Finally calling it done. First time setting anything up on UE5. I used UE4 for a couple past projects, but that was more just basic rendering. Here, I learned about camera, lighting and even terrain creation. 
Artstation post for extra details

After trying bleach and just straight paint, I discovered deColourant from Jacquard. I love the faded look it gave my fabric during a test. Easy to use too. Just paint it on, wait 24 hours and then iron. Beware, kinda has a rotten egg smell when being ironed. 

Also did a series of embroidery tests. 
Right most bunch was done on the machine, middle was done by hand with no stretcher, and far left is by hand with stretcher. 

I obviously favored the far left batch. But then it came down to makeing sure the back looked as good as the front. I tried a variety of knots and tucks on the back until I figured out the two by the needle. The knot is hidden under the stitches. 

Not much of a fan of rigging. I can kinda do it, but I'll always let a program take the first swing at a character and prefer to do the clean up afterwards. 
Glenn was done completely by hand (never again)
Other characters were tested in Mixamo, but still done by hand because it just wasn't there yet.
But I'd heard good things from Rigging buddies about AccurRig and decided to try it out for this project. 
And, it's not bad. I needed to add some simple 'arms' to Giga Gaia, because the program didn't like the gap, but that was the only error I got. Assigning points was easy, and I liked that you could mask off points (like GG's lack of legs), so that the bones didn't get randomly assigned. Also, the weight painting on the fingers was soo clean and tight. I love it. That's my most hated part to do.
GG just needed a bit of cleanup in Maya, but I owe that to the oddness of the creature. 

Slowly getting there.
Learning landscape sculpting. I bought some materials from ​AleksandrIvanov on the Unreal marketplace. Love they way they look for the ground. Just need to learn how to use and paint them properly. XD

Got Giga Gaia through Substance and into Unreal Engine 5.1. Rigging still needs cleanup, but I'm excited about being able to pose it in engine, as well as using blendshapes. 
Still focusing on setting up lights, since it's such an epic scene. 
Frog is even making an appearance. He's one of the first characters I made when learning back in 2020. He's getting a full re rigging, because oh man. I can tell he was one of my first characters. Looking at his UVs makes me cringe. XD

Finally finished printing all the pieces for my bodyform. The decision to go this route came from the fact that sewing forms just couldn't match the exact curve of my back, and that makes certain armors difficult to draft on anything other than my own body.
I saw online that there are companies that can scan your body and then print the pieces out in a variety of materials. But the cost is often high.
Having my own reliable 3d printer, I wanted to do it myself. But being an Android user, there really isn't anything on the app store that can be used for body scanning.
And then I found this tutorial:

It uses a free program on your own computer; where you use photos in the creation of a 3d model. 
Instead of taking a bunch of photos, my husband took a video circling me in workout gear. 
I converted the video into frames and then deleted every other image or so, until I had just enough to allow the program to build the model. 

I followed the video, adjusting as needed to get a good, solid model for export. 
This was then exported and brought into zbrush for cleanup. It was mirrored and smoothed. 

And then it was brought into NetFabb for cutting up to fit on my print bed. 

24 pieces.
22 actually printed, in ABS and adhered with ABS slurry. It's just a 'bit' bigger than I am, so I'll probably do a bit of sanding. Might even add a fabric 'skin' for pinning stuff. Who knows?
Anyway, it's nice to have a solid form that matches me, and I can build leather based armors on. 

Elden Ring cosplay slowed for a bit now. Started work on a 3d printed body form for better armor creation. Printer broke part way through. Ended up needing a new usb connection on the actual board. Heat probably damaged it after 5 years of use. 
I'll be posting a full breakdown of the scanning, clean up and creation of the body form in the future as soon as things calm down, cause I'm moving to another state.
In the meantime, I'm back on Chrono Trigger stuff. Sculpting is a great way for me to unwind from the day. Did more work on the Giga Gaia. I plan making a full game ready model and set up a scene with my Frog model. 

Finally starting that Elden Ring cosplay, and not any of the characters that I initially thought I'd do. 
After 150 hours (I've still not finished my first play through), I'm fallen in love with the starting Warrior set. The leather, the beads and coins, the stitching... It's everything I've been looking for in a more fabric based cosplay. 
First step was to get in-game shots, but those are okay. What I really wanted was the actual in-game assets. Which I found thanks to a discord group. 
I took those assets (model and textures) and applied them in Marmoset to get a better reference. There, I was able to zoom in and see how things overlap, play with materials to make certain things stand out and make others disappear. ​

I was also able to directly reference the texture sheets to get more detail for the creation of the decorative bits. The plan is to print some inversely to make a hard resin mold and then use PMC aka precious metal clay to create real metallic pieces. Other will be printed the normal way, with silicone molds created and then cold cast. Really depends on the location, thickness and durability needed for the piece. 
​

Currently got a good amount of the decorative bits modeled in Zbrush, as well as the chest piece patterned out. ​

You may have noticed some changes on my site. Been consolidating some pages and making things easier to navigate. Main reason is because I'm going to be closing my Etsy site and moving all my wares to this site. 
I'm not going to be bringing everything back though. I'm going to be focusing on fan garage kits and even try to make my own original kits. 
​Stay tuned!