Grand Space Opera 3D Entry: Kenny Molly

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1099832649_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1099832649_large.jpg)

this is one of the alien races to appear in my scene. as you can see my skills need serious improving before I'll be able to enter a 2D challenge...

I finally have a rough idea on where I want to go with this one.

The general concept sketch is still under construction since I'm still figuring out how to set up all the things I want to implement.

I'll probably play with boxes first to try and visualise the setting ;)

[Virtuoso]

Hi Kenny.................... i like him,I think your your sketch skills are good.......I look forward to seeing your concept,and agree with using box's etc,etc...as placeholders as set up helpers/tools.......Ok now,get us a concept,until later,all the best..........:thumbsup:

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1099923943_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1099923943_large.jpg)

yay, found a way of making the whole idea clear.

The story behind my entry goes as follows:
The scene you see is the interior of an alien ship, looking over the battle for the homeplanet of a second alien race.

I want to illustrate the nature of the agressor, being a collector & annihilator.
They swarm from planet to planet, wiping it out and collecting species, which they study, dissect and store in a huge dna &research database.

This all happens in a very structured way, so I'll have lots of characters with different functions running through the scene

k, I'm going to add to this concept as I work out the idea in detail and do some modeling on the things I have allready decided on.

1: The research facility:
several floors with walkbridges outside. each floor contains another department. One for the behaviour tests, one for medical and pathological research and one for storing & display (this one will have several different races in tubes and stuff )
guards on each floor, outside on walkbridges

2.Monitoring & control:
bit the same structure as 1, but instead of scientists there will be officers and guards operating puters and big screens showing both experiments from the research center and images of the battle going on at the planet's surface

3. Lookout spot:
A commanding officer (fancy uniform) will be confronting a captured savage alien (on the floor beaten) with the destruction of his world
while troops are standing in a stormtrooper like fashion against the far sides

4. corridor:
on the side of 1 a group of aliens will be led into the research facility, on the other side officers will be running back & forth

5. windows:
this won't be the hole you see now, otherwise people would get sucked into space ;)
I'll put some metal construction with windows/panels in, covering enough to make it seem sturdy, but leaving enough open space to see the battle

that's it ;) more to come

[Daniel-McMillan]

Lookout spot:
A commanding officer (fancy uniform) will be confronting a captured savage alien (on the floor beaten) with the destruction of his world
while troops are standing in a stormtrooper like fashion against the far sides

4. corridor:
on the side of 1 a group of aliens will be led into the research facility, on the other side officers will be running back & forth

5. windows:
this won't be the hole you see now, otherwise people would get sucked into space ;)
I'll put some metal construction with windows/panels in, covering enough to make it seem sturdy, but leaving enough open space to see the battle

that's it ;) more to come

Interesting ideas you have Kenny! Can't wait to see more of this. You forgot to mention the poor fellow who is cleaning the floors? :)


-DM

[vrhead]

great idea man... is the sketch of the char the agressor race?

[KennyM]

-Virtuoso: thanks for the support, it's much appreciated :beer:

-Daniel: considering I'll add loads of characters I might just follow you up on that idea :D

-vrhead: thanks bud!:buttrock: I was thinking of making the alien the defeated race, more savage lower beings than the agressors, who'll be a more advanced race.

[Virtuoso]

Alright Kenny......very nice and interesting storyline.......I lke the depth and detail to it........This will be a very nice thread to follow.......By the way Belgium sure has a great education system,your English is better than 95% of the people living here..........Keep it coming strong,great foundation/storyline,all the best........:arteest:

[vrhead]

Virtuoso- yep including mine...

[KennyM]

thanks for the compliment :)
I think it has a lot to do with the fact hat we have 3 official languages in my country, which are all taught at school, plus English as an extra fourth language.

and we are a small country depending on international business, this could explain why Belgians have better language skills than some of our neighbours.

