Grand Space Opera 3D Entry: James Hibbert

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1098262403_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1098262403_large.jpg)

Heres a REALLY rough Concept peice, I'll probably update it and modify it as I go, I allready have radically changed the design for the big ship depiceted here as some sort of South American pyrimidal shape, wich was cool enough. But I hand't had a chance to make it work the way I wanted to, though depending on how I feel about it I might look into it again.

[erakesh]

Hi there,

I like ur concept. A typical invasion from the frames of ID4 and the Stargate :P Hey just a suggestion, how abt changing those buildings down to something unique, something that will look out of our world. :) Overall it is coming up gr8 man. waiting to more sketches.

[BookMansBlues]

thats the plan :) it's just a quick sketch, the import thing was that you reconized they were buildings :) thanks for the comment though.

[BookMansBlues]

Here is a quickTest Render of the big space ship, it's at an early stage. I hope you guys like it. No textures yet just mesh. And ofcourse if anyone has any crits I'd like to hear them ;)



http://www.arslux.com/jhibbert/Destroyer_015.jpg

[erakesh]

Nice :) Post more profiles of the ship. It does look sophisticated as less mechinical parts shown. Cool work. Like it. All the best!

[dayvbrown]

Very nice ship, I like the curves in the shape and the 'appendages' (not sure what they are, but they are cool). Is that some mech detail I see on the top? Works very nicely with the semi-organic shape.

Dave.

[dayvbrown]

Stingray.

That's the word I was looking for, it sort of resembles a stingray, the "mouth" in the middle makes it work i think.

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks for the comments guys, I'll get some orthos rendered, but for now heres a closer up shot of the panneling on the bridge/top area.http://www.arslux.com/jhibbert/destroyer_016.jpg

[erakesh]

hey nice. Keep up the good work. :)

[BookMansBlues]

Here are some orthos. Also, the details the line the wings are supposed to be like feathers in style and also for practicle use but not to fly, also since this thing is doing a orbital insertion those little paddel things are supposed to beable to shift and tilt around to effect areodynamic drag to affect position and angle of attack. ALTHOUGH :) this thing is 2km from stem to stern the phisicis invorved are porbably suspect, but I'll use the anti gravity cop out :)I did want this thing to look very bird like, the whole stingray idea is very cool as well. When I get around to doing the fighters that will be flying around the scene I'll look at some more aquatic themes for the city.

Thanks :)
http://www.arslux.com/jhibbert/Destroyer_Ortho.jpg

[3doid]

hey nice models u ot there... teh concept looks gr8 too... i'll b waiting for the updates.. keep it up buddy...

[Genesisa]

cool models man, the idea of pearl harbor i have is something like that but , that remembers me when the united states attack japan or something like that, i dont know united states history but, but i know some movies jeje.

well man cool concept keep whit the good ideas.

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks guys! :)



ohh and Genesisa pearl harbor was when Japan attacked the US, not vice versa. If you were interested, not that you need to be. :D


I'll try to get more Renders up, but getting these hull plates done takes a lot of time, so progress isn't as far along as I would like to post a real update.

[usstodd]

Great texturing on the bridge section.
Just curious is that all geometry or is some of it bump mapping?

I know I'm going to have to model the Hull Plating for mine when I get around to modeling it.

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks ;)

So far it's all gemometry, no textures. When I do my textures I might add a smaller map for more sub panneling but I dout you would see it in the final render. I probably won't need to do much more than radiosity mapping and a spec break up map because of the distance, but only time will tell at this point.

[wes3]

I like the ship design and the greebles you've got modeled into the skin look great. Not sure what your plans are for the fins that protrude along the profile, but it would be cool if they acted as some sort of stabilizer and pivoted to help the craft bank, turn, etc. Look forward to seeing it with textures!

[BookMansBlues]

Thats eactly what they do, now when I get that far they will have alot of gear around them to make them look like they could work (like hydrolics and such).


Thanks :)

[BookMansBlues]

Just a quick update, I don't know why I did the panneling on the back, since it probably will never be seen in the render :)http://www.arslux.com/jhibbert/Destroyer_021.jpg

[Lotus7]

hey james. looking really nice! give us some more info on the story behind the image!!

[BookMansBlues]

Not much of a story behind this concept. I wanted it to look like a classic Orbital insertion bombing run on some sort of ailien city that had buildings so tall they poke through the atmosphere. I'm a fan of Books like Ringworld (by Larry Niven), and the Classic StarWars Trilogy, so I was trying to give a little bit of a mix between the two typs of styles. The origional concept of the Destroyer ship was very Imperial Star Destroyer, but I didn't want to make a knock off of one of those, but I liked the look of them so I made a several scketches which made it evolve from that into this. The city will look very alien, some of the guys on this thread made the comment that the ship to them looked like a stingray. That gave me an idea to made the city look like an underwater habitat, or atle the very least make the buildings look like seaweed in shape or or style. We'll see though there will be plently of experiments to come.

thanks :)

[painkiller]

very nice !! and good concept too .....
like a lot the greebles . (i jumped to the last post so i wander if they model or bump map ..)
can't wait to see more of this !

[Eclisod]

cool concept, looking forward to the first WIPs :)

[BookMansBlues]

Heh I do all this stuff in geometry, mostly since when I model somthing for myself I build hero models so I can stay in practice. I occasionaly do models for Zoic studios, and they like to see that kind of detail, ofcourse you have to watch out because you can easly get in over your head while doing them.


Thanks! :)

[Designer2]

great details those tinny touches gives, it makes the ship looks huge, just try to add different type of those tinny details they all looks extrude and intrude to me, i meen why don't you add towers, tubes and such things you know.

amazing so far keep it updated.

