Steampunk Myths and Legends Entry: Mark David

[GonzaloGolpe]

Hi there!

good luck with this new challenge and waiting to see your progress and have a funny time ;)

[Ferx]

Hey Mark,


I knew that you could not miss this challenge my friend!! :D This one can be really fun. Time to put the steamboat at full speed :D can't wait to see your first ideas. Good luck my friend and cheers!! :beer:

[nwiz25]

all aboard!! :scream: the whole family is here! :cry: glad to see ya bro! :bounce:
me totally agree with gonzalo! :p we're all gonna have some real fun time! :bounce:
good luck bro! :thumbsup:

[OKMER]

Hi MArk!!!HAppy to see you're in man!!!:buttrock:

[mdavid]

GonzaloGolpe
Hey Gonzalo buddy, thank you so much for the welcome

Ferx
Fernando buddy, thank you for being so quick to drop by. I'll be taking a keen interest in your entry

nsiz25
Hey Neville, great to see you here! I can't wait to see what kind of inspired imagery you drum up. Thanks for dropping by

OKMER
You just know this challenge is going to be impressive when we see your thread starting up. Thanks for the warm welcome buddy

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1226546177_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1226546177_large.jpg)

Way back in the far reaches of avian time, ducks were a brave and formidable race with a civilisation all their own. They didn't have a need - or ability - to fly, because humans hadn't learned to hunt them yet. Instead, ducks lived a life of sporty leisure and preferred to ski across lakes and ponds to get around.

The duck society was based on an island in the middle of the ocean, and from this humble origin they travelled across the globe in a giant steam-driven waterskiing duck. By this means they slowly colonised every corner of the world.

No one knows what led to the ducks' downfall. They were way too smart to get involved in sub-primes or credit default swaps. More likely, the rise of humans had something to do with it. My personal theory is, as humans learned to hunt ducks the ducks' charmed life changed for the worse and the birds taught themselves flight as a means to avoid the arrows and, much later, lead pellets fired from their human assailants.

The long great duck age came to an end, to be replaced by the era of humanity. But to this day, ducks can sometimes be seen waterskiing across ponds. If you're a little bit sneaky you can still find them doing it when the water is glassy-smooth and they don't think you're watching. That's how I managed to get these photographs.

As for the giant steam-driven water-skiing duck, no one knows what happened to it. In 1987 some amateur archeologists claimed to have found fossilized remains of such a craft on a hill-side in south-western Tasmania but when they allowed a hand-picked delegation of scientists to be rushed to the scene for verification the scientists claimed the object to be an overturned milk truck which had gone missing the night before.

The sad fact is, if you tell people about the steam-driven waterskiing duck these days they just won't believe you, which is why it has fallen into mythology.

My plan is to create a scene in 3D, showing off the steam-driven waterskiing duck at the height of duck civilisation. I'll probably get down to the pond and take some more photos too because I enjoy doing that. For those who might be interested, these shots were taken with a 400 mm lens at shutter speeds of 1000th to 1250th second.

As is so often the case, I'm grateful to Gunilla for giving me a little nudge of encouragement to enter this challenge. Many of my thoughts sent in my response to her message have filled out the history described above.

I hope to make this image colourful and believable and fun. But especially colourful. Because for some reason I keep seeing the same sepia and blue palettes cropping up all over these challenges. Come on folks, there are entire rainbows of possibility to be explored out there - tap those styluses in some of those unused swatches and see what kind of magic might happen

- Mark

[daWinky]

Hey Mark,

waterskiing steam ducks, this will be fun to watch:thumbsup: - and as always I get a big smile in my face reading your posts. Wonderful to have you in!:bounce:

-sabrina

[miketche]

A waterskiing duck hu? This should be interesting. Ok, lets see what you can come up with. I'll be following.

[varma]

HeyHey Mark!
So glad you joined the force! Was looking up for your entry!
The Idea is, as usual, original and fun-bearing!
Looking forward to see your play with the water-skiing colorful docks!
Ps. Super sharp photos!!
:arteest:

[Try]

Hello Mark and good luck to you! :wavey:
Personally i don`t think humans had anything to do with the demise of the ducks. The Mice clearly are the bad guys here. Cute little bastards sneaking around in the shadows and under ground. Scheming and Planing their evil world dominance. They are still in control they just let us think we are masters of the world. They are everywhere. We will all be marching around with Micky Mouse hats soon. Who else could be behind the financial breakdown these days. I ask you!
...Of course the Rats may have something to do with it too when i think of it.....

Per

[Gunilla]

So, there you are!
I love your idea and as always I'm very impressed on how you manage to keep your work accurate in a both mytholigical, in this case, and scientific way. A lot of research goes into this, I'm sure.
I'll be hanging around for sure.

[thebest]

Mark friend ....... the one I wait for his entry :arteest: waiting to see more mate :scream:

[MartinNielsen]

Hey Mark :) More fun from you as usual :)

[Ivy00]

ha ha great to see you Mark. Love the duck idea, I am partial to steampunk ducks :P

[Thaldir]

Hi, Mark!
This is a thread I wouldn't miss for the world, great to see you decided to enter. :)
Good luck and a load of fun to you!

[gpepper]

OMG !
Why I didn't see your entry !
Nice to see you here Mark !
The Slidin' duck is cool but is it really a myth or a legend ?

[gpepper]

Sorry, I didn't read your story before posting...:blush:

[leigh]

I don't want to come across as an ass, and I don't want to stifle your creativity, but personally I don't really feel that your entry is in line with the theme. I appreciate the fact that you've provided a detailed backstory and all (I can tell from your portfolio that you have a passion for wacky and humorous CG) but it's not really what we had in mind when we brainstormed the idea. It was more along the lines of taking classical mythology and rendering it in a steampunk milieu.

Of course, nothing is stopping you from continuing with your current concept. But it may count against you later down the line, since one of the criteria on which entries are judged is their adherence to the overall theme.

[Try]

I don't want to come across as an ass, and I don't want to stifle your creativity, but personally I don't really feel that your entry is in line with the theme. I appreciate the fact that you've provided a detailed backstory and all (I can tell from your portfolio that you have a passion for wacky and humorous CG) but it's not really what we had in mind when we brainstormed the idea. It was more along the lines of taking classical mythology and rendering it in a steampunk milieu.

Of course, nothing is stopping you from continuing with your current concept. But it may count against you later down the line, since one of the criteria on which entries are judged is their adherence to the overall theme.

Hmmm.... I don`t relay know how to read this Leigh. Are you speaking as an official CG staff member or as an individual? I have seen quite e few challenges now. And my feeling is that the judging haven`t always been to specific as to following the exact letter of the competition.

Some of us have discussed the fact earlier that certen styles dont really stand a chance in here. Wackey and humerous style are not something that will be apriciated here when judging time comes. Maybe a humerous style is apriciated if it looks like something from WOW.

So I guess some of us find the comuity feeling about this experiance more interesting than the actuel challenge and the winning of prices.
I`m not speaking fore Mark off course. I just hope he does what he feels is rigth for him self. And dont get put of by this kind of comment.

[Ferx]

Hey Mark,

Really cool idea, like a lot the concept legend and think the best of it is that you have the writer talent my friend :D I really liked that you create your own legend and cant wait to see your first visualization of your concept :D Cheers!! :beer:

P.S. I dont know what I can say about Leigh post. But I think you put a great creativity and talent making your own story and that worth much :)

[leigh]

Hmmm.... I don`t relay know how to read this Leigh. Are you speaking as an official CG staff member or as an individual? I have seen quite e few challenges now. And my feeling is that the judging haven`t always been to specific as to following the exact letter of the competition.

Some of us have discussed the fact earlier that certen styles dont really stand a chance in here. Wackey and humerous style are not something that will be apriciated here when judging time comes. Maybe a humerous style is apriciated if it looks like something from WOW.

I am speaking as one of the judges of the challenge. And as a regular judge of these challenges, I can assure you that adherence to the theme is one of the judging criteria.

I think you may have misunderstood my reason for posting though. It's not the humorous nature of the piece that feels out of place - by all means, we welcome all styles of imagery. It's the concept of the waterskiing duck itself that doesn't quite fit in, as it's not really something that can be classed as a classical mythological or legendary figure or event. If someone wants to take a character like Zeus or Icarus or Thor or another ancient mythological character and make a silly pic of it, that's great. Because it's still within the theme, conceptually.

After all, what is the point of providing a theme if everyone will simply produce any idea they want? The very idea of the concept is to create an image within specific guidelines; indeed, that is what makes it a challenge.

Anyway, I have said what I felt I needed to. I don't wish to derail this thread.

[soapy]

It's the concept of the waterskiing duck itself that doesn't quite fit in, as it's not really something that can be classed as a classical mythological or legendary figure or event.

Perhaps you may want to read this link Leigh:

http://www.ruthenia.ru/folklore/berezkin/eng/021_26.htm

It seems the theme of the duck teaching us usefull things about water is rife in amerindian mythology.

Now is the contest confined to western mythology?

[erilaz]

Was that your intention Mark? To make a water-skiing duck based on Amerindian mythology? If so, rock on! :)

[leigh]

Perhaps you may want to read this link Leigh:

http://www.ruthenia.ru/folklore/berezkin/eng/021_26.htm

It seems the theme of the duck teaching us usefull things about water is rife in amerindian mythology.

Now is the contest confined to western mythology?

Don't be so obtuse. How does this mythology bear any resemblance to the story that Mark has woven in his thread? It doesn't. He has created his own mythology. As I said, I don't want to derail his thread so this will be my last post here. Mark is free to email me if he wants to discuss this.

[mdavid]

leigh

Should I reply to you in your capacity as cgs staff member or Intergalactic Overlord? ;) Whichever approach is called for, I'd most of all like to thank you for taking the time to comment. Honesty and constructive criticism is what makes this place great. I interpret the spirit of your comment as coming from someone catching me early in the piece, before I might have wasted time and energy creating something which would have disadvantaged me in the eyes of the judges. I appreciate that a lot. So once again, thank you :)

However - and this is first time I've been motivated to do this - I do wish to respond further in this instance.

It was stated in the FAQ that we could invent our own mythology. That's why I did. I'm not sure how a steampunk bird is all that different from a steampunk Trojan Horse creation or a steampunk Minotaur robot.

I'd also argue that in the Journey Begins challenge the judges chose NOT to follow the rules that the imagery MUST depict characters up close in the foreground. So strict interpretation of the rules has not always been the case and that was part of why I have been working so loosely within the themes. Hey, I never expected to win anything.

However the tone which you have used against some of the other respondents to your comments represent the first time my approach has ever felt unwelcome here. It has certainly made me feel pretty bad. I don't wish to cause grief in what is otherwise a wonderful community.

I'm out.

- Mark

[Gunilla]

No! Don't do that! You should keep on doing what you want. This is only a sign that your work is intersting enough for the judges to notice, my guess is, that in the end 25% of the entrys wont have any mytholocical theme at all - but still qualify as finished (but perhaps not among the winners)
I've seen others making up their own myths and legends and after all - that's what we're here for, right? To create and share wonderful, mysterious scenerys together. Having all the fun and to learn a new trick or two. Hang on buddy, your precense is greatly needed here!

[Thaldir]

Because of this:

Quote:
Originally Posted by MrHobby
Does the entry have to be an actual steampunk story (myth, legend) or can we make up our own ancient story of something steampunk?

Basicaly are we restricted to actual known myths/legends?



Not really no - there's no way we could tell if you'd picked an actual story, or made one up yourself, this is just a guideline of the mood we're after, rather than just a plain 'steampunk' challenge.


