first space craft > polys ..need your tips !!

[Joel Hooks]

Hi. To simulate Star Wars style spacecraft you will need a balance of geometry and texture maps. To truly make Star Wars spacecraft, you will want to actually use those particular craft as reference. Don't worry about copying their ideas if you are just learning.

Gets some books, posters, or just surf the net for interesting space imagery...

http://liw.iki.fi/art-of-star-wars/medium-id2591297.jpg
(physical model found on random website)

[ashishdantu]

hello ...lowdown << thanx for the immediate reply ..

yes , i'm learning to do these.. but one thing i wanted to learn is how to best texture these models .. so that they seem natural . like the image u attached ( gee.. u are so helping .. thanx for the pains of searching and attaching it here for me !! thanx :wip: ) ..

i wanted to know what texturing approach is needed to do this ..
and are the geometries too out of shape ? :(

pls..let me know .. and any other comments + suggestions.. all very much awaited ...

attached new image ... with better look ... thanx pals....

[SheepFactory]

dude , looks like you have to practice some modelling before jumping into the texturing part.

the textures are never going to look right on this model , because you have all hard edges , bevel your edges otherwise you wont get realistic specular highlights

i suggest you practice modelling until you drop , Listen to Lowdowns advice , find a blueprint , picture etc , try to model that until you get it right , its good for practice.

A|i

[ashishdantu]

THANX sheepFactory for the tips ..

well, the model i earlier put was the entry level only... agree that the fuselage n the wings . .. need more details..

but this is what i was looking for .. " bevelling the edges " .. was waiting to know .. this only .. yes i think bevelling and chamfer edging is what is to be done..

thanx for your patience .. kindly see n comment on the image below .. is this what / how it has to be done ?? pls.. kindly comment.. is this correct ? is this what i have to do ? is this kinda bevelling correct ? :rolleyes:

thanx for ur time again .....

[Joel Hooks]

Taking the gradients off helped a great deal :)

You have the right idea, now it's just a matter of practice. I honestly think you'd be better of learning from an exsisting design over your own. Though yours is shaping up, I just think it is easier to learn off a proven design.

keep it up!

[ashishdantu]

Thanx lowdown for your kind tips.. :wip:

yes i shall use the space ship picture u gave me ... and start modelling it .. i shall try and get every corner and bit of that model into my work .. will try to do it and show to u ..

i just wanted to know .. one more thing..v for the modelling of such vehicles .. what approach is best used and why ?? like is it good to use only polygon modelling (keeping the polycount low ) or do we use the option " convert to ploy " method , i currently use this .. or is it better we model using editable meshes ?? I want to really do some good stuff .. so i'm preparing to do that in the way it has to be done.

thanx for your time . and patience.. thanx for the encouragement i received !! :p

[Chris Watkins]

From other people I hear that Editable Poly is now the better tool because you can cut, slice and perform other operations more cleanly and I tend to agree. Another method you may find useful is Surface Tools.Its very straightforward. You just define the edges of your model with splines and work your way to higher detail levels from there.. If you take a peek at my webpage, I did my Mustang, Porsche, Bob and the crawler critter using this method. Ill post a link to a tutorial if I can find it again.

[Chris Watkins]

http://www.planetquake.com/polycount/resources/general/tutorials/SurfaceTools/SurfaceTools.shtml
I found it :)

[Shiro_tengu]

http://www.scifi-art.com/


Of spaceships - they know!

[ashishdantu]

MY DEAR FRIENDS ....Shiro_tengu
& Chris Watkins...

WOW .. what a nice place this forum is.... Thanx for the help u guys are giving .. well, thanx for the tips..

Well, Chris Watkins .. thanx for that lovely tutorial link :D :D :D :wip:
Your 3d models + textures..on your site are very very good !!! i'm inspired ..

Shiro_tengu >> i'm going thru that link u gave me .. thanx ..

Editable polys seem a good technique to me as >> its like .. we go on creating + building + modifyng only the "required" polys .. like its "low polygon modelling .. by default !! " .. but i need to learn that Surface Tools.. also ... llike Chris told me /...

another doubt i have is >> is it always good to convert our models to either editable pols or meshes or nurbs ... once say we convert a model built with cubes.. to a editable.. poly .. i think we cant get back this to the cubes.. to edit its properties.. so then we just edit it with the editable poly tools only :(
well, i need your expert comments on it..

Thanx guys for ur time..

[Staffan Norling]

You need som more details to make it good looking too. Check my greeble tutorial in the tutorial section of www.scifi-meshes.com

[ashishdantu]

I'm thrilled ..

thanx Staffan Norling ... what a coincidence .. i Just downloaded your tutorials at scifi-meshes.com ....GEee .. i was thinking .. how nice it would be if i ever could talk or interact with the author of those tutorials ... & &&& >> here he is "Staffan Norling" .. advising me to learn through his tuts :D :D :p

well, there are very nice + indepth + excellent tuts out there ... i think ... these are the " details " >> || lowdown || < was telling me about .. these are the depths that grab the attention and make the work seem real ..

thanks guys .. what an inspiration its been !! :D

One small question >> Staffan Norling , were u part of the star wars team ?? :D dont mind if i sound a bit anxious... but let me know.. well now i need to really get onto practising those wonderful tuts ... !!

[ashishdantu]

Just wanted to know ..if the tool options available in Max for these tutorials have any analogical options in MAYA .. just curious..:):rolleyes:
http://www.scifi-meshes.com/tutorials.htm

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