Grand Space Opera 2D Entry: Sidharth Chaturvedi

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1098764505_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1098764505_large.jpg)

This is the rough concept sketch for what the final image should look like. Its kind of hard to make out, mainly because its so small and in b&w- the ship in the center is emerging from a collapsing wormhole.

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1098830561_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1098830561_large.jpg)

This is the line drawing for one of the 'Fortress' class capital ships in the drawing. In the concept drawing, its the one at the bottom right, just slightly above earth.
This is the actual size that the ship will be in the drawing. Tell me what you all think of it!

[ymonkato]

Yo,

This is a really solid line drawing! The perspective is sharp! If this is the size that you are going to have each ship as, then this is massive! I can't wait to see what you do with it. Good luck on the project!

[Rex3d]

Great ship drawing, nice stuff. It has a great sense of scale.

I look forward to your progress.

[elmasfeo]

that ship looks very good, if you make all your image like that it's going to be a great image

just curiosity...UEAF has some meaning or is it just random letters?

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1098960036_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1098960036_large.jpg)

This is the WIP for the coloring of one of the Fortress ships in the final drawing (actual size shown). Its still rough, and is probably about 50-60% done (just the ship, not the whole drawing).
The biggest challenge in coloring this, besides the size, is the fact that it's set in space, where light doesnt have air to scatter off of. This is thus the first time I have to abandon the crutch of "soft" shadows and make the lighting VERY apparent- the problem lies in not obscuring the ship's details with these sharp shadow lines.
Someone had asked what UEAF stands for earlier. It's "United Earth Air Force". The whole drawing is set in a story I'm writing.

[element5]

Nice start :thumbsup: love the ship design.... goodluck :)

[Squibbit]

the ship looks small somehow , a shuttle more than a capital ship


I'd look at sketches like Speaky's for example to help with making
buildings and vessels of which size you can determine more easily.

I understand, of course that this is just a sketch , not a finished pic,
and it's just my opinion ,but anywayz :)

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099220484_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099220484_large.jpg)

A further WIP of coloring the Fortress ship in the drawing. Like I said, the main challenge here is making sharp shadows, since soft shadows wouldnt occur much in space. I'm not too disappointed with it so far, but theres still lots of refining to do.
Tell me what you think :)

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099367741_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099367741_large.jpg)

The line art for anothe one of the Fortress ships thats appears in the final drawing. Its the same design as the other one I've been posting, but from a different angle (and much smaller, as you can see- this is the actual size).
Hopefully, coloring this one wont take as long as the last one.

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099369186_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099369186_large.jpg)

This is the first stage of the full drawing. Not a lot done, as you can see- the first fortress ship's there, as is a flipped image (which I'll be working on later), and at the bottom is the one whose line art I just posted.
The image is 1/4 the size of the actual drawing.

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099620094_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099620094_large.jpg)

Very, very rough early WIP for the coloring of the 3rd Fortress ship. Not really much to say about it- it wont take as long as "Fortress 1" did, thats for sure.

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099781899_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099781899_large.jpg)

Further coloring on the 3rd Fortress ship. I smoothened the lines out, and added some battle damage (lots of it, rather). Tell me what you think :).

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099782751_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099782751_large.jpg)

Further coloring on the 3rd Fortress ship. I smoothened the lines out, and added some battle damage (lots of it, rather). Tell me what you think :).

[Hillartsympho]

good job, If you want the fortress to seem really huge, maybe consider adding many many smale scale parts to it?

[sidchagan]

good job, If you want the fortress to seem really huge, maybe consider adding many many smale scale parts to it?
Most of the little details will be added once the drawing is in its final stages, so I can work on lighting more accurately. Thanks :)

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099845831_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099845831_large.jpg)

Despite all the coloring I've done, there's still a LOT to do on the full drawing.
I've added some more lines for where the capital ships will be. Still more to do of course. And I havent added the fighters yet. Nor the actual wormhole :P.
Yes, so much to do, so little time...
This is at 1/4 the size of the actual drawing.
And ignore the lines, they'll be removed later.

