TheNickFox Presents: Raimi Spider-Man Pattern - Now Even More Accurater!!! (Page 5)

In my years as a lurker here, I was extremely active in the Spider-man costuming world (Mostly on SHH and a short-lived site on proboards.com). I, like many people around the time the second movie came out, bought the TK comics patterns (Scans of what was apparently a HUGE, life-sized copy of the actual pattern).

However, due to bad copying practices (It's rumored the scans were made at a Kinkos) most of the detail in the blue sections was lost. Some people made due, other people made patches of the brick pattern to fill in the missing sections (Though they never looked right since the edges of the real thing and the patches never matched up).

At the time, I was one of only a small handful of people brave enough to try to make my own pattern from scratch. And I nearly did...until a computer virus took my computer AND my work from me. A few years later, I restarted my pattern...THEN my harddrive failed to the point where no data could be recovered.

More recently, I dug up some of my old reference material. (Including low res, but VERY useful scans of the complete brick pattern for the legs and the studio-used muscle maps for the first film)

So I decided to restart my old project! At this point, it's more about finishing the pattern than it is about making a costume from it. I'll be working on this whenever I have a little extra time, but it's not my current focus, so don't expect lightning fast results.

However, just to kick things off, I've been roughly messing around with the brickwork for the past few days, and here's what I have to show so far:




There are a few parts that need to be tweaked ever so slightly, but I'm pretty happy with it so far.

So, what do you guys think?

-Nick

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

Oh, dear. You risk invoking the curse.. again?! :lol Hope you backed everything up this time.

The pattern looks great, though.

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

Looking good

Definitely back that up after you make any kind of adjustment to it. Can never be too safe.

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

Thanks guys! I'm a big fan of undoing curses through hard work. At the very least it makes me more determined to finish.

Both times prior, the computers I was working on were old and unsafe...my current computer is less than 2 months old and can actually handle a 7-foot high pattern without any lag.

...that said, I've been backing this thing up like you wouldn't believe.

I'm trying to have the chest and sides done by tomorrow, and the legs done by the end of the week. After that, I think I might take a break.

It really is a shame that we don't see more accurately patterned Spidey costumes out there considering how long the reference material has been available.

The only thing I'll need some help on is the web-lines. They drove me crazy the last time, and I'm not looking to repeat that, so if anyone is willing to help by making my web-lines for me, I'll toss you a finished copy of the pattern for your own personal use.

-Nick

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

That looks very good.

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

Thanks Bubba. Just for that compliment, here's a sample of tonight's work (Yeah, I couldn't stay away from detailing the crotch )



I"ve completely redone the chest and sides since my last post to make them even more accurate. I'd say about 60+ percent of the bricks now line up pretty well if not always perfectly.

Because of the difference in technologies that are being used to create these (The original pattern used 3D modeling, I'm using Photoshop) it will never be exact. But I have no hesitation in saying that what I've modeled so far is the most accurate reproduction brickwork on any Spidey Pattern.

I think I'm done for the night though.

If anyone is proficient at Illustrator and/or Photoshop and wants to draw my black weblines for me, let me know and you'll get a copy of the pattern for your own personal use when it's done.

-Nick

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

ah! i wish i was good at photoshop/illustrator! I'd totally do that for you...

I want that pattern!

Is it an expensive process to have something dye sublimation printed?

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

you sir are amazing cant wait to see the finished thing

lets just hope nothing messes your computer up *fingures crossed*

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

that is great , I can't to see it on a 350lber at dragoncon

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

propologist said:

that is great , I can't to see it on a 350lber at dragoncon

Click to expand...

Well with the complete musculated (just made that word up) brick work, even he'd look buff with my pattern, I guarantee it!*

I just want to say thanks for all the compliments, guys. It really helps me stay motivated when I'm pushing pixels for however many hours I have been.

Anyway, I couldn't sleep last night, and ended up finishing the entire front of the costume. It needs a few tweaks here and there, but it's all finished. (A week ahead of schedule too)

Now I have to move onto the arms and back, and I'll be done.

Here's where it stands now:



I'm also still looking for someone who can make my weblines. Come on people...free pattern if you have the skills. Either let me know in this thread, or PM me.

Anyhoo, after far too many hours in a row in Photoshop, I think I'm going to take a break for a bit.

-Nick



*Not an actual guarantee.

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

Sorry for the double post, but I was just digging around in my Photobucket account and found a good number of images of my progress from the previous incarnations of my pattern.

Here is a short history of my development of this pattern based on pictures I dug up.

Early 2005, I begin testing techniques to distort the bricks and add shadows. (I was still a newb when it came to anything but the basics in Photoshop) This is the only picture that survives from that time:




Mid-2006, I learn how to accurately shape the bricks to a surface in multiple directions (This was my first complete pattern):




Then in late 2006, after losing my first pattern, I make a second pattern, it's not much better than my first:




Early 2007, I learn even MORE techniques and refine my process further, making my third pattern (Which I was working on slowly between other real-life projects):




8 months later, before I could complete the pattern (Told you I was working on it slowly), my computer died.

And now you're all caught up!

My current pattern though takes all I knew back then, combines it with my knowledge (And better technology) now in order to make the most accurate pattern since the real deal!

