Sci-fi: - Matrix Hover Ship -

[DigitalCrystal]

A shot of the 3d set up.

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/1.jpg


Here is a little discussion about the ship, it's role, and it's name and such from the other thread:

Digital_Crystal:
"I've been looking at the purpose of this ship and at the different name types and while considering the genre of the movies. . .

This is a little thought which I think I'm going to base my model off of: In the movies, you hear about ships that use EMP as their last line of defense against the machines. Well, what happens after they EMP the area, they can't move right? Who's to say that more bots wouldn't be sent to the last location that the 'EMPed' bots last transmitted from? With this in mind, in cases of emergency, there has to be a way of getting the ships back up and running or at least pulled back home. So, considering that, I thought about the possibility that my ship has 3 teathers attached to it. Two, in the rear tips of the ship latch on to the other ship and the one 'between the legs' to supply temporary power to get the hover nodes back online for hovering. This way the ship could be guided home. So, this ship could be the savior to some. It would serve the same roles as all other ships, but is outfitted for those occasions then they are needed."

William B. Hand:
"EMP stands for "ElectroMagnetic Pulse". The pulse only affects systems which are active, so they shut off all power just prior to sending this pulse. Once the pulse is sent, and the threatening electrically powered systems are disabled, then they can simply fire everything up again and boogie on outta there."

Digital_Crystal:
"Hahah, well, there is always a chance they run out of gas, right? *wink*

Yeah, I'm up to speed with the understanding of EMP. I thought it created an energy vacuum to a degree. Pulling all energy from the area, not just the active sources of energy. But ok, here's the next thought, what if another ship EMPs too close to another.. well that active ship is now not so active, much like in Reloaded. The Raguel could be dispatched, or informed of the situation and called in as backup. Like I was saying earlier, it's sole purpose wouldn't be to provide backup or towing, it would operate just like any other ship, and since it seems like most of the captains in the Matrix are pretty good with surviving and avoiding the bots, that the task of rescuing another ship would be few and far between.
Thanks for the info on EMP though :)"

Hellwolve:
"an idea, how the ship could help others: mid-flight re-fueling. How about that?"

Digital_Crystal:
"Interesting thought. I could see that as a major advantage in this type of world they live in. Though, I still would like this ship to have functionablity as far as broadcasting into the matrix and such. Not just some scrubs for a crew flying around a refueling ship. I can see possibly other ships coming to it to refuel, rather than it going to others that way, it would still be able to full-fill it's mission and help others at the same time. Thanks for the input.

I'm still strugglin' with the name. Capernicus?.. .. If anyone has a better name in mind, don't be shy :) I'm going to continue to search."

Hellwolve:
"I always liked the name "Mephisto". I don't know the whole story exactly, but suposedly it's about a man (Mephisto) who sells his soul to the devil in return for some stuff...

I don't know exactly how you could incorperate that if you wanted, but if you do, and you don't only take the name, how about they've used salvaged machine parts to improve their ship?"

William B. Hand:
"I still like the CAPERNAUM."

Matt Wynne:
"capernicus sounds cool..."

[Hellwolve]

Here I am again ;)

And sorry, no more usefull stuff to say :P

[DigitalCrystal]

Quite alright :)

[Hellwolve]

Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
Quite alright :)

Good, good :)

And don't worry: I bet I have a lot of nutty sugestions and critique once you've posted the first pics of the model ;)

[Cazor]

Looks very promising.

I'm accualy the team leader of a matrix modification for a quake 3 engine game(Jedi Academy). Wondering if we could use the model (or a lower poly version of it) when you are done. My email is cazor@mchsi.com.

Looks like you got it planned out very well, good job!

[Jeroen]

Goodluck.

I am a starter in the 3D world but I think this will look great when it is done.

When you are busy, don't forget to put wire pictures on this site.

:)

[houston3000]

sketches look great and seem to stay true to the movie, can't wait to see the model

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey everyone. Thanks for all of your encouraging words. Cazor, the design of this ship is different than that of the Neb. Anyway, after I put up my new avitar..I worked on the 'hover nodes' that'll be placed all over the ship. I was just testing out their size in comparison to the sketches. I thought I was more consistant with the drawings, but I suppose not. But that's alright. Here are a few test renders:

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/14.jpg
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/141.jpg

Hover node, patch modeling, Mesh smoothed to 2 iterations.
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/132.jpg

And for the Matrix Feel | (no anti-aliasing.. eww)

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/11.jpg

Ok all you pro/efficient modellin' people out there, I'm going for the highest possible quality for my project. But I still want to be smart with how I do it. How many polygons would you say this project could run to?

The main reason I ask is at the moment, all of the nodes have 2 iterations of mesh smooth, and when rendering it says I'm rendering 400000+ faces... o_O.

Thoughts, comments are always welcome.

[DigitalCrystal]

Mesh smoothed:

Wire frame, 1 iteration
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/13.jpg

Solid, 1 iteration
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/131.jpg

Solid, 2 iterations
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/132.jpg
----------------------------
The difference is very clear, which makes it sad to see that I'm already eating up a lot of my polys with just the hover nodes. Although, the body of the ship can make up for some of that, and is less poly-intensive (not so rounded).
----------------------------

Any how, I'll continue work on this tomorrow. Feel free to add your .02

'night

[jamacsween]

Hi there,

I'm still a lurker but really liked your last thread and already like the look of this project. While there is a difference, it would depend on what you want to do with the final model. Is it a static geometry render or are you goin to model the electrical energy on the hover nodes?

I would suggest that a texture map/grime map plus effects covering the electrical energy would easily hides the small differences in quality and leave you model a little more manageable.

ust a thought and keep up the good work. Its great watching these things start from scratch esp. as I'm new to this type of 3D modelling (I'm a Naval Architect and previously modeled nurb hullforms!).

JA

[DigitalCrystal]

Welcome to the forum jamacsween and thanks for your comments. I really do think that at this stage, the detail depth of the geometry a bit too much. With that in mind I'll probably end up backing down the iterations to 1 instead of 2. I'm sure that with texturing and lighting I could get by with it. We'll see.

As of right now, it's not a huge problem in the viewports, Max allows you to view it as 1 iteration but render as 2. I know the Quadro FX 500 is workin' hard down there though :) I'll be able to get some stuff done today, hopefully all of the nodes will be finished soon.

More updates to come.

[DigitalCrystal]

Here's an update. I've chatted with a few of you outside of this thread on the mesh smooth situation, thanks for your help. Anyway, I've gone a head and done a few test renders of my latest progress. I'm nearly finished with these hover nodes. It has actually turned out a little better than I was expecting. I've tried to carry my style into this design. I don't have any reference images of how this is truely supposed to look. Just some stuff from that virtual model from thematrix.com. Anyway, hope you like this progress.

I've gone and rendered it out solid, and then a few opacity renders, for those of you who remember from the Sci-Fi Jet thread.

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/15.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/151.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/152.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/154.jpg

[DigitalCrystal]

And one more:

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/155.jpg


:thumbsup:

[Soulcre8er]

looks like a good start, keep up the good work, cant wait to see this finished

[DigitalCrystal]

Man, 4 AM again. I just can't put it down. I'm experimenting with the overall shape of the split rear. I doubt I'll use this smoothed mesh, but rather use it as a guide for later. But for now, I'm just checking to see if I like the way it looks in the back. I'm straying a little from the side drawing, alittle. I've gone and shortened that mechanical stablizer arm that attached to the back of the hover nodes. All fun to say the least! Other than those things, not much to report, other than more updates will come tomorrow. :)

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/163.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/161.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/164.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/162.jpg

[Hexodam]

very promising, I will be watching this one so you better not quit on me ;)

[TheHellmaster]

Really cool! Keep it going!

[Jeroen]

realy great

[Putois_Blagueur]

Well great details, I love it ! A lot a work on this ship, good luck (and hope you like coffee!!)

[insseuv]

excellent work, i just check this topic for the 1st time and i really like the way you explain your process, bravo !!

go on wanna see more :)

[Cazor]

Wow... this is looking really awesome. I'm liking how the tail goes in two.

I have some questions I would like you ask you, so if you could please IM me with AIM, my screen name is CazorFett. Thanks.

[sad]

uhh very detailed! good job though i think it might be more interesting if you made a own ship-creation. anway, it is a promising model and i´m looking forward to see updates!

[DigitalCrystal]

Originally posted by sad
uhh very detailed! good job though i think it might be more interesting if you made a own ship-creation.

Hey Sad, actually this is a new type of ship. Though similar to the nebuchanezzar, it has a split tail, will have a refueling dock type device on the rear of the ship for other hover ships to stop by to recharge if need be. The hull of the ship is designed differently, there are also more hover nodes in the middle of the ship, and I believe 1 more gun turret. My goal was to create my own ship, but I wanted to follow the style.

But thanks for your comments. And everyone else, thank you too. I went out and bought the Matrix Reloaded DVD for reference ;), so far the model has cost me time, and about 14.95 :)

I've found several errors in my design, so I've spent most of the day tweaking. I'll update tonight with some more test renders. Stay tooned. . .