For the last few years I have only worked with Americans, British people and Australians. My Dutch is now starting to get replaced with English anyway hehe

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1100005090_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1100005090_large.jpg)

had a good modeling run yesterday and this morning, the alien from the concept is taking shape.

working it out more this afternoon, mouth & teeth for starters. then I'm gonna try to add some character to the face before texturing.

frozen the mesh to check the polyflow, right model are the original polys

[vrhead]

he looks a lil scary =/ thats cool =) great start man

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1100076825_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1100076825_large.jpg)

made the inside of the mouth and made teeth to match.
added them to a seperate layer, don't know if I will connect them or not, seems to fit smoothly enough like this.

reduced polycount as it nears the gums, considering the scene will have enough polys as it is to show all visible things.

basic teeth modeling procedure I believe, copy border polys of the mouth.
connect to a new poly, extrude& subdivide to make gums, bent like the mouth.
smoothshift polys out in pairs of 4 to make the rounded shapes.
and a lot of reference material from dentists and veterinarians.

will see how they look with textures, may still tweak them a bit, but for now I'm a happy man

[Crin]

Man that's creepy looking. I look forward to seeing it with some textures. Myabe the exagerated rear cranium could be even more so? To insinuate higher intellect?

[Doublecrash]

A big WHOA for the alien modeling. I appreciated also the "block-layout", made things a lot clearer.



Stefano

[KennyM]

Stefano: thanks for the comment mate :cool: and you're welcome, I like it when people show how things are done. There's loads of educational material and tutorials out there, but a lot of specific things don't get explained anywhere, and we all hit a brick wall once in a while, where we haven't a clue how to accomplish something. the right screenshots can allready clarify a lot

Crin: thank you :) he is starting to look kinda scary isn't he hmmm, Tyler mentioned it too.
I'll work out the head a little like you suggested:thumbsup:
it will make the concept even more wicked :twisted: this race is very agressive and very intelligent and still it is being overrun by the agressors. need to think of some kind of evolved super aliens now...

[angel]

That Alien looks very creepy. Looking good.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1100450871_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1100450871_large.jpg)

first wip of the second main character in the scene.
last comments on the scene concept made me think of a highly intelligent and dominating alien race.

I came to the conclusion that mankind is allready doing a great job proving it's worth to fill this position.

the second race will be us, evolved and modded with alien technology and dna. collected from every part of space.

this is the commander ot last colony of Terra 1 , what we know as earth.
he has set out to conquer planets to collect resources for cloning and the creation of hybrids, to improve the race of man.

his name is No:aH

comments on the idea welcome, is it too machine flesh?
is the noah thing too close to what others are working on? allthough I believe no one approaches it from a dark pov.

more details on the concept as I make them up, but the idea is getting more concrete

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1100471069_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1100471069_large.jpg)

quick texture test to check the look I want for things.
needs loads of tweaking, but didn't feel like modeling this evening

[Saschi0815]

whoops, cool stuff here:thumbsup: Great alien ... and the texture on the body is coming along very good!!!


Keep on flowin,Kenny! Best wishes!

[centavrus]

good model and textures keep on working!:)

[Shardana]

heya!! another lightwaver I see :thumbsup: !
very good start! the wires are very cool I like the alien design! :)
and texturing is good too! keep on working! :D

[Doublecrash]

Very good texturing. I like when they're dirty :)

Quite impressive modeling too. Then, I discovered today that you too have a Renderosity gallery. That's cool :)


Stefano

[Nikus]

Very nice modeling of the alien guy and the body parts...I like the machine style, and as I have seen, no such idea has been posted...YET! hehe.
By the way, the texture looks good aswell, but I would prefer an organic texture, rather than a rocky-like texture.
Another thing: In your main concept, I think you should use another angle for the camera, because the one that you have is too symetrical which could lead to Boring! But your story is very interesting...
Keep on working!

