THE Sculpting Challenge 007: 'Pirates - Past, Present & Future'

[Lynette-3dt]

Welcome to THE Seventh Sculpting Challenge. Whether you're new to sculpting, to the Threedy forums, or you're a seasoned veteran, come and join in on the Sculpting madness – there's plenty of fun and learning to be had by all!

The Rules:
1. The competition will last two weeks, which will be allocated to creating and submitting the entries, followed by several days of judging and voting for the entries – at which point the next competition will start.
2. The moderators will be supplying a base mesh for each competition, from which everyone will start sculpting. This is so we all get an equal start and it keeps us on topic. This week's base mesh has been provided by MonteCristo to include the head, torso and arms, plus two eye objects and 3 prop blocks for your sculpting pleasure props and eyes are optional, though).
3. There will be a time limit for the sculpting. Spend no longer than the allocated time limit, then post a screen-grab of your model. No cheating – we are relying on your honesty here.
4. Do not add any meshes other than those sanctioned in this competition brief.
5. As the base mesh shows, the sculpt is a head and torso including arms only – do not attempt to extend this into a full-body sculpt.
6. No rendering, texturing, lighting or rigging – let's keep it all about the high-res sculpt! What we are looking for is the quality of the sculpts you can produce "under pressure". If your entry is not complete, you can still post as long as it's recognisable and on topic.
7. For your final entry, post a screen-grab from your software with your finished work in it. It's fine to present this stuff nicely, with nice labelling etc., but do not add any post-production to the images themselves. These images must be uploaded to our servers by using the "manage attachments" button on the forum reply page. Do not link to external image files. Larger than the maximum size or posts containing links to external images (other than for reference materials) will be removed and the poster disqualified.
8. You can have multiple entries, but you can have only one final entry for each competition.
9. Do not create your own WIP thread. Simply post all WIP screen-grabs in here, and your FINAL entry in the Submissions thread once it has been set up later on in the Challenge.

These rules apply to everybody taking part – there will be NO exceptions!

We've attached the base mesh at the bottom of this post. Take it and go subdivide!


Prizes:
A hard cover copy of Digital Art Masters: Volume 3 plus any two 3DTotal products from the 3DTotal shop (please choose 1 book only; choose from 3DTotal Textures DVDs, 3DTotal Training DVDs, 3DTotal eBooks, 3DCreative downloadable PDF Magazines, 2DArtist downloadable PDF Magazines (subscriptions are fine!) and the Shorts Drawer DVDs). (These 2 extra prizes have been carried over from the 005 challenge, by request.) Not sure what to choose? Just ask!


The Brief:
Time limit: 5 hours
Start Date: 6th August, 17:00 GMT+0
Deadline: 20th August, 11:59 PM GMT+0 (For information about GMT click here)
Subject: Pirates – Past, Present & Future

Ahoy there me hearties! Ere's yer 7th sculptin’ challenge, ya mangy cockroaches! Ye’ll need to talk the talk and walk the walk of Cap’n Lynette’s challenge this time ‘round, with this ere new ‘un: Pirates – Past, Present & Future! I’ll make yers walk the plank if yer don’t take part ere and get yer sculptin’ brushes dirty!

OK so this month, if you hadn’t been able to decipher from my appalling pirate lingo, is all about Pirates – Past, Present & Future! Thanks to Tom-3dt for the theme for this one – let’s hope it’ll shiver yer timbers!

That’s right: we’re talkin’ pirates of the age old seas to the futuristic pirates of lands not yet known – whatever floats yer ship! No excuses this month: we’ve got 2 weeks to dust off our graphics tablets and sculpt like we’ve never sculpted before. Time is of the essence, as always, as we have just two darn weeks to speed-sculpt our way towards the final submissions thread! And remember, there’s a plank awaitin’ for those of yer who can’t be bothered to join in on this ‘un – you’ll be feedin’ the fish if yer don’t get sculptin’ and postin’ yer past, present and future reps of lads and lassies of the piratey seas in this ere thread, and there’s treasure at the end of it for me winner – what’ve yer gotta lose, eh?

So what does the Cap’n require of her hearties? Well, I want a sculpted pirate from each and every one of ya - just the head, torso, arms and hands though, so no full body sculpts please as yer aint got the time for that! I’ve blimmin’ given all of yer a base mesh to get started, and this time I’m also lettin’ yer sculpt the head, torso, arms and hands, too!

