragons
I found a short film about a girl on a quest for a dragon. The film itself is forgettable, except for the realistic anatomy and animation of the dragons. Like birds, they have a total of four limbs, two wings and two feet. Like birds, they also squeal, squawk and roar. They scuttle along the ground when young and fly when older, and they act like large, irritable, flying lizards. I recommend watching this if only for the utterly convincing imaginary monsters. 😀
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1628822.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Madame Tutli Putli: magnificently Gothic stop-motion short
A woman, weighed down with the baggage of a lifetime, takes a macabre ride on a nighttime train.
I can’t stop staring at the beautiful textures at play in this stop-motion animation. I love how the main character’s limbs seem to be made of worn, stuffed muslin over a wire armature, but, somehow, the skin of her face is so translucent that her weariness emanates clearly. According to Wikipedia, the animators composited human eyes over the stop-motion figures, which drives the train straight into the Uncanny Valley and only adds to the eerie sense of life in death. Beautiful, disturbing, compelling. Requires multiple viewings to appreciate the melancholy sensibilities, subtle body language and quintessentially dreamlike narrative.
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Yippee — I got a therianthrope!
I’ve lusted after MAB/WillDupree’s harpy for years, and I finally got her at 40% off. Expect her to show up on my blog soon enough…
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Digital denizens of the mini universe
Here’s a frame from a story I worked on this weekend, called "Jennifer Falls Down." No, you don’t get to see the whole thing.
Doctor Z re-redux
About a year ago, Doctor Z, the Zombieville denizen who diagnoses Isabel with spondis and tells her about the condition and the community of people who have it, started off as a Hasbro AA helo Jane with a very purple faceup.
Peter’s gumball machine
Sure, I have a wonderful little Rement gumball machine that I could use on the counter of Peter’s resale shop, Rumpy Pumpy. However, as much as I love Rement, I love even more the satisfaction of finding a Valentine’s candy dispenser for 88 cents the day after Valentine’s and quickly repurposing it into a gumball machine that I customized by my very own self.
Jareth as Jareth in progress
Here’s Jareth impersonating his source material: the Goblin King from Labyrinth, as played by David Bowie. He’s still in progress, so he has no background or pose.
Continue reading Jareth as Jareth in progress
“I’ll take Invisible Suspenders for $500.00, Alex.”
This comic is my tribute to Adzan’s Solar Solace for Hiro 3, here modeled by Jareth. I try to determine the mysterious device that prevents him from dropping trou.Continue reading “I’ll take Invisible Suspenders for $500.00, Alex.”
Le yaourt est mort. Vive le yaourt!
The one time in my life that I didn’t want frozen yogurt, that’s exactly what I got. The aggressively chilly fridge at work froze my yogurt. I tried thawing it in the microwave, but 30 seconds left it still semisolid, while another 30 turned it into a runny, unpalatable mess. Pas de yaourt pour moi.
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Jareth as Jareth
I just got the idea that it would be very entertaining to dress up [digital] Jareth as Jareth the Goblin King, his inspiration. I think I can cobble the outfit from stuff I already have:
- Shirt base from ??? — possibilities include Adzan’s Ode for Hiro 3, Adzan’s Litho Le Fae Esquire for Hiro 3, Adzan’s Still Life/Still Morning for H3
- Shirt sleeves from Wilmap’s Blouson Top for Genesis
- Shirt cuffs from Adzan’s Ode for Hiro 3
- Vest from Adzan’s Painted Osculus
- Pants from Sickleyield’s Free Leggings for Genesis or just applying a cloth texture and Spandex morphs to legs
- Boots from Wilmap’s Knee-High Heeled Boots for Genesis
Kinda baffled by the hair, though…I haven’t found a single style with a suitably spiky top and long straight sides, but maybe I can approximate something from SWAM/Goldtassel’s Elfdance Hair Anime [for the top] and Mark003’s freebie Punk GaGa hair [for the sides]. If all else fails, Valea’s Cherry Hair has the correct silhouette and layering — just needs more volume. I’d rather not spend money, but "But it’s Jareth!" is a sure justification to prompt me to turn out my pockets. :p
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Digital Jareth’s silly clothes
Here, in a perfect illustration of what I mean by Adzan’s freebie outfits having a sense of humor, Jareth wears the entire Painted Osculus set for Hiro 3. I particularly like the breast window created by the combination of neck brace thing and vest, as well as the crotch ventilation zippers. Mostly I like how this outfit recalls formal wear, but then runs off into sillier directions.
Hair is Studio Maya’s freebie Simple Hair for Michael. Pose is one of M3’s default, combined with hand poses from Schlabber and cascarda’s eXpression for V3, tweaked by me. Background by me. Standard info about Jareth model, texture, makeup, glasses, et hoc genus omne, applies.
+18 freebie digital outfits, +11 freebie digital hairstyles!
Back when I was rendering LHF digitally, I got lots of use out of Adzan’s freebie outfits for Hiro 3 and David 3, which I converted for use with multiple characters. In particular, Will [who was just a permutation of Jareth] enjoyed outfits made of Adzan elements. Speaking of Jareth, here’s an early digital version of him wearing the bottoms from Solar Solace. [Man, I’d love to find that harness again…]
Continue reading +18 freebie digital outfits, +11 freebie digital hairstyles!
I usually don’t like beehive ‘dos…
…But Jareth can apparently make anything look good, including hairstyles with weird bumps. How does he do that?!!!
Continue reading I usually don’t like beehive ‘dos…
Jennifer showing off the best $6.06 I’ve ever spent
Here’s Jennifer in progress. She’s supposed to look similar to me, but younger, rounder and blunter in the features. I took the digital me that I had made, fattened and rounded the face, plumped up the lips, widened the mouth, enlarged and rounded out the eyes and snubbed up the nose.
Continue reading Jennifer showing off the best $6.06 I’ve ever spent
Digtal Jareth goes Rococo
…And manages to look Goth while doing so. Standard info about Jareth figure sources applies. Rococo dress and hair [including pearls and feathers!] are freebies by Chris Cox, as is the Masquerade texture for the dress. Background is a freebie by bogwoppet. Pose is one of cascarda and Schlabber’s eXpressions for V3, tweaked by me.
It’s not easy being fabulous, but someone has to do it.
Continue reading Digtal Jareth goes Rococo
Welcome back, Jennifer!
Having made a digital me and a digital Jareth, I thought today that I should complete the population and make a digital Jennifer [and also a digital Allyson, but mostly a digital Jennifer]. As I paged through the Daz Web site, looking for appropriate clothes and hair, I asked myself why I wanted to drop money on digital content, a minor medium in my artistic life, when I could have an actual doll of her to go along with my Jareth doll.
There have been Jennifer dolls before — a Soom Uyoo and then an Obitsu Gretel — but this one would actually look like her. I could use my Angelsdoll massive girl body as an approximation of her fat, stocky frame and, since I’m so good at it in 1:6 scale, I could slap some 1:3 scale fats on there if I wanted. YAY FAT DOLLS!!!