[KennyM]

Saschi0815: thank you very much for the nice comments :D It's the first time I enter a challenge/contest of this size, so flowing may be a little out of my league. I will start with trying to keep my head above water and finish something before the deadline hehe:arteest:

centavrus: I'll keep working on this one till I drop :thumbsup: thanks for the support!

oblivionblack: hey mate, thanks for your comments. I know your work & rep so I really appreciate your words. glad you like it!
imo LW users are like bikers :buttrock: (may be the same with other progs) but it doesn't matter which sector you work in, or what company you belong to, if 2 people are wavers, there is a bond :beer:

Doublecrash: I clicked your link to 'rosity when I first read one of your posts :)
and I discovered I visited your gallery before, which is quite exceptional considering I hardly find the time to check out all LW related stuff, great work :thumbsup:
thanks for the comments, I like my textures dirty too btw

Nikus: very constructive crits! thanks of that:bounce: , I'll keep them in mind, especially bout the angle of the scene. I was glad to have found a setup that would support all my ideas, but like you say, it might end up boring. and I'll have a hard time getting the viewer's attention to the parts I want.
I'll make scene without props and check out some angles, thanks again!

the body texture is only temp, needs to look old & grey, will add more veriation to it and change soem settings to make it look more like very old torn skin

[vrhead]

Great modelin... especialy the teath.. i hate modeling teath =/

[KennyM]

well a trick is to have your models keep their mouth shut :scream: hehe jk

since this particular model is gonna be in some serious pain, I needed some teeth on him, not planning on doing it with all the characters though... well with most, but certainly not all of them :D

[MickW]

Some well concieved concepts you've got there! The alien design is good, the layout diagram is very thorough, and your overall idea is great!

Looking forward to seeing where this goes. :)

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1100622048_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1100622048_large.jpg)

did some more work on the textures, not yet final, but getting there.

combination of seamless textures painted by clone brushing photos and LW procedurals, to recycle textures on some parts.

the ugly greenish bits is where the engine/life support system will show through, didn't want to leave it grey so gave it a quick variation.

[Nikus]

Looks great! are you using UV's for the texture? I barely know how to use that thing!!!...I'm gonna have problems in the future...

[Saschi0815]

.... something before the deadline hehe Don't yell this word.....!!! I hate this word. This word is evil....:twisted:

Hey, great progress, mate - texturing is your thing, hmmm:thumbsup:
Keep it up....
cya

[KennyM]

Nikus: I tend to avoid UV's whenever possible, I usually use standard wrapping methods with seamless images, and use weightmaps or some UV mapped areas to add detail to the textures.

If all else fails I unwrap the whole thing and spread some UV's out, but I find the whole procedure quite tedious and frankly, I still suck at it :scream:

MickW: thanks for the interest mate, concept still has some screws loose at some places, but we are getting there :D

[KennyM]

saschi: hehe, apparently I'm not the only one who considers 2 months not to be that long... at all :eek:

I had a solid 2D background before I started 3D, so I feel quite comfortable making textures. glad you like them :bounce:

& thanks for the support !

[Virtuoso]

Hi Kenny.................Well it's coming along very well.....I am happy to see and look forward to more.......I think your 2D experience will pay off very much with this 3D,and I can see you are on the right road.........I'll be back hopefully with more help,right now I'll wait to see more,so get it going......And here's a Belgian beer for you,a strong one (are there any other kinds there ;) ) ,but just one,I need to see more from you.............:beer: ;)

[KennyM]

thanks for the beer mate :applause: just what I needed:beer:
I'm a bit preoccupied for a while with personal stuff atm, but things should calm down in a week or two.
I may do some small updates, but won't be able to be around much till then.

I do intend to finish this piece before the competition is over, so expect some serious catching up in the very near future!

[Nikus]

Hey Kenny!
thats right for the UVs! I hate them also...too complicated...but when you have to do it, you have to do it!

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1101213032_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1101213032_large.jpg)

this is the picture I used as a base for the alien head texture.

I often use detailed pics, distort & get rid of the seams, when I don't have an appropriate texture pic at hand.

usually in combination with weightmaps, gradients and procedural textures.

the picture was taken in South Africa by a collegue of my girlfriend, added the colour & bump map images I created at the bottom.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1101213257_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1101213257_large.jpg)

this is the first texture test for the alien head, he'll still have his spacesuit on in the scene, so it's a good model to have a go at playing with some textures whenver I have 5 mins time (still too busy to get some modeling done)

I'll add weights to get rid of some of the bump in the face and get the specularity right, and I'll also add some scars etc.

