#and retopoing for the LOD1 version -- not doing anything actually low poly just the level where rounded edges are still good

[cjgladback]

[ID: Animated gif showing four test renders of a wheeled wooden dragon toy from the same angle; with each render, small adjustments happen to its textures, darkening portions and adding details like nicks in the edges of the wood piece that might be the dragon's eye or brow bone. The final render stays visible while hand-drawn arrows appear, with handwritten labels that point out locations of a knot, wear, dents, glued, cracks, and rings. Some of the cracks are visible but nearly everything else is obscured by the angle of view. End ID]

Getting some unique moments into the wood material, I'm aiming for subtle changes. They're supposed to blend well with the wood grain textures! But on the best of days I want a neon sign pointing to the intentional work I've done and that desire now is exacerbated by how precisely the test render angle I've been using hides the detail areas. Between the dents in the right wing barely visible due to a glancing angle that the glued crack in the left wing would conversely require to be spotted, the obscuring of both chunky end grain edges on the lower piece of the face that needed their ring direction reinforced, and that just-out-of-view hand painted knot near the back right hip...it looks like I'm planning some grand reveal. I am not.