Of course, the catch is the head. It would have to be another custom one, like Jareth’s was, because no BJD company offers fat headsculpts. It’s also somewhat complicated by the fact that Jennifer’s physical appearance has changed over the years to more closely resemble mine, so she needs to be close enough to me to look like me, but not so close so that she looks like a doll of me. And, of course, there’s the money…
Well, anyway, I do have a digital me that I could use as a base for a digital Jennifer, just to see if I could get a similar, but not identical, result. If I can generate an accurate digital Jennifer and find a doll company that will do a custom head from an .obj file for a reasonable fee, my Jareth doll could soon have a Jennifer doll to harass hang out with!
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Me and My Muses E.7: “Self-Portrait”
The last episode ever of Me and My Muses finds Ellery and Mackenzie looking at a picture of Mackenzie’s muse, Her Ladyship.
Continue reading Me and My Muses E.7: “Self-Portrait”
Chittenden County Vermont Doll Club meetup: 02/09/2014
Saturday’s Valentine’s meetup of Chittenden County Doll Club attracted a total of eight doll enthusiasts, as well as at least two hangers-on who did not come with dolls. In any event, the turnout represents the most populous meetup of CCDC ever, not only in terms of people, but in terms of dolls [somewhere north of 25]. Onto the pictures!
Continue reading Chittenden County Vermont Doll Club meetup: 02/09/2014
Learned a new word today!
Skeuomorphism is the practice of including features of old technology in new technology, but as design elements, without their old functionality. Examples include folders in the GUI of a computer to click on to access groups of files and the sound effect on my digital camera that sounds like a shutter clicking whenever I take a picture.
I think you could also extend its use metaphorically to cover terms for new technology that use old technology as a basis for comparison. One example of this type of use would be "horsepower" as a skeuomorph referring to the strength of a car’s engine. Another example would be "astronaut"/"cosmonaut" [literally "star-sailor"/ "universe-sailor" according to the Greek roots] for those who travel in outer space.
This is an extremely useful word, applicable in many instances today. I love it!
Incidentally, the word skeuomorphism has as its roots the Greek terms for "tool" ["skeuo-"] and "shape" [morph"]. Literally it means "a thing shaped like a tool" — with the implication that, although it appears to be a tool, it cannot be used exactly as its appearance suggests. Its very existence interrogates the nature of originality and reality. Whoa, dude — that’s so, like, deep!
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Me and My Muses Epilogue 6: “Anti-Shalott”
Ellery learns how Her Ladyship saved Mackenzie’s life.
Evethecat is making humanoid dolls!
Check out all their neat prototypes! Here is a 1:12 scale doll, 15cm of 3D printed voluptuousness. And here are some 1:6 scale, 3D printed dolls, one of which I WANT.
Over in the therianthropic category, we have an angel [scale unknown] with articulated feathers on her wings. We also have Fantasy Girl, who has swappable therianthropic parts, including a human form, a satyr form [horns, pointy ears, clawed hands, hooves] and a mermaid form [webbed hands and articulated tail].
I’ll be watching this company. I love their designs.
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From kitschy jaundiced crap to 1:6 scale cemetery centerpiece
Last year I acquired a small replica of William Wetmore Story’s Angel of Grief that he originally carved for his wife’s tomb. Made by Design Toscano, your friendly neighborhood purveyors of all things mediocre, tawdry and expensive, she looked like this initially:
Continue reading From kitschy jaundiced crap to 1:6 scale cemetery centerpiece
It’s snowing out, and Jareth ain’t happy.
Even the digital version of him is grumbling…. :p
Look who I found in the Daz store!
"Underground King for M4." Bulge-related morphs included, much to my amusement. Hair not included, much to my disappointment.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1623152.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Turnabout is fair play for really sarcastic dolls.
Jareth and Submit continue Valentine’s adventures.
Continue reading Turnabout is fair play for really sarcastic dolls.
50 Shades of Rape Culture: “You do the math”
Hey kids! I know that you eagerly awaited my scathing rant on chapters 2 through 5 that I promised, but too bad. I will dispense with an analysis of all the problems in chapter 5 to zero in on a particularly repugnant snippet therein.
To set the stage, immediately before chapter 5, Ana and acquaintances go out drinking to celebrate the successful end of finals. Ana becomes sloshed and drunk-dials Christian. Her so-called friend Jose sexually assaults her, only to be fended off by Christian, who has tracked Ana’s cell phone and come to pick her up. Jose leaves as Ana, no doubt mirroring the reader’s disgust, pukes everywhere. She and Christian dance for a little bit until she passes out.
Chapter 5 begins with Ana in an unfamiliar bed. She quickly realizes that Christian has taken her to his house and removed her pants. Inevitably, Ana wonders if he raped her. Christian assures her that he likes his women "sentient and receptive" [p. 66], so he did not assault her while she was unconscious. Ana appears disappointed by Christian’s assertion. In a paragraph discussing her confusion about his apparent lack of hots for her, Ana muses [p. 69]:
"He said he likes his woman sentient. He’s probably not celibate then. But he’s not made a pass at me… I don’t understand. … Am I repellent to him? You’ve slept in his bed all night, and he’s not touched you all night. You do the math. My subconscious has reared her ugly, snide head. I ignore her."
As we have already observed, the math is pretty easy to follow. Here’s the equation:
Christian + unconscious Ana ≠ rape
Ana, however, seems to wish that Christian had touched her when she was unconscious. In her perspective, his sexual assault of her in her unconscious, unable-to-consent state would prove his desire for her. Because she apparently subscribes to the trope of romance novels that men can’t control their libidos, she conflates rape and desire. It’s a testament to how deeply she has been indoctrinated with a misogynist rape culture that she regrets not having been fucked over in her sleep.
This instance represents possibly the only moment in the series that Christian exhibits a modicum of basic human decency, and yet he gets no credit. I’m not expecting the the story to glorify his not raping an unconscious woman. However, it would be nice if the main character, with whom we are supposed to sympathize, didn’t fault him for it.
I think this excerpt represents E.L. James’ troubling inability, on a global level, to assign the appropriate ethical weight to…well…just about anything. She treats Jose’s sexual assault of Ana like an awkward date, after which Ana feels guilty that she doesn’t call him. She treats Christian’s tracking of Ana through her cell phone as charming protectiveness on his part. She treats bdsm as a dramatic secret nurtured by broken psyches and peeing on a consenting partner as something akin to pedophilia. Whether she’s dismissing significant problems of surveillance, control and consent or using her sense of revulsion as a moral proxy, she gets it wrong again and again.
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I would actually wear [most of] this.
Digital me returns, now upgraded to a Genesis base.
Head is from is Daz3D’s Victoria 4.2 base, with V4 Morphs ++. Head morphs are from V4 Morphs ++ and Capsces’ Morphia. Skin texture is rebelmommy and shellyw’s RBSD V4 MerchantBase. Hair is freebie Boy Hair for V4 by 3Dream.
Body is Daz’ freebie Genesis base figure, shaped with basic included morphs, as well as Jabba’s freebie Pinup Girl and freebie Junk in the Trunk, some of DieTrying’s 182 freebie morphs ported from V4, a few of RAMWolff’s copious freebie Genesis morph package, all topped off with some manual scaling of body parts by me. Skin texture is rebelmommy and shellyw’s RBSD V4 MerchantBase.
