Races of Middle Earth - Character - Dirk P Ho

[Dirk_P_Ho]

The Gobutecs

Miniature Goblin Theives that use their loot to build various vehicles/structures.

Hope this isnt too "advanced" or "toony" for middle earth, I only know of the story from the films.

Ill have to look into maps and location descriptions to figure out where in Middle Earth they dwell. Hopefully some Tolkien experts will have some insight.

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/Sketch.jpg

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Hmm, im starting to hate the goblin thing, so overdone...ill rework the miniature crature.

Any comments on the beliveability of this in the LOTR universe??? I don't wanna continue if it doesn't make sense.

[KingMob]

i love the barrel robot idea, make it really clunky that will be cool. and controleld by petals, ropes and and such

lgood luck this time man, im gonna finish i swear!

[OZ]

STRANGE...not very tolkienish...but really good! so original...yes i like it.

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Alright, whats with me and reworking my challenges so much?? :)

Heres a change on the creature piloting the contraption, gotta work on a different name.

Comments welcome...

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/Sketch2.jpg

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Whoo, this is fun!

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP01.jpg

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Thanks for the comment -OZ-, greatly appreciated

Hopefully I can find a way to "Tolkien" this up :P

[Projectkmo]

hmmm...little creatures...Maybe a variation on the "Brownie"....they get into mad mischief...and such...

well, I looked for some pictures...but if you remember the movie Willow...the 2 little brownies...with their magic love dust etc....

anyway, just a thought

[CJ]

"I stole dee baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" hehe... good movie Willow.

I like the brownie idea... maybe make it 2 or 3 controlling it. It looks a bit big for just 1 to beable to control by itself ya know?

[Dirk_P_Ho]

thanks for the comments Projectkmo and The Residual. I'll check those guys out

[Remi]

Great idea...very funny...i would just make the outer shell made from odd objects rather than having them all be made of wood or something....does that make sense? Keep going:thumbsup:

[Per-Anders]

i agree, a more organic, put together out of any old junk salvaged look would be really cool, and would mean that each of the "robots" would look completely different. that's a great concept though, so keep going :)

[Virtuoso]

Hi Dirk..............Nice to see you again. I like the concepts. I think my only suggestion I can give with any merit at this point is that I think you should give your creation a more organic look. I think that gadgets could be the enhancements to a organic body. That would be more fitting within the Tolkian universe. Just a thought.

Well keep going Dirk,it's certantly got potential at this point already.:beer:

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Wow, thanks for the great comments guys, yeah I was just thinking its too generic/clean/symmetrical to have it all barrels. Ill definately have to mix it up a bit.

What a fun challenge

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Currently "Junking Up" the main body. going to re-work the arms. They probably wont be made of barrels.

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP02.jpg

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Worked on the head area for the last bit, the cockpit area has been sectioned off inside the head.
Comments as always are welcome.

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP03.jpg

[KingMob]

looking cool man, you gonna have lot of exposed gear etc on this?

i dig it man keep up the good work!

[Dirk_P_Ho]

I was thinking exposed gears and such but thats probably too advanced for middle earth, probably pulleys and such....man, that would be murder to rig...oh well, we'll see

[mtmckinley]

what about some sort of large creature, encased in the barrels, being controlled by your little goblins through it? Like a remote control monster. :)

[chadlychoo]

Maybe he could be a Goblin/Elf? This could explain the intelligence it would take to create the vehicle they move in (the barrel thing). Good work so far though!

[RockinAkin]

Talk about an original concept. :eek:

I agree with mtmckinley's idea about the creature being controlled by smaller ones... would really be creative.

You should also be sure to bang up those barrels full of holes, tears, chips, rips, and dings to help make it fit better into the LOTR world.

Looking forward to what you come up with,
-DivideByZero-

[dark_lotus]

Very cool!

I think what makes things tolkienesque is the amount of depth that each race has,

for example, I've already created a language and architechture for my race,

You might want to contemplate their history, and give them trinkets and things. Good Luck Charms and things.