[DigitalCrystal]

Alrighty everyone. Just as I said, more updates tonight. So, I'm turning in early, 2 am.. :) I studied "the Matrix Reloaded" docking with zion scene several times and have corrected my modeling accordingly. Rendering is now taking about 3.37 minutes now instead of the easier 1.27 minute rendering just last night. All of the new details and such have put me up to the 430,000 polys. I think I've come to grips with the fact that at this rate, this model will be useless for any type of animation.. at least on my home PC. But hopefully once I build it with detail to the max, I could always degrade the quality for animation. I'm also considering texturing at the moment, which will be undoubtably the hardest thing I've ever done yet unless I figure out some nice proceedural map set up. I believe my next step is going to be to finish the shell of the ship. Which is what I had planned on doing today, but once I saw how incorrect my model was, I wanted to correct it before you guys had a chance to point it out :) Well, now that I pretty much have the hover nodes completed, it should be a bit more fun to get to the functions of the ship. Ultimately after I complete that shell, I'd like to go ahead and finish up with all of the hover node things all over the ship and then I can begin to skin up this floating hunk of scrap metal. The turrets and all of that other fun stuff can wait until later. Oh, and landing gear will probably be coming up soon as well. Well, enough talk, here are the updates I've been talking about. . .

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/172.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/174.jpg

For detailed comparison, now and then...

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/17.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/175.jpg


Ok, so yes, there are more details :) Tomorrow will run alittle slow on the updates. I have a breakfast date in the morning and to follow that up, I've got some car test driving to do with my gal. (If you test drive VW this week you get a free dinner for 2 to an pricy italian restraunt) Tack on 2 meetings in the evening, one which could last until 11 pm.. So, I may have a few hours tomorrow afternoon. But my car is in need of an oil change so that may take up some of that time as well.

'night, hope you enjoy the updates.

[Wicked_Chicken]

Wow, and people dont like patch modelling.... pish...

Looks great. Ok, i take that back, it looks REALLY, REALLY GREAT!

keep it up!

[Tadus]

Thats really nice man! Keep us updated.

:)

[Quester99]

Its looking real good right now! Can't wait for you to update!

[DigitalCrystal]

Well, it's that time again. 4 AM?! No, well yes, but it's time for another update. Thanks again for all of your comments. Like I mentioned last night, I probably wouldn't have much time to work on this today, and that was the case. Even so, I did start working on the shape of the ship.. but to my greatest irritation, MAX began to screw up, repeatedly. I kept receiving an error that said I had a problem with 'bitarray.cpp' 'line: 151' everytime I would get a little further on the actual ship shell. And it gave me the option to retry *which could corrupt your file* or quit without saving. Luckily I've had this problem before and save as often as possible. Anyway, to make my time more productive until I can figure out what the deal is, I started working on the upper hover node frame. My style is different than that on the nebuchanezzer, which the frame extends more off the front towards the back. Mine extends from the center of the ship and sweeps foward, it has to, it has an extra node in the middle and offset nature of the nodes on the sides makes it more difficult to run any kind of setup from the sides like on the Neb. The front of this frame needs to have some more details added to it, but I can feel the sleep coming. I'll probably continue with all of the frames for the nodes then the actual body will be assembled. The shape of the body mesh towards the front of the ship is not what the ship will look like, so please disregard that mesh at the moment.

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/18.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/181.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/183.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/182.jpg

Rendering with all of the geometry present in the scene takes about 7 minutes now. Which is becoming more of a burden when rendering test renders. Also, the viewports are beginning to show signs of struggles. I'm doing well hiding and unhiding things now :) Current stats for rendering are 4308 objects and 757900 faces. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new updates, and like I said, this frame isn't finished, but I think I'm going to bed. More updates to come tomorrow.

'night.

PS, there are some modeling mistakes in the left hover node frame.. so, yes, I know about it ;)

[fried]

Dude I take my hat off to you. This model is awesome. It's gobsmackingly good.

[BgDM]

Very cool! Keep on going.

BgDM

[Darkmesh]

Yeah, thats rock ;)

[empty thought]

very cool, will be keeping track :P

[MRAY]

hey Digital_Crystal,

i have a few questions for you or anybody else who cares to answer. ok i'm pretty new at this so bare with me.
i've always wondered how people get all the detail in their mechanics. for instance on your "hover nodes" is that all seperate
objects grouped together to form one piece or is that all modeled out on one object?

and if their all seperate objects how do connect them together is it just grouped?
and how do you go about aligning everthing to where you want it to fit?

thanks!

[DigitalCrystal]

Thanks everyone for your encouraging words. I should have an update for you again by later this evening. The compliments really are inspiring. :thumbsup:


Originally posted by MRAY
hey Digital_Crystal,

i have a few questions for you or anybody else who cares to answer. ok i'm pretty new at this so bare with me.
i've always wondered how people get all the detail in their mechanics. for instance on your "hover nodes" is that all seperate
objects grouped together to form one piece or is that all modeled out on one object?

and if their all seperate objects how do connect them together is it just grouped?
and how do you go about aligning everthing to where you want it to fit?

thanks!


Well, I could tell you... but you've already guessed how to do it. It is a number of separated pieces attached together. As a matter of fact, at this moment, they aren't even attached together yet *incase I feel the need to change it, I don't want to have to change the mesh... eww, what a nightmare*. Now, in MAX, I use 'dummies', which if you will notice in the wireframe renderings, you'll see these dark red cubes around the nodes. That's the controller for all of the rotation, scale, and movement of the nodes. If you will then notice that if you look down at where the hydraulic arms attach to the back of the node, that there are 2 more dummies to control the rotation of that arm with respect to the first dummy. Lastly, there are 2 more dummies back where the hinge for the hydraulic arm to connect to the ship, this also allows for me to change the rotation of those objects. Ok, so you're wondering, how does it work. Well, you select all of the objects you want to be controlled by the dummy. OK, so only the disk shape of the node is linked to the large dummy, the whole hydraulic arm is linked to one of the dummy on it's side, an lastly the little frame like hinges that connect the arm to the ship are linked to their own dummy respectively. The next catch here is that you can link the dummies to each other too. Ok, so I've linked the last 2 dummies, to the next 2, and then those middle two to the big one ***Hint, this isn't the best way to do this, every time you want to rotate the node, you rotate the arm as well, you need to do it the opposite way. So that as you rotate the node, the rest of the geometry stays the same. So, back to your original statements about the arm. (another thought here is that you really don't need to have a dummy per half an arm, I just did that when mirroring the other arm, in truth you only would need 3 dummies per node, one at each pivit point)*** I always try to leave the arm straight when creating, that way you know all of your proportions are correct around that center point/line. If you look back at my earlier test renders you'll see an example of the geometry in a straight line.

Hope all of this helps and isn't too confusing.

You could also do alot of this with bones as well, but I will not go there this time, IK is just... :)

More updates tonight.

[MRAY]

thanks for the info!

But how do you build the detail on your base objects i know
they are all seprate pieces so how do you align them to the base object?

i took one of you pics to further illustrate my question:)


thanks dude for taking the time to explain!

[MRAY]

ooops forgot the pic :P

[DigitalCrystal]

Originally posted by MRAY
thanks for the info!

But how do you build the detail on your base objects i know
they are all seprate pieces so how do you align them to the base object?

i took one of you pics to further illustrate my question:)


thanks dude for taking the time to explain!

No problem, I've sent a PM, hope that helps.

[Jeroen]

Can you send us the pm too, just post it here.

:)

Thanks

[DigitalCrystal]

"Hey,

Hope this gives you a clearer picture..

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/help/Mray.jpg

After you link -only- the geometry you want to move, you can manipulate that dummy and the rest of the geometry will follow the lead of the dummy. The dummy has it's own pivot point (which can be adjusted) and if you rotate the dummy, everything linked to that dummy will rotate about that pivot point, the dummy's.

Let me know if I can help further or clearify a bit more."


Haha, I notice that even I messed up, if you will notice, I didn't select every object... those small round red cylinders that extend off the sides are not selected.. but I think you get the picture. Hope this helps.

[DigitalCrystal]

Pretty much hit a roadblock today. I'm have not been pleased with the lower nodes' frame(s). I've been working on them for several hours and have not produced anything I like. Sorry, no updates for tonight. But by tomorrow afternoon, there shall be an update. Hopefully tomorrow will bring greater success.

[MRAY]

ok i think i'm gettin it!
so what your saying is that all the objects linked to the dummy have taken on the dummy pivot point?

how would i go about creating a dummy?

but do you construct your objects and all the added pieces (detail)before you add the dummies?

if so how do you go about aligning all the objects to creat the added detail to the base object?

again thanks for taking the time out to help!

[Jeroen]

of course

[DigitalCrystal]

Originally posted by MRAY
so what your saying is that all the objects linked to the dummy have taken on the dummy pivot point?

Yes.

Originally posted by MRAY
how would i go about creating a dummy?[/B]

Well, I guess the most obvious question is, what program are you using? I've been going off the assumption that you are using max. If so, you need to go to the helpers tab on the create panel on the right side of the screen. Dummy will be the first button to click.

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/help/mray1.jpg

Originally posted by MRAY
but do you construct your objects and all the added pieces (detail)before you add the dummies?[/B]

Yes, but this isn't required. For instance, I went from the 'less detailed' 1 hydraulic arm, but then updated it and had 2 with a little more geometry. All you have to do is link the new geometry to the dummy and you're finished.

Originally posted by MRAY
if so how do you go about aligning all the objects to creat the added detail to the base object?[/B]

Move, rotate, scale. :)
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/help/mray2.jpg
Like I was saying in my previous posts, I keep my geometry in a straight line so that I can align the geometry properly. The mirror button also works well, as does clone (shift+drag the object you want cloned).

