Mechanical rigging challenge

[RavenEye]

Awww, man. I thought this was a new challenge. Wouldn't mind doing a mechanical challenge. Anywho, when is the next challenge?

[ilaria]

May I look like Todd? I don't have beard, I'm pretty sure about that :D
Sorry, it's my fault, I probably opened a thread in a wrong place. I was impatient to know something about that.

Ila

[twidup]

lol, glad you dont look like me...its scary enough being told I look like a bunch of musicians...most recently James Hetfield, which I still cant figure out how they saw that one.

Anyways, I am planning a new one, gotta find a good model for it first. I like the idea of a mechanical challenge actually, since we have been doing organics all the time.

It will probably be the first of April when it kicks off, mainly because of my up coming workshop and how busy things at work have been.

What is everyone intersted in doing...mech/robot, vehicle, machinery???

-todd

[oferkapota]

I say Mechs, robots or machinery, not vehicles.

[RavenEye]

Wouldn't mind doing a mech.

[ilmostrog]

I would be interested in mech or vehicle.

[ilaria]

lol, glad you dont look like me...its scary enough being told I look like a bunch of musicians...most recently James Hetfield, which I still cant figure out how they saw that one.

Anyways, I am planning a new one, gotta find a good model for it first. I like the idea of a mechanical challenge actually, since we have been doing organics all the time.

It will probably be the first of April when it kicks off, mainly because of my up coming workshop and how busy things at work have been.

What is everyone intersted in doing...mech/robot, vehicle, machinery???

-todd

Look like a rock star is not to bad, there is something worse ;). Out of curiosity, what do your friends usually do in their spare time?!

Anyway, every kind of mechanical challenge is fine for me. Could be interesting to study a quadruped robot :) (I'm not really familiar with mech setup, It's a good opportunity to get more close).

Cheers

Ila

[rikkiknight]

I wouldnt mind something with tracks, havnt had the chance to do that yet
Or maybe a 6 legged mech with crazy moving artillery?

Certainly wouldnt mind doing somekind of steampunk war machine! But I guess we would have to get lucky with models there to be so persific :)

[trevorsommer]

Any of these suggestions would be nice. I personally would love to get may hands on this.

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=43&t=728561

[Rupesh1122]

I'm intersted in doing of machinery, robotic, vehicle and mechanical rigging.

[chimchim5040]

I'm pretty new to Max, but I've been fascinated with the Steam Punk genre for quite awhile now...
I'm in the process of creating a steam-powered Cat robot, but I am having a hard time finding good tutorials for rigging gears, u-joints, hinges, etc. Any suggestions would be appreciated..
I plan to enter as many challenges as I can to improve my skills, so count me in!

[SeanC]

correct me if i am totally wrong, but i remember someone saying that the HMC Steampunk models were going to be used for a future rigging challenge. Anyone else recall seeing this?

[twidup]

not sure about the steampunk one, Roberto and I had discussed it during the halloween comp last year, but most the modelers dont want to give up their models. Thats why most come from William Vaughn, as he is nice enough to give out free ones all the time.

I havent had time to work on modeling anything myself, trying to get some time, as I have a few ideas for things I want to try.

As for the friends questions, most either drink, watch movies, a few snowboard, a few are musicians. I have a family, so most of my time is spent with them, and watching movies....along with getting back in shape.

I am more intersted in seeing an intersting mech to rig, I have a great idea, just no time to model it(nor good design skills any more)

-todd

[twidup]

I'm pretty new to Max, but I've been fascinated with the Steam Punk genre for quite awhile now...
I'm in the process of creating a steam-powered Cat robot, but I am having a hard time finding good tutorials for rigging gears, u-joints, hinges, etc. Any suggestions would be appreciated..
I plan to enter as many challenges as I can to improve my skills, so count me in!

send the model, I will get it converted over to a couple formats and we can use it...then you can see how a bunch of others would rig it as well.

-todd

[ilaria]

Hi everybody,
I love the idea, I think that a Cat robot is pretty cool, quadruped, mech robot and I really love cats! In any case, thanks chimchim5040 and thanks to Todd to manage all :)

Ila

[chimchim5040]

I will send the model eventually, but I'm bogged down in the details right now. A few WIP shots might be coming in the next week or two....

[Dimich]

I'd love to participate in one of these challanges again. Please do make it happen. I would like to try and make this rig in Maya (I am in the process of learning it) and maybe after, for the fun of it, do something crazy with it in good ol' max:) Please, keep us informed!

[kitayama]

im still new to rigging but this sounds like alot of fun. I think it would be cool to do johnny 5 or something like these...