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099949099_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1099949099_large.jpg)

Line art for another Fortress ship in the drawing. Sorry there are so many of these :P.
This one wont take long to color- its MUCH smaller than the last 2.

[vapourtrail]

the perspective is solid here, but you may want to consider the overall composition of the piece. as it stands, there is no apparent point of interest, and if there is one it's going to be slap bang in the middle of the painting, which is slightly unimaginative.

Also, the planet looks a bit on the insignificant side at the moment, i would suggest it needs a more important role in the image so as not to become lost.

just a couple of things to consider

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1100201710_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1100201710_large.jpg)

Coloring WIP for yet another Fortress ship in the drawing. This one's exploding.
I'm having trouble getting parts of the blast right though, particularly the flash on top of the ship. If anyone has any technique that could help me out here, I'd appreciate the help.

[Squibbit]

hey move on dude :) to me that explosion looks sweet , instantly got my attention
and didn't attack it.
So if you're worried about finishing the pic in time move on and if you have the
time come back to this and do what you need

:thumbsup:

[BlueEyeLizard]

I agree with the planet remark. At a quick glance I didn't evan notice the planet. I had to go back and look for it. I love your ship renderings.

[element5]

Lots of updates :applause:

[RaresH]

Oh yea, nice fire affects there.

The planet is a bit low. Bring it up a little. It may be more interesting that way.

As you compose your image furthure, think about the direaction of sunlight and earthlight and how that interacts with the ships. I'm guessing the ships are headed towards an orbital skermish of some kind. consider how you design that. Working out some small thumbnails can also help in defining your composition.

Good Luck.

[ecura]

I think you are getting there with the explosion. If you look more closely, explosions are mixed with streaks of lights and big puff of clouds. The technique I use for such effects is listed in the steps below:

1. Place an underlying of soft explosion colours, this acts as the background glow. If it is a generic explosion I would go for red, yellow, white and black (black if you are planing to show signs of smoke).

2. Overlay the steaks light on top of the background glow.

3. Create a customised brush that has some kind of inconsistent spatter pattern, dots and variant in size (you could choose to use the default spatter brushes supplied in some applications). Note, on high resolution images you will require a larger bush size to get the effect to look convincing.

4. Then dab them here and there with the explosion colours. There is a lot of mouse clicking but once you get the feel, it takes off quiet easy.

5. Finally use the dodge and burn tool to give depth to your explosion in certain areas.

This is the way how I quickly achieve the explosion effect in one of my colour rough concept. I'm sure there are other ways of expressing explosion, just experiment with the tools and you will realise how amazing they actually are. Hope that helps.

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1100494338_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1100494338_large.jpg)

I'm gonna be charging ahead with the rest of the line art for now. I'll get back to coloring once some more of the layout is clear.
The perspective lines are missing in this one- just thought a change would be nice :P.

vapourtrail- I see what you mean about the point of interest being in the center, its not something I usually do either. I'll see what I can do with it, but other than moving the wormhole a little off-center, I dont think there's much I can do to alter it. Any suggestions?

Rares_Halmagean- Some of the light will be coming out of the wormhole, and some from sunlight (from the left). I didnt really consider earthlight though...I'll be paying more attention to all the lighting once I have more objects in the drawing though.

ecura- Thanks for the tips on the explosion :). I'll try it out when i get back to that ship.

A lot of people commented on the Earth's placement- I'll definitely try to bring it more into the picture, though I'm not sure to what extent I can- the wormhole will be taking up a good chunk of the space, and I cant have the Earth cutting it off.

And of course, thanks for compliments from Squibbit, element5, BlueEyeLizard and Rares :). Always appreciated!

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1102024978_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1102024978_large.jpg)

I added a starfield, along with lots of other objects. Continuing progress of line art without coloring- all that will come later since, as you can see, I need to have the whole thing composed before I can color in lighting etc.

