Ah, that explains the whining

Not that whining in the Poserverse really needs explanation. It's just one of those inevitable unpleasantnesses like earthquakes or political parties.

First, though, a project pic:

I have seen much wailing and gnashing of teeth that Marvelous Designer puts out triangulated meshes. Now, triangulated meshes are simply lovely for dynamic clothes, but they're not ideal for conforming clothing. I've actually seen a few people state that it is "impossible" to make conforming clothing out of a triangulated mesh -- which is complete bullshit. In fact, in many cases it's not even noticeable unless you're looking at the wireframe.

Unfortunately, the pants here are not one of those cases. I'm getting some unfortunate crunching where the thigh meets the hip, and that's after changing the model itself to raise the crouch seam as much as I could and adjusting joint parameters to the best of my ability. I should probably increase the number of facets and try again, but I just don't have it in me to do that tonight and besides, it'll help but only so much. MD was expecting to have quad mesh output by the end of the month, but they've experience some delays in acquiring acceptable code and may even just code it themselves, which is going to push it out. (Although I don't mind too much; I rather have good than fast.) I may include a dynamic version of the pants whenever I release in order to get around this, at least for Poser users.

The other thing I've been doing this weekend is working on this little cutie:

When I saw Littlefox's new "Peaches" character, I had to have her. Then I had to justify her. I've been stalled out on a character portrait for a while, so I decided to make the character in furry form. :) This particular character is a dhampyr, so I made her a very pale bat. (Yeah, I know, bats don't have six limbs. These are the body parts I have available.)

I'm seriously thinking about concentrating more on the toon figures for a while. (I include Pranx with the toons.) This summer both Poser and DAZ Studio will be coming out with new versions that support weight mapping, plus Victoria 5 is coming out. I have no idea what that's going to do to the realistic figure market; I'm expecting quite a shake-up. But the toons will stay the toons. Even if Cookie and Chip get upgrading rigging, the body shapes will probably stay the same, so work I do now won't be wasted.

The Yarn Stash, My Nemesis

My yarn stash mocks me.

While I was at work, I got it in my head that I wanted to knit a hat. Like, today, right now. And I even knew what yarn I was going to use: a rogue skein of something purple-y that I got "just to try out". This right here is the point of a yarn stash, so when you want to cast on a project Right Now, you've got yarn Right There.

In theory, anyway. I got home, checked the pattern... Not enough yarn.

Not enough yarn in ANYTHING anywhere close to acceptable unless it's already pegged for another project. (Wait, the Icewine mittens, do they really use worsted? ::checks:: Dammit, they do. Whoa, at 7 1/2 stitches an inch! Those things are gonna be downright bulletproof!)

My stash, it mocks me.

I won't tell the fiber artists reading not to have a yarn stash, because if you have to be told, you won't listen. But I will tell you that single skeins are basically worthless. (I know you'll listen to me telling you to buy more yarn. ^_~) Most of them don't even have enough to make a hat. Don't bother coming home with less than 200 yards of anything, even if you want to "just try it out".

In the meantime, no hat for me. :(