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Description
I was watching a mech anime a couple of nights ago and dozing off. Dozing off as the anime was boring as hell, but it was kind of worth watching as the art work and machine designs were nice; but the characters were too 'flat' to keep my interest focused. Then something caught my eye as it flashed by the screen. The mechs were under attack by aliens and they were defending some World Tree that was growing inside this Sci-Fi core like structure. The scene showing the core only lasted a few seconds but its design caught my attention, so I reversed the video and took a screenshot of the core as it piqued my interest.

Organic forms married to Techno forms is a design motif that has always fascinated me since college days. Back then, I was a big fan of the works of a UK designer named Roger Dean who was a master at this type of design. So, I started creating an interpretation of the core in SketchUp, but without the World Tree as I wanted the core to be the stage, not a glorified plant pot.

After it was sufficiently fleshed out, I loaded the core model into MMD. At this point it had no texture or no colors, so I had to set the background to black as otherwise, the stage being white, it was hard to see. When I make stages, during the development cycle, I just want to see the girls move on the stage so I would load a random model, a motion suitable for testing the performance potentials of the design and whatever music suitable my mood even if the motion and music didn't sync. This practice is fine as all I want to do is to see the girl move in the space provided and the music is generally just something I wanted to hear.

I chose ONE as the model to test run the stage purely on a whimsey, but she didn't quite look right with the motion I was using, so I tried Tda Miku Append instead. She did much better, so I knew it had to be a Tda style model that would be the poster girl for this set. With this train of thought in mind, I next rummaged through my Tda style models folder for a more interesting candidate for use with the project. I had downloaded Xoriu 's Tda Style Tranquil Miku about a week ago and had fixed her up to conform with my motion development performance standards. But at this point I had no specific project in mind for her, so I decided to use her. She made a whole world of difference to the 'mood'.

So I went back to SketchUp, built some more and then back to MMD to rework the motion and camera. Then I made a test video and watched the whole thing. At this point I still had no idea how to finish the stage; but I did have a rough idea where I wanted to go. Just didn't quite know how to get there. I also wanted a "WOW" factor for this set. I watched Xoriu 's Miku on the rough of this stage over a dozen times and then it clicked. This was going to need to be a heavily textured model. Honestly, I tend to avoid 'heavily textured' models because I'm generally lazy when it comes to MMD. Texture maps are a lot of work. As it turned out, this one was worth the extra effort. This stage looks good even without effects applied to it.

The screenshot above shows the end results, but it is nothing compared with seeing this stage used in a video performance. It has that "WOW" factor that I was looking for, especially with the beautiful performance of the Miku edit that I chose to showcase the project. The stage doesn't look anything like your typical MMD performance stage. It is futuristic yet organic and it doesn't compete for visual attention with the performer, plus it serves as a superb performance environment for cyber-style MMD girls. It also had that 'look' I was hoping to achieve, an other worldly kind of ambience. It looks on the one hand like a typical sci-fi, high-tech type environment but contrasted against an alien motif which makes it visually much more interesting.

The stage is really simple. Load the model, add the specially adapted WorkingFloorX effect and off you go. Won't even need to read the instructions if you know what you're doing but it does come with illustrated instructions. It lights up wonderfully with Auto-Luminous 4, too. BTW, if you wanted a stage for the EDEN motion, this one works really well.

DOWNLOAD LINK: bowlroll.net/file/65607

Includes PMX and DirectX X-file format versions. Full 360° performance environment.

The PMX version is the normal version for general use, but only has a performance area large enough for a single performer so works best for focused performances. The X-file version can be used in the same manner, like the PMX version it also supports AL4 automatically, it just lacks the advance AL4 controls. However, it can be scaled up for use in group performances. Both versions uses a slightly modified version of HarganeP's WorkingFloorX effect which helps to accent the performer and performance area significantly.

DEMO VIDEO: youtu.be/0qG8FyBPVBE

CREDITS:

Tda Style Tranquil Miku : Xoriu.deviantart.com
Miku Hatsune © Crypton Future Media Inc.