Also for the barrels you might want to do paintings like they have on WW2 planes, like the naked women and the such.


Hope that Helps!

[xeno]

i like that idea very much, would u by any chance happen to own a copy of Mace The dark age? It bears a striking resemblance to a character in that game :thumbsup:

[Gandalf]

Look good and original concept!!! :thumbsup:

[leigh]

There is something truly creepy about this character :surprised
But it's pretty cool, and really authentic too!!
Keep going, this one will be really interesting and fascinating when its done! :D:D

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Woah, what great support from all of you! Humble thank yous to all.

Im currently toying with the mechanics of this character, pulleys/gears/treadmills, even a hampster wheel :) . Its actually really difficult seeing as how it should be believeable within this world.

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Looks like i've hit a wall as far as new stuff, still trying to wrap my head arounf the mobility of this contraption. Broke up the wood a bit and added a suspended seat in the head.

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP04.jpg

[KingMob]

great great update man...I think you should "sharpen" the edge of the broken wood tho, its a little soft.

keep up the good work my friend

[erilaz]

This reminds me of some sort of cross-merging between Middle Earth and Warhammer! Which is a good thing. (Seeing as you can play warhammer with LOTR characters now, I guess that works!):D

Looking good.

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Ha, i was thinking MECHWARRIOR: LOTR expansion :P

[Remi]

Excellent job Dirk....i'm liking your updates and can't wait to see what you do next...great job of mixing up some things...keep going:thumbsup:

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Ok everyone, here's the leg configuration as it stands now. This is the third design for them that I've come up with. Once its done I will spend time making it look well broken in and such. Still lots of work to do, there will be much more to the leg mechanics than this.

NOTE* - those boot things are placeholders

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP05.jpg

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Update before beddy-bye. Got me some webspace, that 40k limit was making me a sad sad boy :annoyed: But im happy now! :)


http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP06.jpg

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Alrighty, this is how the legs work, Im going to have a larger, more muscular guy controlling the leg pulleys. Two Smaller guys will control the knee cranks.

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP07.jpg

[Grub]

Dirk, that's wonderfully wacky!
Just sneakily call it 'Sauron's Siege Engine of Doom', and you can slip it in as part of the Tolkien mythos, involved in the siege of Gondor.:p

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Ha ha, totally, classified sauron battle plans!

[Dirk_P_Ho]

this guy is up to 371 objects, who knows how many polys (I'd check but then I'd have to open XSI Again :) ) All I got left to do on the contraption is the arms. Then on to the gobotec ppl, have to model at least 3 of them, oh man, this is gonna take forever :) Im such a dork, oh well. As Always, comments are welcome.

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP08.jpg

[Cikala]

Wow, pretty cool lookin :)

[Remi]

Hey Dirk...it's looking better every time you update....I would still comment on the fact that it still looks a tad bit too uniform...just my opinion...I would maybe make the legs a little different...but...this your vision...you make what you think you should make...great job man...keep it up...keeping an eye on this one...:thumbsup:

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Thanks a bunch Remi, Yeah, who knows, im always open to change. I think the variation on the arms will make it look different. we'll see. Im looking forward to a change of pace in modelling the actual Gobutecs. I'll update tomorrow witht he finished arms I think.

[Johnlittle]

It looks like a deep sea diver to me,but in the past. Not like it belongs in the Lotr world. Maybe if it's off in some still unknown place,I quess it could be part of that universe. Still it's interesting.:)

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Alrighty, Heres an update, thanks for the comment Johnlittle. Pretty much done this contraption, but I would like to add some more paraphernalia from middle earth. You'l notice that Ive added an elven helmet on the shoulder there (with the aid of leigh), a dwarven sheild on the back of the head, and some Uruk-Hai swords as its weapon.

But some other object ideas would be greatly appreciated, as would comments, Thanks all.