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gamasutra.com/galleries/visual_art/tj_frame/TJFrame_work1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.gamasutra.com/galleries/visual_art/tj_frame/work1.htm&usg=__ghUphqZIGfyg50fIAeJ746_kjXo=&h=485&w=512&sz=92&hl=en&start=11&um=1&tbnid=e-wwegGbaJYjmM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmechs%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG

http://www.igorstshirts.com/blog/conceptrobots/wrenchbot_concept_art.jpg

http://digitalapprentice.net/Community/components/com_fpss/images/Transformers2_SlideShowImage.jpg

[Speedoo]

"Mechanical rigging challenge" sounds grt, may be i can utilize my free time...

[DoubleSupercool]

Hey guys, I am not a rigger but I am getting into it a bit more and I would love to see how you go about rigging mechanical stuff. I hope this challenge gets off the ground so I can follow along with your WIP's :)

[kanthscorpion]

I'm intersted in doing mechanical rigging. so that we can develop our techinical knowledge.
can anybody tell me the starting sate of the challange?.
any WIP images of the model

[ilaria]

I'm intersted in doing mechanical rigging. so that we can develop our techinical knowledge.
can anybody tell me the starting sate of the challange?.
any WIP images of the model

Hi,
glad to see that there'll be a lot of people who would like to take part in mech challenge :)
As wrote Todd in his latest post "It will probably be the first of April when it kicks off", you'll find it in the previous thread page.

Good luck

Ila

[kitayama]

what other thread are you referring to?

[ilaria]

what other thread are you referring to?
I meant this thread, in the first page, fourth answer :)

[kitayama]

roger that.

[anoopak]

hi
I had been planning to do a mechanical rig for my demoreel for a long time.Hope this will be a chance to get enough inputs from the veterans.I would like to take part in the challenge.

[shahabsy]

hey guys, I am also interested in challenge this time. looking forward for the date and Model to rig. :)

[tommix]

Hi guys! This challenge looks so much interesting for me... I love mech creatures and animating them... :buttrock:

http://www.tommasosanguigni.it/images/3d/cham/mech_cham.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7nVxEoBQ_w

[BPorter]

Ah! I hope something doesn't come up until next month so I have time to participate. The lizard looks awesome. The other jacked machine dude is a little intimidating, but I always love a good challenge.

[Eaze]

Hi guys, you can count on me to be in the challenge ! I'd love to do a mech setup :D

[Finkle]

Hey guys! After rigging a few organic characters, I'm excited at the idea of rigging something mechanical. It'd be one heck of a learning experience, that's for sure! Definitely count me in this when it starts. :)

[Keithtron]

I love mechanical rigging. I'd so be down for this, but I don't think I'll have any time for it for at least a few months. If that changes though, I'm all over it!

[TimForbes]

I'm keen as for a mech rigging challenge. just finalising the mech rigging cg workshop with todd, so it'd be good to apply the skills i learnt there to a different project:)

[fusedgore]

I have a mech that you guys can try rigging if you want .Its the pic in the link



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dJdcw903qLg/SckUUklrvgI/AAAAAAAAAfg/WsG2fjAB_iE/s1600-h/robot.jpg

[grantmoore3d]

So, any idea when this is going to actually start? Seems to have been in limbo for a couple months now...

[JMART]

Hi all, i´m interested in this too. Hope that soon this will go live.

Cheers riggers:beer: .

[arctor]

Underwater Robot? (http://gizmodo.com/5242571/menacing-underwater-robot-reaches-out-and-touches-horrifies)

:)

[LadyWraith]

:bounce:I have never Taken up any rigging challenge and would like this one to be my first, I think the Robot Chameleon is cute.....:thumbsup:

[kitayama]

that under water robot looks like fun

[ilaria]

What about the mechanical cat we was talking about at the beginning of this thread?
I'm flat out at work in this days but it was an attractive idea to think about.

Cheers :)
Ila

[twidup]

I do like the cat idea still actually. Lets plan for a July start to this one...that gives me about 6 weeks to either model it or find a model :)

it might start soon if the model is located/finished earlier too.

-todd

[ilaria]

Hi Todd!
glad to hear from you.
I'm so happy you have time to figure it out, something extra to do during winter time anyway ;)
Well, do you think to put gears, springs, bearing, pins and other mechanical component? it could be interesting to play with those, obviously if the model will be suitable for that.

Cheers,

Ila

[twidup]

was sketching it out last night and was leaning towards a mecha-organic look to it, so it would have some shocks and wires along the neck system and in the stomach area, shocks connecting up all the joints to help control motion...so lots of soft body systems for wires too.

-todd

[kitayama]

sounds like fun

[TimForbes]

was sketching it out last night and was leaning towards a mecha-organic look to it, so it would have some shocks and wires along the neck system and in the stomach area, shocks connecting up all the joints to help control motion...so lots of soft body systems for wires too.

-todd

yeah, sounds awesome.

[Mumm]

Sounds like fun sign me up. :beer:

[grantmoore3d]

Excellent, July would be great timing for me to finish up a couple other projects and be ready for this one. Mechanical cat should be a fun challenge!

