Human figures in VW 12: bullet proof vest on?

[Christiaan]

Is it just me or do all the human figures in the VW 12 Library (Objects-Imperial/00_Entourage_Figures.mcd) look like they've got bullet proof vests or ski suits on? Spacesuits maybe?

[CipesDesign]

LOL! I think they probably have special "processor intensive" suits on. While it might *them* bulletproof, it also makes my system slow way down :-)

[propstuff]

Funny, funny, very funny.

I had been thinking inflatable myself, but I would happily go with "processor intensive space suits".

I couldn't stop laughing when I first tried out the Person tool. The ludicrous results are not something I personally would want to present to a client. I think this comes under the category of "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

I would much rather that NNA had licensed Dan Johansen's photoshoped Image Prop people instead of the "Michelan Man" family. Oh well...

Best ignored IMHO. ;-)

[Jonathan Pickup]

but at least the man is wearing a bike helmet...oh wait that?s his hair!

[CipesDesign]

Now, now. My comment was all in good fun. And just so the fine folks at NNA don't get the wrong idea: I really like having the ability to show "human figures" in my drawings. And while the curent version might need a bit of refinement it is a very good start. I would hate to see it abandoned. I would like to see it improved...

[propstuff]

Now, now. My comment was all in good fun.

I think all of us were taking it in that spirit Peter. Perhaps I'm a bit too satirical at times.(:-} (but I really couldn't stop laughing when I saw them for the first time.)

But seriously now;

Being able to place figures in drgs IS a desirable thing.

Having a posable figure is also a great idea, but if you consider the proliferation of really ugly figures spawned by the programme "Poser" -which is secifically dedicated producing human figures, then you would have to say that the chance of pulling off good looking figures as a "side branch" of a CAD programme is not good.

As it happens, I tried to use these figures again just last week at the Landscape Architects where I design children's playgrounds, in order to give the clients an idea of the scale of the structure I was proposing.

The figures looked so malformed that it just wasn't worth spending the time.

Even though the figures are (necessarily) stylised, they still weigh a ton, and, well, look silly.

Probably the algorithms for making people have come a long way in the last few years, but I don't think we're going to see forms as complex as a clothed person becoming small files anytime soon.

Possibly I'm too critical of the current tool because I've spent many years as a commercial sculptor carving statues and the like for the Entertainment Industry (in fact I'm doing one at the moment) and I've become too sensitised to what figures "should" look like. That's why I suggested Dan Jansensens stylised image props might be a better solution.

Generally, I think image props tend to be a problem because the lighting of the original photo rarely matches the model (specially interiors!) and the absolute photorealism of the props rarely matches the CGI look of the model. So the photoshopping of the photos that Dan has done works by providing the sense of "realism" and context that is so useful, while making it plain that "this is not a real person" and avoiding all the lighting and "reality" mis-match problems. Having them as translucent or "pen drawings" like the old fashioned hand drawings tended to be would achieve a similar effect I think.

Of course; all this about image props pre-supposes having RW, which the figures alone don't require. Oh, well; no easy answer there I suppose.

Appologies to the engineers if I offended: I didnt mean to be cruel.

cheers,

[CipesDesign]

Hi Nicholas. I knew that :-) I was just trying to be politic.

[mike m oz]

Why not try the schematic outline people approach used by many SketchUP users. (In a recent competition here it seemed that most of the entrants adopted this technique for their renderings):

http://www.centrestagedesigncomp.dca.wa.gov.au/exhibition/44.asp

http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=717

[Robert Anderson]

Part of the "problem" with the Human Figure is that you really don't want a realistic figure. There's a very fine line to cross to get the desired results. We found that some of the artistic renderworks styles had a good effect when used with the HF object, and we put some examples of the renderings as image-prop ready bitmap symbols in the library 00_Entourage_Figures. I think they don't look *too* bullet-proof.

[Christiaan]

I don't think you're going to get many sympathisers Robert. People in my office literally laughed at the figures in 00_Entourage_Figures. You're right, we don't want realistic figure in most cases but nor do we want to populate our drawings with spacemen.

[Michael_Eschenbach]

My favorite whine is californian..... really, ask them for assistance or offer your help in creating something that looks like a reasonable facsimile of a sentient being..... give them valid suggestions and maybe youll get a favorable response

[Christiaan]

Huh?

[Kevin]

Why not try the schematic outline people approach used by many SketchUP users...

I prefer the silhouette figures as well. The examples that you show in the link are great. Do you know where to find these?

[propstuff]

In my "spare time" I've been working on posing the Human Figure, rendering using Artistic, and exporting as an image. I've been trying to get a semi-transparent "water colour-y" image prop, but the mask transparency of the image prop mechanism seems to be having a fight with the transparency of the image. Anyhow, I'll let you know how that goes.

In the meantime I've also tried posing the figure, setting all the attributes the same against a white background, Export image, Import image, and using the Trace Bitmap to get a silhouette profile. That bit's pretty successful, but same issue with transparency.

bye for now