[Virtuoso]

The solution to the problem is...........................No sleep,lots of good Belgian coffee.........;) :beer:


...................early thoughts on the head textures are that you should lighten them,really a taste thing,smooth the texture a touch.A little more soft overall.This will give the rougher areas even more contrast,they will stand out even more so,I think at least this could work.......None the less you have to keep at it Kenny.........You have a good plan,and you have to follow through with it,even if you have to continue after the challenge,just stick to your plan........Ok,I'll be looking for you.......Take care,and go at it extra hard............:arteest:

[johnny3d]

:scream: oh, I like beautiful picture your idea it continues this way.

[johnny3d]

:scream: oh, I like beautiful picture your idea it continues this way.

[KennyM]

virtuoso: thank you michael! your support is very welcome atm.:beer: I should be ready with the things that hold me up by the end of next week.
I'm planning on putting it turbo gear after that, if I want (and I intend:wise: ) to finish in time...

My girlfriend forbids me to drink more coffee than the dose I am allready consuming during the day (and chocolate for that matter :blush: )

I'll certainly work on the texture some more, wasn't happy with it yet anyway, lots of the bump needs to go and I'll probably add some UV's to the thing as well, be it only for the bumpmaps for small facial wrinkles & stuff.

I'll try lightening like you suggested, thanks for the advice... more to come soon, promise:thumbsup:

johnny3d: thanks for the comment, glad you like it mate:D

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1101517239_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1101517239_large.jpg)

I updated the main concept a little
made a quick 3d model and threw some textures on it, then photopainted it a little to get some sort of colour thing going.
very sloppy crappy job, but I think it clarifies the idea.

[Nomad]

Hi!
Thats an interesting ideas you have here. I like a lot the alien :bounce:
For your last sketch I think all is too square and symetrical... if the areas have different function you shoud make them of different shape, size, etc... just my opinion...

Keep up the good work :thumbsup:

[Virtuoso]

Hi Kenny.......My only suggestion at this point would be to lower the angle a touch,possibly look into a "Forced perspective....."...............This could be important with scale............It's early to tell now......Go at it hard Kenny,the scene I think is OK with symetrical models,as long as you have other lone models here and there that give you variety or break up the symetry.........Go,go go kenny.......:arteest: :beer:

[arturro]

yap! I agree with Nomad, it looks too symmetrical and too regular. Add some pipes, panels, add other colors(These are good, but I think that some red lights, and more blue ones, will give a nice effect). As far the alien is concerned, It looks good and is well made. To make him look more dangerous you could only add a scarf to his face.

[KennyM]

thanks for the crits, very useful suggestions for the final 3d model.

keep in mind that was just a quick (late) concept :)
but please keep spilling the comments and suggestions, next week I'll get the ball rollin' bigtime :twisted:

[Claireabella]

Hi Kenny. Big applause for the work you've posted up so far. the alien head is great and your inspired use of that photo works so well. Am looking forward to seeing how it all progresses. :applause: Claireabella

[KennyM]

hey thank you Claireabella, hearing kind words like that makes me confident of where I'm heading with my project.:beer:
can't wait to get back to modeling... non active for 3 more days though :banghead:

[mmoir]

Kenny,

Your alien head model is looking nice, interesting how you use a nature image for a skin texture . I have thought of this but not having done many character tmaps before I didn't know what it would turn out like. Just a thought on the character ,do you plane on having any ears on him . He looks like he is missing something, just a thought.
Good job on this.:thumbsup:
Mike
My GSO entry
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=180886

[KennyM]

thanks Mike :) glad you like it.

I'll have more than enough ears to model on the other characters hehe, so probably gonna "cheat" this one :blush: ;)
In my concept I drew him without ears, because I was thinking of giving him some sort of head plugs connected to the back of his suit. I know it's not very clear on the drawing, but I think it should look cool when modeled.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1103211210_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1103211210_large.jpg)

this is a little detail that will explain the story a little more.

finally got back to do some modeling, it's been a hectic few weeks, but I'm still determined to get there :)

updates will follow more regularly from now on.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1103216335_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1103216335_large.jpg)

small update on teh alien model, base geometry for the body and the skirt/protection thing. I will connect that to the back or the shoulders don't really know yet.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1103296499_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1103296499_large.jpg)

playing with some textures again, trying to keep the fabric very basic, tribe like. This will add contrast to the them and the mechanic/techno- minded humans.

modeling is still in progress, nothing to show really.