From top to bottom, the outfit consists of Eden Evergreen’s freebie Tie-on Fantasy Sleeves for Genesis, Richabri’s freebie V4 Corset [the red bodice], the corset from SickleYield’s freebie Impractical Rogue [the black cincher], the short shorts from Daz’ Magus and dx30’s Thick Sole Boots 3. Background by propschick. Pose from Schlabber and cascarda’s eXpression for V3.
I would wear this all [and fuckin’ ROCK it! :p], except for the shoes, in which I would turn my ankles and fall over. High heels and I have never gotten along, which is why they go on digital me and not actual me.
Continue reading I would actually wear [most of] this.
50 Shades of Infelicity of Style
Hey, kids! I’ve progressed up to chapter 5, so I have a significant commentary to write on the pages I have spanned since my last rant. However, I do not have time for full-length vituperation, so I will just make a single comment: E.L. James needs to find another way of describing things besides the "it’s all x, y and z" model. Here’s a random example on page 56, where Ana is observing her so-called "friend" Kate’s outfit:
"She’s all tiny camisole, tight jeans and high heels, her hair piled high with tendrils hanging softly down around her face, her usual stunning self."
I have no intrinsic problem with this phrase; in fact, I like to use it myself on occasion because it gives a sense of a person fascinated by the details and yet also overwhelmed by the overall effect of something. But I only use it on occasion. James, on the other hand, finds a phrase she likes [q.v. "fair point well made"], beats it till it dies, waits till it resurrects as a zombie, then beats it to death again. I repeatedly felt impelled to throw the book across the room, but then I realized I was on a bus, and none of the other passengers would appreciate being bombed with a bomb of a book.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1622097.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Jareth in drag
Here’s digital Jareth in drag — that is to say, an outfit that is very far from what he regularly wears. His hair’s usually down, so now it’s up. He usually wears short, informal, fetishy stuff, so here he is in something rectilinear and formal. He usually goes femmey, so here he is butching it up.
Jareth’s head is a Daz Michael 3 base with a combination of M3 head/body morphs and Capsces’ Brom head/body morphs. Skin texture base and most of the make-up is from kaiZ’s V3 Beauty Kit, with eyeliner elements from etomchek and PureEnergy’s Stardust. Hair is Mylochka’s freebie Palamas.
His body is the Daz Genesis base. Body shape is a combination of basic Genesis morphs, including Standard Male, Thin and WaistWidth, as well as DieTrying’s BackUndefine and BladeboneDefine morphs from his 182 morphs for V4 [converted by SickleYield for Genesis]. Jabba’s Junk in the Trunk morph rounds things out [har har]. Genesis base and all morphs mentioned are free downloads!
Jareth is wearing Slosh’s SPEX for Genesis, as well as Wilmap’s Pinstripe Suit for Genesis [shirt, tie, jacket and pants] and her Genesis Buckle Heeled Boots. Spex aren’t free, but the clothes and boots are. Not visible under his clothes are the ball joints and the corresponding limb morphs from SickleYield and Fuseling’s Ball Joint Doll for Genesis package.
Pose is from Schlabber and cascarda’s eXpression for V3 pose pack, and the background is a png I made myself.
And, now that I’ve catalogued all the sources of the elements of this picture, I’m exhausted. :p
All Genesis, all the time!
I moved my digital me and my digital Jareth over to Genesis base figures [basically by making only their heads visible and parenting each original figure to the Genesis base] because I wanted to use Ball Joint Doll for Genesis’ conforming ball joints to make digital versions of doll likenesses.
Jareth: "For God’s sake, why are you making dolls you can’t touch? I’m right here! You made me in Daz Studio and then had me actualized in resin precisely so you could play with me. So why are you reverting to intangible representations?"
Me: "The digital models have more clothes than you do."
Jareth: "Is that sooooo? Let me see."
Me: "STEP AWAY FROM THE LAPTOP. I don’t need you pestering me for more expensive commissions."
While purchasing the aforesaid digital BJD parts yesterday, I also dug around online and found a crapload [that’s the technical term] of absolutely free Genesis clothing. Wilmap has a beautiful and ever-growing wardrobe of clothes for the figures, most of which are modern and generically historical, pertinent to Western history back to about the 1780s. Lots of high heels too, which Genesis apparently has a tragic lack of. Over on the silly side of things, Ghastly has a comprehensive array of skimpy/fetishy/costumey stuff. I must say — the man is a genius at modeling ruffles.
On the same site [sharecg.com], I also dug up a lot of free morphs for the figure. DieTrying did 184 morphs for V4, and SickleYield has converted them to Genesis. RAMWolff also has a bunch of free morphs for Genesis all nicely packaged. Anyway, the sheer volume of free morphs available for Genesis motivates me to possibly attempt to convert my likeness morphs over to that figure base…possibly…when I have some free time in between all the other projects I have running.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1621605.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
*plotz*
So apparently the latest version of Daz, which I have on my computer, does what Wardrobe Wizard does, but on a more limited scale — it has a plugin, Autofit, that automatically fits clothes from Victoria 4 and other figures in the same generation to the Genesis and Genesis 2 figures. This reduces immeasurably the time I need to spend on clothing conversions.
Before I discovered Autofit, this is what I was [not] looking forward to:
- Go out of Daz, my preferred program, and into Poser [not my preferred program].
- Load model [either V4 Morphia for digital me or M3 Brom for digital Jareth].
- Open Wardrobe Wizard and analyze morphs on source figure. Wait a while. Save morphs. Close source figure.
- Open clothing to be converted. Add source figure morphs to conversion. Wait a while.
- Tinker with the fit in Poser, especially the joint parameters.
- Go back into Daz for final fitting, posing and futzing.
Morph analyses of the source figures need to be performed only once in Wardrobe Wizard, but the last three steps listed need to be done for every article of clothing per source figure. For example, if I have a corset that I want to use on both digital me and digital Jareth, I need to run two conversions on it, ending up with two separate instances and a whole bunch of large, associated files. No thanks.
Now, with Autofit in the mix, my workflow looks like this:
- Preserve custom head morphs the lazy way [make only head and eyes of custom figure visible and parent custom figure to Genesis’ head]. Make Genesis’ head and children invisible, of course!
- Use built-in Genesis body morphs [and DieTrying’s free ones] to approximate in Genesis original body shapes of custom characters.
- Approximately match textures of Genesis body with custom head [mostly a challenge for digital Jareth, whose Brom M3 UVs do not play well at all with UVs from any more recent generation].
- Going over to Poser, use Wardrobe Wizard to convert any pre-V4 content to V4. [No morph analyses or transfers needed, just a simple conversion and some post-conversion futzing in Poser.]
- Returning to Daz, load desired Genesis character and desired converted pre-V4 content. Let Autofit do the rest.
I save a heck of a lot of time by not transferring custom shaping morphs to the clothes and also by not creating separate instances of each conversion for each new model I want to fit it to. Saves hard disk space too.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1621269.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Reconceptualizing the Library of Intellectum’s book wyrm
The book wyrm’s original appearance was that of Daz3D’s Eastern Dragon, which was offered for free a few years ago. I used this figure out of my available draconic options because its long, snaky form evoked the wyrminess I wanted in my book wyrm — plus I found it more aesthetically pleasing than the others. That said, I recognize that it would be cultural appropriation to insert a Chinese dragon in a story where it would have no context, so the book wyrm will no longer be a Chinese dragon.