[Genesisa]

i like your model, and i think those colors of the lighst are awesome, maybe you can use them in your composition

[superlayer]

I like the detailing on the ship it makes it look huge already.
Will be interesting what the final will look like.

[3doid]

hey did ya say no textues?... u made all this panels by modeling?... dude u got patients.... keep it up... will b waiting for update :thumbsup:

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks for the good words guys! :)


Designer2: No fears bro, all that kind of detail is forthcomming. I'm just getting through the panneling phase wich takes the longest to do.

3doid: Yeah no textures at this point in time. On one gig I did it took me 5weeks to do all the panneling just the panneling! I eventully had to pay another guy to come in and do some of the work so I could get done in the time I had just for panneling but that is what they wanted :) This is kiddy play compared to the detail on that one.

When I get home tonight, or somtime tomarrow I'll post a wireframe render of the pannels so you can see. I'd do it now, but I can't access my ftp site from here at work.

[BookMansBlues]

Update:

Here are three new renders, one is a wireframe render for any who are interested.

Enjoy!
http://www.arslux.com/jhibbert/Destroyer_022.jpg
http://www.arslux.com/jhibbert/Destroyer_024.jpg
http://www.arslux.com/jhibbert/Destroyer_025.jpg

[Genesisa]

your models are great, i dont know very much of that tecnice, but how i can see that is not a texture right?

so why you dont do that whit bump mapping or something, and it will take a lot of lees time rendering.:thumbsup: but cool model, anyways im a beginer in this stuff.

[Borro]

You're crazy man! This is insane detail. But after all I'm going for the same LoD so that shouldn't be that surprising, but then again you're insane! Keep it up and good luck!

[markovicd]

hm... i dont know how i missed this one ! ::(
nevermind great proggress there... but i dont get it why u model or of that when u can do it with bump... :)
anyway keep the great work:thumbsup:

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks for the Encouragment guys!

As far as hull plating is concered this is the way I was taught to do models by my pro-freinds (this is done for hero close up models mostly). One of them Built the Galactica for the new TV show on Sci-fi )thats over 5million polys btw) we can get a way with doing this through the magic of compositing since when you do hullplating like this you do it on a seperate layer so you can remove any plates that arnt going to be seen in frame during that shot. this means that instead of rendering 5 million polys for a shot they are only rendering maybe 500,000 perpass. and when they get up on a specific part of the ship they do another render just of that spot and comp that onto the frame. It does require more comp work, but comp work saves time as well in the long run. Zoic Studios had a great DVD that showed this process, I dout they ever released that to the public, I think it was for the Emmy nom that they got for BSG.


Because this is just a still image I don't have to worry about all that. My computrer here at home is alsmost never in use through the day so I can render all day long if I want, and If a gig comes up I can allways render somthing on the 75 node render farm at the school I work for ;) .

If you guys want I can talk more about this process of how I do my hull plating (it like everything I do is quite simple in nature), but thats an aside, and I've been thinking about writing a tut on that and might release it that way instead. Atleast that way more people would see it.

[splotch]

BookMansBlues
nice model really awsome ...
i loved the fighter it gives you the feel of stars battel, the speed and over galaxy travling
keep the good work man wish you good luck and i will be watching your fantastic work

[ARSA]

interesting! detail - compositing! best combination for low budjet! :thumbsup:

[BookMansBlues]

and big buget for that matter since they are all useing the same kind of computers :)


Thanks guys!

I would like to take this time and say that just about everything I've seen in the other threads is looking really cool. This challenge will generate some great art, and I look forward to seeing it all.

[jddog]

WOW, I'm impressed about the ammount of details ! Clean design, like it !
jdd

[NeBuLa]

nice work =) man cant wait to se some more images =)

[roctavian]

Hi James,
I had a big surprise when I saw your destroyer. It looks almost like the fighter I`ve created in my challange (or my fighter looks like your destroyer).
They are sister ships? or maybe the same race?
I `m asking myself if there will be any contest problems regarding the ships looking so similar?
Is it`s possible that two people, at great distances each other, to invent the same wheel in almost the same moment (and in the same race)?
Maybe the tires are different.
I`m curious to see your opinnion about my fighter. It`s not ready yet. I`ve just upload it.
I like what you`ve donne until now. The concept sketch is nice.
Not to mention your modeling skills.
Good luck!

[BookMansBlues]

HEY! I don't see a problem. It's for sure not a copy. When I was designing mine I started from an Imperial Star destroyer from starwars because I like cetrain aspects about it. But I didn't want to do replicate a near clone (excuse the pun) of the ISD so I started playing aorund with the design then I started to smooth it out. And when most poeple who saw the design looked at it they all said it looked like somthing differant from the next guy.

I'm just happy that people like the model ;)


Thanks Gang! :)

[roctavian]

How can I don`t like it if it`s nice?
Definitely looking fwd to your work man, keep it up!
You`re a nice person.
Happy renderring!!!

[Grimreaper1981]

Heya, a tut 'bout your type of plating, would be very interesting, keep up that good work


cya:thumbsup:

[Gattigen]

I think the models great. hopfully you dont go insane before you finish the paneling

[Hagan]

I'm looking forward to learning more about your techniques. Your modeling is very inspiring and the overall concept very strong. Do you intend to follow through the detailing style to the cityscape for a civil conflict or will the invading ships look off-world. It's fantastic to see how spacecraft are assembled with computer CAD in this way. Thanks for anymore updates that demonstrate your skills.

[teyekanik]

hey man, I really dig that plating technique.. I want to use something similar on my ships... u have any tuts available? Or a hint or two? Looks great so far man! That plating adds so much....

[BookMansBlues]

LOL looks like I;m going to have to put together a small one today but I gotta run to get ready for work!


