Even more dynamic wrinkles. Somebody needs to stop me tinkering so that this model can actually be properly animated in this lifetime...

The phrase "is this a bit much?" is starting to pop into my head...

The first result is looking pretty good I think. This is just the base topology. Weight painting on the deforming surface needs a bit of fixing, and the whole thing is maybe a little too jiggly, but it can be fine tuned .

Dewlap wrinkle testing

Getting this muscle+skin deformation rig put together has been a real labour of love, and a fun learning process. Does look pretty funny when you don't hide the simulated muscle belies, though. Almost there. Just the pecs, neck, throat and jowls that need dedicated sims now.

Revising this statement slightly after reading other takes: dinosaur folks *wildly* overestimate how much the general public already knows. I think if your takeaway from the Netflix show is that audiences won't learn much, you're way deeper into fundamental dinosaur lore than 95% of people.

Further soft body deformation testing... (videos in replies)

Observation: I feel that many dinosaur folks have a habit of taking for granted what they already know versus what a general audience already knows, and that this can lead to something of a misalignment when it comes to judging the broader educational value of dinosaur media.

The Ankylosaurus in the Netflix show looks great, the best looking dinosaur in the series, I think. Solid anatomically, and the materials look very convincing. The Plateosaurus & Massospondylus are also very strong. The subsurface scattering is a bit too high sometimes, though.

This is the coolest a pterosaur has looked since the reveal of the Pteranodon in Jurassic Park 3.

Model criticism aside, the new Netflix miniseries is the most visually interesting of the recent dinosaur shows. It has leaned away from the usual wildlife documentary style, and into much more dramatic shooting/blocking. Some of the compositions are quite lovely, and others extremely atmospheric.

Ep. 1 of the Netflix Dinosaur show: The early focus on Marasuchus is a refreshing change. Lip service to the Locomotor Superiority Hypothesis is appreciated. Ontogenetic gait differences in early sauropodomorphs is a neat niche detail! I have criticisms of some of the models, but others looked good.

Almost there with the leg rig setup. A combination of manually sculpted shape key drivers and muscle and other soft body simulations with surface deform modifiers.

Almost there with the leg rig setup. A combination of manually sculpted shape key drivers and muscle and other soft body simulations with surface deform modifiers.

🤔

Whenever I post critical takes like this it always comes with a tinge of guilt and desire to clarify and caveat. Over the last few years, the quality of TV dinosaur productions has improved tonnes. The work is commendable, and I really respect it. But, I do think there... (1/2)

Chests/shoulders/forelimbs are always the biggest offender here, by the way. You'll have a dinosaur that looks alright in side view, but then it starts to turn towards the camera and the forelimbs will be hanging too widely from the side of the body, with misplaced muscle bulges.

One of the main issues with CGI dinosaurs in recent productions is that even though the overall outlines are correct, the more intrinsic anatomical forms often look off. I think that nonspecialist 3D artists need to be given clearer guides on how to actually build up those forms.

16k render because when you have a new machine why not do silly things

I didn't put a ton of detail into the sculpting of the eyelids (something to think more about for the next one, maybe), but an issue that did need fixing was some minor resculpting so that the eyeball is actually enveloped by the skin rather than just sorta clipping into the mesh

Just taking another opportunity to highlight a bit of personal growth - the foot from my previous T. rex model (which was fundamentally finished in mid-2024, but got a few material tweaks last year) versus the foot of the model I completed last week (but am still tinkering on).

I'm in the "hyperfixating on small errors and making small tweaks that nobody would be likely to notice unless they went looking for them" phase. I cleaned up some meshing/texturing artifacts in the face, and added a little extra subsurface scattering to the inside of the mouth.

I'm making an 8K render for large print and display use and I'm just kinda vibing with how this foot looks in high res here

Eye test

Old Bernadetta: The Crooked Rex (Sculpted, retopo'd, and rigged in Blender, textured in Substance Painter, rendered in Blender Cycles)

The next one I make in this style will probably be Stegosaurus. I may even put them together, partly so I can pull a Fantasia, but also so I can clearly double down on the message that this isn't strict palaeoart, and is instead just me stewing in my taste in dinosaur aesthetics.

And the original concept sketches, for comparison. I think I managed to stay pretty faithful to those early ideas.

This Tyrannosaurus model is not strict palaeoart, but instead an exploration of a more stylised character that I would pitch if I were in charge of making a dinosaur movie. The core anatomy of T. rex is there, but many aspects have been exaggerated and accentuated to my tastes.

One of the rules I set for myself during the sculpting phase was "no elliptical cross sections". Even at their most rounded, the cross sections of the various parts of this critter's main body are more like curved triangles or bevelled trapezoids.

And the original concept sketches, for comparison. I think I managed to stay pretty faithful to those early ideas.

Every 3D T. rex I've made over the years that I still have some kind of record of. I wonder if some of my longtime mutuals from back in the DeviantArt days remember some of the old ones? I've learned a lot since then... The oldest examples make me cringe (fondly) a little now.

Old Bernadetta: The Crooked Rex (Sculpted, retopo'd, and rigged in Blender, textured in Substance Painter, rendered in Blender Cycles)

Pupil dilation

Testing some tweaks to the gum textures...

I was going to save posting any more WIPs until I'd finished the eyes... but I couldn't resist. I'm super happy with how things are turning out now that I've got the materials set up in Blender (the eyes are just basic placeholders here, haven't settled on how to handle them)

I really feel like this character is coalescing now

Substance Painter Day 3

I watched Badlands. I thought it was alright: boxd.it/dgyYjD

Evening 2 of texture painting ending here. There may be an additional dirt pass, but everything in front of the hips is pretty much done. Can't wait to export these materials and reunite the poor old soul with its teeth...

If I may be permitted a moment of self-indulgence, skill wise it really feels like I've levelled up quite a lot since my last 3D T. rex.

Satisfied with the face and arms now, I think.

Texturing day 2 begins (don't worry, the teeth and eyes will return eventually)

Skin texturing begins...

Some more pose tests to put the rig through its motions. But texture time now...

Before and after hind limb corrective shape key drivers. Pay particular attention to the upper and anterior thigh, the bend of the knee, and the front of the ankle.

Temporal muscle contraction bulge because why not?

This is probably an unnecessary self indulgent detail, but I've keyed the feet so that you can see the digital extensor and flexor tendons moving with the toes