[vrhead]

awsome work man.. love the display case hehehe

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1103794498_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1103794498_large.jpg)

I\\\'m doing all the little things for the background space scene at the moment.

here I can go wild with all the usual effects and objects, halos, nebulas, flares etc. all not much work, but it still needs to be done.

painted in photopaint :)

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1103794968_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1103794968_large.jpg)

started the setup of the background scene.
basic starfield, nebula object and a sphere to check the light angles.

purple nebula glow from behind, yellow sun light from the left. sun needs to be added.

after that it\'s time for the ships, ... euh what ships? ... STILL NEED TO MAKE SHIPS!

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1103795466_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1103795466_large.jpg)

same pic, but with some textures on the world.

the planet needs some explosions on the surface, so the dark part will be lit by those.

there is a battle going on you know hehe.
and of course, the atmosphere is still missing

[vrhead]

friggin sweet space shots man... love the nebula and initial planet textures... is AA on in that pic?

[d-tox]

Looks good man,
pehaps the planet could be somewhat more soften, like with an atmosphere or something.
Anyway, keep it up man!

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1103804250_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1103804250_large.jpg)

added a sun, an atmosphere and some cloudish things and adjusted the lights a bit.

now on to the explosions and stuff and maybe some more tweaking...

[Agent Smith]

Kenny,

Finally I managed to register my name. As mentioned in your sms, it looks really great. Especially the space backgrounds look great to me, but maybe that's because I don't understand one thing about CG. I just started working again today, so I will be able to check up on you every working day now.
See you later!

[vrhead]

nice glowy atmosphear but imnot sure about the sun being in the pic.. just personal pref...unless you got something cool planned for it =)

[KennyM]

the sun needs a better texture, but I think it will give nice lighting possibillities for the attacking armada and the lighting inside the command ship

[theuni]

Hi Kenny,

looks nice... I like your coloring... maybe your planet atmosphere glows a bit to much?

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104115853_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104115853_large.jpg)

this model isn't really worthy of the title "milestone" but it"ll serve it's purpose I guess, since these little guys are far off it won't be noticed anyway.

made a little testrender that I find good enough.
the big command ships will get a more detailed and better design hehe.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104115987_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104115987_large.jpg)

the test render I spoke of.
the glow is what I was after, as long as they are smaller than the big ships I think I should be ok.

[KennyM]

Kenny,

Finally I managed to register my name. As mentioned in your sms, it looks really great. Especially the space backgrounds look great to me, but maybe that's because I don't understand one thing about CG. I just started working again today, so I will be able to check up on you every working day now.
See you later!
Someone is looking over my shoulder, damn, the pressure lol
what with those bloody days and all I really kinda lost track of what I was doing here and who replied, so sorry for the late response.

glad you found the register button :thumbsup:
and I hope I won't let you down:bounce:

[vrhead]

sweet update... looks like the inhabitants of that planet are about to have a really friggin bad day

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104251599_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104251599_large.jpg)

the first piece of the big cruiser ships.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104252823_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104252823_large.jpg)

quick texture test, these ships will be viewed at quite a distance so I can add the details in the textures rather than in the geometry, need to save some time.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104255901_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104255901_large.jpg)

added a bit of the body ot ship. I will see where it takes me.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104274111_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104274111_large.jpg)

I added the finished cruiser ships to the background pic.

6 of these are all that remains of earth's inhabitants.
One of them, the final, will contain the foreground scene.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104289450_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104289450_large.jpg)

played with PS tonight, made 2 texture sets to play around with the inside of the ship for the front of the scene.

the combination of both leads to a nice texture for the walls, I tried it out on a simple box, looks ok I think.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104326498_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104326498_large.jpg)

this is another texture set.
gonna use this for the floor of the walkbridges.