[wamo]

Hopefully, i'll be in this challange.
Just got few seggestions : please show the Rigging start entry in Top Row, as i think Rigging challanges are more important than Modeling ones!! Another thing is that please show the Winner in Top Row again, that would make more interest for challangers.

[twidup]

actually, the admins and I have been discussing this :) so once I make the announcement for the new challenge, it will get top rowed :) and the winner will get top rowed as well.

-todd

[trevorsommer]

Is this challenge going to be like the last one, spanning more then one month?

[wamo]

actually, the admins and I have been discussing this :) so once I make the announcement for the new challenge, it will get top rowed :) and the winner will get top rowed as well.
That's it, thanks :)

[JMART]

Great news, i like the subject a lot.

Maybe is too much to ask...but the idea of having some parts moving around to define some hidden forms crossed my mind. I mean like transformers:cool:.
If not for this challenge...maybe for another?


Cheers!

[chimchim5040]

I will send the model eventually, but I'm bogged down in the details right now. A few WIP shots might be coming in the next week or two....

I know... I know... LAME! The CatBot has turned into my final project for my 3D class. It's due on June 16th, so hopefully it will be good enough to post here. ;)

[ilaria]

I know... I know... LAME! The CatBot has turned into my final project for my 3D class. It's due on June 16th, so hopefully it will be good enough to post here. ;)

I didn't want to make any kind of pressure mentioning the mec-cat topic, but I really like the subject :) Anyway, it seems tha Todd is going to figure it out.

Good luck for your final project!

Cheers,
Ila

[twidup]

yup, this will definately span a couple months.

[rikkiknight]

Room for one more in this challenge? Im not sure how much time Im going to get... so might just participate on the side if thats ok. Not enter the actual running for gold and just post wip's maybe?

not too sure what "top rowed" means...but.....do you think there would be room for a thread for old winners ^^, like somekind of winners gallery that gets updated as new challenges finish and commence?

[eyeayen]

I was reading this last night and saw you were looking to make a mechanical cat, I remember the imagery used for the Motorcycle & Scooter show ( in the UK ) last year and thought I'd post up some images I have of it.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x58/Flipz3D/Mechcat3.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x58/Flipz3D/Mechanicalcat1.jpg

They were created by Simon Roberts from Capitalize agency by taking components from different bikes and creating the Panther you see here.

I'm only just starting out with Maya so I won't be taking part in this but rigging fascinates me so I'll be watching what everyone does :D hope this gives some inspiration !

[ilaria]

wow...It's awesome..

[vvkonline]

I will try to participate in this one too! Mech. quadruped sounds like a lot of fun!!!

[anoopak]

glad to hear that the challenge will start from july.So now its time to get ready for the event we have been awaiting for a long time.The cat model looks perfect.Something like this will surely justify the sole purpose of the challenge and make it more interesting.

[rikkiknight]

wow, very impressive!!

[Dimich]

Sweeeeeet.........:drool: I deffinately like, and if we create maybe some spaces in a similar design, to see some gears/pistons in there, some wires, etc. Would be isane to have all that moving while the character moves. Imagine the layers of detail for such a character :argh:

[eyeayen]

No doubt if you do go that way the SteamPunk challenge could be a useful source of reference !

[kprichard]

Count me in on this next rigging challenge. I am new to CG talk, so this would be a good way to get to know everyone. Oh, and hi everyone!

[kitayama]

that cat looks cool. and HI back (^_^) welcome to cgtalk

[giordi]

if it is possible i will try! i want find the gap between me and the boss of rigging

[kitayama]

who is the boss of rigging?

[ilmostrog]

hello everyone, I am up for this as well. I am a novice rigger at best but really enjoy it. looking forward to it.

[Stankluv]

so I am reading through the thread and I am looking dilligently. Is there no model of a robot cat anywhere in existence that anyone here has?

[Whereswaldo854]

Hey guys i have a mechanical spider ive been modeling, im not to great at rigging so anyone is welcome to help. I want have it all rigged, so animating wont be completly impossible lol.
if you spend a secon analyzing the model, i think you might be able to figure out how its going to work, but if you are confused at all, just let me know.

Heres the link to the max files, anyones welcome to take a shot, but just dont steal my model :'(

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UELL0VII

[JMART]

if it is possible i will try! i want find the gap between me and the boss of rigging


who is the boss of rigging?


Realy funny stuff, boss of rigging sound like lord of the rings (or riggs in this case :wavey: ) or master of puppets etc.

Maybe giordi refer to his boss at work, and the chance to be closer in rigging skills, but i cant be shure about that :shrug: .

Cheers.

[giordi]

Realy funny stuff, boss of rigging sound like lord of the rings (or riggs in this case :wavey: ) or master of puppets etc.

Maybe giordi refer to his boss at work, and the chance to be closer in rigging skills, but i cant be shure about that :shrug: .