From page 2 in the FAQ thread

[varma]

Dear Mark, I really have to agree with Gunilla and she's absolutely right in saying that
other people are making up their own myths/legends! Isn't it the way all the famous
myths are created, by people's minds? and then puting the timely added quote
by Thaildir, which made me start my own concept to begin with, I believe you got all the
good cards to once again create one of your "Mdavid originals", and I mean "original",
helloooo, that's what made me a fan of your works in the first place, and It would be the
sadest thing to miss it this time around, now that we had to wait almost a whole year for
it!
Please, pretty please!
:wavey:

[gpepper]

Sometimes Cgsociety awarded some entry which were never finished or were finished after the deadline...
The rules seems to be only guidelines...
But by doing "against" the "rules" and jury you expose yourself...

Mark, I can't believe that you quit so quickly... Can we say something really nice to see you in the challenge ?

[Try]

Well mr. Leigh van der Byl. I surly hope you feel free tor contact Mark by mail and not the other way around. And try to correct the damage you clearly has made. You must realise that your words carry much more waigth when you go in an target one participant like this. Rather than some single member woices his opinion. I have never before see judges going inn to critique anyone in any of theese cahllenges.

If your comments caus Mark to drop out you surly have judged out one of the most loved and most popular participants of recent cahllenges. Beeing judged out at the end of this callenge should come as no suprise to anyone. But beeing judged out the first week is a bit more unusual I would argue.

Anyway I surly hope you stay on and do your thing Mark. I cant think of anyone I`d be more sorry to loose inn here. You have had one of the most popular treads in here. When so many people cair about what you do that shold be more important than the comment of one CG staff member.

[OKMER]

I'm out.

- Mark

No you're not!You're in bb!!!And your ducks really rocks!
Come on man!!!

your precense is greatly needed here! Today 01:49 AM
Exactly Mark!!!


One little kiss then maybe?:D:D

......

:beer:
waiting for the Mdavid Ducks....!!!

[GonzaloGolpe]

From my point of view I think there was a misunderstanding here. First of all I love Mark works and laugh a lot with his way to do them:applause:

To me, I think the first post of Leigh here was fine, just and advise to Mark and if a challenge judge do this, I think this action is laudable.

I hope they talk to arrange the "post-misunderstanding" and Mark, come on, I wish so much you stay here and keep on bringing your creativity for the joy of this world :D

And, of course, hope that everybody is ok and show your cool works ;)

Peace ;)

[mdavid]

Wow! Thank you folks for the wonderful support. To say I feel humbled and overwhelmed is an understatement.

I know my exit from this challenge would have come across as hasty and more than a bit irrational. You see, opting out wasn't the first thing I thought of doing. The first thing I intended to do was write a long response to leigh. So I thought for a long time about what to say, about why I do what I do, how her attitude and her approach and calling soapy obtuse stung and so on. And then after a long time I had one of those light-bulb-over-my-head moments when I suddenly knew exactly what it was I wanted to say, but then got stuck when I couldn't find a smiley blowing a raspberry.

To get back to the point about why I jumped so quickly, well to be honest, when the staff around here start bagging your ideas, calling your friends obtuse, disagreeing with you about the rules and so on then it's just not fun any more. I am always crazy busy with other stuff going on, work keeping me busy, trying to sell the house, working on my fitness, photography and so on and I realised I had suddenly lost all enthusiasm for the 100-plus hours of work I inevitably put into these things.

Having said as much, I'm now concerned that this thread might turn into a big distraction for everyone when there is a challenge on and some serious steampunking to do.

So I'll finish off this reply. Thank you again, everyone and I encourage you to dazzle us like you always do. I know you're damned good and you're about to prove it yet again. I'm off to lick my wounds for a little while but I have enough sense to realise that won't take long. I know this thing really is not very important. If it starts to feel like fun again then I'll be back here steampunking that bird. That's a promise

- Mark

[MartinNielsen]

Please return, Mark.

[GonzaloGolpe]

... a spanish omelette is waiting for you man so come back...:drool::p

ok, is your decision...

so you stay eh? haha

;)

[Gunilla]

All kinds of hugs and the likes will await you here if you feel the funniness about it return... until then,

cheers. :buttrock:

[varma]

Hey Mark, It's me again!
:D
I totally respect your decision and kind of understand your point!
However there exists a "Plan B", Where you could start a thread in the wip/3d section
and bring the duck to harbor, eh, over there! Of course when there is enough steam to
run the "machinery" once again!
Carrot juica and biscuits!!!
:wavey:

[JurajMolcak]

Hey Mark, nice to see you again. Just went quickly through this thread. There are some updates in FAQ section that might help you in this situation. I don't want to see you leaving the challenge, so I hope you can manage something great to continue. Good luck!

[Squibbit]

leigh had a point , don't take it too hard

since i often read the rules, or as it most often goes, hear about
them from a friend somewhere along the challenge, cause i don't care
about them that much, i started again with just some image
for this challenge and now been thinking if i should add some known
mythical entity to it.
I might leave it as is, though, cause i don't really care that much :P

you can continue to do this for fun, maybe it fares well regardless, hey,
or modify it so it fits better within the challenge guidelines or come up
with something new.

I think it's cool people come up with fun myths and legends of their own.

Anyways, main point is, i haven't followed your previous threads that closely,
but my friend Linda thinks you bring much fun to these challenges and
therefore you cannot quit.


.

[thebest]

:hmm: what can I say ....I guess that these people said it all mark ...We don`t really care if it is under the rules or not but we want u here completing ur entry ....please :love:

[miketche]

Wow, a controversial thread! Mark, if you come back you could call your entry, "The Legend of the Controversial Waterskiing Duck Image"!

Good luck in all you do!

[mdavid]

thanks again, people. You really are a fantastic bunch. I've got to get through some freelance work before I can even think about steampunking ducks, but it is really nice to feel so welcome.

Squibbit, I agree that leigh had a point and I honestly thank you for your gentle reminder of that important fact. The truth is that leigh would not be a judge if she didn't have a huge amount of experience and insight.

I feel a bit embarrassed that this blew up into such a big thing. Because this is not really a big thing at all. So let's all remember the real reason why we're here - there's a challenge on and the clock is ticking over. Let's all move on!

- Mark

[Thaldir]

Well, since, as it has been pointed out, there is a myth involving a duck crossing a body of water, all that it takes to bring this idea within the official rules is an edit of the story.

Mark, I understand if you don't feel like coming back, I'll just say that it won't be the same without you.

(edit) : we must have posted at the same time, Mark. Does that mean that you're here to stay? Hooray! :applause:

[Ivy00]

Good to see you will be coming back Mark. Gotta love the Squibby :) a man of few words, but wise.

Maybe the story of the ugly duckling... oh wait I think that is more like a fable than a myth or legend. Anyway, glad to see things working out here *hug

[MartinNielsen]

I don't think he made any promises, but anyway... :):):)

[Goro]

to bad you lost the "fun"
I can see your point but I hope you decide to come back.
Cheers!

[Ferx]

Hey Mark,

I´m a bit late :(

Agree with Tiziano, a challenge without you is not the same.

Like I say in a before post, I think is really great that you open your creativity to your own conception for the steampunk challenge, that is a really artist statement and worth much.

I understand your point and I will support you and be by your side, all the way, my friend :)

All the Best Mark !!
( And waiting that you come back to the challenge :D)

___________

Fernando

[nwiz25]

damn .. i missed a lot here :( ..

but just in time to know that you're coming back right?? i do hope so ... it'll never be the same without you :(


waiting for ya bro ... there's a challenge you gotta get back to!!:wise: .. ON WITH IT!! :scream:

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1226969802_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1226969802_large.jpg)

Okay, thanks again to everyone for the awesome levels of support. A big chunk of freelance work is finished for now and I can think again about this and so I'm definitely back in.

Here's the first look at the steampunk duck vessel. To get to this point I've looked at ducks and also steam-driven engines and merged them into this. Steampunk purists would be appalled at the more decorative approach I've taken. After all, to satisfy the essence of steampunk the components should be capable of being tooled in an old-tech workshop. But I have still (I hope) made sufficient concessions to the functionality of a true steampunk creation. Maybe I will bring the tech down a bit when I start modeling and see how the shape holds up.

Putting it simply, a steam engine works something like this: A burner boils water into steam, which builds up enough pressure to push a piston, which turns a flywheel and so on. In this case, the up-down movement of the piston rod is used to make the wings flap. Now, at first glance it will look like the piston will be powered during the upward push, which is the opposite of what you'd want where the wings need the real power on the downward stroke. My answer to that is, well I don't have one yet. But I'll probably be putting some simple levers in that will convert the up pressure into a downward one. All that lever action will have to go into the area which is currently hidden by the wing. Those levers will also add a bit of enjoyable mechanical complexity which should help the steam punk side of things along.

The construction materials will be partly wood and partly metal. Or maybe all metal. Who'd have thought ancient ducks were so advanced?

- Mark

[miketche]

Hey Mark, glad to see you back.

You've sure put a thought into the design of your steam powered duck. I just made stuff up so it would look cool for my image.

[Ferx]

Hey Mark!

Great that you back :D

Like a lot your engineering sketch on the steam duck :D Really clever my friend, like a lot the gear system for the duck's legs :D The steam exaust is a cool touch on the design. Cant wait to see your first model on this steam and speedy duck :D Cheers my friend :beer:

[Gunilla]

You're back - great!
That is a wonderful steamduck blueprint you made - it looks like you need to rehire all your old engineers for that construction. What's in the eye part, a logo? Any ideas for the surroundings yet?

[daWinky]

and so I'm definitely back in
I've hoped to hear this, best news of the day!:thumbsup:

The mighty duck blueprint looks well thought-out, who've thought of this advanced duck-technology indeed:) !

Glad to follow the progress again here,

-sabrina

[walrus]

Mark -

It's good to see you here, as always. And with a "controversial" entry, no less. :surprised Overall it's pretty rare for judges to pop in on any thread and comment on anyone's appropriateness of entry. If that happened more often, maybe someone would have dropped in on your Eon entry and perhaps pointed out the fact that the events that you depicted therein did not exactly match up to those described in Greg Bear's novel. But years later, when I think back on that Challenge, yours is one of the first entries that always pops into my mind.

I always look back on that entry with a great deal of respect for you following your own path and doing your own thing even though it didn't exactly fit the theme. Because nevertheless, you got some great stuff out of that challenge - feedback and praise from your peers, and a fine portfolio piece too. Sometimes your natural style dovetails quite nicely with the Challenge's theme (Strange Behavior comes to mind) and somtimes it doesn't... and you do your own thing anyhow. I, for one, appreciate that about you as an artist. (And I know I'm not alone because I recall with some amount of certainty that your threads have been among the most viewed in the past several Challenges.)

The Challenges are about a lot of things. The theme is one, and the Community is another, and I feel that you always add a lot to the community by being part of them. And if your peices don't quite fit the theme... well, lots of folks' images don't. Sometimes those images win anyhow, if they're pretty enough. To quote Mark Snoswell from the FAQ (post #129)

Judging:
Judging is primarily on artistic merit which includes storytelling. The appropriateness of the theme or any other issue is secondary to artistic and storytelling merit.

Popularity / familiarly of the theme:
This is secondary to artistic merit. Don't worry -- you wont have any disadvantage because your chosen myth is not widely known. If you are worried then just add a *short* explanation for the myth...
So I'd say, imho, just do your thing like you always do. And good seeing you here again! :)

[soapy]

heheh, great sketch Mark. That is one fine looking contraptual device. Welcome back.

[zachlost]

quack quack, it's looking very cool - what's it going to be set up against?

[MartinNielsen]

WOW! With that steam exhaust it looks like it can race the sun! :eek:

[Try]

Really great to have you back Mark.:wip:
And staying true to your Duck project!:applause:

The design looks great!