Originally posted by MRAY
again thanks for taking the time out to help! [/B]

No problem. Glad I could help.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Updates on Matrix Ship:

Ok, I've figured out how I'm going to do the frame, so there will be an update soon, I hope.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[DigitalCrystal]

Ok, here's a small update for you folks out there. The lower frame isn't near finished, but I wanted to show I was still working on it. Like I mentioned in my other post, I just didn't like the way things were working out with how I drew them in my sketch. One of the main problems was that then front landing gear arm would have been covered up by one of the center nodes. So, I've gone back and redesigned the set up. Honestly, I think this style fits the size of the ship anyway, with the extra weight associated with the split tail, I'm sure they would need more hover nodes than the Neb. More updates on a completed lower frame set will be completed with a few hours probably, and I'll update you again then. **Render time 00:11:59**

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/19.jpg

[Quester99]

Man, this is looking incredible! Can't wait for you to update!

[Cosmic Fool]

Nice attention to detail. I'm currently working on a high-poly, high-tech scene right now, and have been kind of stuck for reference images. Are you using reference at all, or are you just making everything up?

I'm kinda surprised you started with the hover nodes. I figure that most people would start by modelling the largest pieces first.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing the final result.

[DigitalCrystal]

Actually, I'm just using the Matrix DVD. I put it in the laptop, pause it on a scene of use, and then at the same time I've got my desktop right there right beside it.

My desk set up (some what messy):
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/setup.jpg

Anyway, about the nodes and such. I had planned on working on the ships mesh, but Max ended up giving me an error when I would edit the mesh. *It does this every now and then, but for the most part, it works alright* But for some reason, it wouldn't stop giving me the error, so I just finally got fed up with it and decided to start working on all of the other components. A side note about my approach. I was basing my model off of the online virtual model first, but once I started to watch my newly purchased DVD, I noticed how incorrect that model is. All of my sketches were based off of that model as well, so that lends my sketches to be somewhat inaccurate as well. I see the design of the ship as a fusion between style and practicality. I think that by doing the "nodes" first, they give me a point to build from, instead of a place to leave room for. :)

[Cosmic Fool]

Nice setup. Are you using The Matrix, or Reloaded?

If you don't mind, here's a hover ship a friend of mine did, not quite as detailed as yours though.

Hover Ship by Ricardo Pereira (http://matrix.senecac.on.ca/~rjpereir/onan/Onan-Chase-Me-2.jpg)

[urgaffel]

I'm impressed at the detail, but you really need to start optimizing. Sure, the hover nodes need a lot of detail, but 400k faces just for them is insane. Seriously. You should increase the density of the original mesh slightly, so you can get away with 1 iteration on meshsmooth. It's probably the heavy polycount that has max begging for mercy btw.

Another thing, remember that you can use smoothing groups to define sharp corners that doesn't need beveling.

I would gladly fiddle with one of the hover nodes to see if I can optimize it some if you send one of them to me. It's completely up to you of course :)

[infi]

wouldn't it be easier to make screenshots of the dvd? :D just asking, btw if you have the animatrix, "the last flight of the osiris", I bet there are a few scenes you could use

[DigitalCrystal]

Alrighty then. It's growing closer to 4 AM once more and it's about time for a true update. I'm going to post 8 images in the absence of the update last night. GREAT news is that I just downloaded the Finalrender service pack. The model was taking 17 minutes to render with Finalrender. But now with the new service pack, they must have gotten their ducks in a row because now it's rendering with more geometry at 2 minutes!!!

Cosmic_fool: Thanks, I'm using Reloaded. Is that your friend drivin' the ship?

urgaffel: Hey, thanks for the tips. Actually, I have backed the iterations down to 1 for this last set of renders and I'm pleased with the results, so I feel they that it will do. Thanks for the tip. About the nodes, I'm planning on removing all of them once I'm finished setting up the frames and such. The way I've got the pivot points and the dummy hierarcy needs revamping. So, for now, these mamoth polygon nodes will do ;). About the mesh editing causing max to squeel, I hid everything in the scene except for the mirror of the body mesh and the reference sketchs. I think it's something to do with my computer, but maybe it's the polys. I'm not sure if I quite understand what you mean by "use smoothing groups to define sharp corners". Any 'beveled' edge in my scene either is a chamfered edge, or a chamfered edge that's mesh smoothed.

I'll send you a node... but only if you 'teach/inform' me of how you optimized it. :)

Anyway about the new updates. I've changed my design from the sketches. And have struggled with how I wanted to do this frame for the nodes. The biggest difficulty was designing these (the frames) to be able to move to pull the nodes up far enough off the ground so that it could land without the nodes touching the ground. For reference to what I'm talking about, check out Chapters 2 and 4 of your Matrix Reloaded DVDs. :) If you don't have the DVD, the lower 'arms' on the Neb. actually rotate 90 degrees and then slide up the ships hull about 2 or 3 meters. This obviously allows for greater clearance for landing. Well, for my old design, I had two nodes right smack dab in the center of the ship. So I needed to change that. I went with 4 nodes on either side and have thought about rotating and lifts and slides and different things like that, and have come up with a method to get these nodes up off the ground. Since this ship is a heavier ship than the Neb, my nodes' frame won't rotate 90 degrees perpundicular (sp? 4am) to the hull. Rather, it will rotate on the tip of the frame.. you'll see. :) And I'm sure you can see the slight update on the body mesh. Alrighty, update time.

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/1917c.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/1919.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/1913.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/1916.jpg

[DigitalCrystal]

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/1914.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/1915.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/1918.jpg

Ok, well, maybe I said 8, but I think 7 will do.

Have a great evening/morning/day everyone. And thanks again for all of your inspiring support and comments.

[Jeroen]

You can clearly see that you have a history with machines.

[urgaffel]

Send away and I'll try and explain everything :)

[Sas.hun]

Coool, very nice work. Keep it coming ;)

[AstroSanchezz]

the detail is just great
can't wait to see this one finished
keep doing what you do......

[DigitalCrystal]

Thanks again for all of the inspiring comments. Urgaffel, I've sent an email your way, I hope it's your email at least! :) I'll probably try working on the ship's shape again for the next update. I think it's about time this thing began to take on some form.

[DigitalCrystal]

Ok, I wasn't able to work on this as I would have liked to. Basically, I've tried to put a general shape to the whole ship. **This is not the final mesh :p or the final design I want, but I think it's good for showing how and where things go** I nearly finished matching the outline of the sketch to the body mesh. Ok, so now, what's the next step? Good question, and my answer is the front cockpit/cabin. The whole front end of this will be it's own work of art, in other words, a little more difficult than the hover nodes and frames. :) Even though, I'll need to create another frame for the last 4 nodes. I've elected to change the way the windows were set up in the front. Moving from the Neb. style to a more osiris feel (a bit more conventional). After that is completed, I'll be able to base the mesh for the front half of the ship off of it, as of this moment, I feel like I'm just throwing verticies around with no true direction or flow. So, this will be a small update. I think that the rear of the ships is going to be the last thing finished as it appears that my progression is moving from back to front and then back to the back again.

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/213.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/214.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/211.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/212.jpg

I should have plenty of time tomorrow to begin work on the cockpit of the ship. Thanks again for your support, and remember, comments are welcome.

'night,

[Hellwolve]

The only comment I have (the progress so far is good IMHO) is, are you going to make the crew sooner or later, or will you stop once the ship is finished?

[Oscarini]

THIS I CALL REAL MODELLIN'! ;D

[inglis]

very cool. ive just seen this thread. ill be sure to follow your progress.

[DigitalCrystal]

Hellwolve, I actually have considered creating a crew. My only limitation is that I've never modeled a human before. I would love to broaden my abilities, so once I finish this project, scene, and all, I'll start with the crew. It'll take me a little time, but I'm sure I can do it :)

De'vill, inglis: thanks :thumbsup:

[_The_Paladin_]

It is so cool.

[houston3000]

U've come a long way since I first replied, and I think it is wondeful, great work. I have no critiques, sorry :)

[Quester99]

This is coming out excelent! Keep updating!

[Hellwolve]

Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
Hellwolve, I actually have considered creating a crew. My only limitation is that I've never modeled a human before. I would love to broaden my abilities, so once I finish this project, scene, and all, I'll start with the crew. It'll take me a little time, but I'm sure I can do it :)

Ah, I see...Well, looking forward to that; I've got a lot of good sugestions for 'em, IMHO ;)

[DigitalCrystal]

Originally posted by Hellwolve
Ah, I see...Well, looking forward to that; I've got a lot of good sugestions for 'em, IMHO ;)

Sounds good to me. Once the model is finished, I would like to pose it in some scenes, which could take some time, but after that, I wouldn't mind polishing it off with a crew. Perhaps I'll run across some time to get to the model tomorrow, I've just picked up a new job, so it's taking up some more of my time. We'll see. I'm considering a few different things for the whole front end, so I'll see about getting to that, but in the mean time, comments are always welcome ;)

[DrachenVFX]

Man you got some CRAZY poly count goin! It looks awesome, so i'd say its justified.

[Hellwolve]

Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
Sounds good to me. Once the model is finished, I would like to pose it in some scenes, which could take some time, but after that, I wouldn't mind polishing it off with a crew<SNIP>I'm considering a few different things for the whole front end, so I'll see about getting to that, but in the mean time, comments are always welcome ;)

Well, good luck, and since I can't wait to see the results, don't take all too long ;)

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey folks, I've been really busy lately. I'm still here, but progress has become very slow. I hope I can get back to the model sometime this week. But, it's somewhat doubtful. . . I really want to see this project to the finish.

Thanks again for all of your comments, and sorry for the delay on modeling updates folks.

[insseuv]

Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
I really want to see this project to the finish.


so do I !
I think we all want to see the final result !! :D

[Jeroen]

are you also going to make texures?

