KidRacer-X Digital Rendition

Do any of you remember the artist “GreaseTank”? If you don’t, you should look him up. Do it for me and for his memory. His artwork was revolutionary and provocative. When KidRacer-X began many years ago, we had the opportunity to correspond with each other – quite frequently and at depth. I was awed by his digital artwork and his ability to create such dramatic imagery.

It was (in one of my favorite words) hypermasculine. A good portion of the artwork was violent and at times featured skinheads, neo-nazis, gunmen, handsome young victims, taboo violence that the Movie Picture Association would censor. But – because it was digital, it somehow spoke to your mind, almost granting permission to be voyeuristic, knowing that no-one was hurt and that it’s an exploration of thought and art.

It was in the early days of computer animation and rendering and both of us were experimenting with the same software to digitally create people in various poses and expressions, adding scenes, props and situations — all digitally rendered. He was far more experienced than I was then and I don’t even pretend to compare myself to his work now. But his work was pivotal in my direction and clarity of thought and fantasy. His artwork is scattered around the internet now and if you look, you’ll find it.

As time went on, the software kept getting better and I learned more patience to explore the complexities of digital compositing. As I look back on his work now and see how long it takes me to render a scene, he must have had incredible patience because this type of work is extremely time consuming and if you haven’t noticed – time is one thing I rarely have.

The sheer creation of something out of nothing shouldn’t be taken lightly. It is truly a monster undertaking. Your project doesn’t end with a digital rendition. After a final output, Photoshop becomes the next tool, blending flesh textures, scars, shadows, highlights, touches of realism or exaggerated fantasy.

There’s a certain “thrill” in having my digital actors available when I’m ready to manipulate them, dress them, abuse them and pose them. It allows me the creativity to work when I’m available to do it. I don’t have to coordinate actor’s availability and scheduling, do location scouting, and it also allows me to create dramatic and brutal scenes that I would never achieve with live actors. And because it’s digital, it lends an aire of acceptability to be pushed beyond reasonable perception – just as comic book figures and their adventures are twice as large as conventional fiction.

With that said, I’ve been delving into a new digital series that I’ve wanted to do for years. The truth is, though, it requires more time and patience than I have. It’s a lot of fucking work! Right now, my intent is random exploration. I have no “set theme” to each series – at least so far. I will create what interests me in the moment. I should also share that as this progresses, I won’t have a huge volume of pics in each series. It would takes weeks to fully develop multiple scenes for each photo set. Instead, my goal is to build a scene and then spin the camera perspective around to capture that action from all angles. I could on and bore you to death on the development, but you get the general idea and I wanted you to know what to expect next from KidRacer-X

It’s an experiment in progress and you’re gonna watch it all unfold over the coming weeks…

How it all works….

1) Build your primary actor. Add muscle, shape, and bone structure.

2) Develop facial expressions, alter eyes, brow, gaze, mouth, and expression.

 

3) Work on polygons and morphing for clothing and skin texture to be added.

 

4) Work on blocking, character position, camera angles and lighting.

 

5) Render more detail for precision editing. The simple polygon structure becomes tens of thousands of polygons for the best in capturing light, shadow, and realism.

 

6) Rendering begins to reveal the accuracy and placement of objects and characters, letting me know areas that need attention or improvement.

 

7) Hair, scars, lighting, reflections, and more are compiled into the final edit.

As you can see, there’s a LOT of work involved. The only limitation is imagination. I hope you stay with me as the new series continues in development for a website release in a month or so. Thank you everyone!

2 Comments

  1. ?????? ????? ???? , ???? ????? ?????? ? ?? ??????. ? ???? ???? ????? ?? ???????? ,????? ?? ????????????? ?? ????? ??? ?????? ????? ? ?????????? ??????. ? ?????????. injinir2001@rambler.ru

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  2. I’ve seen some of your previous digital work. I know how much time it takes, but it can be so rewarding. Looking forward to everything you do! Glad you’re back online!

    Reply

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