Give yer pirate some personality, character, and think about the back story of yer lad or lassy. This is a competition so get yer Jolly Roger up at full mast and yo-ho-ho with the best of ‘em! Give yer pirate some unique traits, and if yer goin’ for a futuristic pirate then set yer mind free and put a real great spin on it! If yer goin’ for pirates of the past then what about a poxed/diseased pirate – that’ll show yer sculpting handywork won’t it?! Yer mind is the only thing holding yer back with this ‘un, and I’m on the lookout for some top sculpts, so get yerself up on this ere poop deck – I’ve set the anchor on me ship an’ I’m waiting for yer WIPs!

As always, you’ve got the option of addin’ eyes (although you might only need the one as we’re talkin’ about stinkin’ pirates after all!); these 'ave been provided for yer, or you can add yer own grubby eyes yerself as sub-tools (or equivalent). You have to pick just the one of these options, though – not both, you greedy beggers! I've also given yers three prop blocks for this 'ere challenge, which you can use for weapons, hats or whatever - but check the rules and mesh information before yer gets carried away, as ye’ll be in Davy Jones’ locker if yer don’t play by me rules!

Godspeed and fair winds me sculptin' sea dogs!

The Mesh:
Your mesh is attached to this post - simply click on the attachment at the end of this post, save the file and you're on your way!

This base mesh has been created by MonteCristo which is said to deform lovely with a really even spread, so you should have fun hacking away at this one!

You'll notice that MonteCristo has left the base mesh featureless on purpose, so that you can all find your own styles!

He has also provided two eye objects and 3 prop blocks that you can use for the likes of weapons, hats etc. Please note: these extras are optional - you do not have to use them, only if you want to! Please also note that you mustn't add any more objects, other than what we have provided! Use only what has been provided and nothing more!! The extra objects supplied for your use must only accompany the main mesh and must not exceed the main mesh as the focus of the sculpt. This is the challenge after all!

Finally, ZBrush users should use Auto Groups, followed by GrpSplit to break the pieces apart before subdividing. Mudbox users should be fine as the MUDBOX_MonteCristo_BaseMesh_Torso1 .obj file includes all the objects individually! Any problems, gimme a shout!

[thee]

great!

[Pedro Jatobá]

awesome challenge ! lets do it !

[M3N7H0L5]

arr!~me fav challenge is back!up from bikini bottom..arr!~

[Intervain]

oh man awesome!

[MonteCristo]

Yarrr. I should mention, I didn't get time to do a UVW Unwrap on the mesh, so sorry about that. Drop me a PM if there are any problems with it, so we can make improvements if necessary.

[Aleks]

Originally Posted by Lynette-3dt

(Can any Mudbox users advise as to how to do this is Mudbox?)

You can't do that in Mudbox.Since all the obejct are part of this mesh,you'll have to export every single one of them separately and then import back into Mudbox. You can do this in Mudbox by selecting those objects and pressing "Export selection" but it would be much easier to bring the mesh into MAX/MAYA/XSI and export the object from there.

All of this could've be avoided if the objects weren't attached to each other in MAX.What you could do is import the model back into MAX,detach the objects,select all of them,hit "Export selected" and reupload it here.It will save time for those who use Mudbox.

[Lynette-3dt]

All of this could've be avoided if the objects weren't attached to each other in MAX.What you could do is import the model back into MAX,detach the objects,select all of them,hit "Export selected" and reupload it here.It will save time for those who use Mudbox.

OK, I'm on it! Hold tight me Mudboxers

[Lynette-3dt]

Cool, think we've fixed it! Let me know of any other problemos

[Tom-3DT]

Many thanks to all who got this challenge up and running, it takes more organizing and preparing than you first imagine! It looks and reads really well so super thanks especially to Lynette and Monte...er.....yarr

Tom

[neolith]

This sounds cool and it's been a while since i took part in these comps.I'll soon fix that

[MonteCristo]

Just made one quick update here. I think given all the props and hands we could do with another hour. So I'm bumping this one to 5hrs.

[DELTATHUND3R]

Looking forward too this one .Good luck all ..

[Lynette-3dt]

Thanks Monte - you sneaky post editor, you

[karyB]

Good topic, this should be a very good one