[GonzaloGolpe]

Great Mark, good to see you flying over here again ;)

[handlebar]

Great start Mark, i knew you couldn't be out for a duck, now i can happily sit back, cheer the boundry hits and watch the runs roll in.

[varma]

One big happy family, once again! Welcome back, mate!
"Passenger access" and "Navigation center", man, that's a nice touch!
Obviously this sketch is a result os hours of research and brainstorming!
Looking forward to seeing all those detail come out in 3d!
:)

[gpepper]

Oh, THANK YOU !

[paperclip]

You're staying! :beer:

*pitches tent*

More waterskiing duck plans, please!

[thebest]

looking amazingly good :beer: cool bananes lol :cool: keep going :wip:

[Russel-Nash]

Hi Mark,
really nice to see you entering this challenge, and even nicer to see you sticking to your original idea.
The steampunk duck looks mighty fun. Looking forward for more than 2 month full of fun and entertainment.

Good luck with the challenge. :arteest:

Torsten

[sasquatch70]

Hello Mark,
Cool idea. Welcome aboard.

Brad

[mdavid]

miketche
Thanks Michael. Yeah, I often just design according to what looks nice too, and seeing your Minotaur that system can clearly work very well. But this time I thought I'd let the machinery determine how it was going to look - partly as an experiment and partly as a deliberate concession to the steampunk style

Ferx
Thank you buddy. I anticipate the machinery look will result in the duck looking even more steampunk than the drawing suggests. Well, that's sort of the plan anyway. I'm pushing polygons around at the moment so should have some initial meshes posted some time soon

Gunilla
Thank you Gunilla. Funny - the engineers aren't returning my phone calls. I even tried saying my name was Gunilla Elam from Sweden but I think my voice gave my game away. So it looks like I'll be doing this without help. Well probably just as well too. Those guys sent me broke with their appetite for vanilla slices. With the eye, it was originally going to be a simple window for the pilots but I couldn't resist a bit of ornamentation - which will double as a safety feature - we can't have ducks falling out at high speeds. And as for the background, that depends on time. I think the ideal might be having it charging over a lake with a couple of primitive humans watching in wonder from the foreground

daWinky
Thank you Sabrina. I'm glad you like the blueprint. A lot of effort went into getting that information - ducks do not reveal their secrets easily

walrus
Thank you very much Mike. I always appreciate your comments and honesty and your encouragement and kind words mean a lot to me. My biggest concern is that my approach and style might be seen by some as mocking the amazing talent around here. People who know me well would be assured that I have great respect for what people here can do, even if my own art heads off in completely different directions. Yes, it is important to me to pursue my own path - after all, I am not pursuing a job in the games/film industries so it is no loss to me if my style does not appeal to those in that field.

soapy
Thank you soapy. If all goes according to plan its functionality will be self-evident. But even if all doesn't go to plan then at least it should result in something looking suitably steampunk

zachlost
Thank you Zach. Ideally, I'd like it to be skiing across a lake, with primitive humans watching it from the foreground

MartinNielsen
Thanks buddy :)

Try
Hey, as always, thank you buddy. I've started the 3D on the model so should have something to show soon

GonzaloGolpe
Thanks Gonzalo. Yep, despite a few ruffled feathers this duck is back in the pond

handlebar
LOL! Thanks Steve. I loved that 'out for a duck' comment must be the funniest so far! For all you folks who don't follow cricket, 'out for a duck' means to be out before you manage to get any runs on the board! Thanks for the encouragement buddy

varma
Thanks matey. Yeah, I spent some time looking at steam engines and also waterskiing ducks. Thanks for your encouragement

gpepper
Hey Gilles, thanks for your encouragement buddy

paperclip
Thank you so much Theresa! And congratulations to you on making such an amazing start to this challenge. Your thread has turned into an impressive gallery of delightful artworks

thebest
Thanks Tony. Yep, I'm going to keep going!

Russel-Nash
Thanks Torsten. Yep, more duck action heading this way. I truly don't know how much time I will have because there is a lot going on, but I'll be doing what I can

sasquatch70
Thank you Brad. Much appreciated :)

[Ivy00]

weee great to see the diagram of the Duck. He has all the essential parts to make one great steam powered contraption :)

[paperclip]

:wavey:

Thanks for your kind comments. :) I just dropped by to point you in this direction, in case you missed the plug for it in my thread.

http://www.crabfu.com/steamtoys/diy_steampunk/
Thought it'd be particularly useful for you, since you're doing a close up rather than a far-off-type thing.

Now...:wip: :deal:

EDIT: Gave you the 'smite' cartoon by accident, lol. Don't take it personally! :D I changed it to the right link....

[oneandonlyDiscoStu]

nice concept!

so is it driven by coal or breadcrumbs? :D

[Try]

nice concept!

so is it driven by coal or breadcrumbs? :D

In my opinion breadcrumbs is the only fuel that can give this thing the speed and pure duckpower to get up and flying away on it`s waterski`s. :)

[mdavid]

Ivy00
Thanks Linda. Yes, at the peak of duck civilisation they were remarkably good engineers

paperclip
Hey Theresa, thank you very much for that link. Yes, I had been looking at that website and was mighty impressed with those steam-powered toys and designs

oneandonlyDiscoStu
LOL! Gotta be breadcrumbs, surely! Thanks mate!

Try
I fully agree, Per. Liam provided the kind of thoughtfulness and insight this forum is famous for. I have no doubt ducks would have chosen breadcrumbs over coal any day

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1227327929_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1227327929_large.jpg)

With the weekend here at last I have some time to push some more polygons around. I've made many starts during the week but wasn't satisfied with anything I'd done. Then I realised I was treating the duck as a piece of organic modeling, whereas it should be looking like something tooled from old-tech machinery. So I quickly rebuilt it using some very simple shapes and got something much closer to the look I'm aiming for

- Mark

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1227327929_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1227327929_large.jpg)

Oops! Double post!

- Mark

[Ferx]

Hey Mark,


Cool design on the steampunk duck, like a lot!!. Great detail for the nostrils, puts a nice machine touch :D Really great start on your model and cant wait to se more updates on the steamy duck :D Cheers my friend!! :beer: + tequila !! :D

[Gunilla]

Oh yes - beautiful start for the duckie! I like the well balanced lines in it - like some designer toy. The eye is smashing.
I've bee tinkering with the same problem with my Skylla - how to find a balance between organic and machinery. This really inspires me to take it in another direction. thanks!

[miketche]

Ha! Great start.

[daWinky]

Hi Mark,

ah, the first polys, and some beautiful ones...Don't know how you've made it, but this looks like a perfect mix between organic and technical form:bowdown: , so just what is needed here! Good work and very clean modelling, now I'm even more eager to see updates soon...

Have a great weekend!:)

-sabrina

[varma]

Finally the modeling can start! I think you did a great job bridging between organic and
mechanical, as comented earlier, it's not an easy task when it comes to animals!
The eye looks especially well crafted!
Keep going!
:)

[OKMER]

What the Duck?...
This is gonna be great!!!
Nice to have you back Mark!

[oneandonlyDiscoStu]

a gear as punk haircut is a brilliant idea!

for the blank parts you should maybe consider going into a tin toy direction.
the way the two halfs of tin toys are clamped togheter could look really nice.
heres a link to the best example i could find http://picture.yatego.com/images/44570c999ce3c4.2/Fahrradfahrer_Blechspielzeug_14076.jpg

keep up the great work

[Try]

Great start on the modeling. I really like the punk Mohawk on the head.
How large is this thing though. how many duck passengers?

[thebest]

lady`s and gentlemen we now have a duck:beer: keep going mark I like what I`am seeing

[soapy]

Good start on the modeling, go, go, gadget duck!

[mdavid]

Ferx
Thank you! :) Yep, more steampunk duck updates heading this way soon

Gunilla
Thanks buddy! :) It's funny how our brains get used to a certain way of working. It was interesting that your Skylla presented you with the same puzzle

miketche
Cheers! :)

daWinky
Hey Sabrina, thank you! More polys are on their way

varma
Thank you. I'm happy with the mix of organic and technical so far, but I think I might have a bit of a challenge maintaining it as I work through the rest of the modeling. It is definitely something I will be thinking about

OKMER
Hey Remko, thanks buddy :)

oneandonlyDiscoStu
Thank you. That is a really good suggestion. I will look into that kind of join, because the blank parts are currently a bit too blank.

Try
Hey Per buddy, thank you.
How large is this thing though. how many duck passengers?
I'm finding it strangely difficult getting my hands on reliable data ;) but I personally believe the waterskiing duck was an impressively large craft, with between 12 and 24 roosts inside the main body of the craft, and a nest for the pilot and copilot inside the head section

thebest
Thanks Tony! Much appreciated

soapy
Thanks for that. Yep, it is definitely a gadget duck

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1227432567_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1227432567_large.jpg)

I've had some time this weekend to work on the modeling again. Although I'm pretty happy with the look of it so far, I'm concerned about maintaining a consistent level of complexity throughout it. Liam (oneandonlyDiscoStu) had a nice idea about putting some tin toy joints into the blank sections. I was going to fill that area with some rivets but I think his idea is much more elegant. And in the mix of organic versus machine, the machine side of things should get a bit of help when it starts getting textured out in metals.

But there's a lot more modeling to go yet.

Here's the progress so far, with some sketching over the top to show how I plan to bring it together. I'm pleased to report that the powered upward push of the piston rod is now converted to a downward flap of wings via a simple lever. The workings for that will be clearer as I add more bits to it

- Mark

[Try]

You sure have been busy Mark.
This is looking splendid so far. But I have some technical questions.
Where is the window fore the pilot? Is it the nostril on the duck beak or the eye?
The neck and head could be hinged so the head could be lowered when the speed gets close to mach 1. Don`t know if it`s aerodynamically necessary. but it could be cool.
The mechanics of the wings looks great!

[varma]

Cool beans! You are fast and you are doing great! Love the mechanics behind the pistons
and engine! I hope the wings won't cover up much of those nice details!
Great 3D as usual!
:thumbsup:

[andycircus]

I like the setup of how you're going to attach the wings, so they flap.
I thought of maybe a good idea of it standing stuck on the edge of a pond, rusted.
This would add a sad element. :D

[MartinNielsen]

Nice work :thumbsup: But I'm wondering about the pilot as well.

[oneandonlyDiscoStu]

yeah that looks good.
i can already imagine that paintover really well

[soapy]

Lookin good Mark . That is one fine looking robo-quack.

[nandlaskar]

you seemed to have picked the pace. ur concepts seems interesting. would follow ur thread :thumbsup:

[daWinky]

Hi Mark,

I see you've put a lot of thoughts in the concept of your duck, and what can I say...no crits from me, looks perfectly well. I woudn't worry about the level of details, the overlayed sketch looks promising enough!:wise:

Have a good start in the week!

-sabrina

[thebest]

keep going my friend ...:bounce:

[mdavid]

Try
Thanks buddy. I really appreciate your thoughts. You are absolutely right to raise the issues about lowering the head and also the rather significant matter of how the pilots are supposed to see anything. So on the first point, I've now got the neck hinged and nicely flexible. And on the second point, I've given the duck a striped face - that stripe will double as a windscreen.

varma
Thank you. It is likely the wings will cover some of the detail, but I'll try to aim for a rendering angle where most is visible.

andycircus
Thank you for the excellent idea. Standing on the edge of the pond, rusting away, is a very elegant suggestion and I will definitely give that some serious thought :)

MartinNielsen
Thanks buddy. It's funny that I had never even thought about how the pilots were going to see out. No doubt that goes a long way to explain why I work as an illustrator rather than a aircraft designer. But coming after this post is an update showing a windscreen.

oneandonlyDiscoStu
Thank you! I haven't forgotten your idea about the tin-toy seam, by the way

soapy
Thanks mate. It's a shame that Roboduck never had the commercial success of that other movie.

nandlaskar
Thank you :)

dawinky
Thanks buddy. It's always a treat to get your feedback

thebest
Yep, I'll definitely keep going

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1227515939_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1227515939_large.jpg)

Per (Try) made a really good point. He mentioned the fact that as the steam-driven duck picked up speed it would need to lower its head. I don't why I didn't think of that before. Certainly, if the ducks didn't think of that then this might have been a significant factor in their downfall. But I'm sure the ducks would have done things properly.