Instead, there are many options for more European dragons in wired and felted versions on Etsy. This stuffed felt dragon, made by TheUselessCupboard, for example, is adorably pissy. I like the long serpentine body and the slim clawed legs, though I would ask for a wire armature, delete the wings and make the eyes half-closed.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1621245.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
I NEED A BALL-JOINTED DRAGON!
It curls up in your hand! Just like a kitty cat! Cuarto, another genius Russian BJD artist from the same country that gave the world Muggins and friends, has put out Darkhorn, a BJD [Ball-Jointed Dragon]. White dragons are $300.00 + s/h, while colored dragons are $400.00. They are adorable!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1620746.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Heyyyyyy!
Xandy shipped! [That’s the Playtoy Purple Girl, a very obvious unlicensed reproduction of Chloe Moretz from Hit Girl 2.] She should be here by the end of the week!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1620671.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Graveyard elements: plaster pedestals
Ooooh, I think that the graveyard in Zombieville could use some plaster pedestals to suggest mausoleums! Here is a nice plain pillar, needing only some weathering, for $29.99. This Ionic one, at $14.99, is a bit cheaper, though. And here’s a Roman one for the same price. But maybe this column wall mirror would work [$19.99] too.
I’m a big fan of this curved Roman capital bench too…perfect for contemplating my grieving angel statue…
Perhaps I could get away not with some columns, but with some silly cherub statue from this category, as long as it looks suitably depressed.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1620473.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Intellectum on my mind
Since I’ve been dinking around with Daz recently, my thoughts turn to one of my most cherished digital projects, the Library of Intellectum. This was a fantastical library that I created in August, 2010, full of book wyrms, ghosts, ILL teleports, librarians with brains jacked into the catalog, etc., etc. I developed a core cast, as well as some key settings, but never started tying things together with a story. Nevertheless, I have periodically thought about which 1:6 scale dolls would embody which characters and also how I would make the sets. Recently I’ve updated those thoughts [last draft was in 2011]…
Our protagonist was originally a library assistant, but now I’m thinking that she’s a library volunteer [like me!]. That would give her much more of an excuse to wander, poke, get lost and go on tangents. I’m still hung up on the idea of getting a Dollmore Melissa Hon for her, although I don’t know how I’d do that, as I can’t support them as a cheatin’ BJD co.
The head librarian, originally the protagonist’s ultimate supervisor, was, in last iteration, a Lumedoll Lucas head on a masectomized Lumedoll female body. Now I’m thinking of an Obitsu Slender Male body and any old female action figure head — because I can mod it with Sculpey.
The special collections assistant, the protagonist’s friend, remains a Lumedoll Koit — with eyes modded to be larger.
The ghost, another of the protagonist’s friends, remains an Elfdoll Doona Ryung head, but now on an Alchemic Lab Unoa Light Azurite body.
The book wyrm is still a felted Chinese dragon with wire inside for posing.
Scanty Sophie is [given the unavailability of silver Takara Cy Girls] any old female action figure spray painted silver.
The "little fucker" is [given the unavailability of DreamHigh Squee] whatever goblinish limited edition BJD from DreamHigh I can get my hands on at that point.
The doll is a Takara MicroLady Material Force figure in white with microscopically painted features.
Sets have changed a bit too:
Stacks are still bookshelves facing each other, making a corridor. I’m thinking at least four bamboo silverware drawer dividers would make good shelves, two to a corridor side.
Any places needing pillars can be provided with some from the wedding cake supply section of the craft store. Resin columns are also available in craft stores and the like as planter stands or just decorative elements.
EDIT: I just discovered that battery-powered tabletop fountains can be had for under $25.00. Thus I think that the Pierian Spring should be played by one with a simple design.
EDIT 2: I have decided that the reading tables in the stacks are lit by miniature lava lamps — USB power optional — and little articulated lamps [available under "Tiny Tim book light" search terms].
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1619994.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Me and My Muses E.5: “Her Ladyship”
Mackenzie tells Ellery about the woman in her head.
Continue reading Me and My Muses E.5: “Her Ladyship”
Little cat furniture for 1:6 scale BJCs [= Muggins!]
Look at this beautiful small-scale cat furniture created by an owner of an Evethecat BJC. It’s accurately constructed and appropriately scaled, and the BJC appears to be having fun with it. Clearly Muggins needs at least a scratching post….
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1619516.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
I’ll take this in 1:3 scale please.
The outfit, not the dude, as much as I think he’s hot. My Jareth doll would rock these duds.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1619296.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
50 Shades of Bilge: part deux
All right, individuals, it’s time for another installment in 50 Shades of Meh!
When we last left off, I was on page 11. Let’s see how far I get today…
P. 12: "You sound like the ultimate consumer."
Anna makes this observation after a string of control freaky observations on Christian’s part. I think she’s onto something here.
Christian is an extremely materialist individual who wishes to possess the newest, latest, most expensive objects. He also believes that he can possess people by controlling their finances, as he does with his ex-domme [owning a stake in her salon chain] and ex-sub [bankrolling her therapy]. If he can’t control people financially, he attempts to create bonds of obligation between them and him with extravagant gifts — he gives Ana first editions of Tess of the d’Urbervilles, as well as a phone, a computer, a few cars, etc., etc.
Do we notice a pattern here? Christian substitutes economic transactions for emotional intimacy. Everything has a price, and he’s willing to pay it to create attachments between him and other people. He really doesn’t know about the giving and receiving of oneself that forms a non-obligatory, mutually enjoyable, emotionally based relationship.
In other words, this interview that Ana’s conducting gives Christian opportunity after opportunity to advertise his complete unsuitability as a romantic partner. But who cares? He’s hot!
P. 13: "’Are you gay, Mr. Grey?’ … How can I tell him I’m just reading the questions? Damn Kate and her curiosity!"
Again, Ana — you chose to ask this question. Kate did not force you. You are not being impelled by forces outside of your control, but by your own damn self. Stop having an external locus of control.
…Okay, I got up to page 19.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1618947.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Digital me
Here’s my digital model of me.
Sources: Base figure is Daz3D’s Victoria 4.2 base, with V4 Morphs ++. Head morphs are from V4 Morphs ++ and Capsces’ Morphia. Skin texture is rebelmommy and shellyw’s RBSD V4 MerchantBase. Hair is Boy Hair for V4 by 3Dream. Outfit is Daz3D and Lourdes’ Shadow Dancer for V4 with custom D-forms by me to make the shirt and pants fit a bit better. Shirt texture is a seamless tile freebie from nikitanights’ Sequence Sparkle Texture Tiles. Gaiter and leg wrap textures are freebies from RachealMarie’s 80 Seamless Cloth Tiles. Collar is from MAB and WillDupre’s Cat Girl for A4/V4. Pose is one of V4’s defaults, tweaked slightly by me. Background is by propschick.
Yes! Wardrobe Wizard 2 is back!
I just resuscitated my downloads of Wardrobe Wizard 2 and the various expansion packs I bought in January, 2008. Jareth can finally get some fabulous dresses and platform stilettos… 😀 😀
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1618500.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Puritan virtue names do not fare well these days.
