iM@S Head Comparison

The idea of a comparison photo of all the iM@S heads came up awhile ago, and I finally got around to doing this. I've done my best to keep the heads as consistent as possible when they were posed, but I wouldn't consider this to be perfect. The relative scale from head to head is going to be off, and the scale of the side profiles is slightly larger than their respective heads.

 

Hopefully these give an idea about how the sculpts do and don't differ from one to another.

 

I plan to update this as new iM@S heads are added.

 

Edited March 21, 2019 by BeyondTime

The picture isn't showing up in your post; I get that "This photo is no longer available" thing like when it's been deleted. If I click on it it takes me to the picture on flickr though. Maybe there is some limit to picture size for inline, or in this forum software?

Is it showing up now? I wasn't having an issue, but I did update the link.

Yes, working now.

 

I never realized how very similar Uzuki and Mio are.

 

And, that mouth aside, Haruka looks a lot like Erica Fontaine, with the same kind of square jawline and subdued chin. I've never liked the Erica sculpt and her mouth and jawline is why, so that further explains my dislike of Haruka.

 

(Well, I really dislike Erica's character too and think she was a poor replacement for Sakura Shinjugi for the third game, so that doesn't help. But I've seen custom Erica heads being other characters, and even with a mouth mod I still always instantly recognize that head.)

 

Edit: Even without hair, Takane is beautiful.

I just realized I forgot to add Iori. I'll get her added in as soon as I can.

Ok, I added in Iori. I fixed the file size too.

 

I'm starting to think we need a head comparison thread stickied up top like the body comparison thread. Something maintained by the mods where people took head shots of their dolls, and submitted them. That way everyone could have a reference for all the naked heads to help them decide if the head suited their needs.

 

I'd be totally willing to photo the rest of my own girls, and I am sure we could assemble most if not all of the heads over time from people here on the forum.

 

There would need to be some basic rules like the image has to be a closeup of the head, you would need both front and side shots, original faceups on Limiteds, but blank heads would be really useful too.

 

I know its a bit like the DD database, but I think it's different in that it's just about bald heads.

I'm starting to think we need a head comparison thread stickied up top like the body comparison thread. Something maintained by the mods where people took head shots of their dolls, and submitted them. That way everyone could have a reference for all the naked heads to help them decide if the head suited their needs.

I personally think this is a great idea, and I've often wished that something like it already existed.

It can be so hard to find photos that clearly show what specific heads are like, and clever camera angles can change and hide so much

Thank you so much, these are absolutely amazing!

Yes, working now.

 

I never realized how very similar Uzuki and Mio are.

 

The differences between the two of them are really quite subtle. A number of the heads have a similar shape.

 

Like Rin, Uzuki, Mio, and Ranko have the same basic head shape. The same with Makoto, Chihaya and Yukiho. I'm not saying they are identical, and there are more differences between Rin, and Mio / Uzuki from the side profile than there are between Mio and Uzuki from the side. Still the basic shape is similar.

 

This really isn't all that odd since they had a common character design team.

 

One thing I wanted to add at some point are their cards, so that you can see the iM@S character concept next to the Volks 3D realization of that concept.

 

Overall I think Volks has done a good job with the characters, but there are differences for sure. Like the side of Makoto's face is drawn a bit concave, and the shape of her eyes is rounder on the doll. Still I think they captured the essential elements of her face, and did a good job realizing it as a doll.

 

In your frontal pics most of the girls have a pretty similar head shape with about the same chin; a couple like Yayoi have a more defined jawline. In profile there are more differences, and the one that sticks out as very different is Haruka.

 

I think Makoto is a little less "boyish" in doll form, whether that's intentional for her or just a doll thing I'm not sure, considering Kirito looks more girly than the art might suggest too in my opinion. They got Makoto's style of eyeliner just right though which I think is one of the most defining characteristics that separates these characters from each other.

 

I think that slight concave curve on the side is hard to do right in 3D, but one of the unique things I noticed about Yuriko that makes her cute is she has that, just a hint of it, that you can see in the 3/4 angles, and can slightly see in your frontal pic due to how you lit the heads.

 

I specifically wanted to compliment you on your lighting; you got it that you can see things like the sculpting of the bridge of the nose and other things between the eyes on the more three-dimensional heads, something that's too often lost in photographs.

Yeah the eye liner is pretty much spot on.

 

I only have one strobe, and I had it directly behind and slightly above the camera in order to keep both sides of the face lit as evenly as possible. I also used a diffusion umbrella to soften the light and the shadows.

 

I'd like to add two more strobes, but that will be next year after the Saber pre-orders are paid off.

I had just noticed from the direction of the shadow under the chins that was probably your ligthing setup.

 

That sounds like a good way to do it and is a common baisc setup for portrait photography with a beauty dish.

Updated image with Kaede's head.

The picture isn't working for me again. It's just a link in your post, and if I click on it I get a popup with a tiny image icon, which if I click on give me that "image contains errors" generic message.

Considering problems I'm having with the forum it could be my computer or browser though.

20 minutes ago, cfx said:

The picture isn't working for me again. It's just a link in your post, and if I click on it I get a popup with a tiny image icon, which if I click on give me that "image contains errors" generic message.

Considering problems I'm having with the forum it could be my computer or browser though.

There seems to be a small applet involved 

Add https to the front of this, paste it in your browser, and see it it works. If not I am guessing your issue is flickr.

://farm8.staticflickr.com/7831/46516686135_2d3a873c29_o.jpg

Doesn't work either; gives me the same little tiny broken image icon in the middle of the screen. As long as it's just me it's fine I'll just go look at your flickr.

I poked around with a bit, but I not longer remember how I changed the link last time so that it worked.

17 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

I poked around with a bit, but I not longer remember how I changed the link last time so that it worked.

Whatever you did, the picture is showing up for me now in the first post. That test link you gave me still doesn't work though.

 

Edit: And now it's gone again...

Edited March 22, 2019 by cfx

1 hour ago, cfx said:

Edit: And now it's gone again...

Odd.

I messed around with the URLs in my browser, but I never edited the post on the forum itself. I'm not sure why it would work for a bit and then stop. I assume you've tried different browsers?

Working at the moment again.

Computer is old and I don't have a choice in what browsers I can use. This is Firefox.

Anyway, the issue must be with me so your post must be fine.

 

Edit: Might be a timeout issue. When it isn't working there is a .jpg link that eventually shows up, though if I click on that it doesn't work either. A lot of things on this forum are very sluggish for me, which isn't a problem I have online in general, though I have what I assume most consider slow internet these days (10Mbps).

Edited March 22, 2019 by cfx
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