Cheers.

i explain bad my intention i want try this contest because i want find some ideas or ways to rigging a mesh like this
the bosses of rigging are the good rigger that i hope they will do this contest

[phix314]

I'm in! Any updates on a challenge?

[trevorsommer]

So is this thing going to happen in july?

[kanthscorpion]

When is the challenge going to start ?
:bounce:
some bosy pls tell the start date, so many people are waiting here .

-Kanth

[kitayama]

what he said :applause:

[twidup]

as soon as I can get a model that has some challenges to it. I have been busy at work and havent had time to build it myself

So, if anyone has one they want to donate, let me know

-todd

[Chanur]

When this challenge starts, dont hesitate to come over to 3D Paradise, i would love to advertise some of your rigging creations for my viewers to drool over. It can be anything from photo´s to videos.

Good Luck to everyone.

(Link to the site can be found in my signature)

[pooby]

Why not link these Rigging challenges up to a modelling challenge, so that the winner of the modelling challenge gets to see his model Rigged and animated?
Kill 2 birds with one stone.

It could even be linked to all aspects. like texturing, and animation and lighting etc

[anoopak]

sounds like a good idea.But is it really possible to initiate a modelling challenge for mechanical character in a short time???.If the forum leaders can make this happen it will be good.Its been a while since we started the discussion of a challenge .

[giordi]

woooooow very good idea!!! we have to write to a moderator or admin!!!

[RavenEye]

Why don't we do a facial rigging mini challenge. Using the past modeling challenge models or winner model. That is if they allow us to use their model. Some people are picky about that kind of stuff. It will give us a nice little exercise while we wait for an awesome mechanical model.

[TimForbes]

yeah, something like that sounds like a good idea. i'm pretty keen to do something and i really need to scratch up on my facial rigging.....but yeah, i dont have a model.

[giordi]

ok i agree with facial rigging contest!

[twidup]

Roberto and I have even discussed this before and thought it was a good idea...but trying to get the modeling challenge winners to give us a model has been near impossible, so normally I rely on a few friends. as you can tell by the post time, I have been working a lot so I havent had time to look for a model recently. if anyone knows of a head model to pass along, let me know

-todd

[TimForbes]

there are a few head models here by William Vaughan. Not sure if it is chilled if we use them for a challenge or not, or we might need to contact the artist first?

http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=580

cheers,
Tim.

[twidup]

william has actually supplied several of the models in the past, like Kito the turtle

let me talk toa few modelers and see what I can get this week.

-todd

[SeanC]

changed to PM..

I would be interested in doing a mini challenge.

[twidup]

good news and better news...good news, "A Christmas Carol" is almost done so I will actually be able to dedicate a bit of time to the forum to get a new challenge running again soon.

and the better news.
I have been talking with Roberto, and sounds like we have a prtty good plan set in motion. We are going to be getting a few models from the "Queen of the Rocket Men" modeling challenge to rig, vehicles, charactes, etc. This will be our first challenge, these ahve to be animation friendly rigs, as they will be then handed over to animation and the fx war challenges for them to work with in the next part of a cross forum challenge.

-todd

[RavenEye]

Awesome, I can't wait. Luckly I make animation friendly rigs as a profession. :buttrock:

[anoopak]

That sounds cool.So there is going to be a lot of activities in the coming weeks.Looking forward to that.:thumbsup:

[Nicholas-Silveira]

To bad there's no mechanical rig challenge.
Check out my mechanical scorpion.

(Demo Reel (http://www.youtube.com/user/NicholasSilveira))



--------------------
Nicholas Silveira
Rigger / Modeler
www.linkedin.com/in/nicholassilveira (http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholassilveira)
Phone - 508-636-4350

[rikkiknight]

awesome!!
Looking forward to seeing the results of this one! :bounce:

[kprichard]

I'm ready to start too, can't wait.

[ErikE]

sounds awesome

[TimForbes]

yeah sounds great. looking forward to another rigging challenge.

[giordi]

me too!come ooooon will be very very funny

[RavenEye]

Looks like the voting has started for the HMC. Are we going to get the winners model to rig? My only concern is will they, the characters, be modeled for animation. Sometimes doing zbrush sculpts one can forget to make it animatable.

[eyeayen]

:cry: no mechanical cat, that's a shame :sad:

[giordi]

i hope that will od the meca cat after this...because it's so nice the idea of the cat

[Carlo890]

Looks like the voting has started for the HMC. Are we going to get the winners model to rig? My only concern is will they, the characters, be modeled for animation. Sometimes doing zbrush sculpts one can forget to make it animatable.

ya agreed... I've seen some pretty awesome models, but the edge flow (or lack there of) makes it impossible to rig. I can't wait for this challenge to start though.

[Nothingness]

I guess this is a rather annoyance when the challenge is too dependent of existing models.
The modeling challenge never has this problem, except that it might need concept drawings.