The Puritans used to bestow upon their daughters nouns and verbs for names in the hopes that their children would embody these traits. Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence and Chastity are a few of these virtue names that have survived to the modern era. Others of them have died out, including Obedience, Abstinence, Humiliation…and Submit.
The only reason that I’m familiar with Submit as a name is that my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother on my dad’s side was named Submit. I’ve always thought that was really cool, so I named one of my dolls Submit. This sometimes leads to confusion when my other dolls are surfing the Web….
Continue reading Puritan virtue names do not fare well these days.
Really sarcastic dolls continue Valentine’s Day adventures.
This time it’s Jareth and Submit [with me talking off-screen in the first panel]. They’re so cute together!
Continue reading Really sarcastic dolls continue Valentine’s Day adventures.
Slightly updated digital Jareth
Changes from last render, in no particular order:
- Different glasses, actually cat’s-eye this time
- Added custom morph for bulge in pants [I made it with a D-Form/magnet]
- Added collar
- Added boots
- Made hair lie more realistically
The collar should just be plain leather with a padlock, and the boots should have exceptionally high heels and platforms. [I’m waiting to see if I can resuscitate my clothing conversion utilities to make him appropriate outfits.] But I guess you can’t always get what you want…
Sources: Jareth is a Daz Michael 3 base with a combination of M3 head/body morphs and Capsces’ Brom head/body morphs [and a morph for the pants bulge that I did myself]. Skin texture base and most of the make-up is from kaiZ’s V3 Beauty Kit, with eyeliner elements from etomchek and PureEnergy’s Stardust. Second skin outfit is generated from zew3D’s Clother for V3, specifically Naughty Pack 2 [harnesses], Casual Pack 4 [jeans] and Casuals Pack 3 [camisole]. Boots are from Uzilite’s Sade. Hair is Daz/AprilYSH’s Amarseda. Glasses are Slosh’s SPEX for Genesis. Collar is a freebie from 3-d-c. Background is a freebie by propschick. Poses is one of Victoria 4’s defaults, tweaked slightly by me.
List of therianthropes that are forbidden from the house
As I may have mentioned earlier, certain types of therianthropic dolls are not allowed in the house. Janna has an aversion to some animals, and I do not want to upset her with hybrids containing features of these non-human animals. The list of prohibited creatures is as follows:
- arachnids [both spiders and scorpions]
- snakes
- insects
Of all the off-limits animals, I most regret the absence of arachnid therianthropes amongst my small populations. Soom has a scorpion therianthrope, Vesuvia, with a lovely pointy and pouty face, platform stiletto heels with stingers and articulated scorpion tail. I’ve also previously lusted after Doll Chateau’s recent release, Elizabeth, a spider girl. But these are not to be.
That said, all other therianthropic dolls are welcome. I even checked with Janna to see if my latest concept for Tonsil Hockey Part Two, the Medusa raver girl, would be objectionably snaky. She said that snakes on a doll’s head do not bother her as much as a doll with the lower half of a snake. So…assuming I have the funds next week after my pay check, I hope to purchase Tonsil Hockey The Sequel and work her up into my kinky snaky raver.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1617638.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Things I have to do before I start shooting Zombieville
In order of priority, according to when they appear in the story, they are:
1. Cemetery
weather angel- weather stones
2. Muggins
- string
- wire
- faceup
3. Doctor Z
remove hairremove paintresculptrepaint- style hair
body
Muggins ain’t here for another 1.5 months, so that leaves me with the cemetery and Doctor Z. Weathering the plastic gravestones requires warm weather in which to coat them with primer, so that’s out. My angel, though, is made of resin, meaning that she would probably respond very well to acrylic paint and chalk pastel without primer. [Anything to get rid of her current jaundiced hue.] I can therefore get started on her. And poor Doctor Z just needs a complete revamp…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1617196.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Digital Jareth: now with pointy teefs!
Forked tongue not rendered because the morphs will not allow me to do it accurately.
Reconceptualizing Tonsil Hockey Part Two
I have come to the conclusion that it would be a trespass of cultural appropriation to make an IOS Infernale/Angelsdoll massive girl body hybrid into a manananggal just because I think it’s cool. So no Cory in resin for me.
That said, I’m still very keen on Tonsil Hockey Two. I might recycle my Medusa raver concept for her and throw in an excessive amount of piercings and a ball gag. Neon fetishy Medusa raver…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1616835.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Ringdoll US BJD meetups
Just learned today from DOA/Facebook that Ringdoll is planning a series of sponsored meetups across the US in celebration of its 5th anniversary. First one’s in Los Angeles [bleh!], but a future one might be in Edison, NJ, which is just outside of New York City and therefore eminently accessible by plane. I really hope that one of the meetups comes to some city nearby — I’m sure I can scrounge the cash for a quick jaunt.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1616511.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Merry-go-round mecha mannequin
This digital dress and prop combo for V4, Amusement, just gave me the best idea for a doll. I would love to make a 1:6 scale ‘bash of a mannequin with a merry-go-round for her skirt. I could use a Harumika mannequin head [or any head really, spray painted white] and a Spin Master Liv Doll mannequin for the body. She could have Harlequin make-up and a tail coat and top hat like a ringmaster, with a huge balloon skirt in alternating panels of, say, red and gold to connote a circus. The only challenge is to find a miniature merry-go-round that actually goes ’round. Bonus if it plays music…
Maybe Isabel needs a merry-go-round mecha mannequin in her house?
EDIT: Well, apparently, merry-go-round music box ornaments are a thing…and they’re the perfect size!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1616137.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
50 Shades of Bilge: the redux
Gather ’round, folks. I couldn’t wait for my own copy of 50 Shades to materialize, so I borrowed one from the library. I’m working my way through from the beginning, commenting on whatever catches my eye, until I become bored.
P. 3: "Damn my hair — it just won’t behave, and damn Katherine Kavanaugh for being ill and subjecting me to this ordeal."
Look, readers — it’s our first glimpse of our endearing Everywoman protagonist, and what’s she doing? Whingeing about her appearance and cursing her so-called best friend for having the temerity — the utter chutzpah! — to come down with a cold. Though Ana insists that she feels sympathy for Kate, she cusses her out an awful lot in the first few pages.
Ana, you stinkin’ pushover — it’s not Kate’s fault that you blew off your senior finals and essays to do a favor for her — i.e., interviewing Christian Grey. It’s your own dang fault for having all the gumption of a doormat. Try developing some assertiveness and the skills of saying no effectively. Establishing and maintaining personal limits and boundaries proves essential in all relationships, whether with so-called friends, family or BDSM play partners.
P. 5: "It’s a stunning vista, and I’m momentarily paralyzed by the view. Wow."
The first of many examples in which Ana’s interior monologue adds nothing whatsoever to her narration.
P. 6: "I know nothing about the man I’m about to interview. He could be ninety or he could be thirty. The uncertainty is galling, and my nerves resurface, making me fidget."
Christian bankrolls Ana’s university, but she doesn’t even know that he’s in her age bracket?! Wouldn’t news of him being not only rich, but also young and handsome, travel generally around the campus? ["Yeah, that CEO — you know, the one who’s like 27 and looks like a movie star — he just endowed another building. I’d like to see his endowments, if you know what I mean, nudge nudge, wink wink."] Ana’s so completely clueless that it hurts.