Thanks all for your encouragment! :)

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1098768532_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1098768532_large.jpg)

Just a quick update to celebrate the top half of the plating being done ;)



....now to start the bottom half :)

[BookMansBlues]

Ohh btw, I finnished the plating tut, and gave it to my freind to proof-read and edit for spelling and grammar. It will be up soon :) .



Enjoy! ;)

[aiTOR]

Nice work :-)

aiTOR

[qwatkins]

That is some pretty detailed modeling, looks great. That won't be hard to get to look good in practically any orientation.

[Borro]

Great job on the ship! I love the finished version! Keep it going!

[BookMansBlues]

thats just the panneling on the top half thats done, there will be more detailing and stuff up there mostly around the bridge section. But not nearly to the degree :) and thanks! :)

[Kaksht]

Cool ship, looks great, really mean :) Great job!

[jddog]

Beutiful and very detailed
jdd

[Grimreaper1981]

Ohh btw, I finnished the plating tut, and gave it to my freind to proof-read and edit for spelling and grammar. It will be up soon :) .



Enjoy! ;)
very good news, man...

tia, grim...:thumbsup:

[Pharion]

ooooh its so purdy... nice job man

[arturro]

On your last concept picture this ship look sceary:) great mood! The model is very interesting, I'm waiting for the paneling tut very much!

Good luck!

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks Gang I really appreaciate your compliments!.

[BadPenny]

Nice concept there...wish you the best!

[markovicd]

hey nice ship there , can i play with it ? i prommis i wont break it :D hahaha
kidding very nice... just dont lose time to set render... model + texture render at end :)

[Shardana]

great work man!! nice to see someone keeping high the lightwave flag! keep rocking!! :thumbsup:

[BookMansBlues]

Ok guys and gals, for those of you who were waiting for it. Sorry it took so long but I finally have my Hull Plating Tut all posted and ready for comsuption.

You can get it HERE (http://www.newtek.com/products/lightwave/tutorials/modeling/hull-plates/index.html).


thank you all.

[3doid]

hey very good progress.. sorry i cudnt drop by earlier... i really like ur whle concept and man that is some awesome modeling job... very heavy detailed... just keep it up and u'll b there...best of luck again :thumbsup:

[angel]

wow, how in the heck did I miss this thread?! doesn't matter, saw the tutorial link from SQ very nice job. I love your design, very nice job. :thumbsup:

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks! :)


wow, how in the heck did I miss this thread?! doesn't matter, saw the tutorial link from SQ very nice job. I love your design, very nice job. :thumbsup:

Cool, Proton is a great guy, when he saw that I wrote that tut he went nuts and had to post it on the Newtek site! I was just going to upload the tut and post it here, but I figured the exposure would be a lot more if I let him do it that way. not only that I wanted some one who would tell me if it was a horrible tut or not before I let it loose on the net, and since I think I might have looked at maybe two tuts in my life I wasn't the best to judge :)

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099023702_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099023702_large.jpg)

I'm about 25% done with the underside pannels, unfortunitly I havn't had a whole lot of time to just plow through it. this is about 5 hours worth of work.

[D-3]

holly S&$@#@$@# dude r u crazyyy o.O how u can make this details???
i´m impressioned hehehe
holly s*#$&#@$ again!! eheheh

keep it up dude!! the best details, i´m never see in may life!!

GREAT AND DETAILED WORK!!!

[userBrian]

Wow, very groovy. I had spent some time trying a cookie cutter
boolean subtract grooving
method but found it messy and thought i'd get back and just knife some
polygon into existence and move it up. I was just planning to do a few.
I got my 3D wings (arms?) ok and will probably work on the body next.

My space opera 3D (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=179803)

[Grimreaper1981]

thx bookmansblues, that'll help to increase the LOD i think, earned a beer for it :beer:

[jac3d_loading]

cooll men, very nice, strong factory spaceship..........

i like...

[centavrus]

hi:) i am crazy on tiny detales too and i could looking at you work endless long time.Its interestig to see it in progress- wish you good luck!

[BookMansBlues]

holly S&$@#@$@# dude r u crazyyy o.O how u can make this details???
i´m impressioned hehehe
holly s*#%4$samp;#@$ again!! eheheh

keep it up dude!! the best details, i´m never see in may life!!

GREAT AND DETAILED WORK!!!


Heh, thanks bro, I'm glad you like it, if you want to know how I do it just follow the Tut link on my sig.



Wow, very groovy. I had spent some time trying a cookie cutter
boolean subtract grooving
method but found it messy and thought i'd get back and just knife some
polygon into existence and move it up. I was just planning to do a few.
I got my 3D wings (arms?) ok and will probably work on the body next.


Yeah booleans are usally a last resort weapon, when I need them I'm glad I have them, but they usally require too much clean up which makes them not worth it.



thx bookmansblues, that'll help to increase the LOD i think, earned a beer for it :beer:


Thanks for the Beer mate! ;)



hi:) i am crazy on tiny detales too and i could looking at you work endless long time.Its interestig to see it in progress- wish you good luck!

LOL thanks just don't spend too much time working on it that you don't finnish your work on time ;).


Angain Thank You All! I really appreaciate your encouragment.

[WyattHarris]

Well this is great. I'm reading through your WIPs and thinking to myself, I have to ask how he is doing this. Lo and behold you've already answered the question way beyond what I was expecting. Using the panels seperatly in comp is actually going to be a lifesaver for me on an upcoming project I'm working on.

Thanks muchly.
Oh, good work too. :D

[Gunilla]

Really nice ship - love the plates. Also like the noise you had in an earlier rendering. Very inspired thread - may I borrow some of your inspiration? :)

[Orporick]

Yes

your tut on how to add panels details is really useful .. and your spaceship model rocks .. great work .. thanks for sharing your experience .. see you

Riccardo :)

[otacon]

Wow. How did i miss this one. Really cool concept and great details all around. I'll be looking forward to see how this one turns out!:thumbsup:

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks guys!


