N-17 Fighter

[Ed Doyle]

This is my latest WIP. Buy I'd like some suggestions. I find my work always looks too sterile. I'm not good at lighting and I'm not handy at "dirtying things up," giving them a "used" look. You fellas who are so good at photo realism would probably have a few tips.

Thanks,

Ed Doyle

[pixelmech]

The plane is excellent. But it is indeed too dark. How about an outside scene with a skylight? That would be better to really see the plane. Sterile.. depends on the scene...its hard to tell right now.

[Ed Doyle]

I still haven't learned how to use skylights. Thta'll be next on the list.

[Ed Doyle]

Spelling too !

[heyvern]

That "look" you speak of is partly the lighting and environment. Play around with skylights and/or your lighting setup and you may find that your renders will get that spark of life so to speak.

 

As for "dirtying up".... that is a tough one.

 

Are you using any decals or textures for the "whole" model?

 

What you want to try is to create some grunge maps in photoshop or a paint application... too much info on that subject to go into here. Lots of stuff on the web for that.

 

Then use these grayscale maps and apply as decals for specular and diffuse etc... need to experiment with this of course. This is a easy way to "break up" the perfect surface. Also you may want to use the grunge map as a basis for a slight color variation decal image.

 

Remember you can use the same decal for all of these. One decal and just load it up with your different images. I apologize if this is obvious info to you. No insult intended. Just covering the bases.

 

You may want to create a flattened pose or action of the plane and use that in a paint program so you can create specific areas of wear in logical spots, like around joints or bolts... you know what I mean?

 

---------------

 

Another option would be to use materials to create grunge and dirt effects... same principle but... I prefer images since I have more direct control... I stink at materials... they are a struggle for me.

 

Nice plane by the way!

 

Vernon "!" Zehr

[Ed Doyle]

Thanks Vern. I appreciate your input, The effect I'm trying to get is a fighter that has seen some action hangared in a quonset hut of sorts. But I guess I''ll really have to learm about "skylights and grungy decals."

Ed

[Ed Doyle]

By the way Vern there are a few decals there, ther roundels , Indian head etc.

Ed

[entity]

But I guess I''ll really have to learm about "skylights and grungy decals."

 

The DV Garage site has some really good tutorials on the site... and they even have grunge maps to download. You do have to sign up to enter the site, but it is totally free. And a good place for skylights is the Jeff Lee Skylight Site or Yves Skylight Rigs Tutorials & Models.

 

Hope the above links can help you.

[brainmuffin]

the "aircraft parts" kit at the DV garage looked kinda interesting, but not for $99!!

(I haven't looked at their tutorials yet, though.)

 

Two books I recommend, and the 2 together won't cost that much, are:

 

The Dark Side of Game Texturing by David Franson which is chock full of useful tutorials on creating sci-fi/fantasy/military textures, and it comes with a bunch of stock photos of useful stuff. The image attached here is the result of one of the tutorials. It started off as a photo of a wooden pallet. The rest is photoshop.

 

and Digital Texturing and Painting by Owen Demers

This book has a few tutorials, but what I got out of it more than anything else is a better understanding of the theory of texturing. Rather than being full of "How to make this texture" kind of info, it's more about how to study different textures in real life, and figure out how to apply that information to your project, whether your project is stylized, or hyper realistic, or anything in between.

There's also some really good info about painting your own grunge maps.

 

Here's the pic from the first book:

[R Reynolds]

I'd suggest decals for such things as mud splatters on the landing gear and the surrounding wing and fuselage surfaces; oil streaks along the fuselage with the heaviest density nearest the engine; possibly some hand stitched patches (not Hash patches ) on the rear control surfaces; dirty hand prints and grunge around the cockpit's edge where the pilot hauls himself aboard.

 

I would also suggest you apply some bump maps to break up the unnaturally smooth fuselage to suggest the underlying wooden frame distorting the stretched fabric.

[brainmuffin]

I've been checking out DV Garage's "Attention to Detail" Series, and..... WOW!

 

There's a heck of a lot of free info there! Super great stuff, too!

[heyvern]

Hee hee....

 

And I bet poor Ed thought this would be easy!

 

YeeHaa! Welcome Ed, to the never ending tweaking and bottomless pit of photorealism!

 

It can become addictive.

 

Vernon "!" Zehr

[Ed Doyle]

All you guys are great.

The help is really welcome. I'll be checking out those sites and trying your suggestions. I'll send and updated picture as I progress, but it may take a while.

Ed

[entity]

YeeHaa! Welcome Ed, to the never ending tweaking and bottomless pit of photorealism!

Eh..yeah, I'm in there, too!

[Ed Doyle]

I checked out the DV Garage site and the Skylights. I've got a lot of work to do.

Now I want to check out those books. Rich, It could be a bottomless pit.