I'm thinking of moving the POV in my scene so it's more around the confrontation area between both antagonists, and closer to the windows (which will be bigger) so the spacefight gets more attention too.

could be one of th research or military facilities needs to go.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104340321_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104340321_large.jpg)

added a head today, ears are awful, but may have time to fix those or make a new pair. will see, otherwise I'll just mask it with hair or wires hehe.

now I think he only needs mechanical parts, so that will go faster.

[Agent Smith]

Finally, a reply to my high praise.
Still feel like coming over tomorrow and celebrate newyear's eve? I assume so.

The giant armada attack looks cool. I always loved crowded screens of space battles.

Still no hints from my end on how to improve the models or other constructive criticiscm but only a two thumbs up.

I will see you tomorrow. I will stuff the fridge in the attic as to not let you sober up too easily.
Greets to Bieke.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104761306_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104761306_large.jpg)

a bit more detailed then the last versions. Made some new support beams and some pipes.
will see if the scene needs a second bridge on another level after I do the rest of the model.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104761961_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104761961_large.jpg)

a render of the texured bridge as it is atm.

I added the texture set for the sides of the bridge andt he support beams, Ithe bridge itself was in a previous post.
I also added the bumpmap for the tubes, not that it's anything special

[DimitrisLiatsos]

...Nice ..clean cool work man:thumbsup:

[KennyM]

thanks for the encouragement mate, very welcome in these final days :thumbsup:

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104792718_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104792718_large.jpg)

added the first bits of the small elevator that connects the upper floors
wel the first and second. the ground floor will be connected with teh first one through a larger elevator.

needs more details in a lot of parts, but think this will be the last post for tonight.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104792824_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104792824_large.jpg)

detail of the same model, nothing new, just closer shot hehe

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104858979_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104858979_large.jpg)

more on the big part ot scene, I want this and the base of the front building done by tomorrow so I can finish the loose ends in another 2 days.

should leave me just enough time to make it.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104928444_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104928444_large.jpg)

closer shot again, with some details added.
I'll upload a bigger update later today :)

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104943318_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104943318_large.jpg)

this is the platform where the commander will confront the captured alien with the armada.

the top still needs to be painted, made uv's for those pieces to get the textures around the model properly.

some scan/search spotlights will be added to the top of the entrance in front and the little rooms need to be filled up too.

I also need some sort of railing for all the platforms so people don't fall off the edges :)

I got the deadline date wrong btw, thought it ended the 10th , so that means I have an extra week to make the project more detailed YAY

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104955251_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1104955251_large.jpg)

small update.
central elevator test, I think I 'm gonna go for the metal cage look like the walkbridges instead of the full metal texture it has now, will see what it gives.

caution lines look fine I think, no?

[PeterSanitra]

The teeths and armor modeling looks fine. I like the glowing stomach:)

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1105002862_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1105002862_large.jpg)

I think the texture for this part is nearly set, today I intend to go into the final details for this set of geometry.
I'll add some more bridges leading to the front, this way I need to fill fewer parts of the ground level, and it will make it look a bit less boring in my opinion.
The original concept had a bit too much empty space.

and I also need to think of a way to connect the overview cabin wit the central elevator.

more later today :)

[Claireabella]

Texturing is looking really good and I like the atmosphere and glow of your galaxy. Good luck. :thumbsup: Claireabella

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1105052958_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1105052958_large.jpg)

today went a bit slower than expected, better tomorrow.

updated the texture on the overview cabin to match the central elevator.
made some mechanics for under the cage oft he elevator, not very visible, but adds some realism.

and made the base of the connection between cabin & central platform.

I'm going to make a metal frame to support the walkbridge at the small elvator, where the underlying structure suddenly stops and atm forms a huge gap hehe.

there is going to be a small walkbridge for the guards at the overview cabin on top, added a ladder and the railing allready to get my scale right.

[arturro]

Nice progress. I would only do something about the walls. They seem too complicated:) I mean that bump plating is too dense.

[KennyM]

thanks for the crits arturro:buttrock: this is the third try for the wall texture, so far I like this one best.
always ready to improve tho, so any suggestions?

[Kylebrn]

The set up look pretty good,but the textures look like from games I played 10 years ago.