LOL Otacon thats some mighty cat you got there! :)

[greentek]

wow James..
you got a cool stuff here.. :thumbsup: your destroyer design is really great.. it reminds me abandoned huge space craft from the first film of "Alien" series.. the same sense of huge size.. and hull plates look awesome.. you've chosen the right proportions for them.. i dont have anything to crits yet.. so long stuff is looking excellent for me..

keep great work up and best of luck in challenge! i'll keep an eye on your thread..
i dont know what im doing in this challenge with my toy-like models..:shrug:

P.S. i think you should post your wip pics in the modeling category.. cos now they do not count as they are not submitted..

cheers..

[pBarrelas]

Very good start!! I like your concepts and your ship ROCKS!!:thumbsup:

[Rochr]

Man, the ship is a beauty. And it´s probably pointless to try praising the detail work without repeating every one else here... :)

Top job so far! :thumbsup:

[BookMansBlues]

And it´s probably pointless to try praising the detail work without repeating every one else here... :)



Yeah But I don't mind http://www.cgtalk.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

seriously, thanks guys I actully do appreciate the compliments.

[Jaba153]

supa cool render!ultracoollightin'topdetail!!bravissimo!

[SuperXCM]

Waouww i really like "Concept Sketch: DestroyerWip"...very cool render, and nice style. :thumbsup:
I'll be waiting for update!!:bounce:

[oxyg3n]

Hello

I really like how your ship is comming along. I read your tutorial too, I think that all the detials that you have modeled into the hull are really nice.

[jammin]

sure do appreciate your first concept art pic -it's got 'mood'

nice lighting, film grain (?) -beauty!

:)

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks guys!



sure do appreciate your first concept art pic -it's got 'mood'

nice lighting, film grain (?) -beauty!

Thanks, I call that the cylon render ;p that grain is just Photoshop noise, but yeah I usally go for a grainy image to greater or lesser degrees when I do my post processing which I do to a lot of my renders. when I get the model done and I have some time to build a proxy city I'll probably do more concept renders so that I can lock down where I really want to take certain aspects of this peice.


you guys rock.

[roctavian]

James, you`re a lightwaver! Initially i thought that you`re a maya guy ( don`t know way, I had no reason to presume this, anyway, it doesn`t matter what software is used - finally, the end result does matter).
Thanks for tutorial, a clean and clear one (I`m a lightwave user too).
I like your ship more and more. Nice render too.
I'm honored to be competing with you. :thumbsup:
Keeping one eye fixed on your thread.

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks, but the honor is all mine. There is an excessive amount of extremely talented people here. All of whome make this a real challenge, which is why it is fun for me. I'm glad you liked the Tut, I'm also glad that it's clear I know how confusiing I can get once I get on a role ;)

[pigwater]

bookmanblues .. thanks big time for the tut .. i was scratchin my head over this before i read it ... now, just my jaw is still hanging open from amazement at your patience and persistence annd ingenuity in the lines

beautiful stuff :eek:

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099147511_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099147511_large.jpg)

about 4 hours work from last update. I hope to finnish the panneling this weekend or monday.

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099147731_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099147731_large.jpg)

Just trying to get a better feel about where I want to take this. ofcourse I won't be using wide screen like this in the final render, it will probably more resemble the first concept.

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks Pig I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

The panneling is really very simple it's just when you put it all together it looks complex. total poly count is about 240,000 atm wich for me isn't bad, one of my goals is to keep it under a million but we shal see ;) .

[Rochr]

Even though you´re not planning a widescreen shot, that would make a great image, with just some smaller stars and some clusters. :)

[Kvaalen]

Really nice work till now! :thumbsup:

I read your tutorial which made me decide to take a look at your entery here and I'm not sorry I did.

The disign looks somhow a little similar to an old model I made for the same purpose. There were 250 of them and I don't have much ram so I had to keep them very low poly, use LWs level of detail options and render them out in layers. Anyway... it was also for a challenge of space ships attcking. It's quite an old image so I'm not really proud of it (if you really want to see it take a look at the gallery of my site but at your own risk ;) ), but I'll post a link to the space ship image. It's far from yours yet their is some sort of similarity in the design (not to mention the lack of detail :rolleyes: ).

http://www.kvaalen.com/webimages/art/texturetest2.jpg

Just find the coinsidence funny... keep up the good work! :)

[BookMansBlues]

Kvaalen: It's not that bad! cool design, I think, though I really don't think it looks that simmular. funny thing is that every one who takes a look at this sees somthing eles in it. I think that they are all right and worng of course :)

My biggest worry was that people would just hate the model design. maybe people do but they haven't told me yet :)



Even though you´re not planning a widescreen shot, that would make a great image, with just some smaller stars and some clusters. :)

You know I had a star field that I rendered the other day like what you describe, but for some reason I couldn't find it :P the only things in that comp that I can use for the final are the ships anyway so I might as well make a new one any way ;)


Thanks guys ;)

[Grimreaper1981]

My biggest worry was that people would just hate the model design. maybe people do but they haven't told me yet :)
There's nothing to hate, man...:thumbsup:

[Virtuoso]

Hey James.......................Stopping by to give you a thumbs up :thumbsup: .......Nice concept,and I love the attention to detail.Hey we can go over compositing together later on........;) ......Long live high poly counts,let's think next gen here.:cool:

Keep it coming.looking mighty fine.............:arteest:

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks Virtuoso!


Hey we can go over compositing together later on........