[DigitalCrystal]

Yeah, I do plan on creating the textures for this model. Although, I've never textured anything of of this magnitude, I may need some help. I'm also thinking about what type of scene I want to use or set this model in. I also think that I'm straying away from the thought about this ship being a refueling/recharging ship. I just don't know if I like the idea or not.

[DaKrunch]

amazing detail...
keep it up my eyes are on you!


(...)

[Hellwolve]

Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
...I also think that I'm straying away from the thought about this ship being a refueling/recharging ship. I just don't know if I like the idea or not.

Well, IMHO, there is nothing wrong with making it "just" a ship :)

[Digital Soap]

looking nice, I am loathing the detail you putting in this :)

[DigitalCrystal]

Originally posted by Hellwolve
Well, IMHO, there is nothing wrong with making it "just" a ship :)

I agree completely. And thanks Digital Soup. We 'Digital...'s gotta stick together. :) Perhaps an update tonight.

[Solarix]

wow O_O

incredible detail.......and incredible modelling, of course....

two thumbs up!

~S

btw, mebbe another name could work...hmm...idunno...probably some god name or king name...hephestus, for example.
(got the god/king name fomr the Nebuchannezar and the Osiris(Animatrix))

Capernicus is till kewl tho ^_^

[FruitLoops]

I don't normally post in these forums. But after a quick skim through this i noticed that nobody had said anything about the Nebuchanezza modelling program.

http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_cmp/model_builder2.html

Obviously it's not going to be exactly the same as yours, and not nearly as detailed - but still it could serve as a reference for some sections that are hard to see on the movie.

Anyway, just thought it'd be worth a mention - sorry if it has been already, didn't notice any posts about it.

Your model is looking pretty amazing so far, keep it up. Can't wait to see the final product. :)

[DigitalCrystal]

Originally posted by Solarix
wow O_O

incredible detail.......and incredible modelling, of course....

two thumbs up!

~S

btw, mebbe another name could work...hmm...idunno...probably some god name or king name...hephestus, for example.
(got the god/king name fomr the Nebuchannezar and the Osiris(Animatrix))

Capernicus is till kewl tho ^_^

Thanks :)

About the name. I have thought about it. I'm not sure though. Capernicus is the name of a Roman General back in biblical days, so that was what turned me on to it the most. Although, I did have a list of names I thought would fit well. But here a few more to think about:

Odysseus
Orion
Pheonix

I dunno, perhaps someone else would like to add some names for consideration? Please feel free to do so!

Originally posted by FruitLoops
I don't normally post in these forums. But after a quick skim through this i noticed that nobody had said anything about the Nebuchanezza modelling program.

http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.c...l_builder2.html

Obviously it's not going to be exactly the same as yours, and not nearly as detailed - but still it could serve as a reference for some sections that are hard to see on the movie.

Anyway, just thought it'd be worth a mention - sorry if it has been already, didn't notice any posts about it.

Your model is looking pretty amazing so far, keep it up. Can't wait to see the final product. :)

Thanks for the tip. Actually, I based my original sketches off of that online model of the Neb. I studied and studied that thing and began modeling after it. Once I purchased the DVD, I noticed how incorrect the model truely is, which was somewhat dissapointing. The online model does provide good info about the shape of the ship, but when it comes to certain aspects of the ship, it really lacks. I would recommend using that online model to anyone who is looking at starting their own ship project, it does help with giving an understanding of how the ship is designed. Thanks again for the comments Fruitloops!

[Rickmeister]

holy mozes! how did i missed this post for so long! From now on your my hero man... amazing the stuff u do.
Looking forward 2 see your next update.

Btw, if it should be a refueling ship, its a bit small for it. If i would compare it with the Nebuchanezzar. Bcuz it needs have enough refueling stuff to take with him.

(sorry for my bad english)

[DigitalCrystal]

Vertical: Thanks man, you rock. I can never get enough of these inspiring comments, thanks again!

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey folks. I've decided to take a little bit of time tonight to start working on the front of the ship. It is no where near completed. Rather, I just wanted to give a small update to show where I am right now. I'm still not all around pleased with it, but it's easily to fix. The cockpit/cabin is going to be changed a little, as is how the frame connects to the cockpit. Here are a few renders for you. **Remember, this is just a few tests.. and small update to show I'm still working :)

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/22.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/221.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/223.jpg

I do have some news though. I'll be moving to Florida in about 3 and a half weeks to start my schooling at Full Sail. Moving will put a hold on this project's development for that week probably. But once down there, I'll be back at it again. And what about that alienware contest.. that may be a distraction. Too much going on at once...

'night

[Pyke]

Very impressive modeling there. Its gonna be a beast 2 texture tho!!!!

For names...go with something unnasuming...like Pooky. :)

[Klaymen]

Really nice work!!! But tell me, what are you gonna use it for? I mena, the movies have already been made, havent they??

[DigitalCrystal]

Originally posted by Klaymen
Really nice work!!! But tell me, what are you gonna use it for? I mena, the movies have already been made, havent they??

Well, though they may have done all of the movies, I still would like to do at least a nice still image. Perhaps a small animation. Perhaps a small story.. We'll see :) Thanks for your comments!

The Pooky... let me chew on that one ;) *Nice signature by the way :)*

[Jeroen]

The start was great but the body is getting boring.
Some metal plates, screws ore something.

[berko]

This is insane.....
Awesome job dude.....keep it up.

[DigitalCrystal]

Originally posted by Jeroen
The start was great but the body is getting boring.
Some metal plates, screws ore something.

Well now.. I'll get to it. I've just got a lot on my plate at the moment. But yes, I do plan to panel it and detail the body, like I said in my earlier posts, it's just a place holder for me to experiment with.

Berko, thanks :)

[Marsellus]

I hope this help, its the NEB i think. Its from the game they relased on the website that you had to build the Neb, well i beat it and took screen grabs for me or anyone who was going to make a model of it.
Note: thats as optimized as i could get it for the forums.

[Marsellus]

Oh my I just went back and read a post about what I had used. Well anywho view it for the humor, lol.

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey Marsellus, thanks for the suggestion ;)

[Jeroen]

I don't know if you also use the matrix part one, but there are cene's that are much better then part two.
Some real clear shots of the ship.

[Jeroen]

I have a link that is something for you.
http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/cmp/neb_steak_fr.html

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey, thanks for the suggestions! They have some really great stuff there. I'm getting geared up for Matrix Revolutions next week.

An update for everyone:

I've working full time at the office and in my spare time at home I've been working on work from my other freelance clients, so I hardly have time for much. But rest assured, I'll get this thing back out and moving soon.

[insseuv]

when will u update now ?
UP !!

[DigitalCrystal]

Thanks for bringing this back up. As a matter of fact, I just had the internet plugged up in the apartment, so I should be back at it by either tonight or tomorrow..

Cheers!

[AkaKico]

Very daunting project, I'd feel crushed by the weight of such an undertaking. However you have a good bit going already and it's looking good so far. I'll check back to see how things progress.

Chris

I NEED A MEDIC (and some feedback....) (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=104279)

[yangmiemie]

go on i like it

[Zoomie]

every day i'm looking for this thread wether it is updated! :D

it's just great!!!

[onscreen]

Subpatch for body....
polygon for the details.... wow.
no crits.. :D

keep it up!

[insseuv]

Originally posted by Zoomie
every day i'm looking for this thread wether it is updated!

i do the same ;)

[Jeroen]

It has bin a realy long time since we saw something of your hover craft.
When do you think that you have something to show to us again.

;-)

[unwrap]

This is awesome.
Soon you'll be able to use Revolutions DVD. :)

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey yall,

Sorry about the long delay on updates. The move to Florida was a very time consuming venture as well as other aspects of work, but now things are looking up. I plan on spending most of the evening working on the ship.. so plan on an update tonight.

Thanks for the encouragement!

[Attilathehun]

Hey Digital!

Its been a while. How has your time at Full Sail been so far? Must be pretty exciting! Cant wait for that update on your hover ship....its gunna be great. Hope to talk to you soon.

-Attila

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey everyone, like I was saying earlier, I think it's time for an update. And it's 4am again.. so what better time to update than now?! I ran into some kind of inspiration block when attempting to start on the front of the ship. So instead of being unproductive and mildly depressed, I started to work on the front gun turret. It took me a lot longer to get where I am than I had hoped, but still none the less, I have progressed. Those details sure do take time. I think it's that and the fact that I've been out of the 3d loop for a few weeks. Anyway, here are the updates. I'm not finished with this by any stretch, but I just wanted to show you that production hasn't stopped!

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/23.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/231.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/232.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/233.jpg

Obviously the turret needs a frame to pivot on.. so that's coming, as well as the mechanisms to feed the massive amount of bullets to the pivoting cannons.

Enjoy! I should be back at it again tomorrow, so, see you then.. and as always, thoughts and comments are welcome!

'night,

(after staring at some of these renders I think I've got my scale off slightly..will fix tomorrow)

[DigitalCrystal]

Originally posted by Attilathehun
Hey Digital!

Its been a while. How has your time at Full Sail been so far? Must be pretty exciting! Cant wait for that update on your hover ship....its gunna be great. Hope to talk to you soon.

-Attila

Hey hey, I wanted to applogize for not responding to your emails, my email wasn't working for a while.. but anyway, great to hear from you again. School starts officially in about 12 hours.. so we'll see how that goes.. other than that, Florida is lovely.

Later,

[Zoomie]

looks very very good!!!

[DigitalCrystal]

Alrighty yall, I've been tweaking the guns for some time this afternoon. I'm going to head off to bed, but I'll be updating the images in the morning.