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP10.jpg

[BlueCougar]

Man looks great! It reminds me of the goblins in Dungeon Siege with all the contraptions they have. As far as modifying later that's totally open, you can do like Leigh and create it then modify the heck out of it later! I look forward to seeing your operators!:thumbsup:

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Thanks a lot BlueCougar, I'll probably start my guy tomorrow

[azazel]

Great idea, I dig this barrel design :) Reminds me that once I made wooden spaceships (carrier and fighters), also made of barrels ;)

I think this intricate yet bit fragile mechanism of legs and 'crotch' should have some kind of protection, but not hiding it completely 'cos it looks cool. and some bevel on leg elements won't harm either.:bounce:

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Thx Azazel for the comments, hmm, ponders crotch protection, is a jock straying too far from Tolkien's world??? :P

...bevels are in there, everything is sub-d'd twice ;)

About to start the actual Gobutecs, more to come soon

[Remi]

Excellent Dirk...great work....those arms do through a bit of "messiness" to it...are those used swords for fingers? Brilliant....keep going man...can't wait to see the gobutecs:thumbsup:

[azazel]

It was simply practical idea, to protect these mechanisms from damage yet to leave them visible. Waiting for Gobutecs....:thumbsup:

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Bam, finally an update! WHOO!, head of course is just for sizing. This is the main Gobutec I think, riding in the head, have to do at least one more taller one, and a big strong fat one. Comments are welcome! thanks folks.

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP11.jpg

[Joril]

I think he need bigger feet :surprised

[Virtuoso]

Good start on the next creatures Dirk............i think without doubt you should add size to them feet as Joril already stated.Also the hands,give them more girth and overall size as well.Unless it's a taste thing for you,but if not give them a supersize up.:thumbsup:

A fat one will be a good extra to go along with the skinny one.Keep up all the work,it's promising.:beer:

[Rye]

great idea Dirk! I love it :D You made the "mech" so perfect! It definitely looks like its built by those little gobbies. Does it actually work? You should set it up to animate so all the pieces interact with each other...i dont know how you would do it, but it would rock!

I think the Goblin looks good so far. Now i know its hard to criticize anatomy on teeny little goblins, but i think for one so skinny who's ribs are showing (and if those are his ribs, they are going the wrong way), he wouldnt have those little love handles down there. His torso also looks a bit elongated, but of course its possible thats just what they look like, and if so, then rock on :) Longer fingers might help as well...he'd have an awful time trying to build anything with those stubby little fingers ;)

[leigh]

That's one freaky lil critter, Dirk :thumbsup:
I actually rather like the tiny feet too - you should keep them tiny like that!
The only thing that kinda bugs me a bit is that the ribs showing through the skin seem to be sloping in the wrong way :surprised

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Wow, Thanks all for the wonderfull support!!

Joril: Check the big feet, you like them Better?

Virtuoso: Thanks man, made the hands a bit bitter, I think theyre at a good size, I could be wrong though. :P

Rye: WOW, thanks a bunch for the comments, makes me feel all special :P I would love to get this thing animated, but my skills are sorely lacking in that department, who knows, maybe sometime down the line. I have no idea how I missed the rib thing, im a disgrace, maybe I should stare at the naked MEN on artist.sk more often...uhh...i mean... :surprised: Anyways, fixed that, and I de-lovehandled him. The long torso is intentional SO BACK OFF :P he he, j/k. I made the hands bigger, maybe ill elongate em too, Iunno, what do you think now??

Leigh: Made em just to scare ya! heh, j/k I got both feetses up there, what do you think now? Still like the small ones? I'm torn now that you said you liked em like that!! oh dear. The friggin ribs, im super embarassed about that one, theyre fixed now.

Anyhoo, to all out there, Im asking which size feet you like, big or small? you have the POWER to decide this little guys fate!

As Always Comments are welcomed.

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP11-b.jpg

[KingMob]

hey cool, agreed bigger feets would be cool...

lets see a new head soon...and him at the controls...and a monkey! :buttrock:

[azazel]

As above, bigger feet....:p

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Hey Hey kids, we have a head!