I'm allways good for sugestions ;P that last comp kinda stunk because I did it on a computer where the moniter was too dark (one f the computers here at work, a little odd ball Bast*!$% child that doesn't display right.) normally my levels are a lot better, I desided that it really didn't matter the levels so much in this one, I was just trying to see how the ships looked in an enviorment. ofcourse it made me desid that I think I might need a newer updated idea on thier posittion in the scene. I'll do another one today and see how tha comes out.

[jampoz]

Really... really... NICE DESIGN! :thumbsup:
I'm up for a less linear detailing on my ship but I believe the kind of detailing you're using are more appropriate to a ship of such greatness, man it must be HUGE!

Are you going to put some fighters hangar on it?

[Viridian]

Beautiful detail. Absolutely wonderful.

The only crit I can offer is that the proposed background looks a little bland. I know you're still exploring options in that area... perhaps if the ships were bombing a habitable moon circling a ringed gas giant? A long ring arcing off into the dark makes for a dramatic scene.

Thanks very much for the tutorial also.

Stunning. :thumbsup:

[oxicus]

Awesome dude! i didnt think much of the concept but then when you started doing the hull plates... thats sweet man! at first i thought it was a bump map, but all the geometry makes for a great render! booyah!

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks gang!




Awesome dude! i didnt think much of the concept but then when you started doing the hull plates... thats sweet man! at first i thought it was a bump map, but all the geometry makes for a great render! booyah!
I'll get you tommy boy Just wait! ;) MUHAHAHAHAHAHAH!:twisted:

[kaajey]

Really nice detail.I like it
But I am afraid that if the ships would be so far form the camera the details of the ship will be not so visible.
But maybe you are about to make one ship in foregraound
Best wishes :applause:



See:

[Borro]

great job mate :)... keep it up... wonna see more!

[BookMansBlues]

kaajey: You also have to remeber that the image has to be print res at the end. Ofcourse you still maybe right, but the concept as is is still not final. It's one of my goals fort this week to get a more final concept, and to finnish the plating so I can get started on the big details.

It's unfortunate thoguh that I've been getting a bit busy with other things of late, but I'm still working on it.

Thanks guys!

[jddog]

:applause: wonderful work an thanks so much to share your techniques !!!
jdd

[terraarc]

Nice ship design and hulls (so far). I also like the dynamic pose in the concept...:thumbsup:

It's amazing how many talented people are on this contest! Wish you luck and free time for contest mate!

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099543300_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099543300_large.jpg)

In Honor of calling the Hull Plates done, I did this quick comp, this is probably the direction I'm going with the lighting at least for the space part of the shot. The final probably won't be as heavly processed to look like it does right now because I dout it would print well. I did start on a few other details but there are more to come.

Enjoy!

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099549803_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099549803_large.jpg)

Not much need for explinations here, just my wires and poly count. I expected to have over 500,000p by this time, so this is a good thing ;)

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099549997_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099549997_large.jpg)

more of the same.

[movie3d]

damnn damnnnnnnnnnnnn damnnnnnnnnnnn

good job james... i know you in our dave school.....

i hope you can keep in touch with more freelance 3d...

:bounce: :scream:

[Kaksht]

Great job, looks really realistic in the render, kinda nice atmosphere :)
The ship looks massive nad kinda mean. Again, great job!

[Kragh]

The ship design is awesome, really!!! And that you modelled the panels...I thought I would just make a texture for my ship, but if you can do it, so can I!!!

Only crits; Maybe some more angled areas on the ship, a little too smooth. Specially at the top of the wings (the angle at aprox. 160 deg.) could be more sharp...Just an opinion.

Nice work anyway

Henrik

[Orporick]

what to say .. after seeing these images I've lost any hope to model a decent ship for my project .. I'll alway have your ship in mind as a quality standard .. really really amazing images and model

See you, Riccardo :)

[jddog]

stunning ... just ... stunning :thumbsup:
jdd

[otacon]

Looking nice man! 350 thousand polys isnt so bad considering all the detail you put in this thing. It should look real good in the final render!:thumbsup:

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks a million guys!


movie3d: You know me but who are you? :) I did a search for you on the school forums but didn't come up with anything to tell me who you are. though your nick seems familure ;)

Kragh: Just because I did it doesn't mean you have to, it is tedious work, just make sure if you do do it that it's done cleanly and don't make too many cross sections between the plates (Meaning your cornerers where plated meet look like this + you can use T sections but avoid many cross sections.)

Orporick: Don't give up the fight bro! Thats what this challange is all about there are several guys (more than I would like to admit) who are doing much cooler things than me IMHO and I know they will more than likly kick my kaboose in this challange but I know that if I give up that means I loose by default.

Kragh: Not quite sure what you mean, are you talking in over all shape or in how the plates render at about 160 deg? If it's over all shape not much I'm going to do about it at this point, but if it's hull plate clarity then that will probably be fixed when I texture it since the hull plates emphsis will be helped out by texture, I might be able to get by with two surfaces on this model, and 3 imagemaps (well four if I include the window maps)

[SuperXCM]

yeah man! This is a lot of details!!! :eek:

I like the render, waiting for more!! :bounce:

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks!


But I just got back from the incredibles and everyone here should be humbeled. best movie I've seen in a long time. possably the best animated film of all time (Iron Giant is still one of my faves though) Brad bird sure knows how to make quality. :)

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099645665_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099645665_large.jpg)

Just a test in horor of the SW ep3 trailer ;) Can't dish it out without taking some of it back :)

[BookMansBlues]

I know I shoulda probably waited to finnish the comp but I had to run home from where I was so I just posted it :P

[movie3d]

Oh god. hahahaha finally you catch me during in school. i am so glad. hahah now you know who i am... oh cool.. i am thinking why not i will set up the my face icon on this...
cool
movie3d

[dayvbrown]

Woah! This one just keeps getting better, and you really can't go past the stock flames can you? They add that serious level of realism to boost an image.

