[Radthorne]

And here is said improved version. Let me know what you think of this one compared to the other one...

http://www.sff.net/people/radthorne/Graphics/Ghost Lover 2.jpg

[KatG]

I think that you got the light problem fixed on that other alternate version you showed me, and so overall I have ended up liking this darker version better. But, on the ghost, his ear is a little too pink/red in this one, which makes it confusing with the pillar, and the somewhat more textured hair -- might be better if it is a little more blurry, to go with the rest of him.

[Radthorne]

Good points. I was also a bit concerned about where the cuff on her right arm is now showing through his neck, since I lowered her arms. I do like the more "cupped" nature of her hands this way, like she's drawing him up out of the water, but is that bit of dress confusing-looking in that spot?

[Radthorne]

And while you're pondering that question, here is another picture, called "New in Town."

http://www.sff.net/people/radthorne/Graphics/New in town.jpg

[Hereford Eye]

Must be in a mood this morning, Rad, because little things jump out at me particularly forcefully from this one:
(1) The guy walking by: that scabbard is sitting so high on his hip that the hilt must be level with his chest. Drawing the blade is going to be a real exrcise in clumsiness.
(2) Our heroine's jump suit has no obvious entry points, therefore it must be fastened in the back. The scarf around her waist hangs as if it's mere decoration indicating the entire outfit is of one piece leading to the jump suit designation.
(3) I think there are three arrows in her quiver but they are heavy ones as the strap anchoring the quiver is twice as broad as the strap anchoring her scabbard. That's interesting because the kind of blades carried on the back are generally broadswords. You wouldn't carry a rapier back there, would you?
(4) If it's a broadsword, then the strap ought to make more of an indentation across her breast unless we have a whole new definition for "firm." :)
(5) Why would the thumb of her left hand be of different material then the rest of her outfit? Does she draw her bow with her thumb instead of the traditional two-fingered method?
(6) She must have just beheld the (a) love of her life; (b) the tallest person she has ever seen, (c) the most spectacular architecture, or (d) a fireworks display as she is stunned and looking up.
(5) The woman in the background has that arched back that Katherine the Great is always talking about. Here it could be from the weight of the basket but the spread fingers seem to belie that notion. She couldn't carry a heavy basket with her hands positioned thus.
(5) OTOH, the color scheme is pleasing. Makes it difficult to accept the assertion that you are color blind.;)

[Radthorne]

You are in a good mood! There's only five points! (Oh, wait, seven points.) (No, four points, but point five listed three times). (I'm so confused...)

(1) and the second (5) I can fix. I had moved the guy around and missed that his sword wasn't hanging right. I had noted the woman's hands on the barrel but got lazy and didn't fix it. I might replace it with a basket anyway. The arched back was indeed intended to be from the weight of the load.

Most of the other issues are all a function of the clothing outfit on the central figure. I don't know why the glove is missing a finger. I thought it was poke-through at first, but it actually is just not there. I might actually be able to change to texture of her fingers to match the glove though, now that I think about it, which would probably not be detectable at this resolution.

Surface pressure from objects (i.e., the scabbard strap) is a difficult issue. There is a utility you can use in DAZ Studio to de-form 3D objects, but I haven't figured out how to use it. In this case it would have to be a very precise deformation that followed the line of the strap, in a very realistic way across her chest. That would be tricky even if I knew how to make it work. But maybe I'll experiment here and see what I can do. The sword actually isn't very large; it's not a broadsword. It's actually only slightly larger than a Roman sword. Both it and the quiver and bow came with the outfit.

I did want her looking up in amazement. The idea was that she was someone from the countryside who had never seen a castle or a town before. And the reaction of the people around her is that she looks as odd to them as everything else is to her.

[KatG]

No, I don't think the lady's cuff in "Ghost Lover" is a problem. It's just that his ear looks red and swollen, which is odd in a ghost. :)

New In Town:

(2) Our heroine's jump suit has no obvious entry points, therefore it must be fastened in the back. The scarf around her waist hangs as if it's mere decoration indicating the entire outfit is of one piece leading to the jump suit designation.