'night,

[Klaymen]

Nice! Ihope the whole ship will have the same amount of detail as those cannons and the hoverpads.. not too much though, makes my eyes hurt :-P

[TheRow]

Just need to say.. GOD DAMN!
so many ditails so many polys.. so slow work speed u must endure...

no mather..

Btw once your done will u make a in depth tutorial of how to modell the ship?

Looking foward to more updates

[Garma]

Hai digital_crystal,

First off the amount of detail is jawdropping. Incredibly. But that's also a question of mine: why are you putting thsi amount of detail in it? No way even half of it will be visible in your final render (you said you wanted it to be a still), for example all the tech behind the hoverpads and such. Also this ship lurks in the dark parts of the earth so there isn't too much light (unless you wanted to put it in a complete different environment).

so: stunning, but why?

[Agilers]

The detail is just amazing.....
keep up those updates man this is really cool stuff....

...speechless...................................

[ssloan]

I love it,
im not much for sci-fi stuff but this is great

I love that we have got to see it from the start, it really helps.

[urgaffel]

Good to see you've picked up this model again. Lots of potential :)

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey folks, thanks for the great response! All of the encouragement is awesome. I wanted to appologize about not getting an update out this morning, I over slept my alarm and well, didn't have the time to get it up. So this evening will be another update.

Garma: I'm not exactly sure why I'm going all out on the detail. I guess in the end it'll all boil down to just the whole experience. To be able to have work that I've actually spent a lot of time at, tweaking it until the very end. I guess it would be considered more of a mile stone for me. After I suppose I could always degrade the quality/amount of detail if I wanted to, but I feel that if I'm going to have a bunch of stills from several angles, might as well make it look good all over. About the dim lighting, In some instances, such as when the ship is near walls or stuff, as in the films, the glow from the hover nodes actually spreads quite a bit of light.. so even if things are seen clearly, they will still be there..even if there is only a hint.

Am I spending too much time doing details, probably.. but I'm enjoying it, thanks all the way for the questions, I hadn't really explained it to myself until I wrote this, so thanks ;)

Anyway folks, more updates tonight.

[Tech-Four]

Hey Digital,

Iam beginnger at 3d in general so a have a 2 small questions for you.

First one is : How are you modeling the small details?
Are you using box modeling, patch modeling or what?

Second question : How long roughly has this taken you?

Thanks alot in advanced i really enjoy your work so far and look forward to seeing it finished..

Nik

[Garma]

Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
but I'm enjoying it, thanks all the way for the questions, I hadn't really explained it to myself until I wrote this, so thanks ;)


:D guess that's the best reason dude! well I'm following you and don't forget to texture ;) i'd love to see this baby textured.

[Maxsmackage]

So whats the poly count up too? :D

[foreverendering]

hey man this bad boy is definitely coming along.

i dig it, keep up the work. i love seeing detail

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey everyone, it's that time again, I've just added some final tweaks to the guns. I gotta tell you, the bullet feeding tubes on the back of this setup is one heck of a challenge. I'm not overall completely satisfied with the the final result, but this will do for now. So, it's the basic stuff that's frustrating me I guess. But anyway, the rendering stats are; polys: 1,490,000, time to render: 4 minutes (time it took to render the 3rd image below).

Needless to say with that large amount of polys, my computer is working pretty hard, luckily I have a Nvidia quadro FX 500 card.. so it's holdin' up alright. I've still mastered the hide technique by far more than any other command thus far :).

Here are those updates:

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/24.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/241.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/242.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/243.jpg

The base of the turret will obviously be next on the list.. I'm still not sure if I am completely satisfied with the level of detail.... on the center of the turret.....

Oh well, thanks again for everyones comments and encouraging words. Thanks for helping me get through those ruts of just lack of motivation ;) So, since I yall are always telling me to keep up the good work, I'm telling you, thanks and keep up the good work!

'night,

(PS: I'm going to be traveling this weekend for a family get together, unfortunately I'm not sure if I'll be able to work on this over the weekend or not.. hopefully I'll be able to plan out how I want to design the front, Happy thanksgiving everyone by the way!)

[DigitalCrystal]

one more image :)


http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/244.jpg

[Evil Pumpkin]

Wow man....this is a very detailed work...awesome modeling too!!!

keep up the good work!!

peace

[Paresseux]

caint wiat till its done..looking great

[DigitalCrystal]

Originally posted by Tech-Four
Hey Digital,

Iam beginnger at 3d in general so a have a 2 small questions for you.

First one is : How are you modeling the small details?
Are you using box modeling, patch modeling or what?

Second question : How long roughly has this taken you?

Thanks alot in advanced i really enjoy your work so far and look forward to seeing it finished..

Nik

Thanks for the compliments and such. For the small details I'm taking basic primatives that come with max.. such as box, cylinder, and a few of the splines in concert with mesh edit *for obvious reasons* and basically placing them all together into a 'system'; and when I say system I mean like a gun or a hover thing. And concerning the time question you had, I would say that it's taken me about a month so far. Off and on. If I counted up the total hours involved thus far.. I would say probably around the 75 hour range. Probably alittle more than that.

Hope that helps, thanks again for commenting!

[Rickmeister]

Nice to see some updates :D.

amazing to see how you are doing this.. how long do you use 3dMax?

Greetingz,

[DigitalCrystal]

Originally posted by Vertical Vortex
Nice to see some updates :D.

amazing to see how you are doing this.. how long do you use 3dMax?

Greetingz,


Thanks! Actually, I picked up MAX as a hobby and it's been about a year and 10 months. So, not too too long. Before I got into 3d art with MAX I was actually studying to be a mechanical engineer... *cough* not that it's helping me out right now or anything ;). I was introduced to 3d software with a mechanical design program call SolidWorks. I was doing an independant study with the program my sophomore year in high school. I've never had any formal training, just tutorials and this great website. I'm currently attending Full Sail now, but have yet to dive into the realm of 3d animation yet, so yeah, that's my 3d life in a nut shell!

Thanks for asking!

On another note, no more updates for a while it seems... at least until this weekend. Thanksgiving with the family away from the workstation. Oh well.. eat some turkey!

'Night

[Attilathehun]

Hey Guys I just want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families! Have a good one!

-Attila

[D-3]

Great work man... awesome stuff is coming...
doesn't to ask offend.?!... could you give up myself later his/her model? to compose the scene with my apu? I would pass you my model of the apu.. concluded hehe
think and tell me hehehe
and continue with the work... this being incredible...

[Cosmic Fool]

Great to see you're getting back into this. The guns are looking awesome so far. Are the guns alone 1.5 million polygons, or is that for the whole thing? Cause if it's for the guns, that's just overkill man ;)

The feeding tubes are lofts aren't they? They seem to have an odd mixture of smooth curves, and flat edges. Mainly the bottom ones. They go out straight, then curve, the go straight, then curve again. It looks a little unnatural, but I guess that all depends on what sort of material they're supposed to be made out of. It also looks like you need to adjust the twist value a little more, in order to get the bottom tubes to line up with the guns properly. Lookin really good so far though.

What video card did you say you had? I think you missed a number when you mentioned it. ;)

Looking forward to updates.

[Howard Day]

This does rock - you might find this interesting -
http://forums.scifi-meshes.com/showthread.php?t=11561
Little project I'm working on - it's somewhat in the same vein as yours. :D In other news, you might want to invest in a handy little max plugin called F-edge. Do a google search for it, and you'll see what I mean.
Good stuff, dude!

[DigitalCrystal]

Thanks again everyone for your comments, questions, and thoughts. I'm not anticipating an update this evening, but I will take this time to answer some of those questions posed earlier.

D-3 i'm always in the mood for sharing, just as long as everyone gets their fair share.. ;) A large scene would be awesome if we could collaborate.. but let's not get ahead of ourselves.. :) I still need to finish :) But thanks for the offer! When this begins to wrap up, let's talk! Cosmic, thanks for your kind words. Yes, the 1.5mil polys is for the whole model, something would really be wrong with me if I was creating the guns with 1.5mil :) About the tubes, yes they are lofts and they took me a while to get them to the state they are in now. They are supposed to be metal casings that'll be divided into several smaller pieces.. much like a band on some watches, the type that bends and stretches... bad comparison, anyway, I was looking over several methods of creating this effect and I was having little to no luck doing it, so this is what I've come up with. As you were saying, it does appear to be off in some places, which sucks. But yes, I do know about them ;). I'm using a Quadro FX 500 :) It's a 128mb card, obviously the younger brother to the FX1000-3000. Howard, I've checked out your thread, you've got some crazy special effects going on over there, good work. Maybe if D-3 and I get our acts together, there could be a joint venture on all of our parts. But until then, great stuff!

Alrighty folks, I should have something new for you soon, thanks for watching and your comments! Keep 'em comin'!

'night,

[DigitalCrystal]

Alrighty, the business of the christmas season has nearly ended and I'm ready to get back to work. I'm tired of putting the project off. I've been away from my workstation and will be for the rest of the week. Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. Hope to have an update soon. *as always*

[insseuv]

we hope u make an update soon too !!

[DigitalCrystal]

Alrighty folks, I've been setting aside time now to get back to the work at hand. FINALLY! So, here's a quick toy for yall to play with to kinda get you set ready for part two of the matrix ship building.

***click and drag the image***
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/spin/

[Hellwolve]

Nice toy....can't wait for the real work :-P

[William b. Hand]

Looking excellent, sir.

[DigitalCrystal]

Thanks guys. The current area that I'm working on is getting the front finished and out of the way. See yall late tonight !

[feeesh]

My desk set up (some what messy):
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/setup.jpg


Hey, I have the exact same desk with almost the exact same setup, hahaha.

