WIP update #6: New Models! (Patreon)

The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed I've been busier with something a bit vague - I've been juggling quite a bit the last few weeks! I wanted to quickly thank y'all, it's your support that's allowed me to focus on my own work so much and really put the time in. I hope it shows. A big part of what I'm working on is this: reworking all my models!

Honestly, the models I've been using so far are kind of messy hacks, and that really shows, especially in the faces. They worked as a testbed for working out my workflows and stuff, but long term they're kind of hard to work with a lack a lot of appeal. They're also basically impossible to share. I had them all in this weird pipeline I was trying out and it was a lot of overhead, which made them really hard to edit. No more! Now I'm shooting for more modular, neat and tidy, kind-of production-ready models!

So what's new? We've got real hooves, a totally overhauled material set with some more non-physical rendering elements (ask me about NPR-PBR blending, please ;_;), modified rigify rigs instead of the weird jank I was using before... Finally tails! With actual docks, too! Totally new eyes with a really fun iris material, and of course, all new faces. With the G5 models being as slick as they are I decided my models should go more in that direction. I'm not shooting for exact parity with their shapes, but it was a good point of reference. What's not changing is the body morphology of the mane six (Although I did tweak AJ's musculature), and the hair models I'm using (for now).

Also, non-mane six ponies! Pretty soon we'll see more characters popping up here and there. Exciting stuff. Yes, Luna is huge. I will not apologize. She's 9 foot 2 with the proportions of bayonetta. I do what I want.

And, since these models are fully stand-alone, I'll be able to share them! I plan to make the mane six available for free once they're done. There's still quite a bit of work left to do, but I'm going to be switching entirely to the new models once the flashlight animation is out!