Eric2575

Thanks guys, I'll play with Camstudio.

My process is very similar to the one you are already using, but It does change a bit. I also created an inner sphere so to speak, except mine is off course the saucer shape of the Falcon. In order to get a very smooth and accurate base, I use a pretty high count mesh. This mesh will be deleted later on and replaced by a very low count mesh. There is also another reason I use a high count mesh; I copy and paste one of the vertical splines to give me the base for my first plate. Not only does the high count help in getting a smooth plate, but copying it from the base saucer insures that it will totally conform to the saucer's shape. Since the plates vary from one to the next and since some of the plate edges do not line up with the cps of the copied spline, I add cps to the spline using the shift key in order not to disturb the curvature of the spline. The spline will also be broken, as there are several panels along the vertical line of the saucer. Unless you take certain precautions, the break will cause distortions. One way to avoid these is to .... Man, oh man, I need to do a visual tut on this. Let me put one together real quick....

I've searched the forums briefly, but wondered if I could save some time by getting a quick answer here? Thank you.

Something like this?

Al, post a pic of the area in question and I'll give you my take on it.

Small update

Ethan, come on now, you've been on the sauce since before I found it. Just look at your Pixar quality characters. I've reached into the mechanical drawer, and you're in the organic. I believe we are both expressing our love for this work in a fine way Btw, funny you should resurface this thread, because I've been meaning to get back to finishing the hull rivet patterns and got sidetracked by the Millennium Falcon. Thanks for the compliment and keep up the good work Cheers Eric

Maybe make his head rounder? When did you make him? Don't tell me you modeled him also last night?

Nope, just a modeling exercise I wanted to put in my portfolio.

Thank you guys for stopping by and giving me the much needed encouragement on a project that has it's tedious moments. More armor plates to go, than on to the little greeble details.

Finally got rid of the artifacts. This is only a 5x render that I stopped at 3x since I knew it did not have any distortions.

That looks like it came out of Pixar. Bravo!

Ha, ha, very cute. I agree, a simple bone rig should suffice.

Robcat, higher percentage AO settings equals less noise but higher render times. Experiment with a simple model setup such as a cube and sphere, then change the AO % and note the differences. I usually stay with 30% AO sampling. Just to explain, the AO settings in the chor are at 100%, the settings in the render to file dialog box I keep at 30% - see pic. Oops, I meant to underline the AO settings in the first pic, not the ambiance intensity

Wire for the hatch details.

Let me get a little bit further with the whole ship and I'll put up a wireframe of it, unless you want to see the detail of something specific. I am not looking forward to making all the little greebles that cover the ship, especially on the top back and all around the sides. I am not going to skimp here though, so you guys can expect a very detailed model of the Falcon. Steve, seriously though, you do have a lot of talent and it shows in your modeling. Your latest Enterprise is very cool and not wobbly to my eyes. Ask and you shall receive - if there is something specific that you feel challenged by as far as modeling goes, post it on the forum and you'll surely get lots of replies to offer help and solutions. I'll gladly answer any and all questions about the construction of my models, although you may be disappointed when you see how simple they really are. The key thing to remember is to always think in three dimensions. I constantly reference the x/y/z axis no matter what orientation I am in. It will become second nature to you if it isn't already. Practice makes better and better Eric

Here is the same shot with 16 x multi pass

If I had any talent, I'd give you some. This is only simple spline layout and lots of determination

This was only a 4 pass render. If I took it up to 9 or 16 passes, the noise would be greatly reduced.

Docking port

Exhaust flaps blocked out... Also added more detail on the turret lasers, but need to play with it some more...

Blocked out the laser turret on top of the Falcon. I don't particularly like this design and will change it up a bit as I go on. More details too.

The plates were laser cut, they have no bevels

I have PS CS2, so the AI wizard will not work. Wouldn't work anyway because the plates are compound curves. This way I have much more control over what I'm doing.