King: You bring the monkeys, I'll bring the beer.

Azazel: Your wish is my command :P

Dont worry Leigh, one of the other dudes will get the tiny feetses.

This is where the Gobutec stands currently, much tweaking and details to do on the head.

Thanks for comments

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP12.jpg

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Alright folks, bit of an update here. These are the three guys controlling the Mech thing. The fat/strong one works the legs, the Tall one (may be another one too) will control the knees. And the one in the middle, with the best horns (standards set by gobutecs of course), is driving and working the arms from the head of the contraption.

Much more details per guy to come, comments are welcome.

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP13.jpg

[levin]

hehe nice folk!

but i recommend smaller cow ears for fatty, longer rabbit ears for the skinny one..

and bigger feet for the taller ones... you nailed the foot size on the fat one though...

an fatty could have a stockier neck... or perhaps no neck at all you can cover it with fat or a double chin and make him reaaally chunkier for contrast

the mid size could have a bigger head (=IQ)

keep goin man, don't lose the motivation!

:buttrock::beer:

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Just a small update, in wire format. I think ive got the proportions down. Currently thinking about accesories and such. Any ideas you, the good ppl of cgtalk, would be great.

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP14.jpg

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Well hello everyone, I have the smallest of updates for you! :P

Made the guys vests, pretty snazzy huh? Im just ITCHING to get texturing.

Comments encouraged.

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP15.jpg

[Remi]

Looks great...could you possible give him some sort of weapon...:shrug: my brain is mush right now so you'll have to forgive me for my lack of creativity...hehe....texturing is pretty hard for me...trying different things...hope your's goes smoothly....:thumbsup:

[Rye]

Thats great Dirk! I love those horns, very unique. I don't know if funny is what you are going for, but I think more extreme differences in the 3 gobbies would be more interesting. Make the one on the left super lanky and tall, and the one on the right much much fatter. Maybe they could have cogs around their ankles or wrists and necklaces made with sprockets!

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Remi Thanks dude! My brain is mush as well, we'll see If I can pull something out of my as.... err, brain :P Texturing is one of my weaknesses as well.

Rye Thanks for the kind words! Not sure If I'll have time but i'll definately try it if the opportunity arises.

Alright folks, I'm still alive. However now that I am employed, the progress will definately take a hit. I'm sure you're all devastated ;)

My goal is to at least get fatty here textured, started unwrapping today, heres proof.

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/JanWIP16.jpg

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Damn, too long since I've updated....textures never really got off the ground. Its sad really, it's what is forcing me to call my entry a failure in its own right. Oh well, there's always next time...right King...you better finish :P , or the spankings commence. As usual, I got way ahead of myself...

But here's what I call "Done"

Thanks to all who gave me great support on this one, hopefully see you all next time!

http://members.shaw.ca/derek_hartley/final%20copy-800.jpg

**NOTE** - Slightly larger pic on the challenge site

[Virtuoso]

This is far from a failure.Quite the opposite.It's too bad you did'nt have all the time needed to get this to the finish line.

But what you do have is quite inventive.It shows me originality and a good overall vision.I can really see where you were headed with this. It's a shame time always gets in the way. You should have seen my visions for this challenge,it would have been really entertaining and fun,but time and a personal project interupted my visions for this challenge as well.

Overall I still think you showed alot,and did put together quite abit.Oh no it's far from a failure......it's a WIP with alot of potential in my eyes. Overall I still give you :thumbsup: :thumbsup: two thumbs up.....I hope you still get more on it done in the future on the side,it would be worth it.In-depth texturing and more polish would really show up nicely with this.

See you soon Dirk.......fine job.:thumbsup: :beer:

[KingMob]

I see no failures here...you got a coolt hing, from start to near finish..hell slap some textures on it and you got a nice finished thing here...

I agree its a shame real life gets in the way so often.ahhh well.

Sorry to hear you feel bad about this project, cause I think it turnined out fine!

good work man!

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