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1104918260_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1104918260_large.jpg)

Yeesh. Ok, so I didnt work on this for a month. Didnt think I was getting anywhere. I probably wont be able to get anywhere near finishing this before the deadline, but who\'s stopping me from trying?
I\'ll probably get disqualified for being so inactive though. Oh well.
As you can see, I changed the planet. And added another one.
Still lots to do. Wish me luck...I\'m gonna need it.

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1104994024_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1104994024_large.jpg)

More updates to the drawing, which is no longer about a wormhole. I colored some of the fighters and captial ships. The planet will be replaced soon too (the blue one), since I have credible sources telling me that "it looks like hell". As for the rest of the composition...I'll figure something out.

[sidchagan]

http://cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105092858_medium.jpg (http://cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105092858_large.jpg)

Replaced the planet. Working on the starfield now- once thats done, I'll get back to the ships.
If theres any criticism, nows the time to tell me!

[sidchagan]

http://cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105250088_medium.jpg (http://cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105250088_large.jpg)

Got the starfield down. I really dont like how it looks, but this is all I can do.
Up next- finish the damn ships.

[sidchagan]

http://cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105406441_medium.jpg (http://cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105406441_large.jpg)

Closeup of the 'Crab' fighter in the drawing. Just finished coloring it. Will add engine flare in the drawing's final stages.

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105407475_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105407475_large.jpg)

Closeup of the exploding Fortress ship in the drawing

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105486456_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105486456_large.jpg)

Getting closer to finishing whats on there. Then I'll add more.
I REALLY need some feedback here! >_<

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105598210_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105598210_large.jpg)

Part of the drawing on 75% actual image size.

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105598576_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105598576_large.jpg)

Crap...forgot to bring the planet back into the image last time.
Again, part of the image at the bottom of the drawing, at 75% of the actual size.

[KevinJM]

hi mate, the design of the shipe looks really nice. I love that explosion effect of yours, very nice. Eagerly waiting for another update of your.:thumbsup:

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105686442_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105686442_large.jpg)

Further along in the drawing. I've added a lot more ships- now I just have to color them. After that, as much polishing as I can put it.

[Monomorphic]

This is great... i really like your planets. I like uber detailed planets. w00t Anyway... great background too... with the nebula. I finished mne... go check it out. :thumbsup:

Jamie

[beelow]

Damn, me and you are doing the same concept but I like it. Only thing is that I have an extra element in mine that will separate both of ours from each other. Great piece though. u got a big thumbs up from me. yeah I just started a couple days ago so lets see if I can make the deadline good luck to you.

[sidchagan]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105872822_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1105872822_large.jpg)

The final image for the drawing. Didn't have time for polishing, but whatever.

Story behind it- The human fleet, diminshed from a year-long alien assault on Earth, managed to regroup and launched a final offensive against the enemy mothership, still in orbit near the moon. It was a hopeless attack against all odds- the alien fleet, while in temporary disarray, still outnumbered and outgunned them. It was all or nothing.
But, just as the fleet prepared to open fire, the enemy turned tail and ran. Siezing the moment, Earth's ships pursued, puzzled but optimistic about the sudden retreat. Then, without warning, a wormhole opened, dragging the alien mothership- and the fleet- through to the other side.
They emerged, just moments later, over the alien homeworld of Soul. In the distance, they could make out inumerable fleets, all engaged in battle with each other. The mothership itself was racing to join the fight, while its starfighters tried to keep Earth's own ships off its tail.
The reasons behind the invasion of Earth were still unknown, but they had obviously become secondary to a hidden conflict that had erupted on Soul. The alien race that had threatened humanity itself was in civil war.
And Earth's fleet was right in the middle of it.

[sidchagan]

http://cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1106068864_medium.jpg (http://cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4804/4804_1106068864_large.jpg)

Ok...so we got extra time. Added some texturing.
THIS is the final image.

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