P. 7: "I push open the door and stumble through, tripping over my own feet and falling headfirst into the office. Double crap — me and my two left feet!"
Seriously — who says "double crap?" Who?!
P. 11: "Well, to ‘chill out,’ as you put it — I sail, I fly, I indulge in various physical pursuits. … I’m a very wealthy man, Miss Steele, and I have expensive and absorbing hobbies."
Whoop de doo, Christian. You do realize that you’ve just said the equivalent of, ‘I like to do things when I’m not at work. Some of the things involve vehicles, and some of them don’t. All of them cost money and take up time’? In other words, you took a whole bunch of breath to say nothing.
Okay, that’s enough for tonight. I’m going to work on something more entertaining.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1615953.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
glitteryshittest4.jpg
I have really creative file names, as you can tell.
Remember how I said I was working with Daz for makeup concepts, among other things? Well, I’ve accomplished some Daz kinky stuff already, and the therianthropes are in the offing. Most recently I subdued Daz successfully enough to force it to yield the first of many representations of Jareth’s makeup, creatively entitled glitteryshittest4.jpg. Behold! This is the sort of stuff he actually wears in my head, but the doll doesn’t because I wanted to paint the doll with something simple that I stood a chance of executing well. There should be more blush, more eyeliner all around, heavy mascara, possibly some lip liner and definitely some saucer-size chandelier hoop earrings [!!!], but I’m not there yet.
Sleepy Hollow throws all its balls in the air…
…and goes, "Hah hah, see ya ’round, suckaaaaaaaahs!" C’est a dire que, at the end of the 1.5-hour season finale, the arrangement looks something like this:
- Abby’s in purgatory.
- Ichabod’s in a coffin.
- Katrina’s in the Headless Horseman’s possession.
- Irving’s in police custody.
- Jenny’s in a car wreck.
- Andy’s in the remains of Washington’s real tomb.
- The Horseman of War is in the world.
- Mick Jagger is in the last 50 seconds of the episode.
And we have resolved precisely nothing while setting up the second season in a most tantalizing fashion.
This show has really grown on me since the first episode or two. It has the escalating weirdness of Haven, in which the supernatural freakery surrounding a single town ends up piling deeper and threatening the very fabric of reality. But it’s much better than Haven because Abby has a family in the form of Jenny and female allies in the form of Jenny and Katrina as well. It’s also playfully self-aware and silly, which makes it more enjoyable to watch.
Regarding the presence of Mick Jagger in the tail end of the ep, I refer of course to a clip from Sympathy for the Devil, which has always been one of my favorite songs. I personally have memorized the damn thing in several different versions and let it strongly inflect my narrative imagination, so, because of my unreasoning affection for it, it looms large in my consciousness. I always knew that, as an iconic tune by the Stones, it has also infiltrated the popular consciousness to a certain degree. However, I didn’t realize how widely known it was until Sleepy Hollow closed out the last ep of season 1 with the first two lines from the song:
Please allow me to introduce myself
I’m a man of wealth and taste
Though there’s nothing in them to suggest that a diabolical autobiography ensues, these lines, of course, introduce a first-person retrospective by the Devil on all the chaos and cruelty he has caused throughout history. The showrunners thus depend on the viewers’ familiarity with the song to make the connection between it and Sleepy Hollow, a TV show about protagonists trying to prevent Hell on Earth. I never knew that Sympathy for the Devil was such a part of modern ambient cultural knowledge that two lines from it — neither of which mention sympathy or the Devil — would be sufficient to evoke a realm of gloating catastrophe perfect for the cliffhanger end of Sleepy Hollow.
In other news, Mick Jagger claims that Sympathy for Devil has its origins partly in the poetry of Charles Baudelaire, who is apparently leaving his fingerprints all over my life. Wikipedia, the infallible source of all, says:
In a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone, Jagger said, "I think that was taken from an old idea of Baudelaire’s, I think, but I could be wrong. Sometimes when I look at my Baudelaire books, I can’t see it in there. But it was an idea I got from French writing. And I just took a couple of lines and expanded on it. I wrote it as sort of like a Bob Dylan song."
Maybe he’s thinking of Les Litanies de Satan?
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1615598.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Parce que je suis masochiste, je l’ai acheté encore une fois.
The subject is, of course, French for "Because I am a masochist, I bought it yet again." "It," of course, is the shit heap known as 50 Shades of Grey, which I read about 1.5 years ago and made the mistake of donating to the library when I was done. I don’t regret donating it to the library as much as I regret letting it out of my possession. It’s now returning to my personal library to hang out with Warrior’s Woman, which I assume will just point, laugh and mock 50 Shades mercilessly for being such a repository of incompetence. [One of these days I need to write an essay about Warrior’s Woman and its influence on my narrative imagination.]
As soon as 50 Shades comes, analysis, sarcasm, incredulity and other fun stuff will no doubt ensue. Watch this space! I also foresee some photostories involving my eminently sardonic dolls [Submit: "What’s this about?" / Jareth: "Pain. Acute, chronic, unremitting, agonizing pain. Give me that."] and possibly a book smackdown or two. [50 Shades goes up against a variety of rivals and gets trounced.]
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1615197.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Me and My Muses E.4: “Happy Daughter”
Ellery listens to Mackenzie recount her unhappy youth.
Araminthe tries on Jareth’s boots.
They’re actually thigh-high on her, while they reach only over his knees, much to my eternal disappointment. :'( Araminthe looks rather uncomfortable in footwear that doesn’t conform to her usual style.
Continue reading Araminthe tries on Jareth’s boots.
Legs and no legs?!
I’ve been thinking… Perhaps it would be possible to mod Cory so that she has both her daytime form and her nighttime form. Her daytime form would be her with a full body, her hummingbird tongues and her bat wings. Her nighttime form would be her detached at the lower torso with exposed viscera. The Angelsdoll body I have has a torso joint just above the waist, so it would be very easy to detach her at that point — I’d just have to worry about keeping her head on in nighttime form. As a bonus, she would have legs for her hardcore outfit!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1614527.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
I have really sarcastic dolls.
I’ve been saving this prop for about six months to use in just such a photostory.
In case you don’t know, that’s Epona on the left and Peekaboo on the right.
Hardcore mananaggal?
I’m not sure if my original concept for Cory — someone with lots of piercings and predilection for fetishwear — will translate over to 1:3 scale successfully. I keep thinking of silly outfits that require legs to wear — legs that Cory would not have.
That said, I found this completely hilarious bustier with collar and wrist cuffs on the Iplehouse site. It would definitely work for her! It even stops at about where her torso is supposed to end.
In other news, I think I might be able to make a really simple ball gag out of a squeezy ball and a strap.
EDIT: This lingerie set with a corset top is also nice.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1613870.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Latest Daz dinking around: the CynBot
As I previously mentioned, I have put Daz and various stuff back on my computer for the purpose of goofing off. No therianthropes have been generated, but I have been making some fetish pin-ups. Today’s silly effort is the CynBot.
Cynthia 1.2 base, ASP bracers, Sisters of War gas mask and Bootylicious boots by bvh3d.com. V-BORG042V-1 and -2 by Reika-Kano. Background by propschick. Minor adjustment morphs to Cynthia and V-BORG parts by me.