At this moment i'm awaiting a new modeling challenge, and have evolved my newly started steampunked dragon. It's a very nifty high detailed model that won't be easy to handle in rigging. In the end i'll be ending up into millions of polys un-smoothed.

Soon i'll have a large amount of time to have some 3d-fun and who knows, i might consider a mech-model for all you mech lovers out here. And why not investigate this mech-cat I've seen around.

but just wondering: are there limitations or poly-count-limits i should consider?
I hope i can provide a great model.

[Nothingness]

I was reading this last night and saw you were looking to make a mechanical cat, I remember the imagery used for the Motorcycle & Scooter show ( in the UK ) last year and thought I'd post up some images I have of it.

They were created by Simon Roberts from Capitalize agency by taking components from different bikes and creating the Panther you see here.

I'm only just starting out with Maya so I won't be taking part in this but rigging fascinates me so I'll be watching what everyone does :D hope this gives some inspiration !

Do you have any other info on this?
If this should become a real model, it will for sure look totally different cause this concept is rather unrealistic. But i love the design of it and should be a nice starting point.

[giordi]

Do you have any other info on this?
If this should become a real model, it will for sure look totally different cause this concept is rather unrealistic. But i love the design of it and should be a nice starting point.


i hope! i would like to do a rigging contest

[RavenEye]

Me, personally I don't care if it is a million poly model or a 100 poly model. As long as you have good edge flow that resembles some kind of bone and muscle structure then I'm happy. But the down side of having a high poly model is that you will get a lot of pissed off animators coming your way. A million poly model will take up to much memory to animate in a timely manner. My suggestion is to make a lo end proxy model with the million poly model. So that the animators can work with the proxy and not deal with the high poly model.

[Nothingness]

For an organic model i can totally agree with you. But for this model it's a mechanical one where you don't need skinning at all. You will still have a low refresh-rate and that's not really much fun, but a lower stand-in will help here.

[BusterHymen]

I have been watching this thread as well waiting for someone to give up a model for a mechanical rigging challenge. I don't really have anything that fits other than a simple mech I was working on, but if you would like to use it I would love to see how someone else would rig it.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/3923113190_c1e66dd5ff_o.jpg

[Nothingness]

Very nice model BusterHymen!

only main remark i have, is that the ammunition-chambers are a bit too close to the back legs, limiting it's movements.
And maybe i'm wrong, but at the front leg, where the lower part of the leg is connected to the upper spring, it looks like the lower leg is rotated a bit more than that spring.
If you understand what i'm trying to say.

I'm just not sure if the rigging of this mech would be a real challenge. But that should be something for the riggers to decide.
I've already started on designing my mecha-cat and trying to make it a complex interesting challenge. But those things don't really design easily.

cheers

[RavenEye]

I like the model. There looks like to be a lot of moving parts. I'm agreeing with Nothingness about the ammo pack. Then again that could be left for the animator to avoid. I would have to comb through the model itself to make a decision on that item. The ammo looks like a lofted surface. Is it a lofted surface? If it is, my suggestion is to make individual casing. I say this because then we can rig it move while the gun is firing. If it is a lofted surface then it would be an animated texture. It would be cool to see the ammo cartridges for the mini gun too. Overall, I think this is a good candidate for the mech rigging challenge. What says Todd and everyone else?

Since the winners have been announced for HMC. How is the rigging challenge with HMC going to work?

[Nothingness]

Since the winners have been announced for HMC. How is the rigging challenge with HMC going to work?

To be honest, even if the challenge requires animatable characters, the end models never are. I really doubt there will be any rigging-ready characters shared.

Too bad it always goes like this.

[giordi]

woooo this is incredible ahahaha 3 days ago we hadn't a model now two i think that if Nothingness want shere his model we have to do a little survey of 3 or 4 day for choos the model or better everyone can rig what they want but i don't know if we cna have two different mesh for a challenge..

however , nothinhgness how much time will you take the modelling of the cat?

[Nothingness]

I'm not going to be optimistic, but i'm doing the model from scratch. I just started, and don't have too much time this week. So it doubt it would be finished before the end of next week.

I just have a few times to work on it this week, and only next week i have loads of time.

[giordi]

are you speaking about 2-3 week of weating? for me should be ok wait your model.
oh i saw that the other model has a bug! look the weels of the leg can rotate. in this way this robot can go only in front and back

[BusterHymen]

Thanks guys really this is just a couple of evenings of playing with an idea I had, but I never finished and thought it might be usefull.