Pshaw, HE. The buttons are hidden underneath the black trim running down the center of the top and under the draped neck, so the top comes off like a blouse. The pants are simply pulled down once you untie the belt/sash holding them in place. (Might have a button at the top of them too, underneath the top.)

(3) I think there are three arrows in her quiver but they are heavy ones as the strap anchoring the quiver is twice as broad as the strap anchoring her scabbard. That's interesting because the kind of blades carried on the back are generally broadswords. You wouldn't carry a rapier back there, would you?

Just because the strap of the quiver is broad, doesn't mean that it's loaded with arrows as heavy as it is capable of carrying. Maybe it's the custom in her neck of the woods to have quivers with broad straps as they break less easily, but the arrows may be lighter ones. Likewise, you can carry a short, Roman-style sword on a scabbard on your back. As a woman, since she would have a shorter torso and arms, she would not want a broadsword dangling down past her knees that she had to heave over her shoulder.

But I too don't get how you get a scabbard strap that's that skinny to keep any sort of sword on. It's just a cord, which wouldn't even hold a rapier well. I would suggest, since she's an archer, getting rid of the sword entirely, and just maybe putting a belt with dagger at her waist. That would make more sense to me. Also, she should have more arrows.

(5) Why would the thumb of her left hand be of different material then the rest of her outfit? Does she draw her bow with her thumb instead of the traditional two-fingered method?

Yes she does. That's how she was taught. :)

(6) She must have just beheld the (a) love of her life; (b) the tallest person she has ever seen, (c) the most spectacular architecture, or (d) a fireworks display as she is stunned and looking up.

I assumed she was looking up at a castle tower or citadel, and was dismayed at how high the thing was.

[Radthorne]

See, HE, we just needed a lady's evaluation of the clothing to set us straight. :)

I have re-posted the picture up above, with a few corrections. The guard's scabbard is now a bit better placed. I've changed the serving girl's stance and the position of the barrel she's carrying. I also altered the main character's head position a bit. I realized I had missed putting the knife in it's scabbard on her thigh, so that's now there too.

I was going to mess around with the "derformer" tool and try to deal with the strap "pressure" issue, but I found that I had unloaded that utility during the last upgrade of the software. As I am waiting on upgrading now to the next version, pending completion of a current project, I didn't want to load the utility again just yet. So that fix was not done. I did find out that her glove on the left hand was made that way on purpose for exactly the archery issue you raised, HE. It's just that it's her two middle fingers that are covered and the others not in this case. Guess that's the way the clothing designer thought it should be.

KatG, I could actually remove the sword, it's scabbard, and the cord holding it. And I could insert more arrows into her quiver. But I had already finished the above fixes and posted it before seeing your post. :D

[Hereford Eye]

Pshaw, HE. The buttons are hidden underneath the black trim running down the center of the top and under the draped neck, so the top comes off like a blouse. The pants are simply pulled down once you untie the belt/sash holding them in place. (Might have a button at the top of them too, underneath the top.)
Ah, but the black trim only runs three-quarters of the way up the top. If that is a vest-type garment over a slip-over garment, then you can have your way but something new has caught my eye that throws both theories into question: regard the straps. They traverse the shoulders under the epaulets. This is not an outfit you can throw on in a hurry, say jumping out of bed and going through the window because the landlord has caught you with his son.:)

[Radthorne]

Ah, but the black trim only runs three-quarters of the way up the top. If that is a vest-type garment over a slip-over garment, then you can have your way but something new has caught my eye that throws both theories into question: regard the straps. They traverse the shoulders under the epaulets. This is not an outfit you can throw on in a hurry, say jumping out of bed and going through the window because the landlord has caught you with his son.:)
Hey, now just what kinda characters do you think I create here? :eek: Such slander...

:D

By the way, I am presently in Kyoto, Japan. It's 3:00 AM (still getting used to the time zone). You know you're not in Kansas anymore when your plane pulls up the gate and the ground crew is all in matching uniforms lined up standing at attention next to the plane...