This picture started with the Bootylicious boots, which are pretty much the Platonic Form of fetish footwear, as far as I’m concerned. They did not fit my go-to model, Daz Victoria 4, so I had to download the Cynthia 1.2 base just to have someone to put the shoes on. Fortunately, bvh3d also provides several extravagantly silly sets of fetish armor/underwear for Cynthia, pieces of which I used to make my bot.
The core of this picture depends, of course, on the lovely robo-parts made by Reika-Kano. These are not figures, meaning that they lack articulation. They are simple props that can be parented to the chest [the top part] and the hips [the bottom part] so that they will follow the poses that the body is put into [within reason]. For simple props, these parts feature stupendously detailed sculpting and many different material areas, meaning that the color, texture, reflectivity and opacity of pretty much every part can be adjusted. You don’t have to be a technosexual or an agalmatophile to appreciate the love and care that went into the development of these models.
Oh yeah, and the aforesaid robo-parts, as well as a bunch of other related stuff by Reika-Kano, can be downloaded for free from sharecg.com. Not only has this person put immense amounts of time and skill into creating these models, but they have done so for free! In fact, I constituted this render entirely from free items, from Daz Studio itself to all the elements of the picture.
Hilarious cyborg with silly gas mask and meretricious boots ahoy!
Chittenden County Doll Club, 01/11/2014
The first meetup of 2014 saw me, Lyrajean, goldi and vermont chick braving the torrential downpours to converge upon the Koolvord Room in Brownell Library, Essex Junction, VT because we are hardcore devotees who must have our regular dolly fix. 😀
Squeezy organs!
For all your stress-relieving organ replica needs!
My favorite is the intestines. I wonder if that would be the right scale for Cory…
Brain http://www.ideastage.com/Medical-Series-Brain-Stress-Reliever-781900998
Heart http://www.ideastage.com/Anatomical-Heart-Squeezies-Stress-Reliever-35916274
Heart http://www.ideastage.com/Anatomical-Heart-Stress-Toy-183854566
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Couldn’t find my guts — had to make a doll instead.
One of the digital models I regret deleting from my hard drive was the viscera. They came both as a unit appropriate for attaching to the lower end of a severed torso and as separate bloody giblets. I sought them out back in my LHF days so that I could create a manananggal.
A manananggal is a Filipina vampire. She detaches from her lower body at night and, sprouting bat-like wings, flies around, using her hummingbird-like tongue to consume human flesh and blood, particularly that of fetuses and/or pregnant women. During the day, she reunites with the rest of her body and seems in every way to be a regular human being. Though an etymological and folkloric cousin of the penanggalan, the manananggal differs from the penanggalan because the latter has a Malay origin and also detaches at the neck, rather than the base of the torso.
Continue reading Couldn’t find my guts — had to make a doll instead.
Me and My Muses E.3: “Miserable Son”
Mackenzie is having trouble telling Ellery about her imaginary people.Continue reading Me and My Muses E.3: “Miserable Son”
“Hello Poser my old friend…”
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
Apologies to Simon & Garfunkel. Ever since I abandoned Daz and digital 3-D models for use in my comics and went back to dolls, I have installed and uninstalled Daz, Poser and much of my purchased content more times than I can count. I keep jettisoning it because it’s a huge space and memory hog, but then I keep recalling it because I wish to execute projects that I can only do in Daz/Poser. Most recently it was Jareth’s custom head that needed Daz/Poser. Previous projects include the Library of Intellectum and copious use of all the digital kinky accessories available for free online if you know where to look. >:}
Daz/Poser returns to my hard drive this time for a few reasons. 1) Therianthropes! I get on therianthrope kicks occasionally, and I’m on one now. I have all the tools required to make kick-ass therianthropes. 2) Make-up concepts. I still have the files that I developed for Jareth’s head, as well as a bunch of texture kits for doing custom make-up on characters. Since his make-up changes every single time I imagine him, it would be lots of fun to replicate this outside of my head, if only in digital. 3) Copious use of all the digital kinky accessories available for free online if you know where to look.
Some of my digital experiments might make the leap from digital to doll in the future. I’ve been thinking, for example, that it’s time to let Juniper out of my head, where she has been pacing restlessly for about 4 years, rolling her eyes, sticking out her tongue, fluttering her ears, sticking up her middle fingers and generally making an adorable nuisance of herself. Anyway, watch this space!
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Ohhhhh — THAT guy! With bonus double crap.
I know very little about the impending 50 Shades movie, currently slated to come out February 15th, 2015, just in time for Valentine’s Day — because nothing says commercialized heteronormativity than a grade-Z flick glorifying abusive relationships! Anyway, the only person attached to the movie that I’m remotely familiar with is Jamie Dornan. He played the sheriff of Storybrooke, Graham, for the first few episodes of season 1 of Once Upon A Time and died before he did anything interesting. Anyway, in 50 Shades, he has the role of Christian Lead Fit-Thrower. My official reaction is "Meh."
This movie is going to be such double crap… :p
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I don’t think this book was supposed to provoke that particular reaction.
One of the many reasons I enjoy my new avatar photo is that Jareth looks both considering and on the verge of laughter. In other words, he has on his face the same expression that I had on mine when I was reading Flush Blush Crush Rush by Maya Banks. Well, at least I exhibited aforesaid expression up till page 33, which I just lost it and cracked up.
Rush is not written as a comedy, however. It’s the first in a trilogy of novels about a young, inexperienced ingenue hired to work for an older, richer, wiser dude who overmasters her with his sexy sexiness and seduces her into the thrilling, glamorous world of BDSM, where he dominates and she submits and — hey wait — where have we heard this before? Oh right, in E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Tedium Grey, Sylvia Day’s Bared to Complementary Neuroses You and the herd of other BDSM lust novels that have sprouted like post-rain mushrooms since about 2011. For Pete’s sakes, people — find a new template!
Anyway, at first I thought that Flush might prove better than 50 Shades, as it’s written by an experienced, prolific author. Well, no dice. Bank writes in generic statements and superficial vagueness. A paragraph on page 29, wherein the ingenue eyeballs the rich dude’s office, epitomizes this flaccid style:
[The office] screamed classy and expensive. Rich mahogany wood, polished marble floor that was partly covered with an elegant oriental rug. The furniture was dark leather with an antique, old-world look. Paintings adorned three walls while the last wall was all built-in bookcases filled with an eclectic mixture of works.
As anyone with a modicum of real-life and/or reading experience knows, looking into someone’s personal space — bedroom, study, den, boudoir, office, etc. — provides a wealth of information about their activities, routines, interests, preoccupations and general character. The paragraph above, full of missed opportunities, demonstrates Banks’ generic, inexpensive style because it, technically speaking, contains detail, but doesn’t really communicate anything. The mahogany, marble, oriental [sic] rug, leather furniture, paintings and stocked bookshelves stereotypically signify wealth. Without any further modification to particularize them so that they reveal the character of the rich dude, the stereotypical signifiers just lie there limply like the authorial equivalent of spaghetti flung against the wall in a test to determine its adhesive properties.