So I cranked up my copy of Cinema and tweaked a few polys. That gave me a chance to clean up my mesh a bit too.

As for the question about where the pilot ducks look out, you'll notice a windscreen has formed around the front of the head. The more I think about it, the more I think pilots being able to see is a good idea

- Mark

[AUMAKUA]

Cute duckie :)

[gpepper]

already nice !
Keep the nice steaming duck style on !

[Gunilla]

Oh my, two big updates in such short time - this sure isn't a lame duck ;)
The construction is as always very well thought out, no questions this will actually work.
I like the idea of Anycircus too, some gracious sadness could be a very nice twist.

Lovely work and now I'm so curious to see what you have in mind for texturing :buttrock:

[Try]

Looking sharp Mark!
Much more sensible neck design now and smart thing to put in that stopping pin at the end of the bolt that holds the neck in place.
forget these details and people just won`t believe it.:)

I have some issues with the passenger comforts now that we have solved the looking out problem of the pilot.
maybe you could move the paperhangers up on deck and the engine down below. Must be kind of uncomfortable for the litle ducks to sit dow there right under the boiler and in the midst of all those big gears... Come to think of it this may have been the cause of the demise of the Ducks and the rise of the well loved dish Duck stew...!:eek:

[Ferx]

Hey Mark,

Superb model my friend!! :D Love all the great details on it and the addition of the flexible neck is a great touch on your design, cool!! Perhaps, if the head gear is only a garnish, you can do it more stylized, only a comment :) Again, awesome work !! Cheers my friend !! :beer:

[andycircus]

You could actually do two renders, one render with it running around practically alive,
with fresh and sparkling metal, and then the other one hundeds of years later rusted in
the pond.:D
That would make some people cry :D

[daWinky]

Hi Mark,

I aggree that the flexible neck is a great addition, and I'm glad to discover that the pilot will be able to see something..Looking forward to see more masterpieces of responsible engineering thinking!

-sabrina

[Goro]

fun stuff mark!
Are you planning to make the duck a bit cartoony and wacky when you're done with modeling?

[varma]

Great progress! all the pieces are falling into place, getting closer to the texturing part!
Looking really forward to that!
Good luck!
:)

[mdavid]

AUMAKUA and gpepper
Thank you :)

Gunilla
Thanks Gunilla. Yeah, Andycircus's idea is a good one, certainly. I am definitely thinking of it as an option

Try
Cheers, Per. I'm glad you like the pin holding the neck in. Early tests by the ancient ducks revealed an annoying habit of the head flying off when the bird hit high speeds. So the pin became an essential safety feature. I'd even go so far as to say that's when I think duck civilisation really took off.

Thank you for your excellent thoughts about the accommodation too. You clearly display a fine grasp of this particular mythology. The thought of the passengers lined up along the top is intriguing but I can't resist the thought of them bunched up inside, perhaps with their heads looking out like dogs leaning out of car windows

Ferx
Thanks matey. Nice idea to work on the head some more. It will be fun to give that a go

andycircus
Once again, nice idea. Thank you :)

daWinky
Thanks Sabrina. Yes, I always like my engineering to be responsible :)

Goro
Hey Goro, no I don't plan on making it very cartoony this time. As much as I enjoy the results of doing that kind of thing it also takes a lot more effort to get my style to work in 3D, mainly because my particular 2D cartoon style is one which is not based in any kind of three-dimensional formations and I'm a bit short on time in this challenge. But maybe next time! By the way, I love the illustrations you are making so far in this challenge

varma
Thanks Matthias. I'll post a preliminary textured render right after this post

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1227925245_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1227925245_large.jpg)

This texturing is definitely not final. But I wanted to slap some metals onto the mesh to see how it was steampunking along. I've given the bird some feet and also a doorway on the side of the body but other than that, not much more to show here.

Fernando suggested I work on the head some more and even though I'm not sure what I'll do it does sound like fun trying. So I'll be having a go at that. I do want to keep the beak (and the feet) close to the organic appearance of a real duck though, because I want them to contrast with the robotic steampunk look of everything else. Also, a duck's beak and webbed feet are so essentially 'duckish' I'm keen to keep them the way they are. It seems somehow disrespectful to muck about with features like that

- Mark

[greenpizza]

Hello, looks cool your steampunk style for the duck! :bounce: , I'd say you just a little bit less reflections on the metal shaders, but it depends which metal you'll use on it.
good progress!

[Ferx]

Hey Mark,

That textures are looking really awesome. Love the mix of the streamline design on the duck ( do you remember the old F1 mercedes benz silver arrows - from 50's - ?? :D ( I love antique racing cars :D) ) and the design of the steam machine sytem. Great combination!!, you achived a futuristic touch with the steampunk concept, coooool !! :D Can't wait to see your work over the wings design and system :D Cheers my friend!! you deserve a big bottle of tequila :D

[mdavid]

dapi
Thanks David. You are right about those shaders. I'll keep an eye on that

Ferx
Thank you buddy. Yes, I do remember those lovely old antique racing cars. Very classy!

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1227957541_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1227957541_large.jpg)

Here's some progress on the wings. When the steam pressure pushes the piston up it pushes a lever, making the other end of the lever pull the wings down. It's not widely known, but ducks were good with things like that

- Mark

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1227960692_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1227960692_large.jpg)

Here are a few views of the redesigned head. I'm happy with this look because it's got the simplicity I want, while retaining the look of a duck

- Mark

[MartinNielsen]

Nice. I think the color test works really well with the model :)

[thebest]

lol look at that head that`s a very elegant duck :bounce: ........keep going :wip:

[varma]

Hey Mark!
You got some great shader testing going on, looks very expensive! The head looks a whole
lot better now after the redo, and the pilot section was a smart Idea!
I was just wondering how the thing on his head would look like if it was scaled down as it
moves forward, like, smaller up front and bigger toward the neck! Huh, silly Idea, I'm sure!
Keep going, my friend!
:)

[mdavid]

MartinNielsen
Thanks Martin. Those tex were only temporary but it was handy to get a rough preview of how it would look

thebest
Thanks Tony. I'm pretty happy with the head now. That's not to say I'll leave it like this forever, just that I'm happy with it for now!

varma
Thanks matey. I really appreciate your observation about the head. I went back and compared my model with my photos of ducks and sure enough, I'd made the beak too long and the head a bit big too. So you were absolutely right about that. So now I've shortened the beak. But for slightly cartoonish-style reasons I want to keep the head a bit oversized. I suppose I could argue that it needs room for the pilot ducks in there, but to be honest it's a style thing

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1228026950_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1228026950_large.jpg)

I've been working on the duck some more. Some of the stuff is small detail which I doubt is necessary (although it's kind of fun). And some are big things, like the addition of the suspension system for the legs.

The little things include changing the shape of the hole in the lever where it's connected to the piston rod. In the earlier design the lever would have exerted horizontal force on the piston rod as the piston went up and down. Things like this might not be important visually but I imagine it would be of immense importance to the ducks when the piston rod snapped at high speed.

There are other little things which I now realise are kind of stupid. For example, I've got a door in the side of the body to let the passenger ducks in, while there is still a great big opening in the side where they could all fall out again. I suppose I'll put some bars over that opening

- Mark

[soapy]

Looking good Mark. I like the redesigned head better too. It sort has a 'super duck' thing going on. Go, Go, Go.

[AUMAKUA]

The evolution of the duck is going really well, bravo ! would like to see some dirty textures on this cutie :)

[handlebar]

Great progress Mark i love the cast metal shape of the body, maybe make the tail pipes a bit more interesting like the fishtail exhausts of an oldschool chopper. Excelent stuff.

[varma]

Weee Mark, great update! The faceted shape of the main body looks a lot more
interesting in this mechanical interpretation, Bonzai, and I love the way the wings
are building up, good angle!
I'm really sorry about the confussion in my last reply, I was simply refering to the
"cogwhell" on the head, (I had to look it up today!), but anyhow, you are doing
super great, and your designs are always fascinating and clever!
Rock on!
:buttrock:

[Gunilla]

Holy smoke, that is some steamy bird! :thumbsup:
I like your latest updates, everyone makes it yet a bit believable. The neck now is super cool and combined with the new black bandit stripe for the eyes it's really rocking.
I'm also glad to see your concearns for the safety of the passengers - maybe a bird net could be a good way of stopping them from falling out?

[Try]

Try
Cheers, Per. I'm glad you like the pin holding the neck in. Early tests by the ancient ducks revealed an annoying habit of the head flying off when the bird hit high speeds. So the pin became an essential safety feature. I'd even go so far as to say that's when I think duck civilisation really took off.

Thank you for your excellent thoughts about the accommodation too. You clearly display a fine grasp of this particular mythology. The thought of the passengers lined up along the top is intriguing but I can't resist the thought of them bunched up inside, perhaps with their heads looking out like dogs leaning out of car windows


I now have don some research and found that you are right again bro!
Apparently Ducks and many other birds lie to travel in large groups together.
Like you can see on this photo.
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/4997/birdspr3.jpg

These birds are on their way to a Fair it says in the text. It must be a funfair i recon for they all look pretty exited. I also guess it is a form of charter tour they are on. You dont see the Ducks i imagine beaus they like to ride cheap on touristclass int the bootom back of the cabine (the high roling Gees and cocks ar rideing up front on first class.

Anyway I now fully realise the way tins is working in the bird comunity and totally understand your coice of passenger accomedetions on your wonderfull craft.:bowdown:

By the way fantstic progress there Mark! I truelly love all the technical details.
This duck Rocks:beer:!!

[mdavid]

soapy
Thank you! Yep, I'm happy with how this guy is coming along. With another couple of months it's possible I'll make more changes but right now I am happy with how it's looking

AUMAKUA
Thank you! Yes, it is looking likely that I will be putting in some grime and corrosion

handlebar
Cheers buddy. That is a great idea for the tail pipes. I notice in real birds that when they land they fan their tail out. And of course a bird landing on water is where I'm getting my picture research done (see my pic below as an example), but I think I can definitely make it look more interesting than how I've done it

http://www.mdavid.com.au/cg/landing.jpg

varma
Thanks mate. I appreciate all your crits and suggestions. They all go into this muddled head of mine and help me make sense of where I'm going

Gunilla
Thank you. Nice idea about the bird net. I might steampunk some metal bars in a bird-nettish sort of way

Try
Thank you for the wonderful photo there Per. My own extensive research has encountered similar photos but none as cheering to the heart and soul as your own. Yes, those birds do look excited, and who can blame them, with no end of surprises in store for them at the fair.

There are a couple of things I especially like in your example - first of all, as you've already pointed out, it appears to be a dual-class carriage. That tourist class looks eerily similar to economy class in modern human aviation doesn't it?

The other thing I find encouraging is the fact that ducks, chickens and the solo goose are traveling peacefully in the same carriage. You know, those tribes didn't always get along so well. Who can forget their Hundred Years War (measured in duck years, it wasn't as long-lasting as our own) and the War of the Roses (the avian version of which was a brawl over which birds had access to all the bugs in a particular flower garden). In both those conflicts the chickens staged midnight raids on the ducks, resulting in a level of distrust which exists between the tribes even today.