[arturro]

textures look good Kylebrn, they only are strange because are put on the white background and they miss some details;)

I think you should make tha plating on the walls bigger, I mean bigger plates. It would be less messy. Also I would add some pipes and cables going along the edges, and sometimes in the middle of the wall. Just to make it more real. But it's quite promising. good luck!

[KennyM]

arturro, thanks for the suggestions :thumbsup: , I'm gonna finish the details like cables, pipes and airvents in polygons first and then see what remains visible of the wall.
If it still looks too repetitive/dense I'll see what I can still change. thank you for the support mate :D

Kylebrn, allthough I am not one to ignore crits from people, even if they are negative hehe, I must say comments like that aren't of much use to me:shrug: . I can see how you don't like the look of something, but you could try to point out the specific probs like arturro did, or give me a hint on what you like better.
but like I said, I'm always in for improvement, so I'll always follow good advice, if you have some to give...:wise:


also, I upped these shots mainly as modeling/ texture wips, not finals by far.
So there is little or no AA, the renders are oversaturated to show some of the details more and the lighting is cranked way up before rendering. I know it causes some parts to look a bit off, but the idea isn't to make beauty shots of every wip render, now is it, just to make clear what we are doing, right?

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1105140532_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1105140532_large.jpg)

I figured it was time to check how the light of the background objects would make this part of the scene look like.

only two lights of importance atm, the magenta, pink one from the planets atmosphere on the right and on the left the orange sun.
simulated the ships interior light with a distant greenish light atm, but will change that when all the pieces are in.

[angel]

I hadn't check your thread in awhile... nice progress Kenny. That elevator looks awesome!

[vrhead]

the detail and lighting really give it a more finished and refined look ... cant wait to see the rest of the guts for the big ships

[KennyM]

SNoWs: cheers :beer: glad you like it, I'm currently updating the alien model so I can start detailing the clothing using your tutorial, probably not going to get the amazing results you got but at least it won't look so flat hehe.

vrhead: thanks for the support mate :buttrock: , gonna try to keep adding details till I run out of time lol but first I'm gonna finish the other important pieces of the scene, so nothing has to be left out cause of lack of time.:D

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1105363422_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1105363422_large.jpg)

I went back to the characters today, base geometry for the alien is nearly done, don't know if I will give him hands and then place shackles around them, or just model the arms into a combined big shackle. considering there probably won't be more aliens in the scene, so I don't really need one with hands.
will see if I have the time.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1105445585_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1105445585_large.jpg)

I made two quick compositions in photopaint with the background included to what's in the scene atm and with the adition of the research facility.

the first one is how originally intended the scene to look like, the second is more how I have been rendering the last WIPs.

setting 1 allows the second facility to be shown (made a box to illustrate), but imo looses focus on the big elevator.
setting 2 doesn't show the second facillity, but I could add some close up details in the front to fill up the gap in the corner.

suggestions would be appreciated.

[vrhead]

the angled one is stylish but i like the strait on has more of a steril ominous feel

[KennyM]

thanks for the crits mate:scream: , after hearing the opinions of several people it appears that the straight on view you like is the most popular one...


I'll probably stick to that one and add some kinda diagonal lines in the composition leadin to the center, thus accentuating that area more:)

[Agent Smith]

Hi there Kenny,

Great progress in only a few days!:thumbsup: (I am amazed at the excellent first use of emoticons):D

I also believe the first setting impresses the most. A whole space view, filled with attacking ships... come on, you have to show that in full glory! One question though, will you still be able to notice the alien and his captor, looking out into space? Will they be big enough to be noticed in such a large setting?:shrug:

By the way, I have never read a book at work before reading the first 200 pages of American Gods in one day. See you this weekend. (Duvel will be waiting):beer:

[KennyM]

lol I believe that Duvel will be very welcome after finishing this :beer:

I was wondering about the same two things...
I'll see what the scene looks like when I render it in full resolution. If it doesn't show enough ot background and main characters, I'll make a variation on the original idea I had about showing the scenes on video screens.

I may place two bigass screens showing exactly the stuff that possibly won't be shown enough in the front view...

update is following shortly :scream:

and I'm not surprised that you are devouring American Gods hehe, or is it the other way around...:D

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1105960235_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1105960235_large.jpg)

main chars done, hope to render fast enough to get at least an hour or two to do postwork.

wanted to up these as a final WIP before I enter my final submission.