There are actually only about objects in this model because I have many of the objects grouped within objects. This could easily be managed by the rigger to have as much individual moving parts as they wanted.

looking at a side view I do see your point about the main ammo containers, but that too could be modified. The actual ammo for all three weapons are in fact 3ds max hose objects used as place holders.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2602/3923980025_6ee72ae140_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2634/3924766250_9e20118d80_o.jpg

[giordi]

i love your model i would like really rig it also without a contest but you have to add a piece for spin the wheel in this way the robot can't steer. but i love this mesh

[TimForbes]

yeah sweet model. would be keen as for this to be used for a mech rigging challenge. would even be keen to rig it regardless of wether there is a challenge for it or not;-)

[BusterHymen]

Here is a link to download the model. It might not be that much of a challenge to rig, but I hope you enjoy.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NI0LIEJO

[Nothingness]

Okay, i don't know where this is going, but it most likely will be going quite unorganized.
Maybe the forum leader should have his saying in this one so that there can be some consistancy in the rules and stuff.
Perhaps there is already a challenge setting up with other models - as was discussed with roberto.
Also, BusterHymes should clearly mention that this model is a 3dmax model. This is also quite annoying to riggers of other 3d packages. Without a version of 3d max they won't be able to easily convert them.

Anyway, no mather what will happen to the challenge, i'm still modeling my mecha-pussy and it's comming along more rapid than expected. already have a bit of the frame set up and did most of the engine.
I will so much love this model.

cheers all

[arctor]

ooOOoo...nice!

yeah, an obj or FBX version would be awesome...

[RavenEye]

Yes, please export the mesh as an obj or an fbx. Obj preferred

[giordi]

Here is a link to download the model. It might not be that much of a challenge to rig, but I hope you enjoy.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NI0LIEJO

man we need the obj :)

[BusterHymen]

Wow, I can't believe I spaced it and sent the Max file - sorry.

Here is the right file (obj).

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JJLF8LHU

[giordi]

Okay, i don't know where this is going, but it most likely will be going quite unorganized.
Maybe the forum leader should have his saying in this one so that there can be some consistancy in the rules and stuff.
Perhaps there is already a challenge setting up with other models - as was discussed with roberto.
Also, BusterHymes should clearly mention that this model is a 3dmax model. This is also quite annoying to riggers of other 3d packages. Without a version of 3d max they won't be able to easily convert them.

Anyway, no mather what will happen to the challenge, i'm still modeling my mecha-pussy and it's comming along more rapid than expected. already have a bit of the frame set up and did most of the engine.
I will so much love this model.

cheers all


i'm looking foward for see the finished model and the start of the contest!

[anoopak]

Looking forward for your model to finish, nothingness.Meanwhile let me have a look at your model,BusterHymen.Thanks for sharing

[RavenEye]

Now that we have a model. We should come up with some rules and timeline for the challenge.

[Dimich]

Very nice! Finally some stuff is coming around:) I hav ea question: are we allowed to tweak the model a bit? Currently there is a problem that I see on the legs as the first and second joints are in line with each other which will create an unpleasant issue with the IK on them. Is it possible for it to be adjusted, or should we just do it ourselves?

[jignesh1583]

Hmm.......... So finally something is about to shoot after some months of waiting......
Nice model though BusterHymen...Can't wait to see the model by nothingness...
Hope everything gets organized and then we have a challenge in our hands, after rigging organic characters for some years..these will be definitely challenging :)

[TimForbes]

cheers for the model BusterHymen. gonna start straight away.

[Nothingness]

too bad there is no coherency in this challenge section. Without any rules or goals you can't really talk about a challenge.

[giordi]

ok try to do some rules ..

first of all i'm sorry but i think that we can't use the model of BusterHymen he shared the model . if will we use this model for the contest somebody could start the rigging before the starting of the challenge,
now i think that the best thing is wait the meca cat model from Nothingness
When the model will be finished we can contact a moderator or something else for start the contest, chose the duration and stuff like that .
what do you think about that?

[Nothingness]

I've already got a large portion of the model finished. If it will be used for a real challenge, i could push it in really finishing it this week - like promised earlier.
The hard part of the model is to make all parts rather free of movement, and challenging at the same time.

I'd suggest people who wanna rig already, can live it up with the model already supplied.
I'll keep the progress of the model updated so you'll know it's not lagging or anything.

[anoopak]

hi there,
I too agree with nothingness.Since the model from busterhymen was passed over long back We cant really consider that for the challenge.Its better to wait for the mecha cat to finish and by that time let our moderators come up with the guidelines for the same

[RavenEye]

I agree with Nothingness and anoopak. For this to be a challenge rules, guidelines, timeframe, etc needs to be laid down. That won't stop me from getting my hands dirty with the model and rigging the beasty. Lets just post our WIP and help each other out with various issues until the real challenge comes about.

[Nothingness]

Still a lot of work to do,
but here is what i have already:
some parts are still nurbs, so i can adjust them more easy as the shape changes, and when it all fits nicely it will be finished off. Will also have some protection plating and whatever will be needed.
I will try and tone down my lust for details, and keep it for a rework for later personal use.

