Gene

Vince, Next time...for sure! Rhino is a great program. I really like modeing in it even though I only do very basic things. The feel of the program is quite nice and the booleans work very well compared to other programs. Did you export as OBJ? Eugene

Vince, Yes, I did...after I took a trip of Eastern Europe we stopped off near Pescara at Francavilla al Mare to see my nonna! What part did Animation Master, Rhino and Silo play in the creation of this model? Cheers, Eugene

Ciao Vincenzo, Hai fatto un buon lavoro! Eugene

John, I say this from the bottom of my heart and with the best of intentions...that animation is just so....YOU! Your stuff always makes my day! Cheers, Eugene

I admit....this one got me too.

I would like the free upgrade too!! Eugene

I saw something in another forum that inspired me to do a quick test of a microscopic cell. I really haven't spent much time on this, but would like to know if anyone has a material that might suit the "electron microscope" look. Cheers, Eugene

Hey Grubber, Let me say that overall, I think it's pretty damn good. First thing that jumped out at me was the jump backwards (backflip). I really think he needs to jump higher. Right now it appears that he is slamming his body down into the floor if you know what I mean. The second thing is the first kick. It seems like he has gained momentum from somewhere and it loses a bit of credibility. Otherwise, you have good body placement and poses...good job. Eugene

I would like to see this without the camera constrained and then comment again. Eugene

As always...excellent work and great style! Have you ever considered writing a "making of" so that newer users can get a feel for what it takes to put something like this together. (i.e. techniques, tricks, software, tools...etc.). Oh...wireframes are always interesting too! Keep up the great work...I'll be looking forward to the next one. Eugene

Hi John, Would it be possible to see the AM mesh for any of these images? Cheers, Eugene

Well, for the gloss and shine there are a couple of things that matter. Once you assign the shiny parts to a group, go under the surface properties and add Specularity. Start with a white Specularity colour and small specularity size (5%?) and large intensity (80%). Then turn up the reflectivity to about 40. You will notice that the colour of the vehicle will change slightly because it will start reflecting the colour of the objects in the environment so keep that in mind. Don't forget lighting is important too, so make sure to check that specularity is turned on for any lights. You will have to play with the settings to get what you like. Nice plates...Alberta is a great province. Cheers, Eugene

Hey Nekosei, Very cool car. I am really missing that nice deep gloss and shine!! Just my suggestions. Cheers, Eugene

Hi Avi, Here's my two sense. I would make the crayons thinner and longer so they more closely resemble real crayons. for this reason, the box looks too short. I would keep the tips of the crayons straight so they don't look like melted wax. Then, I would give more bend to the crayons somewhere below the black stripe like it was the neck bending and looking at the crayon on the floor. This will probably be a little bit of a challenge since the crayons have no eyes or face to lead the viewer where you want. The colors look right for the part and I really like the text for "Crayon". Good stuff! Eugene

John, That is very cool and somewhat realistic (of what I don't know, but the effect is really neat). Keep'em coming! Eugene

I think you have the shape down well, but the lighting is hiding the glossiness of the paint. Also, I would recommend extruding a bottom on the car (just a simple black shape) so that you don't see the white in the wheel wells. Keep up the good work. Eugene

As far as the glow goes, you can turn that up in the Choreography...or turn up the radius. Play with those settings and you should get the effect you want. Cheers, Eugene

Hi Tyler, Overall, I would say you did a decent job. Modelling vehicles is not easy and it's something that I often hate doing, but you get better with it each time. Just a couple of comments: 1. The bottom of the car (reflection) looks brighter than the surrounding area and I noticed that unless you build an undercarriage for the car, you often get this strange shadow effect. 2. Can you explain how you built the wheels? I can see some strange geometry or decal there? My suggestion is to build the geometry of the rim as best as you can, but in some cases, you can approximate the geometry of the rim and then past a decal onto it and it will look convincing...see below. Keep at it as I think you are well on your way to some great looking cars. Cheers, Eugene

...and the Project file. Eugene Cell_Phone.zip

Yeah, I knew this one would catch a few eyes...sorry, no real cell phone. Just warming up after my vacation (3 weeks no AM....UGH!) Cheers, Eugene

Nancy, I think this is by far your best character! I just took one look and I couldn't erase the image from my memory...very impressionable! I love it! Eugene

Vincenzo, Non sono sicuro, ma penso che Ancona e vicino Francavilla al Mare, vero? Verso il 2 di Settembre vado a passare 3 giorni con la mia Nonna. Scuzami perche ho perso quasi tutto il mio Italiano. Ciao, Eugene

Ciao Antonio, Benvenuto In che parte dell'Italia siete? Eugene

I noticed that you have 4 patches on the top of each tread. Why not extrude a single patch to make a cube and use this instead of what you have? I can't tell if you beveled each tread, but unless you are getting in real close, your patch count should go down by a factor of at least 2 times. Also, make sure that there are no patches on the very bottom (the part that won't be seen) Cheers, Eugene

Would it be possible to show a close up of the wireframe? I think the geometry looks great! I recently did a tire with a bump map. I wouldn't say that it is as good as yours, but I wasn't getting very close in the shots. Cheers, Eugene