MME WorkingFloorX : HarganeP (針金P)

Software used : SketchUp Make 2014 / MMD 9.26 / PMD 0.1.3.9 / Photoshop 7 / Audacity
Other MMEs used in the project : dAdultShader / G2 Shader / Auto-Luminous 4 / o_ToneMap / Diffusion 7

Description
I was watching a mech anime a couple of nights ago and dozing off. Dozing off as the anime was boring as hell, but it was kind of worth watching as the art work and machine designs were nice; but the characters were too 'flat' to keep my interest focused. Then something caught my eye as it flashed by the screen. The mechs were under attack by aliens and they were defending some World Tree that was growing inside this Sci-Fi core like structure. The scene showing the core only lasted a few seconds but its design caught my attention, so I reversed the video and took a screenshot of the core as it piqued my interest.

Organic forms married to Techno forms is a design motif that has always fascinated me since college days. Back then, I was a big fan of the works of a UK designer named Roger Dean who was a master at this type of design. So, I started creating an interpretation of the core in SketchUp, but without the World Tree as I wanted the core to be the stage, not a glorified plant pot.

After it was sufficiently fleshed out, I loaded the core model into MMD. At this point it had no texture or no colors, so I had to set the background to black as otherwise, the stage being white, it was hard to see. When I make stages, during the development cycle, I just want to see the girls move on the stage so I would load a random model, a motion suitable for testing the performance potentials of the design and whatever music suitable my mood even if the motion and music didn't sync. This practice is fine as all I want to do is to see the girl move in the space provided and the music is generally just something I wanted to hear.

I chose ONE as the model to test run the stage purely on a whimsey, but she didn't quite look right with the motion I was using, so I tried Tda Miku Append instead. She did much better, so I knew it had to be a Tda style model that would be the poster girl for this set. With this train of thought in mind, I next rummaged through my Tda style models folder for a more interesting candidate for use with the project. I had downloaded Xoriu 's Tda Style Tranquil Miku about a week ago and had fixed her up to conform with my motion development performance standards. But at this point I had no specific project in mind for her, so I decided to use her. She made a whole world of difference to the 'mood'.

So I went back to SketchUp, built some more and then back to MMD to rework the motion and camera. Then I made a test video and watched the whole thing. At this point I still had no idea how to finish the stage; but I did have a rough idea where I wanted to go. Just didn't quite know how to get there. I also wanted a "WOW" factor for this set. I watched Xoriu 's Miku on the rough of this stage over a dozen times and then it clicked. This was going to need to be a heavily textured model. Honestly, I tend to avoid 'heavily textured' models because I'm generally lazy when it comes to MMD. Texture maps are a lot of work. As it turned out, this one was worth the extra effort. This stage looks good even without effects applied to it.

The screenshot above shows the end results, but it is nothing compared with seeing this stage used in a video performance. It has that "WOW" factor that I was looking for, especially with the beautiful performance of the Miku edit that I chose to showcase the project. The stage doesn't look anything like your typical MMD performance stage. It is futuristic yet organic and it doesn't compete for visual attention with the performer, plus it serves as a superb performance environment for cyber-style MMD girls. It also had that 'look' I was hoping to achieve, an other worldly kind of ambience. It looks on the one hand like a typical sci-fi, high-tech type environment but contrasted against an alien motif which makes it visually much more interesting.

The stage is really simple. Load the model, add the specially adapted WorkingFloorX effect and off you go. Won't even need to read the instructions if you know what you're doing but it does come with illustrated instructions. It lights up wonderfully with Auto-Luminous 4, too. BTW, if you wanted a stage for the EDEN motion, this one works really well.

DOWNLOAD LINK: bowlroll.net/file/65607

Includes PMX and DirectX X-file format versions. Full 360° performance environment.

The PMX version is the normal version for general use, but only has a performance area large enough for a single performer so works best for focused performances. The X-file version can be used in the same manner, like the PMX version it also supports AL4 automatically, it just lacks the advance AL4 controls. However, it can be scaled up for use in group performances. Both versions uses a slightly modified version of HarganeP's WorkingFloorX effect which helps to accent the performer and performance area significantly.

DEMO VIDEO: youtu.be/0qG8FyBPVBE

CREDITS:

Tda Style Tranquil Miku : Xoriu.deviantart.com
Miku Hatsune © Crypton Future Media Inc.

MME WorkingFloorX : HarganeP (針金P)

Software used : SketchUp Make 2014 / MMD 9.26 / PMD 0.1.3.9 / Photoshop 7 / Audacity
Other MMEs used in the project : dAdultShader / G2 Shader / Auto-Luminous 4 / o_ToneMap / Diffusion 7