Dhar

Wow Scott, this is stupendous! Are you going for the "David Kimble" detail or something? This is incredible. Way to go. If you don't know who David Kimble is, I'm sure you've seen his illustrations. here's a sample [attachmentid=14870]

That's a nice, kinda surreal, image. I love the clouds and the brick detail of the chimney. Nice job.

Way cool Mike. Those are some great shots. Hey, about being sidetracked with details, my wife sends me e-mails while I'm at work that are thought provoking, metaphoric. And today she sent me one that I thought was an appropriate remedy for what you describe, it might help. "The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes." The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. "Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---God, your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained , your life would still be full.! The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else---the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. "Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities." To apply that metaphor, don't worry so much about the sand, get your character to portray what you want it to portray, the rest is just sand & coffee

Nice to see the guy on my coffee mug do some stuff Thanks for sharing Mike, good job, that was fun to watch

Wow Ross! That's an awesome looking set. I love the variety of bushes & trees you put in there, And the different colors of the ground. You're a natural at this. Great job.

Stian needs no introduction in these forums, he's an inspiration. I'm looking forward to meeting him at the Hash Bash

Absent minded professor is what this character tells me. Very appealing design, good job. Please keep us updated.

Isn't this the same character who was in a desert somewhere, ,sex thirsty...? <memory upgrade needed> Whatever happened to that project?

Way cool.

Thank you Jeff, I appreciate your clarification (not that you needed to), it shows your integrity and conscienciousness.

That looks so real, the bottom left corner of my screen is ice cold Could you post a tutorial for this? Please?

I do appreciate every opinion, I really do. I find people perceptions fascinating. Which makes me wonder why the artist put the tail of an airplane on an otherwise insect body! It's definitely interesting. Here's a 3/4 view of the artist's rendition; [attachmentid=14782]

That's some first class toon shading. Nice web page.

Looks awesome. And if you move the shadows to be in line with that sun in the upper left corner, it'd be perfect

Thank you guys for all your comments. I am really, really grateful for your time and input, you have no idea. I love it Now for the nitty gritty. I agree that the 'wings' don't "look" large enough to carry the body. I guess that'd be true if it were a fixed wing aircraft (believe me I know, I was a student pilot). In this design, there are no wings per se. The bottom ones are the propellers, they'd be hard to see when they're vibrating, and the upper ones are the ailerons (the moving parts you see at the trailing edge of the wing on fixed wing aircrafts). The bottom wings (if we were to use the term wings loosely) act just like the wings on a bee (Charlie, you got the picture). The closest insect I can think of that flies in this formation is the ladybug. Jody, I agree with you on the support structure. I'm gonna change that. I'm gonna keep the tail, however, to keep with the artist's expression of familiar shapes that associates with the viewer. The word for this type machine (which i was looking for and thanks to Google i found it) is Omnithopter Here is one iteration of an omnithopter that came decades after the one I'm doing currently, that's in the PC game Dune 2000 [attachmentid=14778]

Welcome aboard Marni. Glad to have you with us. Mundanely, my name is Dhar. My ID on these boards is ...uh....Dhar... I live on the left coast and, like yourself, I took quite a few animation classes (n early 80's & 90's). I never abandoned it, it's just thatm well, life happened (marriage, kids, family, bills, bills, bills). But now that the kids arer all growed up, and thanks to A:M, I can do what I always wanted to do. I'm married, 47 something

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. Sound can only be played in the chor window, nowehere else. So if you have 3 different actions with sound, then you first put the whole sound (of all 3 actions) in the chor. and then drag & drop your actions in the chor. I'm sorry if I sound like I'm repeating what you're saying, I'm just trying to help.

Nice to see you again Noah, it's been a while. I remember your spider project, but this one takes the cake. Rock On

OK, in that case either zoom in on that area, or somehow move the camera so that it enhances the binocular eyes moving backward. I'm sorry, I'm being too picky, this is a WIP afterall - so, never mind me (back to lurk mode)

Thanks Marc. I thought about hydrolics, but this is something futuristic. I figured they'd be done away with hydrolics by then (ya know, with oil no longer available ). In this case, super-conductive relays transmit electrons at speeds that alters the atomic structure of the precious-metal-alloy rods, thereby, expanding or contracting the rod itself (with all its properties of strength)......dang...I should patent this stuff And yes, the vibrating wings are supposed to function like the helicopter rotors. Thanks Jeff. THICKNESS! That's what I'm missing. Good eye....that's why you're a Hash Fellow I'll tackle that the next time. [attachmentid=14757]

Thanks for sharing Mat. Very generous of you.

mmmm.. sorry Jam, it didn't read very well. I had to replay it few times before I realized what it did. To make it look back, I'd turn the head around first (around, not up & over), and then have the body follow afterwards. Like a person on a bicycle, or those extreme sport bicycling where the person looks at the target while manuvering the bike, usually in a tight circle, to face the target then stop.

She's looking fine Frank. There is a little bump/swell at the far end of her collar bone that shouldn't be there, me thinks.

This is based on an artist's impression. No mechanical design was written about it, it was just fantasy. But what I've imagined is that the bottom ones are the propelling wings made from material that stiffens with vibrations and becomes amiable when still to be folded and stowed away. The upper wings are made from kevlar like materials, light yet strong to protect the bottom (inner) wings and the engine when on land, but also act like ailerons that deflects the turbulance created by the inner wings to control hover, foreward, backward and side flying.

Hi folks, This is my attempt at modeling while taking a break from TWO. It is far from complete. I still have mechanical legs to make & attach, cockpit, colors & textures. Thoughts, ideas, critiques, are mosr welcome. [attachmentid=14744]