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

http://users.edpnet.be/nothingness/3idee/mecha/mecha_01.jpg

[giordi]

OMG! it is so nice! plese keep on!

[BusterHymen]

I think you are all correct. To keep this organized we should wait for the model from Nothingness, which is looking very good I must say.

[rikkiknight]

Nice model Nothingness!
Keep it coming :)

[RavenEye]

Nothingness, while your modeling this kitty. Try to keep in mind on what you would like to see it do? No matter how difficult it is for us riggers.

[Nothingness]

Hey RavenEye,

not sure what to expect from riggers. I assume it should just be able to do all kind of movements.

For the moments i have a hard problem making sure the leg is usable. Because it's mechanical, you need to think about what movements it should be able to do.

When i get out of the problematic situation, i'll post a screen and ask if it's possible. Cause i know that not everything mechanical is easy to rig. I did a few myself (and i'm not a rigger).

[eyeayen]

Do you have any other info on this?
If this should become a real model, it will for sure look totally different cause this concept is rather unrealistic. But i love the design of it and should be a nice starting point.

Woah, sorry for my delay in replying, ten days :eek:

Unfortunately no I don't have any more details of my earlier post, other than it was created by Simon Roberts from Capitalize agency. I think he purely photographed sports bikes and then photoshop'd them together cleverly to make the panther image. You can find the site at http://www.capitalize.co.uk/ but after a brief look on there I can't see anything extra that would help.

To be honest I'm so late reply and you seem to be getting on so well it doesn't seem worth following this any further.

[twidup]

hi all

its up to you how this is done.

I have been dealing a couple things, mainly finishing off Christmas Carol, moving to LA, and not having internet access except at work, which I am trying not to abuse right now.

Roberto and I have been working on the rigging challenge to use the QOFTR winner models, and were set to kick it off soon...but if you want to do either the mech or the mech cat, fine.

if you want to run this totally on your own, thats fine as well

-todd

[twidup]

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=139&t=807944

[RavenEye]

Welcome to Los Angeles.Always a good thing to avoid abusing the internet for the first couple of weeks at a new gig. If you like hot dogs, try Pinks on LaBrea. I would like to learn more about the rigging part of the QOFTR and what models will be avaliable.

[twidup]

what we were planning is to hand over several models and let you pick which ones to work on, set forth some guidelines, and then go.

the rigs would then be passed off at teh end to an animation challenge and an fx challenge, to help "psuedo" mimin a small production pipeline

-todd

[Nothingness]

Hey twidup,

I'm trying hard to make sure the mecha-cat is finished by the week's end. But not sure if it will be met. Afterwards it will take some time to make sure it's a usable model for all.

But if you can do a challenge with the QOTRM models, than i'd say go ahead. I'll have a little more time then, and the model will still be there for the next challenge.

So no mather what, the model will be used.

[TimForbes]

Man, i'm liking the sound of either challenge, the cat looks killer, but these models that todd is proposing also looks like a super interesting way to go.
either way i'm excited.

[twidup]

cool...sounds good actually. i will get with ROberto and get it sorted, and should be posting it this weekend

[RobertoOrtiz]

wel I am posting the challenge RIGHT NOW...
but if you guys want to see what models you can get your hands on..

well go here:
Queen of the Rocketmen: THE MODEL LIBRARY (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=139&t=810654)

and you guys could do the challenges the same way you usually do,
but please re- post your final entries here:
Queen of the Rocketmen: THE MODEL RIGS (NEW!) (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=139&t=810664)

[Nicholas-Silveira]

wel I am posting the challenge RIGHT NOW...
butif you guys want to see what models you can get your hands on..

well go here:
Queen of the Rocketmen: THE MODEL LIBRARY (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=139&t=810654)

and you guys could do the challenges the same way you usually do,
but please re- post your final entries here:
Queen of the Rocketmen: THE MODEL RIGS (NEW!) (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=139&t=810664)

Hi RobertoOrtiz,

I wouldn't mind posting my Mechanical scorpion. I will stay out of this rig challenge because I have rigged the big guy before. The design is modeled from a riggers point of view!

Please let me know what you think
(http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=132&t=810230)


----------------------
Nicholas Silveira
Rigger / Modeler
nicholas.silveira.blogspot.com
www.linkedin.com/in/nicholassilveira (http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholassilveira)

[Carlo890]

Hi RobertoOrtiz,

I wouldn't mind posting my Mechanical scorpion. I will stay out of this rig challenge because I have rigged the big guy before. The design is modeled from a riggers point of view!

Please let me know what you think
(http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=132&t=810230)


----------------------
Nicholas Silveira
Rigger / Modeler
nicholas.silveira.blogspot.com
www.linkedin.com/in/nicholassilveira (http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholassilveira)


Hey I looked at your model and I think it would sweet to model, I hope they approve it cuz ill be looking forward to it.