But when you look at that cheery photo you know it's all good between the tribes. I even notice that the chickens have granted all the window seats to the ducks, which is a wonderful gesture, I think. Positive scenes like that make me more optimistic about humans' own tenuous future on this planet.

[miketche]

Fantastic detailing on the duck. Really looking great! And I love reading all the silly comments in your thread.

[Try]

Thank you very much for that lecture on the feather tribes and their history Mr. David. I never knew about the rivalry between them. It seems pretty clair though that the Ducks was the Leonardo`s among them. The world never experienced a water skiing chicken machine.:rolleyes:
Ha, ha tath would have been ridicules! :)
I think the other tribes must have been more like the pour cousins of the Ducks. Much like chimpanzees and hillbillies are to us.

Keep up the good work Mark! And by the way that suspension system you have on the duck is brilliant! Definitely a design worthy of the Feather Leonardo`s of the past.:beer:

[daWinky]

Hey Mark,

wow, some amazing progress here, you've been more than busy!
:thumbsup: for all the updates, the mechanical changes are all well thought out and the shader test shows your good modeling...and even 2 thumbs up for the good read here, always a pleasure to go through your comments!

-sabrina

[M477]

Nice work on the duck, I like the leaf springs addition to the legs. :cool:

[mdavid]

miketche
Thanks Michael. I'm glad you're able to follow this thread too. Maybe you can explain it to me

Try
Ah, Per. It's always a treat to see another comment from you. I'm learning as much from you as I am from the ducks. I agree that the ducks were the Leonardos of the bird kingdom. That's a good way to see it, and I have a hunch the ducks would like that way of seeing it too.

daWinky
Thanks Sabrina. Yes, I've finished some freelance and found a bit of time to immerse myself in the 3D again. It's been a while since I pushed some polys around my screen so it's been nice to rediscover it

M477
Thanks Matt. To work properly the main cog wheel which adjusts the angle of the legs would also have to be on some sort of spring system so I still might put some springs or shock absorbers in there

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1228138694_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1228138694_large.jpg)

Finally, some feathers on the wings. They are fairly minimal because I don't want them to hide all the steam engine stuff.

I've got some brass rods over the hole in the bird's side too, to stop the ducks from falling out when it hits some rough water or something. At first I tried Gunilla's idea of making it look sort of like a bird net, but then I kind of liked it when I removed the horizontal strands.

I've also run with Steve's idea to tweak the steam exhaust pipes a bit

- Mark

[thebest]

wow really wow mate this looks amazingly good :beer: keep going :wip:

[Gunilla]

That looks really good. Now, how about some top view, bottom view etc? I'd love to examin all that glorious machinery closer. Only thinking about duck security of course.

[mrpeace]

Nice work on the DUCK.!:cool:

OPERATION KRAKEN [top secret] (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=278&t=696253)

[Slav]

hahah great work! cant wait to see your comp.

[daWinky]

Wow, great update Mark!

The exhaust system looks both now, efficient and very stylish!:thumbsup: And you've just the good amount of "feathers" to give the right impression, I like the way they are connected to the construction.
All parts are coming together in a perfect organic-mechanic mix now, for some reason I think that the feet still stand out...I can't say exactly why or offer a better solution, but I think you should have another look here, perhaps an additional joint where the webbing starts can do the trick:shrug: ...

-sabrina

[warpv]

Hey Mark!

The duck is looking really awesome! Very steampunkish! ;) I love all the mechanical parts, it really looks like it's all functionnal. I also would like to see some closer shots/other views to see more of the work and effort that was put into it.

Looking forward to seeing the next update!

[Zapan]

Hey Mark !

Awesome work as usual ! , the duck is simply excellent !
Best wishes mate !

cheers ,

-Zapan

[Goro]

haha that's fun looking mark!

[Ferx]

Hey Mark,

Really great updates :D The wings system looks awesome. Agree with you about a less feathers for see better the whole steam machine :D The exhausts are a great touch!! Perhaps the duck's feet looks a bit reallistic compared with the body and wings machine style, only a comment :D

Great and amazing work my friend!! Cheers!! :beer:

[MVDB]

wow man, that duck is looking great! Sweet design!

I'll follow along on this thread.. Very nice work so far!

[vichar]

beautiful way of steampunk

[varma]

Excellent work on the feathers, just enough volume to care for the uplift and still minimal
not to cover all those fine detail of the engine! Great Balance, I would say!
The new improved shader is very nice and brings up the feeling of the past, which I think
will add a new dimension to this partucular scene, I'm wondering how the reflection of blue
sea and sky will affect the reflection, would be a very interesting imagery!
Thanks again for the kind input on my thread!
Have a great weekend!
:applause:

[nwiz25]

i sure missed a lot bro! :cry: very original and stylistic! :applause:
i was browsing through a couple of images on google and came across this 'rhino' ..

http://www.boingboing.net/images/_0703_pierre_matter_13_pierre_matter_010.jpg

thought it would give you some more ideas on details n stuff .. in fact, in more ways than one, you've already attained that steampunkish look :p
me very curious about the composition :bounce:
all the best bro! :thumbsup:

[mdavid]

thebest
Thanks Tony. Unfortunately things will be slowing down a bit for a while now

Gunilla
Cheers Gunilla. A close-up view is on the way after this post

mrpeace
Thank you very much :)

Slav
Hey Slav, thanks mate!

daWinky and Ferx
Thank you Sabrina and Fernando. I think you are both right about the feet. My original plan was to have the feet (and beak) based on more realistic organic shapes - to work in stark contrast to the mechanical clunkiness of the rest of the thing. But now I think the feet are kind of stuck in the middle between organic and mechanical - with the result that they don't work well in either mode.

I think I can go two ways here - either make the feet even more organic (complete with scaly tex) or else make them more mechanical. I'm now leaning more to the mechanical.

I plan to keep the beak's shape organic though. I think it needs it for character

warpv
Hey thank you :) I'm posting a better view of the machinery right after this

Zapan
Hey thanks buddy. Very kind of you

Goro
Thanks Goro :) Much appreciated mate!

MVDB
Thank you Michael. I feel very flattered hearing that from you :)

vichar
Thank you vichar. Much appreciated :)

varma
Thanks mate! Those tex were only temporary, but I did try a bit of AO to grubby them up a bit, and that will give an idea where I am headed. The truth is I'm not sure if what I'm going to do with the tex will even work but it will be interesting for me to find out. And yes, the environment will definitely affect things a lot

nwiz25
Hey Neville, thanks buddy. Thanks for the link to that steampunk rhino too! I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to check out your thread yet - I've been much busier than normal this time around, but I'm keen to see what you've been up to

[mdavid]

I'm more than ready to accept that unwrapping a duck might translate as plucking it. When in fact I am wrestling with its UVs.

One of the nice things about steampunk is that, by definition it involves simple shapes producing simple UVs which need less wrestling on my part. But I'm still not as fast at this as many of you folks here.

I need to unwrap the UVs, partly for the obvious reasons but also so I can bake some AO maps. I'll be using those AO maps as guides to where all the grime build-up is going to be applied

- Mark

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1228539758_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1228539758_large.jpg)

I was back at the pond this week watching the ducks. And I was thinking, 'Those ducks - they're onto me.' I mean, they were looking at me kind of funny.

So I came back to my computer and looked carefully at what I was doing. And then I saw it! The way I'd done things, the big horizontal bar which pushes the wings down, well it would have tried to push through the feathers on the downward strokes. That would have caused the whole thing to jam up. Which would mean the steam pressure would build up until the boiler exploded. Innocent ducks would die.

So you can imagine the urgency.

I've now bent the horizontal bar up in a way much more like how I think the ducks would have done it.

I can go down to the pond and look those birds in the eye again.

I know, I could just stick a pressure-release valve up there on the boiler like they do in real steam engines and I still might do that.

So here's a better look at the steam machinery and wing-flapping mechanism (after I fixed it)

- Mark

[miketche]

I know I've said it before (I'm sure I have), but the detail in your modeling is just fantastic. I never bother with unwraping my models for texturing (don't have body paint anyway) but I can definitely see how it can improve the quality of an image.

[Micro26]

Nice thinking with the flaping mechanism, it looks already looking superb and i cant wait to see this with textures on :thumbsup:
Keep it up

[Try]

Fantastic engineering job Mark.:applause:
You must make the Ducks down at the pond proud.
Or maybe they just think you are a quack....;)

[mdavid]

miketche
Awwww, thanks Michael! :) That's cool to know you can get results as good as yours without unwrapping. Maybe I'll get through this a bit faster then...

Micro26
Thank you! It's true that texturing will transform this duck. I'm looking forward to that part

Try
Hahah! Yes, but when a duck calls you a quack it is the highest possible compliment ;)

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1228560637_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1228560637_large.jpg)

Here's the second close-up detail of the machinery for today. But this time it's the new-look feet. Thanks to some very helpful feedback from Sabrina and Fernando I've decided to go mechanical on the feet. Only the beak retains the organic form now.

After unwrapping a bunch of UVs today it sure was nice to be modeling again. Because it's more fun making UVs than unwrapping them

- Mark

[Gunilla]

It's good to hear that you have the local ducks to steer you in the right direction - also a proof that the legend is still very much alive, how else would they know?
The closeups is nothing but fantastic! I supposed they where going to be very nice detailed and sure they are - a lot of caring and thought have got into that model and it shows. Very beautiful shapes.
I will need some time to melt the new foot design - I somehow fancied the old one. Smashing anyway!

I feel for you and the unwrapping horror - it's definitely not among my favs either. :shrug:

[Ferx]

Hey Mark,

Fantastic work my friend. I´m really impresed with the true engineering work on your model and your commitment on it. :) ( In my concepts I´m only thinking about throwing steam from some pipes and that its all.... hahahahahaha :D ) Like a lot your change on the duck´s feet, really cool system, the springs detail on it is really great!!

Again, superb work my friend! Cheers !! :beer:

[varma]

Gotta love all that intricate design and details! These closeups show a whole lot more of
the planning and research you have done! Hehe, it reminds me of the Nat. geo's
"Engineering marvels" TV-show! would be cool to see the final scene!
Keep up the good work!
:)

[Jason Ogg]

Are You gonna make more details on a ducks feet (joints, maybe a membrane between toes, etc.), as You,ve made it on the rest of Her beautyful body? :)

Anyway, keep up the good work

[handlebar]

Great to see the structure of your duck evolve, it's great to see how your working parts could work, very thought out and clever.

[daWinky]

Hey Mark,

yes, that it is:thumbsup: ! Love the new feet, fits perfectly now in the overall concept and it's just great to see the details in your close-up! Nothing to crit here, fantastic work and I'm looking forward to follow the next steps...

-sabrina

[MartinNielsen]

Just a note from me to wish you and your duck all the best :)

[jeromoo]

Hi there, Mark! Nice work on the mechanism of the duck! I am thinking that the feet could have more details and mechanism as well, instead of as a flat paddle. looking forward to further progress! cheers!

[mdavid]

Gunilla
Thanks Gunilla :) Yes, trust the ducks. They know...

Regarding the duck foot - the more I look at it the more I'm still not satisfied with the change. And if it's not good enough for me then you can be certain it's not good enough for the ducks. So I'll be updating that.

Ferx
Thanks for that! I'm glad you like the duck's feet. Hopefully you will like them a little bit more after I've reworked them a bit

varma
Hey Mathias, thank you. Yes, the research has been intensive - ducks do not reveal their secrets easily

Jason Ogg
Hey thanks for dropping by with the kinds words. Yes, I will definitely be working on the feet some more

handlebar
Hey thanks Steve. In this image I'm letting the functionality dictate the appearance. I often don't worry too much that about that but this time it's been a conscious decision to go that way and I admit it's kind of fun

daWinky
Thanks Sabrina. I'm glad you like the new feet. I will be working on them just a bit more though. I think the flat area (the bit that used to be the webbed foot) looks a bit too flat at the moment.

