Pathfinder Battles Preview: From Digital Renders to Final Product
Friday, December 30, 2011
When we first started revealing images from the Pathfinder Battles Heroes & Monsters set, all we had to show off were the very earliest computer-rendered images from the first few weeks of production. These gave a good idea of the quality we were shooting for with this first set of prepainted miniatures, but the digital renders lacked some of the depth and paint steps of the final miniatures.
Now that we’ve revealed the complete set in one way or the other and we stand on the precipice of the actual release, I wanted to go back through the set and update a few minis that you’ve only seen in digital form thus far. Below are actual photos of actual miniatures from the Heroes & Monsters set.
This little guy was one of the very first digital renders we revealed way back in August. Here’s the wily Gnome Fighter in all his final glory, complete with a tankard on his belt and bright orange hair to terrify his enemies. This uncommon miniature comes packed with the Dire Rat we showed off two weeks ago.
Next up is the rare Half-Orc Barbarian, one of the set’s most complex figures in terms of pose and detail. This figure looks wonderful in-hand, and makes a fantastic mini for the archetypal, well, half-orc barbarian. Good? Bad? He’s the one with the axe.
This rare Vampire, on the other hand, is all bad guy. WizKids did a great job bringing out the complex detail on the Vampire’s stylish armor. Whether he gets you with his upraised sword, his nasty fangs, or his essence-draining touch, the Vampire will get you one way or the other.
This sexy lady with red demon wings is looking for a good time, and promises a kiss you will never forget (note: do not actually make out with your Pathfinder Battles figures). She’s the rare Succubus, and she’s not pleased with your remark that Bettie Page hairdos are so 2002.
This bad boy, the rare Troll, leaps off the cover of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary to menace your gaming table. Sure, he looks a little like he’s got his hands in the air like he just don’t care, but those jazz hands will tear your player character to shreds, which will then be devoured by his jazz tusks. He will kick your azz.
Also awesome: The more than 25 paint masters for the next set, Rise of the Runelords, that WizKids brought over for approval this afternoon. I won’t be revealing any of those until after Heroes & Monsters is out, but when I crassly mentioned how I thought you guys would react upon seeing them, James Jacobs was friendly enough to offer two G-rated corrections. In his words, you will “poop your pantaloons,” or “brown your britches.”
I couldn’t have said it better (or cleaner) myself!
Still loving these guys! Any chance you could make the huge black dragon photo, well, more huge? I'd love to get a better look at the detailing on that guy. :)
I am very pleased that the final release pictures for every miniature seem to be better than the initial glimpses we got. The most profound improvement has to be the Giant Rat. I can't wait to get a set in my hands to truly appreciate the detail put into each and every one!
On a seperate issue, is the Half-Orc Barbarian Uncommon or Rare? I'm getting mixed messages here.
Still loving these guys! Any chance you could make the huge black dragon photo, well, more huge? I'd love to get a better look at the detailing on that guy. :)
Still loving these guys! Any chance you could make the huge black dragon photo, well, more huge? I'd love to get a better look at the detailing on that guy. :)
Still loving these guys! Any chance you could make the huge black dragon photo, well, more huge? I'd love to get a better look at the detailing on that guy. :)
The huge black dragon is fabulous! It makes me anticipate the white one coming in Rise of the Runelords even more! How is you guys are causing me to replace a lot of minis I already own? You must be doing something right! Keep it up. I'm already starting to tuck away funds for June...
I'm not sure if this is a blog question or an "ask James Jacobs" question but on an Depends incontinence scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being bad night at the movie theater with old pop corn and stale corn butter and 10 being so sick from eating unknown animal parts from a questionable three wheeled side cart in Bankok after a bender with my boys to stave off hunger because I did hallucinogens from Amsterdam that were smuggled in the pants of a Somoan percussionist - just how much “poop my pantaloons" or “brown my britches" are we talking here?
I try to keep my soiling jeans ready for those times.
