Hmmm...

I've technically got the conforming versions of this outfit rigged. However, the default rigging is so poor on the tunic model that I don't think I can release it this way in good conscience, not even as a freebie.

Now, part of me is saying "what you really need to do is split the skirt into two brand new body parts, give each four body handles, and make the hip a ghost body part. If you did that, this thing would move almost as well as the dynamic version. That would be a bitchin' outfit." And that part of me is absolutely correct. If I made those changes, it would move beautifully and be totally bitchin'.

However, another part of me, and I think this part may be a bit louder, is saying "Dude, you don't get paid enough for that shit." And that part of me is also absolutely correct. Especially when I look at my freebie download history so far and calculate that I can maybe expect a total of 500 downloads, if it's popular. Maybe. If.

Dude, I don't get paid enough for that shit.

Right now the dynamic tunic doesn't work with the conforming pants due to a late mesh change. I'm going to see if I can fix that without driving myself wonky, and if so I'll probably release both versions of the pants, but only the dynamic tunic.

I'm excited about this one.

It's an ao dai, the traditional women's clothing of Vietnam. This was just a test run to make sure I was on the right track. The polygon count is still kind of low, hence a little case of the crunchies, but that'll be upped before I finish.

I'm particularly chuffed because tailoring to that toonish figure is hard, especially on something as well-fitting as an ao dai tunic. Marvelous Designer's high forgiveness factor is helping me here.

I think I'm happy with the fit, so unless I notice something between then and now, I plan to do some finishing up of details tomorrow and hopefully get the models exported and ready to Poserize. Right now I'm trying to decide which seamlines I want to bake into the model. By default they're flat and thus invisible (which is nice because it hides my cheats), but they can be indented slightly for more realism. I'm thinking the raglan seams almost definitely, since most ao dai use them and they help define the style line. Probably the side seams as well. I'm not sure about the darts, though. The dart varies from one designer to another. Some use waist darts, some use side darts, I've seen a few that look like a princess seam bodice with the flaps sewn on separately. Maybe I'll export it both ways and see which I like better.

Contemplating the Codfish

Got an image done; clicky to embiggen.

I did a personal challenge to make an image with items that I had purchased but not yet utilized. This was supposed to be just a "quick" image. However, "quick" is relative; for me it was 3 weeks, with half that time spent rebuilding materials. (I'll save you the rant except to say that when you load up the bed, the wooden legs actually glow in the dark. Shame on both the artist and the store QA that released this for sale.)