Anyway, the model looks great so far, can't wait to see more!

-Jason

[DigitalCrystal]

Alrighty! 4AM as always :) The first true progress this year. It has been somewhat slow, but I began to tackle the front of the ship. I'm not finished with the design of the hover pad frames yet, but I was waiting to see how the cabin was going to shape up. So far, I'm pleased with the style. The windows on the bottom of the cabin are not finished yet so they will not be round like you see them now. The window on top won't be round either... as a matter of fact, as I stare at this right now.. I don't think that window is going to stay.. The ship's body will be formed around the cabin to give it a glove like feel and the hover frames will be fitted to that design. So, the task of finishing the cabin is first on the list, followed by the body around the cabin, and then the frames. Enough yackin':


http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/251.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/252.jpg

[Garma]

good to see you're still working on it. Yo the tool isn't working here. Too bad coz it sounded cool.

[whiteboy]

Great job so far man.

I have one question and i am sure you have gotten this alot but
when you created the guns did you just create primitive shapes (detail) and just aligned it with the basic shape of the gun and grouped them all together. Do you know what i am saying?

Keep up the excellent work

[DigitalCrystal]

Originally posted by whiteboy
Great job so far man.

I have one question and i am sure you have gotten this alot but
when you created the guns did you just create primitive shapes (detail) and just aligned it with the basic shape of the gun and grouped them all together. Do you know what i am saying?

Keep up the excellent work


Hey, thanks for kind words. About the details, yeah, I used 'several' primitives. I would then align them or shape them to the design at hand. Mesh edit and link become your favorite friends :)

Hope to have a full front update tonight.

PS: Garma, I don't know why it isn't working. It's in quicktime format.. maybe older/newer codec/version?

[insseuv]

hey, nice update, can we have a wired please ?

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey hey folks, I just wanted to show you that I haven't stopped working on the front. I really wasn't too happy with a lot of the mesh combinations that I had up front so I nearly redid that whole front 3 or 4 times. But now I think I have something heading in the right direction. I'm not going to show too much more because the detail isn't to the level that I want it to be yet, but rest assured, a full blown update is instore within the next 24 hours... :)

Here is the most recent render and wire of that render.

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/261.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/261wire.jpg

More to come! Comments and questions are more than welcome. Thanks for all the support thus far! I wouldn't have done this without a great audience!

[foreverendering]

I think the hull needs a lot more detail; it has nowhere near the attention put into it that the accessories do.

[DigitalCrystal]

Originally posted by foreverendering
I think the hull needs a lot more detail; it has nowhere near the attention put into it that the accessories do.

Yeah, I agree completely, I was actually waiting until I had everything else the way I liked it before I began to mess with the detail on the hull. The problem is that since this is all basically semi original designing I didn't exactly know how I wanted everything to match up.. so by doing all the accessories first.. I have a nice place to build from :)

I plan on putting as much time in the details of the ship as every other part of the ship. It would only be right to do so! Plus I really want to as well.

Cool, thanks.

[JetStrike]

Wow! This is probably the most detailed model I have ever seen on this forum! Keep up the awsome work.

[foreverendering]

Glad to hear it. This model has a lot of potential, can't wait to see it finished and textured!

Cheers..

[Pyke]

WOW man....extreamly impressive stuff! Very very very...just...wow!

I am making a short film with 'matrix overtones', and I know how hard it is to get the detail that makes something look 'matrixy'. So I tip my hat off to you!

How many polys is this thing tipping the scales at? If ur gonna go the animation route, its gonna be extreamly painful!! :) Thank gawd 4 x-refs! :)

As I said-very nice work. Im very interested to see how you are going to tackel the texturing. I am finding it VERY difficult to get the detail I want, especially when the textures are mainly black.

Ive suvscribed 2 this thread, and will be watching it very eagerly! Excellent work man...

-C-

[mora]

ah ha! I just found this thread,I'm not sure what ship this is,Is it a zion type hovercraft? well whatever,I think its lookin good.meanwhile you might wanna look at this.the model is low poly and included at the matrix site.its a virtual plastic model kit.
http://picserver.org/view_image.php/RLING3PJQ5/picserver.jpeg
or here (http://picserver.org/view_image.php/RLING3PJQ5/picserver.jpeg)

[DigitalCrystal]

Awesome, thanks for the compliments guys. And thanks for the help Mora, I actually used that model to help me with my initial sketches in the beginning. They helped to a degree, but like you said, they are low poly. So, I stepped up and purchased the dvds.

Anyway, I've been working on the front a little bit. Most of the details seen in this update was done today. I was just having such a time with the old mesh that I decided to start over and try it again. I'm much happier now. I've got class now, so the 'detailing' process has to stop for now.. but I'd say in about 2 more hours of modelling the front will be nearly completed if not finished. I'm going to give you these 2 images and then this evening you should be getting another. Rendering is slowly slowing down. I've got plans for my 4 system render farm in the works, so soon I may need to start calling upon that power :) As always, comments and questions are welcome! Cheers,

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/263.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/264.jpg

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey hey folks, long time no see. School has really taken over most of my time, but I have managed to work on this project here and there. I think I'm going to stop modelling for today, but here are a few stills of some of the detailing I'm putting onto the front of the ship. Some of the geometry is still quite simple, mainly those antennas and such, but don't worry, I'm only using those as place holders for the moment. The rest of the front end will be slow because of the amount of detail I want to put on it. But I'm pretty happy with the progression. Now all I need is time and a faster computer :).

Let me know what you think so far, thanks.

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/271.jpg
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/272.jpg
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/272wire.JPG
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/273.jpg

[jfelrod1960]

That's really awesome work there Digital. Are you planning on using it in an animation?

Great work :thumbsup:

[Hellwolve]

I've said it before, and it still is, awesome work!

[DigitalCrystal]

Thanks again guys. Jfelrod1960, I have considered working with this model in a small animation. I'm not sure of how in depth the story there would be, or if there would be a story... maybe just have it fly by and land or something. It would def be a composited animation though, I doubt my computer could handle a scene and this beast of a model. Itl'll be done eventually though. Thanks for asking. And hellwolve, you can say that all you want, positive crits inspire me more ;)

More will come, no doubt. I've got a big final project due this week with NURBS modelling, so this will def have to take the back seat to that. But next weekend I'm back at it.

As always, comments and questions are welcome.

On a side note, I've really began to enjoy some aspects of NURBS modelling, and I'm considering remodelling some of the geometry of this model in NURBS... ... well, considering.

[Hellwolve]

Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
...And hellwolve, you can say that all you want, positive crits inspire me more ;)...

In that case, shall I give the copy and paste commands an extra spin?

;)

[insseuv]

cool update !
i thought you let this project, thats a good work ! :)

[Jeroen]

the glass.
Does it stay this way or does it get dirty?

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey, thanks for having faith in me insseuv ;) And jeroen, I do plan on dirtying the whole front whole ship. And yeah, the glass is just a light blue at the moment to show that it is glass. And unless I get around to modelling the inside of that cabin, the glass may be completely fogged over when all is said and done. But yeah, the glass will not be blue ;)

Thanks for the questions. I'll probably sit down tonight after lab and work on some more details up front. I want to get past this front end, because like everyone else has mentioned before, the body needs some work.

Guns, landing gear, details details details... :)

[darthviper107]

Work on it more, it looks really, really great.

[DigitalCrystal]

Heheh, thanks darthviper, I'll see what I can do :) Actually, the rest of this week is being devoted to my nurbs modelling final project. I do have some good news. I did upgrade my motherboard, processor, and ram. So now, I'm up and running at 8x agp. I've moved from a AMD 2100+ XP to a 2800+... and from 768Mb PC2100 to 1gig PC3200. So, working in max should be a little easier, not that 1.6 million faces is easy :). Anyway, like I was saying, Nurbs the rest of this week.. saturday, matrix ship update.

[insseuv]

héhé :)

next Digital_Crystal's post gonna be awesome, cant wait 'til the end of the we... <(^__^)>

[DigitalCrystal]

Heh, thanks ;) Actually, I ventured out to Daytona beach over the weekend, so the work wasn't accomplished. I have started to work on the ship today. I've come to the conclusion that i'm going to model the interior of the cab up front. No need to let all that detail go to waste if it looks like I skimped out on the front end with solid windows. Anyway, I've been studying the interior shots from the Animatrix and reloaded, and I think I've come up with the style for both.


Updates this evenin', I promise :)

[Hellwolve]

Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
Updates this evenin', I promise :)

I'll keep you to that promise.

How, you ask?

With spam >:-)

[DigitalCrystal]

haha, sorry about the misguided promise ;) I started reworking the body pretty hardcore. Similar design, but more efficient for the front end. Plus there were several illegal polys in there that were causing some strange modelling problems. Basically I've deleted the top half of the front of the ship and have began to rebuild it. :) Here... a render to illustrate.

Since I haven't had a chance to reauthorize my Final Render-1 nor my dreamscape.. I don't have my GI working at the moment. So, that's the reason for the drastic change in render settings.

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/281.jpg

Sorry, it's not exactly a flashy update.. but that day will come :)

[Hellwolve]

Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
Sorry, it's not exactly a flashy update.. but that day will come :)

Well, it looks....well, there's something ;)

Can't wait for the 'flashy' update :-P

[the_zed_axis]

more arghghghgh

[DigitalCrystal]

Little teaser. I haven't been able to work on this nearly all month, but after this week, I'll have some spare time. Time to get this show on the road.

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/291.jpg

[TheRow]

question: Will we see the interior as well?
or just the out side of the ship?
Looks marvelus so far... keep going...