MartinNielsen
Thank you Martin. Much appreciated :)

jeromoo
Hey Jerome, thank you very much. I totally agree with what you say about the feet. Each time I look at the image the feet seem quite different to the look and feel of the rest of the image. So I was thinking about reworking them. And now a few others have suggested the same thing. So I will play some more there

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1228789634_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1228789634_large.jpg)

After not unwrapping a UV in what seems like ages it was me that was rusty, instead of the duck. But I'm starting to remember some of my old tricks again. And then I've been baking some AO into some maps in order to help plan my textures. For some of the little objects I'm not bothering with all that work, but the large surfaces are getting the full treatment.

So here's what I've done so far.

I plan to rework the duck's feet too. To be honest, the feet could end up being hidden by water in my final comp and if I was chasing an early deadline I wouldn't bother too much with them for that reason, but I'd like to fix them up anyway

- Mark

[mdavid]

Looking at the duck's foot some more, I'm wondering which way I should go. There is the obvious steam-punk approach with leaf springs supporting a metal planing-surface foot. Or a slightly Frankenstein-ish approach of putting the organic-shaped foot bolted onto the existing steampunk joints and swivels.

http://www.mdavid.com.au/cg/leafsprings.jpg

Any preferences?

- Mark

[daWinky]

Hey, the texturing looks fine, I think you're not rusty at all with this! :thumbsup:

I agree about the flat part of the foot, if you have the time some additional work can make it better, but the overall look is really great already...and I clearly prefer the leaf spring solution for the connection!:)

-sabrina

[Try]

Oh man decisions... Could we have both?:)
Mind you I guess the duck`s would choose the organic look.

[thebest]

go mate go go go :beer:

[miketche]

Ya, I think the organic look would be a better choice for the foot.

Also, nice start on the texturing. Are you unwrapping or using standard projection methods?

[soapy]

Frankenstein for sure! I like the new mottled texture too, it makes a big improvement.

[mdavid]

Thanks for the votes, folks!

So, that's 1 vote for mechanical, 2 for organic, and 1 for both. I admire the fact that Per considered the wishes of the ducks. Organic wins. Just. And looking at these new feet, I admit I do find the Frankenstein-ish look kind of fun.

Are you unwrapping or using standard projection methods?I'm doing both. The bigger objects are being unwrapped and individually textured, while the smaller bits are just getting the material projected onto them.

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1228875691_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1228875691_large.jpg)

It's been fun pushing some polygons around again. Here's the latest version of the feet

- Mark

[warpv]

Hey Mark!

Thanks for all the close-up shots, it's awesome to see all the detail you've put into it! And it's great to see that you're actually thinking of how each mechanical part will interact with each other! :)

I haven't been around for a while, but it seems as though you've been having fun with UVs! ;) The start of the textures looks fine to me! Looking forward to seeing the whole duck textured!

Keep it up!

[madshooter]

Very nice concept. Model looks real cool. Texture start looks good, maybe you can add some rust, not too much but little bit.
Keep up the good work:thumbsup:

[varma]

Very good rework on the feet, it feels a lot better now, kind of plastic feel to set against
the metal body!
Yeah, UV mapping can sometimes be very daunting and dull, I'm glad you put that part
behind!
Be well!
;)

[jeromoo]

The feet looks lovely! :)

Even though the feet will be underwater, but we can still see it through the transparency a bit, I suppose. :)

Lovely duck!

[Steyn]

Wait wait wait wait wait waaaaait a second....a person can make up their own legends and myths? Dang, and here I was going through fables and stories wracking my brain to try and choose one.

Love the waterskiing duck idea, can't wait to see even more. The feet does look amazing, and jeromoo has a point, how much of them will we see in the final?

[Gunilla]

Fantastic feet! And I really like the thought of the ducks feeling more secure travelling, when they see the style of the navigation stands. As always you show a great respect for our smaller neighbours. Lovely work!

[Try]

I`m really glad you went with the way of the Ducks. :)

come to think of it the Ducks have it all dont they. they can travel on land, air, water. And they are funny to. I wish I was a duck!

[OKMER]

hey David!
Been a while, but some Duck fetish gay man got my attention and so, me back!hahaha!
Personaly I prefer the organic feet.
Love it as usual!

[handlebar]

Cool feet Mark, this quacker is steaming along nicely!

[Ferx]

Hey Mark,

Nice updates my friend :D
You go back to the organic feet :D Think is right if the feet where in the water on your final render, like you say :) I´m thinking on a style hidroplane skies for the feet..... :D no, no, just kidding ... :D Cheers!! :beer:

[daWinky]

Hey Mark,

though the "Frankenstein" solution wasn't my first choice, I've to admit now that this was a wise decision. Looking great and the main point is, that they fit with the additional stuff much better in the overall concept of your duck. So no crits from me, just:applause: ...

-sabrina

[mdavid]

warpv
Hey thanks for that. It's probably been about a year since I even looked at a UV but I seem to be remembering my old tricks again :)

madshooter
Thank you Roshan. Yep, I'm adding corrosion around the crevices and joints - as you say, not too much. Copper goes green if it corrodes a lot and so I want it to look like the corrosion has only just started

varma
Thanks buddy. The truth is I'm still busy unwrapping and then baking the AO maps, but because the shapes are fairly simple that is not turning out to be a big problem

jeromoo
Thank you. Yes, I expect the feet will at least be partially visible. But it's also kind of fun in these challenges, where you get a couple of months on a single image - to be a bit more thorough than what you'd be with a tight deadline

Steyn
Thanks Steyn. Regarding the issue of making up our own legends and myths, ummm... (puts on flame-proof suit) as I understand it, the judges will be expecting entries based on actual legends and you will probably be putting yourself at a disadvantage if you go and invent something of your own. Early in the FAQ one of the judges said it would be pretty hard to confirm the validity of every entry's myth/legend so he could not rule out people making up their own myths, but seriously, if you want to do well in this challenge then I think you are best advised to think carefully about the guidelines and choose a genuine myth (genuine myth seems to contradict itself!).

As for me, to be honest my style and approach and personal goals/taste never give me a chance in these challenges. Instead I like to enter them purely for the fun and community aspect. I also have a lot of respect for many of the artists here and watching them work is another attraction for me personally. Providing we all observe the forum rules and challenge rules then this approach seems to be okay.

So I would say your time spent researching fables and stories was not wasted at all. If you want to invent your own myth, then my advice is go right ahead anyway but only with the understanding that it is probably not going to help you in the challenge.

Now I've said all this stuff, I just have to hope the ducks have not been reading this

Gunilla
Hey Gunilla, thanks for that. Yes, ducks are people too

Try
Thanks buddy. I thank you and the ducks thank you. And now since reading your thread (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=278&t=695611) the ducks here have discovered Akevit and their chest feathers are getting thicker. Their quacking seems much deeper now too. You know, I'm thinking that if they'd discovered Akevit earlier then maybe they might have triumphed over the humans in the historic clash over supremacy on this planet. Because as you know, it could have gone either way.

And yes, ducks do have it all. If they could travel in outer space as well then I think they would be unstoppable, and sometimes I even wonder about that. For example, who can forget that famous photo of Neil Armstrong's footprint on the moon? Well, was it just me, or did you also notice all those duck foot prints messing up the luna dust in the background? Not for the first time, I think we are being denied all the facts and I think these challenges play an essential role in getting the truth back out there.

OKMER
Hey thanks buddy. I'm glad you like the feet. I asked the ducks and they seemed happy with them too so I'll continue down that path.

handlebar
I admit that my experiences with duck stew, Duck a l'Orange and Peking Duck make me nervous about describing my duck as 'steaming along' but I understand you speak in the steampunk context, and in the spirit of that I thank you :)

Ferx
Thanks buddy. Yep the feet are an important part of the duck, I think, and so I wanted to get it right

daWinky
Thank you Sabrina. Actually I'm really glad you got me thinking about those feet originally because it did give me the idea to start adding a bunch of new mechanical details, which I'm very happy with. So thanks again :)

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229249694_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229249694_large.jpg)

Still unwrapping UVs and baking AO maps. But that part is almost over now. Most of the rest can be done with procedurals

- Mark

[GonzaloGolpe]

This duck is very cool,dude:applause: And the tail, lol, I imagine this creature flying, expeling air and making sounds, shaking the wings at the same time...Maybe some well-known harmonious like close encounters (http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=tUcOaGawIW0) :p

The machine stuff is coming along great, sure. Go for it!:beer:

[thebest]

I really like this duck mate I keep watching it for a while everyday lol .......I think I have duck addiction :hmm: keep going mate :beer:

[varma]

Hi Mark!
Seems like your strive on the Uv's and occlusion baking has payed off, the texture is
really improved now and does the metal duck real justice! I love the feet, by the way,
You definitely needed some contrast to all the metal, and it's served now!
Ps, any plans for a "flag" of some sort, somewhere strategically, and perhaps with a
clever logo on?
Looking forward to see what you got in store for the environment!
All the best!
:)

[handlebar]

Good start on the textures Mark, maybe some run-off water marks in places where dirt has built up in streaks.

[daWinky]

Hey Mark,

the texturing looks very good so far, again no crits from me...the idea of some water and dirt later seems to be a good one...It's all coming together now and I'm already looking forward to see the Mighty Duck completed:cool: ...

Have a great start in the week!

-sabrina

[MartinNielsen]

That duck looks just great. No crits from me yet :beer:

[mdavid]

GonzaloGolpe
Hey thanks buddy. I hadn't thought about the musical possibilities of the exhaust system but I think you must be right about that. It sure would be an awful waste not to make sounds and I can't imagine the ducks missing the opportunity

thebest
Thanks Tony. That is very kind of you to say that :)

varma
Thank you Mathias. That's an intriguing idea about a flag. I'm not sure if it will fit into the style of illustration I'm aiming for, despite the fact that flag-waving played a big part of the avian wars. But you definitely have me thinking...

handlebar
Thanks Steve, nice idea about the water marks :)

daWinky
Thanks Sabrina. I'm also looking forward to seeing how this is going to turn out!

MartinNielsen
Hey thanks Martin :)

------------------------------------
Mathias raised an intriguing point about the duck carrying a flag.

It's not widely known these days, but flags were often used during the avian wars.

Even though entire tribes of birds were often sacrificed to defend slightly different interpretations of avian religion (could you imagine humans ever being so silly?) the truth is that there was generally a lot of flag-waving going on. The ducks had a duck-bill emblem on their flag. The chickens had a comb.

Quite often the birds got confused and waved the wrong flag, resulting in a lot of chickens charging at chickens and ducks charging at ducks. It's where the term 'friendly fire' originally came from.

At one stage, the chickens truly believed that just by waving a chicken flag it somehow made them better than all the other birds, after which they went on to do the most horrible things. When the geese, swans and ravens asked the chickens what they were doing, the chickens got really mad and said their questioners were being anti-chicken. Instead of seeing that the other birds were wanting to be friendly they just waved their flags even harder and began raiding other birds' nests again. The chickens damaged their own reputation an awful lot in those difficult years. That's why, to this day, it's considered bad form to be called a chicken.

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229385119_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229385119_large.jpg)

I went down to the pond this morning and showed the ducks a printout of this update. I was feeling really good about it, but that didn't last long.

The ducks all crowded around, scuffling for the best view of the picture and then there was a ripple of what I can only describe as avian laughter. And then in no time, all the birds had dispersed. I'll be honest with you - I felt pretty bad.