[TimForbes]

hey i agree, that scorpion looks mad and would be awesome to rig up ;-)

[Nicholas-Silveira]

Thanks guys!!!
I'm just waiting for the OK! I will post it ASAP...
:D

I'm currently rigging my Jimmy model
(http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=132&t=811181) I fixed the model a bit but he has more than enough accessories that would be great to rig. I wouldn't mind posting both models.

[giordi]

hi hte scorpion is soo good! but i love also the caaaaat damn! ç_ç wll be hard make a chose! now i'm waiting for the official post of the rigging contest

[RobertoOrtiz]

You guys dont need my Ok to post it.


Go ahead.
BTW I would seriously recomend trying to buils rigs for some of the vehicles we have avaialble in this challenge.
We have Tanks, Girocopters, Planes, dirigibles and people.

Sounds like a ton of assets that would look great rigged.

[Nicholas-Silveira]

Hi everyone,

The Mechanical Scorpion model looks like this...
(http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=132&t=810230)

The Jimmy model looks like this...
(http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=132&t=811181)


DOWNLOAD THE MODELS HERE...
(http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5D1H1FOU)

If you would like to see more go here...
(http://www.youtube.com/user/NicholasSilveira)
:beer:

[Carlo890]

Hi everyone,

The Mechanical Scorpion model looks like this...
(http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=132&t=810230)

The Jimmy model looks like this...
(http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=132&t=811181)


DOWNLOAD THE MODELS HERE...
(http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5D1H1FOU)

If you would like to see more go here...
(http://www.youtube.com/user/NicholasSilveira)
:beer:

Hey thanks a bunch for the models can't wait to actually start rigging them!!!

[giordi]

thx for the model!


now we have two modle and a third that is coming.... what about an official topic ?

[Nothingness]

It might not be too late if he removes them in time.

oh well.


Looks like it's all about being too eager. It's in humans' nature.

ps. the mecha-cat is comming along slowly. Got too much other stuff on my plate.

[anoopak]

Awesome work, nicholas.Thanks for the model.

[Nicholas-Silveira]

Wow, I can't believe I spaced it and sent the Max file - sorry.

Here is the right file (obj).

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JJLF8LHU

If you could post a cleaned up version of this model that would be awesome! I would love to rig this bad boy ASAP! I'm working on a rig reel and I will love to use your model. I will give you all of the modeling credit!!!

LOOKS Great!!!
:D

[DanHaffner]

Awesome model, gonna be fun as hell rigging this guy up. You think we could also get the textures and all the extra stuff with it as well?

Thanks again for the sweet model.

[Nicholas-Silveira]

Awesome model, gonna be fun as hell rigging this guy up. You think we could also get the textures and all the extra stuff with it as well?

Thanks again for the sweet model.

There are no textures. I ownly used XSI shaders.

[Nicholas-Silveira]

Here is my new Technical Rig WIP.
Please let me know what you think!

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o9FOn3rrqw)


Thank you!

[RavenEye]

Nice WIP...

You should start with the renders of the scorpion bot. That will grab the users attention right off the bat. And then swing into the showing off of the rig. Right now that is my only feedback. Good job man

[giordi]

what about cat model?

[Nothingness]

what about cat model?

Yeah i'm sorry it takes so long. I was also hoping you would have another rigging challenge to do in the meantime. Doesn't look like it. Too bad.

I should continue the model tomorrow and i hope i can finally finish the leg. It's been such a drag to get one that is good enough. Already had to start over a few times.

I'll keep you posted when there is some good change.

sorry for the waiting. Had other worries on my mind.

[giordi]

i can wait , if u tell that the model will be finish for me there aren't problem i will wait i was so impressed by your shot of the cat! NOW I WANT RIG IT! ahahah i-m just kidding .

i will wait :)

[grantmoore3d]

Is there a rough ETA on this challenge? I'm going through a bunch of Rigging Tutorials right now and would love to have a challenge at the end of my study :)

[DanHaffner]

At the rate this is going, 2012 would be the best guess, lol.

[grantmoore3d]

Hahaha, yeah, I swear this thread has been active for at least 6 months now... all we need is a model and someone to just copy Roberto's style of thread and get it going already!!

[Carlo890]

Yeah i'm sorry it takes so long. I was also hoping you would have another rigging challenge to do in the meantime. Doesn't look like it. Too bad.

I should continue the model tomorrow and i hope i can finally finish the leg. It's been such a drag to get one that is good enough. Already had to start over a few times.

I'll keep you posted when there is some good change.

sorry for the waiting. Had other worries on my mind.


Just wanted to say no worries and thank you for even modeling something for this challenge. Seems like you been gettin a bunch a pressure about the cat. I say take all the time you need, because its not like the people on this site can't find other models to rig.

[tommix]

Hey guys, I did a robot arm rigging attempt.. could be much inspirational..
take a look: Robot Arm Rigging Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeQkQR6TpQE)