[studiomaxer3d]

im really liking this.. i think your attention to detail is something that a lot of us lack. we can learn from this.. at least i can.

good job.

[TheFreak]

hey man it looks the part, can't wait to see it all finished

it's nice to see you building it from scratch, might be nice to have a full page of just the screens so people can see exactly the steps needed to make this monster :)

Great stuff

[Hellwolve]

"Time to get this show on the road" he says...after a year :-P

;)

Can't wait for more :)

[DigitalCrystal]

The_Row, thanks. I do plan on modelling the interior of the cab at least. That way the windows aren't completely mirrored. Besides, I think it'll make it look that much better. So yes, you should be able to see the interior when all is said and done.

studiomaxer3d, thanks for your kind words.

TheFreak, thanks man. Yeah, I'll probably put together a page once I've completely finished it.

And last but not least the faithful Hellwolve, you know me man ;)

---

So, here's the deal, this week is going to be pretty stressful as far as being busy and lacking in sleep, so hopefully by saturday I'll be able to get to it a bit. My mother will be in town this weekend, so that may play a factor for sunday. *shrug*

Thanks again for the encouragement folks.

[Hellwolve]

Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
And last but not least the faithful Hellwolve, you know me man ;)

Yeah, I do: you're an die-hard procrastinator ;)

Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
Thanks again for the encouragement folks.

No problem...you should know that after a year ;)

[_The_Paladin_]

totally awesome, you have captured the essence of a hover ship

[DigitalCrystal]

Alrighty as always it seems like I manage to throw an update in about once a month. Well, here are a few things that I have been working on though I haven't been posting them up. First.. we'll start off with the concept art. I took a render from back in March, printed it and began to sketch on it to plan out the larger details a bit more clearly. So for those of you wondering where I'm headed.. hopefully this'll give you an idea. While I was at it, I also went a head and began to sketch a few thoughts of what the interior would look like. Beware, they are very simple and quick sketches, so yeah...

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/Capernicus_detail1a.jpg

Perspective:
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/interior_conceptcolor.jpg

Bird's eye view:
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/interior_conceptcolor2.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/seat.jpg

[DigitalCrystal]

Alrighty Now this next part is of the recent renders I've done.. I began to work on the rear of the ship after a suggestion from one of my instructors, if you get bored with an area.. move to another.. so I did. I'm fairly pleased with how it has come out. I've also done some small changes to the body as usual to fit the style more and more, very stubtle though. Make sure to check out the quick spin around vid I rendered out a few weeks back at:

HIGH RES: 52Mbs QUICKTIME
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/spin/spin.mov

MED RES: 2.7Mbs AVI Cinepac
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/spin/spin_low.avi

WAY LOW RES: 44k.. wmv
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/spin/spin_verylow.wmv


On with the renders:

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/412.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/421.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/427.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/429.jpg

[DigitalCrystal]

< < < < MORE UPDATES ON PREVIOUS PAGE! < < < <


http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/431.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/434.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/435.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/436.jpg


Whooo hooo, what an update :) The back end is nearly complete, you can see some simple polys without much smoothing done to them, so remember, it's still a wip and needs a bit more work *wink* I'll be working on this project quite a bit more in the future. I have a compositing project due in 3 months and I'm considering putting this model in it landing in the school parking lot... and me sprinting out of it to get to class on time. *shrug* But that means a lot of work to do in the next few months on top of the work I'm already doing for school.

Anyway, let me know what you think.. thanks again,

[Shiver]

ummm, this is so good im going to cry, can anyone else agree this is gonna be a cgtalk choice

once again HOLY CRAP THAT IS SOME CRAZY SHIT!!

[foxco]

this will bel ooking sweet ass when you get some textures on there. will be nice to see the final

/fox

[William b. Hand]

This is coming along just beautifully, DC!

The detailing on the rear is fantastic.
Love the curving pieces that attach the repulsors to the body...
Glad you seem to have made some changes to the cockpit shape since last I checked.
Some really elegant curves taking form in the body...

Just wanted to give pats to the back. :D

[Hellwolve]

What an update! Indeed!

Once more I thought you had stopped working on it, and once more I was proven wrong.

Your loyal fan,
Hellwolve.

[DigitalCrystal]

Shiver: Thanks man, crazy was what I was going for :)

XsifoX: Yeah man, I agree, the texturing will def decide if this model turns great or not.

William: Thanks man. You were with me back when it started and I'm glad to see how it has progressed since then and I'm glad to see you approve likewise. The cockpit did need some fixing, it still needs work, but I think it'll need to wait, I had such a 3d block when I started to work on it. The curves of the body have been tweak and tweaked and tweaked.. and still at this point they are really just place holders it feels like.. just holding position. I hope it's as close to the final shape as possible, but who knows, every time I come back to it always looks a tad bit different.

Hellwolve: Thanks man. You know I wouldn't stop working on it :) I just take so long to get anything done :) Thanks for sticking with me.

Thanks guys. It's always a pleasure when you hear your work is appreciated :). Hopefully this weekend I'll have another update.. as a matter of fact, hopefully tonight. Start working on the body in the mid section a bit more maybe. It's just so tempting to add a bunch of details to the entire body of the ship.. but I'm happily holding back until I nkow the hull and all is the exact way I want it...which.. I'm sure is why it's taking me way too long.

*double thumbsup to you guys*



thanks again,

[Hellwolve]

Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
Hellwolve: Thanks man. You know I wouldn't stop working on it :)

Okay, I'll admit that ;-)


Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
I just take so long to get anything done :)

We can all see that ;-)


Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
Thanks for sticking with me.

No problem.

Although, it's a bit selfish: I'm hoping for a place as a crewmember...







...j/k ;-)

[the_wayward_man]

dad gum, i had to join to say thats splindiferous

[DigitalCrystal]

Originally posted by Hellwolve
No problem.

Although, it's a bit selfish: I'm hoping for a place as a crewmember...


...j/k ;-)


Lol, very funny man. I'll see what I can do for you ;)

the_wayward_man: Thanks, I noticed you're in winterpark, you a student around here?

later,

[the_wayward_man]

umm... perhaps...

[Hellwolve]

Originally posted by Digital_Crystal
Lol, very funny man. I'll see what I can do for you ;)

Weeee!

;-)

[Jesse-Irvin]

Looking sweet so far. Lots of little details... I can't wait to see this all textured and finished!

[DigitalCrystal]

Alrighty, I've stepped up to the plate with trying to panel this model and haven't really found a great method to do it. If any of you have or know of a great style for panel geometry, I'd love to hear it. I'll continue to experiment with edge loops and chamfer.. but so far, I haven't found the results I like. I had a suggestion to create a duplicate body shell.. and then to extrude the poly faces that I wanted to use as the panels... as separate objects.. but that turned up empty handed. It doesn't allow for nice curving panels, or at least it wasn't doing it when I was working around with it. I probably just need to mess around with it more. But anyway, like I was saying, if any of you have a suggestion, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks,

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey folks. I've been actually working on this model quite a bit more than usual which has been nice. I've found out how I'm going to model the surface of the body, but it's requiring that I have the shape exactly how I want it. So I'm working on the macro details now. You'll notice I've moved some things around. I've gone back and edge looped a bunch of the tri's that had been effecting the nurms smoothing negatively. I've worked on the rear a good bit and is my current location of concern.. although, I haven't been afraid to move on to there parts of the ship at random. If you'll notice, the lower hover pads have been lowered from their original position, and the frame has been modified to resemble the rear hover pad frames a bit more. I have also began work on the underside of the ship although, I think it'll have to wait until I've completed the top before I begin a lot of my work on the underside. I have also messed around with making the frame for the top hover pads a little wider.. or maybe just more spread apart. The reason for all these adjustments was the ship had began to look to streamline to match the style of the movies.. and in hopes of staying with the genre.. I'm trying this. So much tweaking has been done, these renders really don't do it justice. Thanks for stickin' with me everyone.. and thanks to you folks who have been emailing me and inspiring me to get some work in on this. You know who you are ;)

As always.. comments, questions, and critz are more than welcome...

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/441.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/463.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/458.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/464.jpg

[DigitalCrystal]

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/465.jpg
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/471.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/473.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/472.jpg

[Tu_Vieja]

hello,
you this being left a model exceeded I have desire to see finished it, good work
:bounce:

[WChestnutt]

wow!! no idea how i messed this one! just amazing modeling!

Looking forward to more!

[Hellwolve]

Crits? Well, I could give crits, but the model would have to be worse for that ;)

[dExon]

Great Modeling

Keep it up, i wanna see updates :)

[SpeedAS]

Absolutly fantastic! :) Subscribing to this topic!

[ENIAC]

very, very, very good work man
cant wait to see renders

[Borro]

I love the level of detail, it's stunning :eek:. Furthermore I'm in love with the turrets I want them animated shooting hot plasma charges melting people or robot :twisted: :twisted:. Well nice modeling keep it up.

[DrakeX]

hate to burst your bubble so late in the project, but... i believe it's spelled cOpernicus ;)

the level of detail is amazing :O those hoverpads seem to get more an more detailed each time!

[DigitalCrystal]

Thanks again for all the support. I hope to get some of this stuff done this weekend. As always it's a hope... but you just never know what'll come up. Pray for some inspiration! ;)

[Hellwolve]

No problem :)

And I don't pray, but I'll certainly help you hope ;)

[DigitalCrystal]

Here is some of my progress... I worked on this a little yesterday and plan on pumpin' out some more geometry and stuff today as well.