So the ducks are all paddling away but then one of the elders turns around in a great big arc and comes back to the shore. He's a gnarly old Pacific Black with the kind of exuberant thick chest feathers which could only come from drinking Akevit - I understand that now, thanks to Per. And he starts scratching an intriguing diagram in the sand with his beak (the duck does, not Per, although Per's a superb artist too). It's different to the other drawings I'd seen because he's drawing the interior of the steam-driven waterskiing duck. For the first time I'm getting some understanding of its inner workings. It takes the duck a while but then I begin to realise where I'd gone wrong.

You see, the steam machinery I'm showing here would never have worked. The reason why is because there was nothing to cause the piston to go back into the cylinder. The first puff of steam pressure would push it out. Without a flywheel it wouldn't go back in again. It would be jammed all the way out and the bird would stall.

What I learned from that drawing in the sand is, the vessel which the ducks built had not just one, but two flywheels! Flywheels conserve energy because they are big heavy things which keep spinning, and their momentum would cause the piston to be pushed back down and the wings to return for the next flap.

So you see, I'm looking at my model, wondering where the flywheels are supposed to go and I see them - there are the two great big flywheels already sitting there on each side of my hull. I'd put them there because that's what the early duck diagrams had shown. I thought they were there for decoration. But the truth is they were an essential part of the workings.

I tell you, I couldn't get back to my computer fast enough. I've been back pushing polys around again. This time I've linked the steam machinery to those two flywheels and I'm more confident than ever that I'm getting closer to recreating the mythical vessel ducks used to colonise the planet.

Having said all that, I admit I'm a bit nervous about taking my next renders down to the pond to show the ducks. I learned today that ducks can be ruthless critics. But that's the kind of thing we cg artists have to go through every day, right?

- Mark

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229387460_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229387460_large.jpg)

Here's what I was talking about in my last post/update.

I'm showing the bird without its side panels so you can see more clearly what's going on inside. This time I've connected the steamworks to the flywheels now.

Of course it still a bit tricky seeing what's going on, so I'll show the different sections of machinery in couple more renders.

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229387794_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229387794_large.jpg)

Another render showing just the steamworks. I still marvel at the thought that ducks built all this stuff

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229387989_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229387989_large.jpg)

Finally, the last in this quick succession of updates...

Every waterskier knows, water can get bumpy. The early steamduck prototypes resulted in a lot of ruffled feathers and cracked eggs, until one of the engineers thought of suspension. This changed everything for the ducks and inspired a level of confidence rarely seen in ducks today.

You'll see that I needed to redesign the large gear wheel to allow the axle for the flywheels to run through it. So the spokes are replaced with a new shape

- Mark

[handlebar]

Great progress Mark, i'm loving the suspension on the legs, and yes no steam duck would be complete without a flywheel or two. As always i'm realy enjoying watching your thread unfold.

[Ferx]

Hey Mark,

Fantastic updates !!
(Maybe the ducks can be ruthless critics, but they have a great engineering concepts :D )
You are creating a wonderful steampunk machine, love the side view without the panels. Awesome details. Superb touch on the legs suspension!!

Cant wait to see more updates! Cheers my friend! :beer:

[varma]

Great work, as always!
Good luck!
:thumbsup:

[Try]

Wow Mark! I look away from the screen for a few seconds and you have so much new stuff. I had to catch my breath and digest it all before commenting. No offense to the ducks mind you. I will never digest a duck again now that i know so much about them.:)

I start last first. I simply love the sleek duck design on the big gear wheel of the foot mechanism. http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229387989_large.jpg

Looking at this design i guess these little feet could do a mean paddle as well as water ski. Brilliant stuff!

The wonderfull innside of the thing looks just as well thought out and high steam teck as i expected from our little fethered friends.
Looking at this I realize that man may have invented the wheel but Ducks surly invented the flywheel. :bowdown:

Looking at all this thecnical marvel I still wonder like before where the little passengers go in here. But If I know the Ducks right they have a brilliant solution to this to. :)


So the ducks are all paddling away but then one of the elders turns around in a great big arc and comes back to the shore. He's a gnarly old Pacific Black with the kind of exuberant thick chest feathers which could only come from drinking Akevit - I understand that now, thanks to Per. And he starts scratching an intriguing diagram in the sand with his beak (the duck does, not Per, although Per's a superb artist too). It's different to the other drawings I'd seen because he's drawing the interior of the steam-driven waterskiing duck. For the first time I'm getting some understanding of its inner workings. It takes the duck a while but then I begin to realise where I'd gone wrong.

I`m deeply honord that you nemption me in the same breath as the fabulous "gnarly old Pacific Black". :)
Your comment about the chest feathers is a very sharp observation I think. Reminding me of an early theory that Ducks may have come from the high north. And most have drunk a lot of Akevit.
Akevit gives the fantastic effect that shortly after drinking it you can easily solve world problems, difficult political and religious things. and to invent groundbreaking new technical devises in minuets.
You get taller more handsome and all women look gorgeous.
Puss the obvious fantastic chest feathers you get.

The only hitch is that when you wake up next morning looking ugly with a female BAT on your arm.:eek: Non of the glorious things you came up with work, or you just cant remember important parts of it.
It`s a curse!:banghead:

Maybe the Ducks solved the Akevit code. and keep their beautiful bursting chest feathers and remember what they came up with during intoxication....?

I wonder if we will ever know...:wise:

[thebest]

wow am speachless mate ......like the mechanism alot ....keep going

[MartinNielsen]

Good to see you solved the tech problem. Let's hope you won't get in trouble with those ducks again ;) Thanks for another laugh :applause:

[soapy]

Super work Mark. Those textures look fantastic. Very convincing metal!

[daWinky]

Beautiful updates Mark:thumbsup: , great to see what a little walk to the pond can do to your concept!

Now the inside is so intruiging, that's a pity to see only the outside in the final scene...perhaps you can built in a little dockyard, showing some "naked" steamducks...

-sabrina

[Micro26]

Cool design besides the excellent texturing. It will be very interesting machine to see in an enviroment. Good to see u upload different views of the model.
Go on :thumbsup:

[warpv]

Wow, excellent close-up screens of the mechanics of the duck! Amazing stuff. Love the feet suspension! ;) I may have missed this in an earlier post, but what's the next step?!

[yoff]

Are you sure you are not going to animate at least a flap cycle of this?

[mdavid]

handlebar
Thanks Steve. I'm pretty embarrassed to think I put those flywheels in as decoration. No wonder the ducks thought it was funny.

Ferx
Cheers buddy. I'm glad you like the suspension. This is a feature important to any kind of transport, I would think. Of course today the brochures would be promoting things like having lots of mug holders but they're not much use to ducks

Ferx
Hey thanks for that. I'm finding it very difficult to get good research on the early avian wars and so I can not rule out your idea about the flag ;) Thanks for the cool ideas buddy

Try
Yes, I think it does turn out that ducks invented the flywheel. Resourceful little guys. Of course it took another few centuries before they found a use for the flywheel but the steamduck kind of made the wait worth it, I think. I'm intrigued by your theory about ducks originating in the high north too. That does make a lot of sense. Did you know, before they discovered Akevit, ducks had a high-pitched musical songbird kind of call? These challenges are excellent for allowing the time to dig up this kind of research. But I suppose we will never know all of their history and in some cases can only speculate - not that I would ever do that kind of thing.

thebest
Thanks Tony. Yep, I'm going to keep going :)

MartinNielsen
Thanks Martin. I'm feeling a bit better about facing those guys again

soapy
Thanks for that. Doing metal has been more of a challenge than I thought

daWinky
Thanks for the nice idea, Sabrina :)

Micro26
Hey thank you. I really appreciate that :)

warpv
Thank you. Regarding the next step in this process, I have absolutely no idea ;)

yoff
Yes, I am definitely tempted to animate this thing and hope to post a GIF here some time when I get the chance

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229739875_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229739875_large.jpg)

Here's a glimpse at the metalwork and simple machinery inside the duck. You can see a connecting rod coming down to turn a wheel and so on - leading to the flywheels spinning on either side. Because this stuff is inside the steamduck, alongside where the ducks sit, the original designers paid more attention to styling, unlike on the outside where the purely functional steampunk look helped to create a fearsome look which was aimed squarely at intimidating the chickens.

The stuff we see here will be vaguely visible through the gaps in the side, but not visible enough for me to put much more time into it.

I haven't done much more work other than this. During the week I upgraded my copy of Cinema 4D from R9.5 to the latest version (R11). I really did not like the new interface, which in my opinion had lost all of its wonderful clarity. To be honest, it slowed me down having to constantly hunt for icons in the object manager since they lost most of their differences from each other. But to their credit, Maxon have made the interface extremely customisable - if you don't like something then they make it easy to change it. And so that is what I've been doing during much of this week. I admit I've sworn and grumbled a fair bit in the process but it all seems good now and I'm back up to speed again. I'm now looking forward to checking out some of the new features and getting back to business

- Mark

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229748177_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229748177_large.jpg)

Here's a side view. In order to help show off the internal stuff (shown in the post directly above) I'm now tempted to put some lights in there - possibly coloured - with the added benefit that the interior of the duck will glow and (hopefully) imbue it with the illusion of life

- Mark

[Gunilla]

Wow! I like those details - really nice texturing and the ornamental shapes inside the body is top knotch!
About glowing lights inside - how about making it glow in red with a pulse? As some kind of electric heartbeat?

I'm really impressed by the work your builder ducks have made here - also they seem so much more reliable than your previous crew of engineers. Ducks rules!

[walrus]

I'm really impressed by the work your builder ducks have made here - also they seem so much more reliable than your previous crew of engineers.

LOL! Yeah, your previous crews have always sounded somewhat flaky and insubordinate and such. Or maybe they just had a really good union? Anyhow, this crew - and this entry - are looking very nice! :yhumbsup: I dunno about colored lights in the inside - that's very NOT Steampunk. But it is looking good.

[mdavid]

Gunilla
Hey thanks Gunilla. Glad you like the duck so far :)

Walrus
Hey Mike, thanks for dropping by!
I dunno about colored lights in the inside - that's very NOT Steampunk.Actually you raise a very good point and I thank you for that :) If I am to put lights in there I must remember to keep it looking low-tech and steamy for sure. The red colouring for the lighting which Gunilla suggested might be okay though - to suggest a fire was burning in there or perhaps old-fashioned kerosine lamps. Memo to self: don't make it look like Las Vegas! Thanks again for the helpful feedback.

[yoff]

A steam engine usually has a fire burning somewhere that could provide a yellow/red tinted light...

[mdavid]

yoff
Thank you! There's a burner up top attached to the boiler, which burns the bread crumbs this steamduck runs on. But since this vessel started its journey in a cold climate then I'm thinking the ducks must have have also lit another fire in the belly of the craft in order to keep warm. That would provide exactly the kind of light you describe. I'll post a shot showing how I think this would look

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229809480_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1229809480_large.jpg)

Here's the duck with a fire burning inside it. This is not to power the vessel - that role is handled by the burner attached to the boiler. Instead, the fire would have kept the occupants warm

[Jeepster]

this is the coolest duck in history!!

[cristinagar]

this is the coolest duck in history!!absolutely :)

Really, the model is amazing. I love the details and how well thought out it looks. Everything just fits... except for one detail: the duck's mask. I know it's a window for the ducks to be able to see and drive the device, but it has a strange look, in my opinion. It gives the machine a superhero look, or something (I don't know how to explain in english), while the rest of the duck has an "ancient high tech" allure that really goes with the steampunk theme.

But hey, this is not criticism, only a humble opinion. I love your work, and I have been going through your other challenge threads, and all I have to say is that I admire the passion an energy you put in them, as well as the outcome. As for this one, you are in my top 3 :)

keep it up and good luck!

