M'ress appreciation thread

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by Moodib, Sep 15, 2011.

  1. Kail

    Kail Commodore Commodore

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    Lipton, my comic "Home is not a Place" features M'ress recounting an adventure she had aboard the Exeter.

    http://startrekanimated.com/exetercomic.html
     
  2. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    [​IMG]

    M'Ress: "Security obstacle, uh, 'neutralized'..."

    Looks like M'Ress has dispatched one of Mr. Flint's M-4 robots and is now reporting her status. Maybe Flint patented the design and sold them.

    Just presenting an idea for a landing party uniform a tad more practiacl than the standard miniskirt. Actually it is the miniskirt geometry with the hip section removed. I applied a velvet procedural to the hips and legs of the base figure to imply some sort of form fitting pants or leotard. Oshikai, who modeled the uniform, offers a freebie set of "socks" (maybe "spats" is a better description?) for use with the digitigrade lower legs.

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  3. Kemaiku

    Kemaiku Admiral Admiral

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    I love the outfit, and giving her a proper role in a landing party, nice work. :D
     
  4. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Thankls. I can, of course, fit the miniskirt (sans "skirt") upon a more human figure and use the same trick for the hips and legs. Though it can't use the "spats". Instead, I'd fit boots to the feet.

    Why is M'Ress blasting 'bots instead of something communications related? I'm not sure. I loaded all three classic pieces of exploration gear and then needed an explanation for the phaser. So I loaded Ptrope's M-4 model as a "downed" target.

    Hmm, maybe the "Mudd's Women" type "hut" (also modeled by Ptrope) in the background is some sort of "radio shack" and the droid was preventing M'Ress from reaching it. After some frustration she finally pulled an "Indiana Jones" and shot the sucka'!

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  5. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I think female crew wearing pants on landing party duty is perfectly logical, with an appropriately female shirt.

    And I like the spats. :techman:
     
  6. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Well, thank Oshikai for the spats. That was a clever concept. When loaded in their default state, they have a second "belt" positioned a little above the ankle, series of buttons and ship's insignia. I personally thought those details were a bit overkill, so I "blanked" them.

    Oh, and here's a human variation upon the 'slacks" variation.

    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v413/Redfern/Cage-Outfit-J-1.jpg

    I labeled it as a "Cage" outfit, but with the more open black collar, it's more of a production era variation. I also used some actual pants geometry with flared hems that mimiced the men's uniforms.

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  7. FalTorPan

    FalTorPan Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I don't get the appeal of a cat/woman... except, of course, for Catwoman.
     
  8. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Then I assume you enjoyed the latest Batman film, unless, of course, it presented a subplot similar to the animated episode "Tyger, Tyger", having Selina Kyle mutate into a feline chimera. (I haven't seen the flick, so I have no idea what happens.)

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  9. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    [​IMG]

    Thalek recently pointed out a newly released hair prop he thought might work with my interpretation of M'Ress. I must say his recommendation was a great one. I particularly like the random "strands" that add to its "realism".

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  10. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    ^ Looking really good. :techman:
     
  11. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Thanks!

    Every so often, I find ways to improve the model.

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  12. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    [​IMG]

    I tested Achronicity's updated version of "Kasa for A3", a set that morphs Aiko's feet into paws, either plantigrade (flat footed) or digitigrade (standing upon the toes). This beta has more features, like morphs to scale the toes, spread them, or even "square" the knuckles. It even has morphs for built in claws, even one to retract them. It's not publicly available at this time. But if you contact him at Fur Affinity, he will probably negotiate a deal with you. I think he is selling his stuff on a "one on one" individual basis now rather than through an on-line store.

    Anyway, in addition to the toes, I experimented with the fingers. There is no dedicated product to affect the fingers though Capsces' "Furries for...Melody" which uses A3's body has some dials to tweak them. However, I just toyed with them directly, making the last and middle segments of each digit shorter and "fatter". Messing with the innermost segments distorts the hand. Meh, the final effect is "passable". At least the fingers no longer look "elven".