Awesome work

Dave.

[cg219]

Wow that looks great. Nice modelling. I cant wait to see more on this project. HOpe to see more soon. Good Luck.

[Versiden]

y0

good progress man, the last update u posted looks awesome.. getting close to final product I'd say

keep it up :buttrock:

[Andrey_SE]

Great man!

How did u do fire? Particles?

Keep it up!

[Kaksht]

Hehe, the fire looks cool, but IMO it wouldnt burn in the open space, well at least not like that, something like smaller flames or so mite do the trick :) Just a thought...

[Gunilla]

Your ship looks beautiful! Personally, I prefer the low cameraangle, lookin up at the ship makes it look huge. On the other hand, that way all the details on the top aren't visible... have you thought of adding another ship?

[Rochr]

I love it! The scene could´ve been taken straight from a movie.
Have to agree about the flames though. It looks good on the small vessel, but a little strange on the closest wing.

[KOryH]

very pretty.
I like the cool colors and the warm explosions.
The main ship reminds me of some of the new Battlestar Galactica stuff.

Keep it up.

[d-tox]

I think it looks great man.
You can easily see that it's a big ship, which i usually pretty hard to acomplish.
Good job man:thumbsup:

[Squibbit]

nice. pretty fun design

[BookMansBlues]

Wow , thanks guys, didn't expect that reaction.

movie3d: Omid hehe I'ts called deductive reasoning, when you tell me you posted on my thread and only two dave schoolers hace (Tom posted his name in his sig ) then hte remainder had to be you ;)

dayvbrown: I'll have to carfully read the rules to make sure I can use stock flames, these ones came from foundation imaging since my boss used to work there and was the animation producer on Roughnecks Chronicles, also Ron Throtan worked for us for a few months, and brought a lot of stuff :).

Andrey_SE: These are actualy flames that were captured on film as part of a sequence. This is the accepted way of getting good fire into CG, and I used lense flares at the base of them to help connect them to the hull better and a few layers of the flames blurred on there to give a more glowy feel to it but other than that there are just comped on there using a screen more in photoshop you can also do this in aftereffects and like programs.

Kaksht: Thats the age old question out of sci-fi in hollywood. realisum of what looks good. Also kow that in the final comp they will be haging right over a city so I can claim that they have enough atmoshear to burn. and if I didn't I could say they are burning from the hydogen fule lines from the fusion reactors that power them :)

Gunilla: This is comming, no fears, the final will more closly resemble the origional concept though I've had a few ideas about changing that but I'll have to do more testes.

KOryH: Heh that's probably because I was a freelancer on the show ;) I did some of the ships that came from the origional series. The Prison ship as it's called and the minieral ship (also known as the filmcan ship, though that was started by another guy who couldn't finnish it so I had to take over half way though the modeling and texture it in under a week!) the final version won't have that cylon lenseflare it will just have a lot of small windows there, they will probably be red, but maybe not.

And thank you all again!

[adr]

The last image is just impressive Bookman this ship is huge , all the atention to details that you put in the hull is awesome . Thanks for put a tutorial with you technique

Keep the good work :thumbsup:

[uwil]

whew! now there is the conflict... very nice scene! :bounce:. the tips are also useful! keep posting!

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099708861_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099708861_large.jpg)

I fixed the comp a bit better. fixed a few issues that people had some comments on, mostly a precived scale issue.

NOTE: these ships are really NOT as big as the ship crashing into the surface implies, I just thought it looked cool, the final will have a ship crashed into a the city. allready on the ground.

[greentek]

hi James..

very impressive shot.. i like it a lot.. :thumbsup: it looks like some shot from a movie..
i may suggest you to make your image wider.. 2.4 aspect ratio should suit well i think..

great work mate.. :thumbsup: keep it up!

cheers..

[high]

Right man you are make this two things well balanced. The datail that you are giving is great. My eys are on this thread.:eek:

[Dead_Last]

I like this more and more with every update. The parts I like best are the design of the ship, some of the flames (the one at the bottom right looks good, but the top right one looks strange), and the general composition, with the main focus and camera angle for that ship.

My suggestions would be to change the flames kinda like others suggested, and to add more ships. I think if you had some smaller ships flying around, maybe some other large ships in the background, it would make this even cooler. Also, I think some stuff like explosions on the planet surface would also add to the image.

[Jaba153]

very nice super scene! but i'm agree with greentek fot the wider of the image i think the scene can became more dynamic (sorry for my bad english:blush: )otherwise it's agreat work !bravo!

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099770315_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099770315_large.jpg)

ok I started trying to mesh in a quick city, all in all i'm not happy with it, but it's a step closer to realizing the concept. I may have to go to a wide screen instead of tall aspect ratio, I really wanted to make it look like a book covor though so I will have to continue to play with it.

[oxyg3n]

This is really neat, how did you make the shockwave on the atmosphere where the ship is crashing into it??

[BookMansBlues]

It's a fire element that I have, not sure who made it. It's in a folder named FI pyro on my system at work ;) the actualy sequence looks horrible but one frame can be used and look acceptable. it's been distorted in Photoshop to be at the right angle.

[GavinG]

Looking cool man, gotta love that destroyer. Just a question though, is it possible to have flames in space?

Will the ships be attack the city, or just kind of flying over?

Gav

[jampoz]

I don't think it's possible to have flames in space 'cause there is no oxygen or however it's written in english :shrug:

[jddog]

Wonderful shot wow !!!
jdd

[BookMansBlues]

Looking cool man, gotta love that destroyer. Just a question though, is it possible to have flames in space?

Will the ships be attack the city, or just kind of flying over?