[mdavid]

Jeepster
Awwww - thank you mate! :)

cristinagar
And thanks to you too :) Your comment about the duck's mask is a very good one. When I started this duck it had a more organic look about big chunks of it and the mask is left over from that stage (and also based loosely on the stripe running through the eye of Pacific Black ducks, which is a common type of duck here!).

This seems like a classic case of me being too close to my work and getting too used to the look of it, and therefore not seeing the faults. I'm grateful to you for bringing my attention to it. I've always liked the superhero look but now I realise I need to steampunk it up a bit.

I do want to retain the duck's character which exists in the current head design but I don't think I need to lose that if I work smart. It should be a bit of fun too :)

In walrus's (Mike's) thread he talked about getting 'world class' feedback and comments. I agree with him. I never cease to be amazed by the clarity, insightfulness and also generosity to be found here

[Ferx]

Hey Mark,

Awesome textures buddy !! really great! :D The fire burnining puts a cool steampunk touch.
This is a superb model, love the great mechanic details on it, amazing (I think that after this challenge you can make a "crazy animals" images serie :D)

Again, superb work !! Cheers!! :beer:

[cristinagar]

The more I think about it, the more I think pilots being able to see is a good idea

hahahaha!!!.. quote of the challenge

I was going through your thread to see how the "window" originated and this made my day...
this logic alone is enough to just disregard my point, but I can see you agree with it a little, at least. And you are totally right, if you work smart you can steampunk it up, and keep the character. And I'm sure you'll make it look great. It's just the glossy and a bit too aerodynamic look that doesn't fit, not the idea. (The idea of a windshield in a vehicle is a rather good one, as you pointed out)

thanks for keeping me entertained images/icons/icon10.gif

[daWinky]

Hey Mark,

I just turn my head for a moment here and when I come back there are lots of new ideas, improvements and additions - very thoughtful of you to keep the ducks warm with a little fire...and of course the construction is more visible now, well done:wise: ! Looking forward to see the altered head, not that it disturbed me before, but now that it's mentioned...

-sabrina

[MartinNielsen]

That's what I call an ass on fire! Nice work, champ :)

[mdavid]

Ferx
Hey thanks mate! Much appreciated

cristinagar
Thank you Cristina. I've now built a steampunk head in pretty much the same shapes as the original, organic one. I think the new look definitely fits in better with the rest of it now

daWinky
Thank you Sabrina. Much appreciated :) I've now finally steampunked the feet too - which is something you alerted me about a long way back, and which I was a bit indecisive about too. I hope you like the changes

MartinNielsen
Hey thanks Martin! :)

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1230012103_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1230012103_large.jpg)

Okay, I admit I'm playing now.

I keep seeing reasons why the steamduck would never work, and so I keep going back to those bits to fix them. For example, if you look at a real bird's wings while it's flying - ask a duck nicely and it might show you - you'll see the wing changes shape between the upwards and downwards stroke. Otherwise the bird would work up a sweat flapping but not actually go anywhere. You can see where this is heading, can't you.

The feathers in previous versions of this steam duck were welded onto the struts at a fixed angle, which meant they would flap up and down, generate a lot of turbulence, but no thrust. The steamduck wouldn't go anywhere and ducks would never have colonised the world. Which meant the chickens might have done it first. And that would have changed everything. That's why this is important.

So I've modified the feathers, borrowing ideas not from ducks but from fan blades. By allowing the feather to tilt up and down it will now generate thrust, and drive our heros forwards. Here's a bit of a sketch to show what I mean

- Mark

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1230012228_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1230012228_large.jpg)

Here's another render showing a bunch of changes, which are:

1 - the hinged feathers described in the previous post

2 - I've finally steampunked the bird's head and feet

3 - the wings would now flap over a wider arc since I changed the design of the bit which pushes and pulls them

4 - the cylinder is now bigger, to give it a bit more guts and also to create a bigger wing flap

5 - a few minor changes to the machinery

So, would this bird actually work now, I mean if someone built it? Actually, no! There are still things about it which could only be described as dodgy and it is more likely to explode a hole in the beach rather than waterski in its current form.

Now I may spend too much time with ducks but at least I know that fussing over details like this is not going to make much difference to an illustration.

But hey, this is fun...

- Mark

[daWinky]

Ah, again some well thought changes, I totally agree about the wings, and the necessary change looks also fine, like all the others changes, I really like the steampunked head! So I guess the ducks will be very proud of this visualisation!:thumbsup:
The only thing I don't like are the changes to the feet...they looked better for me before, and also more reasonable for waterskiing...maybe this is just a bit to much or it's just the material that bothers me. Or maybe it's just me:D !
I already wish you nice Holidays, have a great time!

-sabrina

[mdavid]

daWinky
Hey Sabrina, once again you provide some extremely helpful feedback. I thank you and the ducks thank you. I'll post a view of both kinds of feet, and the more I think about your comment the more I'm agreeing with it...

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1230015196_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1230015196_large.jpg)

Here are the two versions of the feet. After Sabrina's comment I now can't help thinking those steampunk feet would not ski well

- Mark

[miketche]

I have to agree. The smoother feet would glide better over water.

[Gunilla]

Same here - the smooth feet would not only work better, IMO they look better. The other updates I can only applaude! The new head design looks mean and the feather update as a must.
I bet you can keep on improving this duck for a long time - competely forgetting it's environment ;)
So, what's the plan for the scenery?

[mdavid]

miketche
Thanks Mike. It looks like the smooth feet win this one

Gunilla
Thanks to you, too Gunilla. Yep, the smooth feet triumph again!
I bet you can keep on improving this duck for a long time - competely forgetting it's environment ;)LOL! Looks like my secret's out then! ;)

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1230026870_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1230026870_large.jpg)

Thanks folks, for setting me right on those feet. Here's the duck with the feet smoothed out again

- Mark

[Ferx]

Hey Mark,

Like the new design for the head :D And think the smooh feet works really well with the whole design. The feathers system is a great touch. Fantastic steamy duck! :D Cheers my friend and merry Christmas, all the best !! :beer:

[warpv]

Hey Mark!

I've been away a couple of days, heard there was some problems with the feet, glad to see all that was smoothed out! ;) The duck, as always, keeps getting better! Here's wishing you and your ducks a Merry Christmas! And we'll see you soon!

[madshooter]

Hey steamduck looks great. Those mechanical like feathers are great additions.:thumbsup:

[mdavid]

Ferx
Hey Fernando, thanks buddy. Yeah, those smooth feet are definitely the way to go. I'm very glad it was suggested

warpv
Thanks buddy. Yes, the problems were indeed smoothed out. And without any ruffled feathers

madshooter
Thank you Roshan. It's been an interesting experiment for me to let the mechanical requirements art-direct so much of the duck. I don't normally work like that - I normally just do something which I think looks convincing enough and leave it at that. But in each of these challenges I've tried to explore some stuff that I wouldn't otherwise do.

[mdavid]

Here are the main bits of the wing-flapping mechanism exposed and animated. Hawk-eyed observers might notice a short connecting rod linking the piston to the lever. The old lever had a long slot in it which allowed the old piston to slide through it, but this is a bit more robust and would not wear out as quickly.

http://www.mdavid.com.au/cg/duckmech1.gif

Obviously, this is in slow-motion - I can't imagine the steamduck reaching warp speeds at this lethargic pace. But it does suggest two things:


the wing flapper would indeed flap and
the ducks have been, well let me put it diplomatically - 'playful' in the specs they gave me for the design. Because those wings aren't flapping through nearly as wide an arc as they should


Clearly, the cylinder and piston need to be bigger. Either that or the wings need to be pulled up and down at a point much closer to their hinges (where the leverage effect would be greater), but rather than waste time on even more mechanical tweaking (at this late stage of the challenge that would be outrageous) I intend to waste time on some other matters ;)

- Mark

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1230524527_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1230524527_large.jpg)

I changed my mind - it was a very quick fix to change the machinery to increase how much the wings flap

- Mark

[daWinky]

but rather than waste time on even more mechanical tweaking (at this late stage of the challenge that would be outrageous) I intend to waste time on some other matters
And of course you've changed your mind:D ! Looks good and very convincing - and very nice to discover the animated version! I'd suggest that you built a real model when the challenge is over and provide us with some photos of the first tests at the pond...
May the duck spirit be also with you, when you start with the environment!

-sabrina

[Gunilla]

That animation looks splendid! But good thing you discovered it wouldn't function well - imagine how the duck would feel if they tried to take off in that - embarrased!
Now, what more can we think of improving before moving on to the environment...? :twisted:

[handlebar]

Great progress Mark, i love the little anim. The texture work is also looking fantastic.

[mdavid]

daWinky, Gunilla and handlebar
Thank you :)

Since I changed the mechanical bits to be more efficient I couldn't resist rendering a new animation. This time the hinged-feather effect is showing too, meaning that the wing action would now produce forward thrust, driving the bird forwards to formidable speeds ;)

I think this would have inspired awe in the chickens

http://www.mdavid.com.au/cg/duckmech2.gif

So with only a couple of weeks to go I guess I should think about an environment...

[madshooter]

Its really cool to see that the mechanism you created is logical and convincing and you have also animated it. very nice job:thumbsup:. And yeah I agree you should start working on environment as dead line is coming near:)

[Lemog]

Very nice duck man... especially appreciate the animatic :beer:

[Ferx]

Hey Mark,

Great animation, explain perfectly the function of the steam motor and wings, really cool! :D
You are making a fantastic job in your concept :D Cheers my friend!! Happy new year !! All the best for you!! :beer:

[mdavid]

madshooter
Hey thank you for the kind words, Roshan. Yep, it's time for 'full steam ahead' for this duck. An environment is now on its way

Lemog
Hey Laurent, thank you very much. I really appreciate it. I'm also stunned by the beautiful work in your entry too, by the way

Ferx
Thank you Fernando. And the best of new-year wishes to you too, buddy

[mdavid]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1230778626_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/15993/15993_1230778626_large.jpg)

With less than a fortnight to go it looks like I won't have time to do anything complicated for a background. So I guess that rules out a vast Lord of the Rings style battle scene between the ducks and the chickens. To get something across the finish line in time I'll be showing the steam duck vessel skiing across the sea.

Now the first thing I started to set up was a moving particle emitter throwing droplets into a metaball system, in order to simulate the look of how spray forms sheets and droplets. And it is sort of working. But not well enough to look real. So I'll still be generating particles but will abandon the metaball system, and will be touching up the image in Photoshop instead, to get that sheet of spray effect.

So anyway, I was setting up my moving particle emitter, aimed backwards in the direction of the plume, and I realised I was doing it all wrong. A closer look at real ducks waterskiing showed me that my cartooning days has misguided me (in more ways than one). I'll still draw cartoony spray wrong, because it somehow looks right! But in this steam duck exercise I'll be following the laws of physics

- Mark

[Kerem]

Finally had a chance to read the whole thread. Glad you are back and keep up the great work :buttrock:

[cristinagar]

ooo I like the new steampunked head.. good job!

And that animation of the mechanism is just fantastic. The duck works... it WORKS!!!

keep it up! I'm dying to see the final piece (with environment and all, you know ;) )

[Gunilla]

Well, I'm for one is really amazed of your findings in the direction of spray area! But as you say, it makes perfect sense. I mean, if boats have the spray moving backwards (cause the have, don't they) it must be because their shapes are made to improve speed. The feet function of ducks on the other hand has to be the opposite - to slow down. Do you have any images showing backwards spray when they run to take off? I bet it would be backwards then.
As usual a good dose of scientific learning in this place - and I will never look at ducks in the same way after this.

A really happy new year to you!