I'm not sure if this is a blog question or an "ask James Jacobs" question but on an Depends incontinence scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being bad night at the movie theater with old pop corn and stale corn butter and 10 being so sick from eating unknown animal parts from a questionable three wheeled side cart in Bankok after a bender with my boys to stave off hunger because I did hallucinogens from Amsterdam that were smuggled in the pants of a Somoan percussionist - just how much “poop my pantaloons" or “brown my britches" are we talking here?
I try to keep my soiling jeans ready for those times.
I answered this on the other thread... but I'll repeat it here.
is there a way you could get a photo of all of the minis together so that way we could see how huge the "Huge Black Dragon" looks next to the other ones?
is there a way you could get a photo of all of the minis together so that way we could see how huge the "Huge Black Dragon" looks next to the other ones?
Taking the pics from the blog and the dragon pic Ross generously provided, and assuming the bases on the vampire, troll and dragon are 1", 2" and 3" respectively, you can assemble a picture that approximates the scaling.
I have done so, but I'm not sure if posting the pic is against community use. I won't do so until I get an ok.
Nah, we'll just take a picture and post it next week. A complete set shot is a great idea.
Moving forward, could we have easy access to the highest-resolution photographs that you have the capability to give us? I understand the need for smaller pictures, especially thumbnails, but sometimes I am willing to spend the time to download detailed pictures.
Nah, we'll just take a picture and post it next week. A complete set shot is a great idea.
Moving forward, could we have easy access to the highest-resolution photographs that you have the capability to give us? I understand the need for smaller pictures, especially thumbnails, but sometimes I am willing to spend the time to download detailed pictures.
WizKids has recommended that we not post extremely high-res images of the minis, as they really don't do the actual product any justice.
WizKids has recommended that we not post extremely high-res images of the minis, as they really don't do the actual product any justice.
To be fair, while I agree with what they're saying in theory, low-res web photos do them far less justice. When I got my Heroes of Battle set, there was a lot of "oh, THAT's what that cluster of four pixels were!"
Maybe there's a happy medium?
On the other hand, I have photographed some minis that I hand-painted that I was exceptionally proud of. The photos made me cringe, exposing every flaw, regardless of how invisible it was at normal scale.
On the other hand, I have photographed some minis that I hand-painted that I was exceptionally proud of. The photos made me cringe, exposing every flaw, regardless of how invisible it was at normal scale.
Yep, that's the problem. If we were able to have a professional photographer spend hours on each minis shoot, we'd probably be able to show them a bit bigger, but that's not in the cards right now.
I'd rather have you pleasantly surprised by the details in the real mini than have you turned off by flaws that you wouldn't perceive in the actual product.
WizKids has recommended that we not post extremely high-res images of the minis, as they really don't do the actual product any justice.
*Twitch*
I can understand not posting hi-res versions of the computer renders, or of the intermediate steps, or macro shots, or exceptionally bad photography. But I can't believe that shots like the two ~1000x600 ones linked above do anything but justice to the work.
I'm already going to use my jewler's goggles to inspect every last one of them. I am going to find flaws in them: paint overruns, visible mold marks, seams, and the other unavoidable aspects of dealing with a matter. I obsess too much over the minis I paint myself to do any less over yours.
Have the mini's arrived at the warehouse, when should I expect them to ship?
We've been shipping to subscribers all week... but note that if you have a regular Paizo sub in addition to your Battles sub, and you've set your shipping preference to "Hold For Monthly Shipment," then we're holding your minis to go out with the other stuff in a couple of weeks. If you need more info on that, please consult this thread.
(We did send emails to subscribers explaining all this... have you checked your spam filter?)
Paizo Charter Superscriber, Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber, Pathfinder Comics Deluxe Subscriber
Daniel Powell 318 wrote:
I'm already going to use my jewler's goggles to inspect every last one of them. I am going to find flaws in them: paint overruns, visible mold marks, seams, and the other unavoidable aspects of dealing with a matter. I obsess too much over the minis I paint myself to do any less over yours.
Understood. I'm obsessive about things as well; campaign backstory comes to mind.
But you do understand that publishing hi-res pictures that make obvious flaws that would only be visible via a jeweler's loupe kind of forces that sort of obsession on everyone, right?
the Haunted Jester
Ross Byers
Assistant Software Developer
Pygon
