FRESH TANKS...

[Kelley]

The lastest in my fascination with tracked vehicles. This, a generalized Soviet T-series tank. I've been keeping a Photoshop record of each step and expect to put together a tutorial when the treads are done and moving.

[Rodney]

Very cool. I like!

 

I look forward to your tutorial too!

 

Added: I should probably add the standard request as that would be nice to see.

Can we see a wireframe render?

[clonewar12345]

I like the tank. the surfacing job is excellent.

[KenH]

Looking good! Though you should learn how to use AO or HDRI or one of those.

[clonewar12345]

I have heard the term HDRI before but what is it and how would you use it?

[KenH]

Oh actually, an HDRI image is an image where you can optionally extract detail in light (over exposed) or dark (under exposed) areas of the image. This image can then be used for Image Based Lighting (IBL) where you surround your shot with this HDRI and it renders realistically and without the need for lights.

[Kelley]

Rodney: Is this what you have in mind?

 

Ken: Can you point me to some text for AO and HDRI?

[the_black_mage]

dude nice, looks like people are making tutorials left and right! even i was considering making some!

[MattWBradbury]

Here's some information on AO:

 

Ambient Occlusion

[Kelley]

...even i was considering making some!

 

Outstanding! We can't have too many. When mine's up, feel free to use any pieces of it in yours.

 

Matt: Thanks for the link. I'll print it out.

[KenH]

Hey Robert.....was that made in AM from scratch or imported in? It seems that many of the circular features could be done in a quarter of the splines you have there. It's not a big issue on one model, but I know you have chors with many models like that and it's going to take a toll on your computer (in some way).

[totlover]

that is a great model... (i dont have anything to say about the render...ill be using what these people say)

[elliotclem1]

Wow thats fantastic. Can't wait for the tutorial then I can make one.

 

It would be brilliant for using particle effects when they are shutting and on fire.

 

Elliot

[Rodney]

Thanks for the wireframe Robert!

 

It does look a little spline heavy in places but we haven't seen everything close up.

As Ken suggests you may be able to cut down on splines considerably in some places.

I'm not entirely sure which areas he means by 'circular features' but any cylinders and such can often be created with 4 cross sections.

 

Its your model though and its looking mighty sweet as is.

[trajcedrv]

This is ... WOW! It is that good! Great model, now slap it into some dirt and let's see it move!

[Kelley]

Hey Robert.....was that made in AM from scratch or imported in? It seems that many of the circular features could be done in a quarter of the splines you have there.

 

Ken: It's A:M from the ground up. I know that it's a little heavy on CP's...a legacy from my polygon days...especially in the way I've always built gear sprocket drive wheels. Also in the turret, as I was trying [perhaps harder than necessary] to keep it smooth.

 

I took a shot at AO lighting. Followed the link in Matt's advice. Thought I was about to tangle with something hideously complex...turned out to be a lay-down. The numbers indicate the order in which I made the renders. I discovered that a little goes a long way. [#2, at 100% took nearly five hours before I regained control of my computer.] The last is best, and could even be less.

 

Am I right in assuming that this would be an alternate method to Light Lists?

 

Riste: I spent a few hours on Friday photographing the wheel hubs on local tractors and heavy-duty trucks. When I get the prints back, I'll muddy-up the bogey wheels.

[MattWBradbury]

Five hours?!?! Don't set the AO Sampling to 100%, set the Occlusion to 100%. You can get away with a lot if you have textured models like your tank. Set the sampling to 10% and set multipass to 16 passes. Make sure the Key light in the choreography casts 100% dark shadows with 2 ray casts. I would also suggest getting rid of the Yellow klieg and the blue fill light. Set the AO color to the default color of the camera to make your shadows realisticly blue RGB(166, 202, 240); also set the color of the fill light to a yellowish tint RGB(255, 239, 202) and increase it's intensity to 125%; you might want to decrease the width to 10cm on the key light so you don't get very blury shadows. That should make your renders look a lot nicer, more realistic, and not take 5 hours (probably won't take longer than 20 minutes at the resolution you've posted but would be much shorter if you had a lower patch model).

 

 

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

Here's a render I just did:

I just droped the model into the choreography and rendered with these settings:

16 pass multipass w/ Soften

Shadows

This render is VGA and took 0:53 minutes to render (that's 53 seconds not 53 minutes).

 

I then made the Key Light Cast Shadows:

The same settings were used.

This render took 1:51 minutes to render.

 

I then deleted both the Rim and Fill light and added AO:

The AO Settings were:

Sampling 10%, 100% Ambiance, 100% Occlusion with a Blue Global Color. Other than that it was the same settings.

This render took 3:54 minutes to render.

 

If you find that the shadows are a bit darker than what you want, you can decrease the occlusion:

In this image, I've set the occlusion to 80%.

This image took 3:51 minutes to render.

 

Oh, and here's what a render will look like if your Key light has a larger width:

The penumbra becomes much larger at shorter distances, which is unatural.

[Kelley]

Five hours?!?!

 

Matt: Thanks for the come-back. It's now printed out and bound into "The Encyclopedia of Good Advice". I went for the 100% Sampling because the tutorial at the end of your link showed a progression of renders starting at 10%, up to 100%, and the big issue seemed to be that the shadows were very grainy/noisy at 10%, and very smooth at 100%. I went with the bigger %, and there was a lot more to it. Thanks again.

[MattWBradbury]

I've updated the wiki so that it becomes more apparent that increasing sampling will dramatically increase rendering times.

[Logrus]

Until today i didn't think id ever get to know anyone who was into Military type things like my sisters husband. That was until I've followed allot of your WIp's Kelley.

 

Very nice work. I'm looking forward to the tutorials..

[Kelley]

Until today i didn't think id ever get to know anyone who was into Military type things like my sisters husband. That was until I've followed allot of your WIp's Kelley.

 

 

...might have something to do with being three years old at Pearl Harbor, entering teen years at Korea, drafted in 61' for the Berlin Wall, sweating through Vietnam, cheering Desert Storm, loathing and foreboding at Operation Iraqi Freedom...then again, maybe none of the above.

[Kelley]

First rough-cut at Tank in motion. Much tweaking to do, but far enough along to move on with a tutorial.

TANK_IN_MOTION.zip

[animas3D]

I've updated the wiki so that it becomes more apparent that increasing sampling will dramatically increase rendering times.

 

Matt- That looks like a good link about AO you posted previously in this thread. Are you referring to the same place when you mentioned the wiki above?

 

Also, nice work on the tanks Kelley.

[MattWBradbury]

Are you referring to the same place when you mentioned the wiki above?

 

I did the documentation for A:M Features, and some of the writing is not 100% clear.

[elliotclem1]

Hi,

 

It seems os though this thread has been lost.

 

When will the tutorial be made??

 

Elliot

[Mohammad]

Yes the thread was lost, probaly means he didn't make it and isn't coming out.

[Kelley]

Yes the thread was lost, probaly means he didn't make it and isn't coming out.

 

Looks like the thread got re-found.

 

I was waiting for [and have now received] an updated copy of GoLive for the site. All the images have been captured, all I have to do now is write it and FTP it up. With the re-newd interest, I'll get to it sooner.