Keys, ring and leather fob

[R Reynolds]

Talk about getting sidetracked. I was working on the dashboard for my '41 Plymouth when I had the thought that it would look more authentic with a key in the ignition. Then I realized that a single key would look a bit odd which led to more keys with different shapes on a ring and finally a fob. The keys have no teeth since I didn't want to further complicate the models and this lack of detail would unlikely be noticeable in typical shots of the car's interior.

 

The large unassembled image was the test for the textures (all done with Enhance A:M combiners). Why is it relatively easy to make something look fresh-out-of-the-box new or rusty, dirty and decrepit but it takes many iterations to make an object look slightly used or sort of old? I still don't think I'm there yet but I'm getting close.

 

The small assembled image is one frame out of a 360 deg. spin.

[Eric2575]

Hi Rodger:

 

A couple of nitpicks to an otherwise fine sidetrack. First, the key material looks a bit flat, not enough specular I suppose. And second, the actual ring holding the keys is ususally a brighter chrome, isn't it? I won't mention the wood, because you are just using it to show the keys. Does the center piece of the fob have something like a logo in it? Should it be plastic or also a bit more reflective and shiny?

 

Do you have a WIP of the main project? I'd love to see it.

 

Eric

[John Bigboote]

HI RODGER!

 

Always LOVE to see what you are working on! These look really good! I'm with Eric, I'd like to see the '41 Plymouth. How are things in Windsor? We gotta meet some day...you could be member #4 of D.A:M.N. (Detroit Animation:Masters Network)

 

Your friend across the (getting shallower every day) Detroit River,

 

Matt Campbell

 

(PS---Did you see Martin's backyard railroad setup?)

[R Reynolds]

...the key material looks a bit flat, not enough specular I suppose.

It's also a function of the lighting. The newest key (second from right) has a larger specular intensity value but its position is such that the light it reflects isn't aimed at the camera.

 

...the actual ring holding the keys is usually a brighter chrome...

The ring's diffuse color is black and has spec. inten. = 100; spec. size = 1; reflectivity = 60. Once again it's more a question of composition. The ring is in the wrong place to reflect the back light and the surrounding environment reflected in the rings' surface is just the camera background color, grayish blue.

 

...I won't mention the wood..

Yeah, this is a wood material that I never expected to withstand this level of scrutiny.

 

Does the center piece of the fob have something like a logo in it? Should it be plastic or also a bit more reflective and shiny?

I went back and forth on a logo. Since I want to be able to insert these keys into the ignition of any of my vehicles I thought it best to make it generic. (I would also like to think that in the year my CG railroad set exists (1953) the concept of branding every marketable object was blissfully uncommon). So I went with a brushed aluminum by way of SymbiontAM; not perfect but an acceptable compromise that seems necessary for any texture that tries to mimic ground or brushed metal.

 

It's all a question of personal taste. I probably hurt myself by breaking what I consider a cardinal rule of hardware modeling; I didn't fillet any of the 90 deg. corners. Edges made with a mag of 20 and tweaked gammas don't reflect light in a convincingly realistic way. The attached 360 deg. keyset spin movie makes me think it's time to stop tweaking and move on to other things.

 

Do you have a WIP of the main project?...I'd like to see the '41 Plymouth.

See attached images. I've decided to really detail the chassis (springs and drive train) and dashboard (cutouts for the radio and glove compartment) since I can re-use them in other vehicles.

 

..you could be member #4 of D.A:M.N...

If I can get the work visa issue resolved I'll be spending a fair bit of time north of the river.

 

Did you see Martin's backyard railroad setup?

Impressive but the textures on it are too bright and clean.

keys_spin.mov

[John Bigboote]

Impeccable!

 

Are those displacements I see on the dash? Do you own a 41 Plymouth in the real world?

[tido]

I went to Windsor this summer, did you take a look at the Canadian track and field championships you guys were hosting? I was there on the 800m.

[R Reynolds]

Are those displacements I see on the dash?

No, that's all pure splinage; see first image.

 

Do you own a 41 Plymouth in the real world?

No, but I do own a 1/25 scale styrene model that (along with images from the net) serves as my reference prototype and rotoscope source; see second image.

 

...did you take a look at the Canadian track and field championships...

The road beside the stadium is a standard route; I couldn't miss it as I was driving by.

[Eric2575]

I'm curious, there are patches on the side view of the car's roto. Are those patches from stiched photos? I've had trouble finding ortho rotos, so I sometimes patch them.

[Zaryin]

Nice!

[R Reynolds]

Are those patches from stiched photos?

Right you are. One of the advantages to using scale models as prototypes is you can easily build up reasonably accurate rotos by cutting and pasting sections of sequential images.

 

...I've had trouble finding ortho rotos...

No kidding. Some of the views at suurland.com are almost cartoonish in their lack of detail. And ortho top views are really rare.