[KennyM]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1105998001_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/7/4582/4582_1105998001_large.jpg)

final :) thanks for the crits, comments and other kind words. First run here at a CGN challenge, and it's been sweet, till the next one =)

big version : http://www.artifex-intentio.com/Kenny/Final_big001.jpg

[vrhead]

can tell you put alot of work in to your pic looks very good.. my only comment is that the floor looks to tiled.. but other than that its very moody ... love the ships behind the big window... all together very good idea and a cool picture man

[Agent Smith]

Voila Kenny, I see it is all done! I checked the big one also on your website, there is great detail there. As already told you this weekend, great job. This probably was one learnsome thing to do. When is the next project????:D

I ADORED the borg impression you posted on the website. Lovely charachter:bounce:

See ya later.

[KennyM]

Tyler: there are several things I would have put more time into...:shrug: like I mentioned the other night, next time I will lock my door and switch off my phone for 2 months :wise: lol
thanks for your support through this mate, bigger next time :scream:

Anthony: do you want a big render of the character, mate? it can be arranged hehe :twisted:
btw, see how all your Star Trek influence rubs off on me :D

I know you don't consider yourself a real CG critic, but you do know your SciFi. So your opinions throughout the challenge were very welcome bud.

I learned a lot of new things from other members, but also a lot about my way of working.
it was a great experience, and one I will be happy to repeat :buttrock:

[mmoir]

Hey Kenny ,
Nice image, I really like the large space you have created with the great view of the space outside. Great job and good luck.:thumbsup:
Mike

[KennyM]

Thanks Mike :) getting the background visible enough was one of the main issues with this piece, I'm glad I found a way to pull it off:bounce:

[arturro]

Great work. My congratulations! good to see you among the crazy and insane dudes who actually finished on time! Well done. And yes, your background space is awsome. I love the colors, they give a mnice fantasy spirit to it. Good luck now and see you on the next challenge:twisted:

[KennyM]

hey arturro, thanks for the comments, glad you like the result :) I won't miss the next one, rest assured.:scream:

[Claireabella]

Hi Kenny......... congratulations on finishing your first entry on CGN. this was a first for me too and can't believe that I am looking forward to the next challenge for a challenge it certainly was! Great final picture though - will keep an eye out for you in the next one. Good luck! :thumbsup: Claireabella

[theuni]

Hi KennyM,

very nice final you uploaded here. Congratulations !!!

[KennyM]

Claire: the biggest challenge was with myself on this one. So much one can add that shows off their skills, but in a scene this size you always encounter things that are relatively new. been great to force myself to overcome these issues as good as possible. It was truely one of the best and most fun learning experiences I had in a while :thumbsup:
Thank you for your support throughout the challenge, I'll see you in the next one...hopefully soon :applause:

theuni: thanks :) glad I got to finish hehe, main achievement.:twisted:

Good luck with your entries guys/girls! and thanks again for the support:bounce:

[Virtuoso]

Congrats kenny...............You did it.And did it quite nicely.I really like the end product.You fought the good fight and in the end ended up with a fine result.Beautiful colors and a very nice scene.......Plus you did what only 10% of people actually could do and thats finish.....One thing about these challenges is the great experience everyone gets in learning how to actually finish.......Big step that is and you did it and did it well........It's been real nice meeting you here,and I hope our paths cross,you are a cool guy as well a good artist.......Again congrats and well done,all the best to you........:arteest: :beer:

[KennyM]

Michael, it's great to have met you too. I haven't found the guts before to enter any of the previous challenges, mainly cause of the high level of skill in all the regulars' work.
It was a pleasure to arrive and meet people willing to comment and advise on my work.

Let me know when you're in Belgium next time, so I can buy you a drink :beer: (and maybe you can give me some insights on those sweet images you make :D )

In the meantime I'll be around. I've been so fixated on the challenge I haven't even checked out half of the forums here :blush: .
I have some exploring to do hehe, so you'll probably run into me again.

thanks again for all the support mate!:arteest:

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