As long as somthing has fuel it will burn, just look at the sun (put sunglasses on or somthing so you don't hurt your eyes :P ) Though Hollywood has collectivly said "WHO GIVES A S#&! it looks good" I like using fire because it gives me somthing to add color with. And if you read my postings about it earlyer I stated that the ships have ruptured fule lines from the fusion reactor (Which uses Hydrogen, Ironically the sun burns up lots of hydrogen or rather fuses it in to hillium in a rather brilliant display of light with all sort of fun with fire, isn't it funny that there isn't really much oxygen in the sun. ) So you can give anything a rationalization if you think about it enough ;)

THe ships are supposed to be attacking a city, just them hitting the planet from space is all well and good, and I may revert back to it, but I want to try having the city at the edge of space. I'm playing with new and improved camera angles to sell this idea better but it's still a work in progress. If the ships are just hitting the surface like the higer above concept shows then there is a scale issue, becuase as shown there those ships are just massive and harder to explain as logical.

Thanks!

[angel]

looking great, I personally think that widescreen will accentuate the ships better, just my opinnion.

[KennyM]

:thumbsup: great project you are making
I agree the flames look too cool to comment on scientific impossibilities :)
plates look awesome, big thanks for sharing the technique!

good luck with the rest ot challenge

[BookMansBlues]

Your probably right Snows, I hate changing plans in the middle of a project. but that's the way the wheel turns. :)



Thanks guys.

[oxicus]

looks cool dude, just one thing...whats that white halo around the buildings? youll need to fix that...but other than that its sweet...and i dont think you would see the stars with that bright sun there...but then i know its a wip....

and i like your bump maps...

[Virtuoso]

everything is possible in Sci-Fi,I would always like to see things look like they work,or that they are possible,but somethings are even cooler when they look impossible or near impossible,sometimes getting too technical is a drag..............You just have to keep more open-minded......I like the look and feel of the whole thing,and would keep on this road..........looking good and I hope to see more of this in this direction james..............Nice!:thumbsup:

[BookMansBlues]

Virtuoso: Thanks bro, I'm glad you like it ;)

oxicus: If it wasn't for the fact that I was sitting right next to you as you typed this I'd say somthing funny, but since I was there I'll just ignor you :) btw The N.I. Strikes again! :eek: :buttrock: ;D

[Kragh]

Hi again

About the angles, and your respond, that was not what I meant...has nothing to do with the panels at all, they are just amazing. I meant the overall shape in the model. Hard to explain. I´ll try this way; You know as a modeller, that 90 deg. angles doesn´t look good, it doesn´t look realistic. So you, in 3dmax anyway (as that is the one Im using), chamfer the edges where they are too sharp. What I meant in the previous post was that your model had no sharp angles at all (ofcourse the panels has a lot, but I mean the overall shape of the ship). I think it would be more dramatic if it had some more sharp angles. Just some...but still, it's just an opinion, as the basic design of the ship is so nice:)

As for the panels, and that I wanted to do them as well....No!!! Started with it and stopped again within an hour...:) Just dont have the time for that kind of work, as Im very busy at the moment, nearly cant manage to make the basic objects for this challenge.

Love your fire effects. I do not have a plugin for making fire, and the fire tool that ships with 3dsmax, is awfull. That I need to solve....

Looking great the newest pictures, Im for the widescreen format.

[wollyka]

WOW Really nice project man :applause:
Great modeling skills! i wish somedays i will be as half as good as some of you guys!!
Nice renders, i really like the fire and don't worry if the aliens breath oxygen , their ships will be full of it so it can be fire if the oxygen leaks and burn in space !
Keep up the great work

[dogtired]

Hey Jim,


Martin here, Sammy's buddy (Outback - just to jog yer memory) just checked out yer tutorial and this thread, coming along very nicely. I think I asked this before but I forgot... how did ya do the ship itself? I mean did you use splines to do the subtle curves of the ship? Oh ya please read the PM I will be sending you in a moment. Thanks bud! :)

doggy signing out...

[BookMansBlues]

I think I asked this before but I forgot... how did ya do the ship itself?

Hey bro, I started with a flat disc and used smooth shift to create an inset (you can use extender pro if you like, it kinda negates smooth shift now) then I deleted the big disc leaving you with a ring of quads. then I removed the polyies at what was going to be the front creating the two main arms. Extrude to add thickness. the I hit subpatches and srated tweeking the main body area was smooth shifted out of the ring's closed end. starting it this way gave me a very clean mesh along the arms. the basic modeling only took me a few min since it's very simple shape and if I were to show you the mesh I think you would understand.

Kragh: do you mean adding segments to smooth it out?

_| from this...
...| in to this?
_/

and exactly where?

[Rochr]

Flames or no flames, this looks cooler every time i check it out. :)

[dogtired]

Hey Jim, I sorta got the gist of it, now the extrude part is the ends join together in the middle right? Man, if you delete the disc, you will be left a lot of points, that is a lot of polys to be made! You mentioned about knifing the polys in an earlier post, but I guess stenciling would also be a good option as well. :)

Martin

Hey bro, I started with a flat disc and used smooth shift to create an inset (you can use extender pro if you like, it kinda negates smooth shift now) then I deleted the big disc leaving you with a ring of quads. then I removed the polyies at what was going to be the front creating the two main arms. Extrude to add thickness. the I hit subpatches and srated tweeking the main body area was smooth shifted out of the ring's closed end. starting it this way gave me a very clean mesh along the arms. the basic modeling only took me a few min since it's very simple shape and if I were to show you the mesh I think you would understand.

Kragh: do you mean adding segments to smooth it out?

_| from this...
...| in to this?
_/

and exactly where?

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099983007_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1099983007_large.jpg)

Another concept over the city.