    That got me thinking about claws for the fingers. After I made this render, I got an idea. I loaded the "gloves" from the A3 CatGirl set (inspired by Felicia of the "DarkStalker" videogames). I turned the "gloves" material zone "invisible" which revealed the built in claws. I conformed them to M'ress and then adjusted all ten of the gloves' last finger segments making the claws poke through the tips of A3's now stubbier fingers. I applied a few subtle poses to M'ress' hhands and so far, the claws have followed and remained in their adjusted positions. I might convert the claws into "props" and simply "parent" them to A3's fingers. I'm not sure which might prove the more stable solution.

    As usual, here are the credits.

    Aiko 3...DAZ.com
    Body textures...Daio and Verge Visible
    Face and body morphs...Beth Capsces
    "Paw" morphs...Achronicity
    Tail prop...Little Dragon
    Uniform...Oshikai
    Mane...Ali

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  13. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    Thanks for those credits. I was about to ask if the skin texture was from RawArt's CatWorld textures at DAZ, since I'd been thinking of getting them.
     
  14. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    His textures look really good, but I'm not too keen about the morphs in that set. They look more simian than feline. Of course, one does not have to use his morphs since others exist.

    But there's a technical issue. the "CatWorld" set is for Michael and Victoria 4. Aiko 3 employs a very different mapping scheme, one that allows A3, H3, M3, SP3 and V3 to share textures, but they are not compatible with the Gen' 4 figures. I would need to use 3D-Universe's "Texture Converter" with the V4 and A3 plug-ins to reshape them if I wanted to use the CatWorld "pelts" upon Aiko 3.

    But if you normally use Michael and Victoria 4, you won't have a problem.

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  15. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    I started using the M4/V4's exclusively one year ago, focused on V3s in 2009, and was workinng only with P4 figures before that. I agree on the morphs. I have RawArt's Lizard people and ApeWorld: Chimpanzees but didn't care for the morphs.
     
  16. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Ah, I didn't know how much you knew about the various Daz figures.

    Shoot, I actually use the Michael2P4 figure (Michael 2's head atop a body shaped and rigged to wear the vinatge Poser 4 male's clothes) for my Kirk and Spock characters. The Kirk and Spock morphs I obtained for Michael 2 actually rival some of the attempts using the newer figures (at least in my admittedly biased opinion). And using Poser's node based material system, the uniforms XCalPro sculpted for the old Poser 4 male don't look half bad.

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  17. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    Wert used to have some pretty good M4 celebrity morphs at ShareCG, though I don't like his Spock that much. His Kirk and McCoy were pretty good, especially when wearing Mylochka's hair meshes. Wert pulled all his morphs at ShareCG though for some reason, but I think someone else there packaged them and has them available.
     
  18. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I have Werts' Kirk, Spock, and McCoy as well. Idiot me didn't bother downloading the rest of the bridge crew until it was too late. The "repackaged" collection of morphs contain some "classic" movie stars like Bogart and Liz Taylor, but that set does not contain any of the Trek regulars.

    And Mogg have mercy upon you should Werts be mentioned upon the DAZ forums. One specific moderator always, ALWAYS pops in to basically say, "Don't even THINK about sharing those morphs!!!" Her avatar suits her, an old crone menacingly swinging a walking stick.

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  19. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    I usually post images at a not kid-friendly site, since I often do non-canon subject matter.

    I have some of Wert's movie star morphs back when he originally had them up. The only TOS supporting character I saw then was Uhura.

    And his Jonathan Archer head was a good likeness.
     
  20. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Werts crafted only only Uhura, but Scotty, Sulu, even Chekov. I don't remember him making a Christine Chapel. He also released a lot of other franchise personalities including several from Star Wars.

    Sincerely,

    Bill