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/477.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/479.jpg

[DigitalCrystal]

So yeah, after 2 hurricanes and a 3rd one on the way. I've been doing nothing but trying to stay out of harms way and get this crazy school work done. Just thought I'd update everyone on the progress. I do have a few renders that haven't been uploaded, but I'll see what I can do about that in the next few days.

[Texamosix]

Excellent, excellent work... I'm glad to see you're updating again. The amount of work you've put into this project is amazing. It gives me something to strive for. :thumbsup:

[Hellwolve]

Yeah, please do stay out of harms way...survive! It would be a shame to loose you and your art :)

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey thanks guys.

I don't have much, but this is where I am now. I've decided that after this model is done, I'm going to make a 10-15 sec short of it doing something. Though it'll be a lot of work, hopefully it'll turn out rather nice. Need to start polishing up my combustion skills.

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/483.jpg

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/483wire.JPG

Here's a wire to show the layout of the ship's body. Some places need to be reworked, such as the areas below the central hover pads.. I'm using edge looping in most places.

[Byte]

Damn its becoming better and better.
Keep it up you are on the right way! :thumbsup:

[Hellwolve]

Hey thanks guys.
No problem...I'm in too deep to give up anyway ;)

Anyways, it looks good...can't give you better critique, I'm afraid, only encouragement :)

[wirefixed]

I can't say anything... maybe just holy s***. but thats it... I love the detail. Can't wait for those 15 seconds :bounce:

[taisir]

VER,VERY,VERY Impresive work!:thumbsup: good to see people, who are working with 3dsmax! really cool.
I like your sinn for the small details, i like it and i think i can learn from you :) :bounce:

see my Ivandroid, who will become also more details-

http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?p=1557598#post1557598

[Lotus7]

love it! incredible amout of detail!! amazing stuff!! :bounce: :thumbsup:

[DigitalCrystal]

Yeah, 'bout time for an update on this mamojamma. But unfortunately...I can't get to it yet. I'm in class right now at full sail, and well, I'm bummed that this bad boy isn't done yet. I am on the other hand happy to say that I have come across a new style of modeling and I'm pleased to say That I may be 80% finished with this model. Hopefully this'll get some attention within the next month. I guess I'm just stirrin' the pot a little..

Yall have a nice morning.

[nofxsapunk]

this hover plane turns me on its pushes the right buttons. nice modeling.

[DP]

amazing modeling man!! :thumbsup:

[ervine]

Oh man that's disgustingly well detailed... simply disgusting! Great work!

[Hellwolve]

I'd say that again...wait, no, I'd say it's about effin' time ;)

As usual, I'll be awaiting with baited breath...I can tell you my face is pretty blue right now :P

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey folks.. I sat down and began to work on this project again. Put a couple hours into it. Mainly just testing out how I want to model the panels on the ship. And where all the antenas are going to go. I'm pleased, so I felt I'd share a render :thumbsup:

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/486.jpg

More updates very soon......and I mean it this time.

[shub]

Hey this is looking really freaking great!

I am friends with the guy who built this for the Animatrix. His site has the actual model from the film. It is great reference if you need it. But it does not look like you do.:thumbsup:

Your details are amazing. Keep it up.

[houston3000]

Man, I am happy this project is still going along... I think it was almost exactly 1 year and about 2 weeks ago when I first posted on this thread. Your model is so amazingly detailed, please keep working on it. I have been getting email updates on this thing for over a year :D

[feverinlove]

woa. nice project but I believe the main body needs more detail.

[MiguelSilva]

:eek:
Love the model, keep the good work. :thumbsup:


Ass: Matrix fan

[mora]

Hey Digital Crystal:bounce: your model is getting so detailed.It'd sure hog your resources for animating this.Of course there's always x-ref.But theres another way:scream:

Have you seen what max 7 does with Normal Mapping? I sincerely think it's your solution.But then again I'm not sure bcuz I havent tried it yet meself:)

[DigitalCrystal]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I've been working on some sketches of how I want to detail the body of the ship, and i'm pretty pleased with the look. So hopefully by tonight I'll have most of the seams for the panels roughed out. Maybe I'll even have time to do the rivets tonight.

Shub: thanks again man.

houston3000: thanks for being such a loyal viewer, this has been a long over due project, glad to see it hasn't lost interest!

feverinlove: Thanks for the comments. I agree, the body is seriously lacking in detail. I def concentrating my efforts there.

DTS: thanks!

mora: thanks for the comments. Yeah, the model is def very taxing on the system. I hide most of the geometry when I'm working on the detailed areas. Unfortunately I was quite the newbie when I started this project, so all of those hover pads are horribly unoptimized for the size and amount of detail in them. The body is going to be pretty dense with detail as far as I can see. Who knows. But concerning the normal mapping; I have been doing minor normal mapping tests in maya 6, and I have come up with some good results. I'm using Max5.1 to model this.. I just don't have the money to upgrade to 7 *shrug* I am considering exporting the model to maya for texturing, but not quite sure yet. BTW, normal maps are awesome.

Thanks again everyone.

(hellvolve?) ;)

[:zepedro:]

Hi there!!
Not being a great fan of Matrix i always loved this ship!! And this one you´re doing is looking plain perfect from what i remember :thumbsup:
The amount of details you have on the completed pieces is insane and is working very well, all looks very sharp and well put together.
Subscrived... Now lets see those body panels :)

greets

[mora]

I'm using Max5.1 to model this.. I just don't have the money to upgrade to 7 *shrug* I am considering exporting the model to maya for texturing, but not quite sure yet. BTW, normal maps are awesome.


I read you're studying at full sail.Surely you can get hold of it there.They'd be delighted to help you out I'm sure:D But if they don't they're just crappers:twisted:

But Normal mapping in my opinion can be faked.Render a detailed model and use it as texture on low detail model.You can also use level of detail modifier for your animation.
Max 7 just makes things a little quicker to do by mixing it all together

Anyhow I dont have Max 7,but if I do I'd help ya out:thumbsup:
Keep modeling

[CSquared]

:eek:... well, on terms of the modelling, I can say nothing. For one thing it's incredible, and for another I know bugger all about modelling yet...

On spelling terms, however - if we're thinking about the same guy, he's called Copernicus, not Capernicus. Unless, of course, it's a different guy.

[DigitalCrystal]

Heh, thanks guys. I never said I was good at spelling ;) But anyway, about the model, I've been slicin' up the mesh for the last hour or so to get some real definetive lines and characteristics, I'll post an updated render later on tonight.

Mora, heh, Full Sail would laugh if I asked for it ;) Besides it's more fun to say you've got legit software :thumbsup: But hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Like I was saying.. more renders tonight.

[Hellwolve]

(hellvolve?) ;)
Oh, I'm here...but give this Dutchie a break; only got the topic reply notification this morning. Well, it's morning for me...

Anyways...

More updates very soon......and I mean it this time.
Yeah, you better mean it :P

This project looks waaay to good to abbadon. Then again, after roughly a year, I doubt you would :)

[insseuv]

cooool, I forgot this project but I enjoy you finish it !! :thumbsup:

[combatmantra]

Damn good.

[DigitalCrystal]

Hey hey folks. Like I mentioned in my last post, I had began to cut the mesh up a bit. I haven't beveled/chamfered any of the edges around the seams yet..

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/487.jpg

[Hellwolve]

Hot digity damn!

When this is done, I'll bet it'll go straight to the frontpage :D

[caro]

superb! are you going to put some textures?

[DigitalCrystal]

Alrighty, I've been really blocking in some of these new panels just to experiment. I'm not sure if I like all of them or not. So I'm going to take a break from this project for the night. The details are def showing through, which is awesome. Very happy with the panels so far.

Let me know what you think! :thumbsup:

http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/495.jpg
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/494.jpg
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/493.jpg
http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/495_wire.jpg

[Keetell]

oh my god thats incredible

[Jeroen]

nice detail,
keep it up.

[:zepedro:]

The panel modeling is looking very good :thumbsup:
IMO you should go deep in blocking those because they are very important in bringing up the scale of the ship, and thus, making it look right and not some 1/200 scale plastic kit.

keep the good work
greets

[JetStrike]

I have been monitoring this topic since it started. Your work is increadible, and I am really looking forward to seeing this project finished. Keep up the awsome work!

[DigitalCrystal]

Thanks for the response. I agree zepredro; I do need to take the blocking beyond it's current level. I guess I have been staring at this thing a bit to much to really take a step back and see the bigger picture. Thanks for the observation. Anyway, I'm gonna be out halloween partyin' it up this evenin', so yall have a nice night.

[:zepedro:]

Have a nice halloween party :thumbsup: :thumbsup: A break is very valuable here and then!!!
So... lets go away from our monitors for now :) :applause:

IT'S PARTY NIGHT!!!

[Kenv56]

This is absoulotely amazing, Im new to this forum. so ill be checking up on this one anyway

Looks awesome.

[azza3D]

Nice modelling man, keep up.

[insseuv]

We are all waiting for the frontpage now !! :bounce:

[DigitalCrystal]

Thanks again for all the replies. Here is a small update with more panel blocking in. I'll have to subdivide soon if I want to really start getting those tiny details. So, hopefully I'll get this project shaped up as best as possible in the next week, so that I can really get in there and push some verts.


http://www.digitalcrystaldesigns.com/3ds/renders/matrix/496.jpg

[animation_child]

its images like these that makes me sometimes wish that i went into modeling than character animation as my study....

anyway, its great.. mechanical yet organic at the same time... in a way.

[Kizza]

Wow! It looks awesome. And thanks heaps for sharing the progress with us, helps us who have never tackled something this detailed see just how someone goes about it. Awesome.