[jampoz]

Oh man, this laser going thru the ship wing... if I were a girl I'd be wet! :twisted:

Amazing work you got there!

[Grimreaper1981]

Oh man, this laser going thru the ship wing... if I were a girl I'd be wet! :twisted:
lol, not bad that comp...:D

[wollyka]

Again great artwork man!:thumbsup:
The destroyer kinda reminds me of the ship Andromeda from the tv show Andromeda.It is like a hybrid from Andromeda and the Bat plane from Batman.:wise:It has an original feeling and shape.
I LOVE the lasers,gr8 effect
Good luck in the contest James.

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1100043490_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1100043490_large.jpg)

getting closer I think, I'll have to throw this comp out by the end of it but there are just a few things I'd rather do in AE.

[wollyka]

It keeps getting better and better, Excellent.
Great shockwave effect!

[Kragh]

Hi

This will definitely be the last post about angles. For two reasons; it didn´t really matter in the first place, and I´m getting so used to the look of your ship, that I like the angles as they are.

Now this is a matter of principles at this moment; Why can´t I explain myself in an understandable way ?


_| from this...
...| in to this?
_/

...No...

...| From this...
_/
_| in to this!

(To show that this is made of solid steel, not rubber...)

But I like it now, just need you to understand my crits. As english isn´t my native language, it´s sometimes hard to explain myself.

That´s it for angles!
I like your new pics alot, I really need a fire plugin.:)
:bowdown:

[BookMansBlues]

heheh thanks anyway though :)

I don't use special plugins for anything but the hull plates. the fire you see are image maps.

no one uses particles and volumetrics when fire on a polygon will suffice. now that's a differant matter when you have to do certain things, but I've figured out a way to five 2d elements a volumetric feel when objects pass through them useing a depth map, but it's really only good for animations and using stills just comp them together in photoshop of some other compositing program.

[oxyg3n]

What is a depth map??

[Rochr]

A grand scene in the making man. :)

[Kragh]

Well, image maps I can use...:)- but to find them...!?

Searched the net for pictures of explosions and fires, but primarily found them to low res. As my scene needs a lot of explosions, I need a lot of different shots of blasts etc.
I have found a way to make explosions though, using a model with a rather complex map. I´ll post an example soon, and would like some crits on it, as I have lost the ability to watch it with objective eyes. But I´ll let you know.

As for the angles....:)

Btw, are there going to be other ships in the scene, or is the counter attacks on these scary birds going to be from ground all the way?

[pBarrelas]

Yeah i realy like your last concept, keep on dude:thumbsup: !!

[BookMansBlues]

What is a depth map??
A depth map is a version of your render that shows depth a render is usally grayscale since color would be pointless here. there are plugins out there to make depth passes of your scene, but the easyest way to do it is to make everything in your scene black except for your back ground. ***in lightwave just make everything a matte object. *** then set your back ground to white, then set your fog to white and set it's range from the nearest object to the farthest object and render.

once you have one you can then make effects like fog that you don't have to render in your scene, depth of field, rack focuses and all that good stuff using your depth pass as a alpha. you can control it using levels. I know it probably doesn't make sence, but I'ts hard to explain with out visual aids :)


Thanks alot guys! there would probably be an update but I've been playig the WOW beta :P

[CYCLER]

Heh... your post about the depth map just gave me an idea for making my explosion, thanx :thumbsup:

Carefull with that environment, it's a bit boring though. Have you thought of adding some lighted signs to those buildings ? Sky needs some extra work too. :wise: But I think you didn't got too deep into this yet :)

I also love the last composition. With a lot of details on the ship in the foreground. Maybe because of the panoramic format ? Anyway, it's good.

[BookMansBlues]

thats a proxy object with procederal textures for the windows, thanks for the sugestion though.

[SuperXCM]

Excellent last update, it's working well here!!! :wip:
Like the laser and explosion, also the style of the ship!!
Perhaps just the background seems to be not really in the pictures, i don't know how to explain in english.... :blush: ...
But, i think it's just for a test.... you working very fast... keep going!! :thumbsup:

[DigiLusionist]

I like city obliteration scenes. Especially when you get to see the buildings tearing apart, windows shattering, and vehicles being blown away.

Looking great, Jim.

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1100921853_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1100921853_large.jpg)

Hey all sorry for the lack of updates but I started to get back into it. Just a small one but here it is.

[Kaksht]

Hey there BookMansBlues
Really great ship, awesome design, very original, looks very mean :scream: Thumbs up!
The docking bay looks good, now it gives us the feeling of the ships proportions.
Keep it up!

[BookMansBlues]

Thanks, further updates comming, trying to work out how to do the inside of the wing arms in a way that looks good and is poly freindly :) though I'm still under 400,000 :)

[claudiojordao]

Hello BookMansBlues, very very good job!

The only thing I have to say, is that your city looks too "boxy"... but maybe that's the idea!

Good luck.

[movie3d]

hey man..
i am very sad you still under contraction on your spaceship. oh man... come on.. i wnat you finish it all of this smile..:bounce:
thank
movie3d

[BookMansBlues]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1101079616_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4131/4131_1101079616_large.jpg)

A little update before I go on vacation. I wish I could take my computer with me but It's not worth the hassel. As you can see I'm adding details into inner wing arms. it's going to very basic detail but you'll never get that close to see it. more of the same as the hull pannels (didn't I say I was done? OY! :p )

[BookMansBlues]

heh Omid, I had to take a break for a while world of war craft was calling me ;) Look on the resources drive at the school under reference/warcraft I added the 3,500 screen shots I took of the beta ;) .

claudio_jordao: it's a city there Boxy :P actully I will be adding more non boxy shapes I've done some allready but I havent added them in.

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