Could Somebody Build Me Something?

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Darkwing,

 

I just put the seats in for scale placeholders. When you get the design for the sets done, let me know... keep in mind the sets have to fit the model and vice-versa. So if you need the model altered to fit the set, let me know.

 

I'll take a shot at texturing it as I need the practice and have the 3D Painter product from Pixosaur.

 

Cheers!

[Darkwing]

ok, sure. btw, here's the car so far:

 

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Okay, the rigging is almost complete, including the engine lighting. I'll probably add the marker lights tomorrow as well as start on some of the smaller details on the bottom. Piping, ramp, landing gear, etc.

 

Here's the screen shot...

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Little present for you...

[Darkwing]

does the word drooling mean anything to you?

[michaelangeloart]

Make the model yourself. It should only take 3 days to complete, Or buy a ready made polygonal models from the many ready made model websites. Splines are not good for box shapes, they are good for organics and creatures. Otherwise, you sound a bit like a weenie.

 

All the best,

 

Michael

[Rodney]

Thats a very nice model Jody. Nice rendering too BTW.

You're a real champ.

 

Splines are not good for box shapes, they are good for organics and creatures.

 

I was going to ignore this comment from Michael... but cannot.

 

Say what Michael???

Splines are ideal for modeling box shapes as well as organics and creatures.

 

The great thing about modeling box shapes is that once you've modeled a few you can reuse them over and over again to create all manner of new box-shapey-things. You are limited only by your imagination.

 

There's a whole collection of images at http://www.hash.com/stills/ to demonstrate the versatility that artists have in modeling with splines. Of course there is Jody's spaceship example here too that demonstrates A:M's modeling capabilities.

 

Sorry... back to your regularly programmed modeling session.

[Jeetman]

Excellent job on the models Jody!!!

 

After reading the story and comparing the ship, it fits in perfectly!

 

Great work!!

 

George

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Rodney,

 

As usual, you are too kind...

 

michaelangeloart (Michael),

 

I whole heartedly disagree with you sir! As you can see, splines work VERY well for 'box' type shapes and in most cases can still significantly decease the size and complexity of the mesh involved. You can even do the strangest thing with them... use them EXACTLY like *gasp* polygons (oh geez, there I've gone and said it! )

 

One thing is for certain Michael, you can NEVER get the same fidelity with a polygon model as you can with a spline model. I mean no matter what you do you never get ANY truly curved surfaces and let's face it... this ship has more than it's fair share of those.

 

Stock Polygon model props have their place, but if Darkwing is using A:M for his project and needs a prop/vehicle/set specific to his story and not some generic model, then why not stick with creating them with A:M too?

 

Darkwing,

 

I've got some minor updates to post in a bit, but I got to sleep quite late and haven't rendered them for posting.

 

Cheers!

[Darkwing]

no problem, i have to go to work in 20 min any ways!

[John Bigboote]

Wow! Way to go MMZ!

 

The generosity on this forum brings a little tear to my eye...snurf! Well-worth $100buxx!

[Darkwing]

yes, this is a much friendlier forum than some of the other forums i've been on, where if you do anything creative, you're blasted out of the water (let's say i don't go to that forum anymore!)

[jzawacki]

Splines are not good for box shapes, they are good for organics and creatures.

 

I asked this before.. Where does this idea come from? Why do people think it? Like I said before, if nobody ever said this, I would never know people thought it, as all the mechanical models I have seen have been amazing.

[Darkwing]

i agree, AM is an extremely versatile program, and though i may not be as good as some of the others on here (ok, I suck) anyways, even I can recognize that AM is a terrific program. In fact, what made me partly want this program, was the really detailed and realistic mechanical models that were made with AM

[heyvern]

Splines are not good for box shapes, they are good for organics and creatures.

 

I asked this before.. Where does this idea come from? Why do people think it? Like I said before, if nobody ever said this, I would never know people thought it, as all the mechanical models I have seen have been amazing.

 

It's the bevels. If you build a "box" and don't bevel the edges it doesn't look so hot. Even "other" programs make crappy boxes if you don't bevel the edges. It's all about thinking "out side the box".

 

That would be my only negative comment on the ship so far. There are hard edges with no bevel. If this is to be used within live action (very realistic) those impossibly hard edges will stick out like a sore thumb. In real life nothing has edges like that. This is what makes a lot of stuff look a bit "fake". A bit of a small bevel will add the realism to make it perfect. Just my humble opinion... uh... of course... I bevel everything, including spheres which is very tricky to do . Seriously though it's an obsession with me. I even bevel the edges of metal screws... total waste of time.