As I intimated, Banks passes up a huge chance for the reader to get to know the dominant dude. If she would just give us more specifics, we might ground the story and the characters a little bit more. What’s the design on the rug? What figures, palettes and styles appear in the paintings? What subject matter fills the books? How is everything arranged within the room? Are there focal points or salient details and, if so, what? Music, traffic noise, computer keys clicking? Garish fluorescent lighting, natural light from huge windows, cave-like dimness? The smell of carpet shampoo, dried spooge, expensive cigars, floral perfume? We’ll never know. In paragraph after paragraph like this, Banks builds empty edifices of stereotypical tropes that may seem to evoke certain worlds, personalities and feelings, but which ultimately leave the subjects that they describe mysterious and cipher-like.
The gummy, rubbery prose, impervious to all attempts at the incision of fine detail, does this book in. I bravely put up with it until the ingenue’s discussion of her impending BDSM contract with the rich dude on pages 32 and 33:
"And this relationship you propose. What exactly do you mean by nontraditional?"
…"I’ll own you. Body, soul. You’ll belong to me."
Whoa. That sounded so…heavy.
Right there was where I bust out laughing. The 24-year-old ingenue has evinced no particular idiolect up until this point, except for a distressingly ableist propensity to describe stuff that she thinks is pathetic as "lame." Suddenly, for no reason that I can discern, she sounds like a mash-up of Neo from the Matrix and Marty from Back to the Future. The odd combination of two elements totally anachronistic for this character’s generation struck such resoundingly wrong notes that I just had to give up. When the supposedly steamy and erotic BDSM novel has me snorting and rolling my eyes at the glaring infelicities of style, it ain’t really having its desired effect.
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Dollism Plus 2014 has a Web site!
Right here! Registration is open [$95.00 a person], and so is a block of rooms in the Hyatt Regency Buffalo [$139.00 a night]. I need two registrations for me and Janna, then two nights in the Hyatt Regency Buffalo, so that’s a significant chunk of change right there. And we haven’t even touched food, gas, Railroads on Parade admission and lodging for Thursday night. This trip is gonna be so expensive, but so much fun!!!! GO DOLLS & TRAINS ROAD SHOW 2014!!!!!
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Everyone needs a little Peter Dinklage in their life.
ThreeZero is doing Game of Thrones 1:6 scale dolls, and they just released a prototype headsculpt of Peter Dinklage’s character Tyrion Lannister. I don’t care about the show or the character; I just think Peter Dinklage is amazingly hot and smart and funny and warm and talented. I would love to have a 1:6 scale version of him, as long as ThreeZero accurately renders him in all his 4′ 5" glory with his distinctive body shape.
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Me and My Muses E.2: “Paracosm”
Wouldn’t ya know — Ellery’s girlfriend has people in her head too!
New avatars across the Internetz!
I’ve had three avatars in my history online. The first was a picture of a contemplative cherub that I took in a Boston-area cemetery. The second was a screencap from Labyrinth, showing the Goblin King in "Oh shit!" mode during Within You. The third and current one comes from a photo session this morning with Jareth and my new 60mm macro lens.
I’m so pleased with the clarity and detail that my new lens picks up! In fact, I shot all of Me and My Muses E.2 with it. Given how many medium-length and close-up shots of small populations that I do, this could be my new default lens.
“Butch please!”
I’ve been thinking that Boys Keep Swinging [discussed previously in relation to how much I was salivating over David Bowie] is obviously about butches cruising for femmes. It just makes so much sense! Butch power!!
When you’re a butch
You can wear a uniform
When you’re a butch
Other butches check you out
You get a girl
These are your favorite things
When you’re a butch
I think this music video needs to be redone with a femme lead vocalist and butch backup singers. How awesome would that be?
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Muggins is going to be THIS big.
Evethecat [whence Muggins] has diagrams that prospective owners can print to see how various sizes of ball-jointed cats scale out in real life. I printed a diagram for Muggins’ size, that is, 4cm at withers, and posed Isabel with it. Look! A 1:6 scale articulated kitty cat!!!
Now that I see how small all the tail sections actually are, I can’t say I’m looking forward to their assembly. I’m seriously considering sculpting a solid tail, jointed only at the base, myself.
More initial impressions of Dollmore Trinity Klaire
Irritated by the bias against "masculine" features that I detected in some DOAers’ comments on Dollmore Trinity Klaire, I have looked more closely at the remarks. A sampling are shown below:
Kitty Blue: "Not certain how I feel about her…she has some striking features but her face seems rather large compared to the others, love the make up, but the LE outfit is the same as Elysia."
Teddy: "Nice, but there’s something about her eyes that doesn’t appeal to me – I much prefer Elysia and Lumie."
Shawnee: "Funny, I love her eyes. It’s her mouth I really don’t like. It just seems too big for her face. Like kitty blue said, everything combined, her face looks too…large? for her head/body."
Stella Maris: "She looks very masculine, nope, not for me. … Beat hard with the man stick I’d say."
nancy_schroeder_ca: "I’m not sure about the new Klaire, but I don’t have room for another Trinity anyway! Maybe the next version will be better. She might look better with a different wig and faceup."
Stormlight: "Oh, the new girl is gorgeous! I think she looks a lot older than the other three. Like someone in her 20s rather than her teens."
bronzephoenix: "Oh dear, she looks so masculine to me!"
thothep: "I like all of Jude except her mouth feels too small, and now I like all of Klaire except her mouth is a little large…"
polyhymnia: "I think Klaire‘s face is pretty cool."
Jisatsu: "I was thinking Klaire looked so much like the first run of Narin 60."
monkeycancer: "RE the new Klaire doll, my first thought was ‘guy in very convincing drag,’ so I’m glad other people are thinking ‘masculine.’"
jemmilly: "I like Klaire, but not Dollmore’s face-up."
Despite gender policing from Stella Maris, bronze phoenix and monkeycancer, remarks seem overall more positive than I initially thought. I find it interesting that, even in a hobby where the dominant aesthetic for Asian BJDs is one of androgyny in facial features, people have limits to how much androgyny they can handle. I also find it interesting that DOAers are referring to "large," "masculine" and/or "strong" features as if they’re bad things. I myself actually prefer facial features with those traits, but then again I am known for my affinity for stylized, almost caricatured headsculpts.
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Glamazon thoughts
The more I ponder, the more I realize that the Playtoy torso will not work out. Research on One Sixth Warriors shows that other nerds have had the squishy parts on their Playtoys wrinkle, warp, rip and/or crack. If I’m spending a ridiculous amount of money to make a highly specific body type, I do not wish to use expendable squishy parts in its construction!
I may be able to salvage at least the shape of the Playtoy bust, though, by making a cast or mold of it. Or I could just use it as a guideline for additive sculpting of my own on an undetermined base.
The Glamazon now has the following designated parts: Obitsu Regular Male arms, Takara CG hands, Original Effect legs and feet/shoes and custom scratch-sculpted head [to be made eventually].
What about a base? I could use the Original Effect body, depending on its level of torso articulation and its skintone. I could scrounge a Takara Cy Girl 2.0 from my raw dolls bin. I suppose I could even use a Takara CG 1.0, but I don’t like the single torso joint.
I really wish that the OE would come so I could see what I have to work with….
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