Okay, NOW I'm going to take a break.

-Nick

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

Beautiful work!!!

Chuck...

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

Great work Nick! Looks amazing!

I've always been curious about how warping the brick pattern along contours is done. Any chance you could post a little step-by-step tutorial showing the method you used?? I have ZERO interest in reproducing a spiderman suit for myself, I'm just really curious about how that effect was achieved.

Thanks!

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

Sure thing. When I have some time, either today or tomorrow, I'll do a quick little tutorial about my method.

Like I said, the actual suit's brick pattern was created, from what I've been told, by creating a 3-Dimensional muscle map and texturing it in a 3D modeling program.

Then they flattened the image, maintaining the warping of the bricks, and overlayed it onto a greyscale version of the muscle map in 2D to create the shading.

My technique is a bit less automatic, but creates pretty darn similar results...especially considering I am using the actual greyscale muscle map from the first film. How I got it, I'll never tell.

But I will tell you guys everything else soon so you can use my techniques in your own projects.

-Nick

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

Sounds great. Looking forward to it. And yes, your results do look great! Please keep us posted!

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Suit Pattern Development

Ask and you shall receive! Warning, what follows is EXTREMELY pic heavy.

The first step is to create a repeating brick pattern. I made an overly simplistic one for the purposes of this demo, but feel free to make it as crazy and complex as you want so long as it repeats smoothly.

Create a new document. (And make sure it's a fairly good size so that you can cram in all the detail you want) Make sure your background is transparent!




Make a new layer and fill it with black:




On a new layer, create the negative shapes of your pattern. (I used the rounded rectangle tool) Just make sure that the distance from the edge of the document to the beginning of your negative shapes is exactly half the distance BETWEEN the shapes to help it repeat cleanly:




Then Rasterize the layer by right clicking on it.

Next Command+Click (Sorry Windows guys, I don't know the equivalent) on the thumbnail of the shape layer to select the shapes:




Make the black, background layer your active layer and press delete, then delete your shape layer:




Finally, do any last minute trimming to make sure it's all tile-able, and go to EDIT>Define Pattern:




Give it a name:




And now onto the REAL work...

Make a new document, and starting with a 50% grey as your first layer, create a gradient/muscle map by selecting areas and heavily feathering the selection before adjusting the brightness to create the illusion of high and low spots.

I just made a quick one for these purposes:




Then go to Layer>New Fill Layer>Pattern:






Put in these settings (You can name the layer whatever you want though):




And then scale your bricks in the next window to fit your project:




Rasterize that layer by right clicking on it, and then you're ready to begin.

Using the polygon lasso tool with a pretty big feather on it, with the brick layer active, select an area just above one of the highlights:




The go to Filters>Distort>Spherize






Play around with your settings. This is more art than science, so try playing around with just modifying it vertically or horizontally, with different percentages. The Spidey suit has a lot more vertical spherizing than it does horizontal spherizing, but play around with it to get the look you're going for.


Here's the first section done:




You may notice some strange distortions like this, as you go along:




The best way to fix that is either to undo your last few filters and try a different selection, OR to go into Filter>Liquify




Play with the pinch and bloat strokes to make things bigger or smaller, and the drag tool (The name of which escapes me at the moment) to realign the bricks as best as possible. This part takes a crapload of time, so have fun:




Here is the quickie fix (Normally I spend much more time on this):




Then, all that's left is to add a color layer under the muscle layer, set the muscle layer's overlay mode to "Multiply" tweak your opacities and such, and add more spherized sections and you're done!




Finished [test] product:




If you guys need anything cleared up, just let me know, and I'd be happy to help. I had to work this out through trial and error, so hopefully thanks to my errors you guys can enjoy the trials more.

-Nick

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Pattern Development (w/ Pic Heavy Tutorial)

Wow thats so... simple and effective! I was expecting a much more complicated and lengthy process. Great work Nick, i'm really excited to see your costume all printed and sewn together.

One question though, if you were to take this pattern somewhere to have a one off printed.. About how much $$ would that run?

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Pattern Development (w/ Pic Heavy Tutorial)

Bimmer said:

Wow thats so... simple and effective! I was expecting a much more complicated and lengthy process. Great work Nick, i'm really excited to see your costume all printed and sewn together.

One question though, if you were to take this pattern somewhere to have a one off printed.. About how much $$ would that run?

Click to expand...

I haven't priced out a dye sublimation printer in a while (Over 5 years) but back then I remember it being about $180-300 depending on the printer. That might be out of date, but it's a ballpark for you at least.

The easiest thing to do would be to find a flag or banner printer (The people who would normally have the proper sized machines) and ask them for a quote for two 7'x5' (A rough approximation, there are more efficient layouts) full color "banners" on a white 4-way stretch material.

I'm still just making the pattern, I'll let you know what I find when I start searching for a printer down the line.

-Nick

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Pattern Development (w/ Pic Heavy Tutorial)

Wow! Thanks for the tutorial. I love forums where people are nice and share.

Re: The Nick Fox Presents: Spider-Man Pattern Development (w/ Pic Heavy Tutorial)

that is a really great, simple, and easy to understand process. Great stuff!!