 

-vern

[martin]

Who let this Troll in here?! Off with you - back to the bowels of hell where you were spawned!

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Vern,

 

To address the 'beveling' issue. I thought about that at first and I can still add that back in without drastically altering the model.

 

I was planning to weather the ship a bit with the texture maps and hide most of those hard edges. Also, creative lines at the edges in an appropriate bump map will give the illusion of beveling without adding more geometry to the mesh.

 

I'll do some simple experiments and see what I come up with.

 

Thanks for reminding me of that part though as I almost forgot in my haste to get this done.

 

Cheers!

[heyvern]

Another trick which works almost as well is not to peak the points. Use a tiny magnitude on the bias. It adds a tiny bit of "edge" to catch the highlights. I cheated that way with my terminator model... worked pretty good. Even with a bump or texture... it still really pays it off NOT to have razor sharp edges. If this were for anything other than live action compositing i wouldn't make a big deal out of it... but when it needs to blend in with the real world, you almost have to have the bevels.

 

Just my humble opinion. If I wanted bevels so badly I would have volunteered myself.

 

-vern

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Vern,

 

Yes, I've used the extremely small bias myself on more than one occasion to good effect. I may do that this time, I may not. We'll see.

 

Here's a slight update from last night... Got some of the first textures applied to the cockpit. They were just raw screen captures applied right over a flattened action pose.

 

When I get home tonight I'll dig out my tablet and have a go at it.

 

Cheers!

 

p.s. - the intensity of the lights is what is causing that rough looking pattern on the tail.

[Darkwing]

oh goodie! can't wait! and the more weathering the better, this ship has to show its age. it may have been pretty at one point, but betweeen selling scraps pieces of metal and being hit by micro-meteors, it's old! also, don't feel too rushed about modeling, principal photography hasn't begun yet. once evrything is built, i will begin cg sequences, regardless of shooting is completed or not.

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Well, the last of my week was VERY busy... but I managed to re-model part of the hull so it's truly beveled. This should help with any close up shots that are composited with live action.

 

I'll re-apply the decals later today... Cheers!

[KenH]

That's come on leaps and bounds since I last saw it Jody. Excellent work.

[DarkLimit]

yes, this is a much friendlier forum than some of the other forums i've been on, where if you do anything creative, you're blasted out of the water (let's say i don't go to that forum anymore!)

 

yeah I can relate, some sites seem to only praise fan art...

 

-Nice job on the ship TimeLord-

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Yet another purdy picture ... may not look much different... but the decals on the cockpit and front glass are white with black lines following the splines.

 

I'll be working on this some more hopefully tomorrow and Labor Day...

 

EDIT: And for all you wire frame freaks out there...

[Darkwing]

looks good, i'll send you the cockpit here soon.

[Darkwing]

sorry it took me so long, but here's one view of the cockpit. i'll send more when i get the chance to draw them up.

 

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Observation: Everything but the 'desk chair' look like it should be there.

 

I would (given the budget) get a pair of bucket seats out of a car at a junk yard to use for the pilot and copilot seats.

 

But that's just me...

[Darkwing]

yeah, the chair is sort of to do with the budget, and there isn't much for junk yards around here. i have to make do with what i got, and a comp chair is what i've got. if i can find something like that, i'd like to use it but...

[jzawacki]

Computer chair "may" be fine.. you just need to mod it. Make a base that covers the wheels so it doesn't look so... uhh.. bugetty..

[MMZ_TimeLord]

So here's the latest... most of the main hull and all windows now have decals applied. Only the tail section and the bottom of the center hull and the detail pieces to go.

 

I'll be taking a break on this so I can work on the bedroom for the SO project.

 

Cheers!

 

p.s. - Yes, a cloth skirt or something cobbled out of cardboard and painted right or covered with old fabric of some kind would work wonders for the chair. Be creative!

[Darkwing]

sure thing, take the time you need. and btw, i can do the texturing, i am actually fairly decent at it. you don't need to do it all. yuo've done all that i've asked for, now i think it is time you get me to design something, so that we may fulfil our deal. but really, i can texture it.

[Egopoe]

A small note from the sidelines from another beginner with to many half finished spaceships on my harddisk.

 

Just seeing the pictures step by step from basic shape to the awesome looking starship was a real eye opener in how to add complexity and details to a simple geometry using nothing but the basics. A great tutorial hidden in the WIP section

 

Thank you Timelord for rekindling my hopes of ever mastering AM well enough to do more than conceptualising, and renders I dare only share with my friends.

 

The generousity among Martins minions never cease to amaze me.

 

Back to the drawing board..

[Darkwing]

just wait till it's finished! than it'll be something!