Jacques Pena has entered the Grand Space Opera 3D.
Latest Update: Final Image: Final
In the end: 8hours to render background. 6hours to render the characters. Everything modeled in Cinema 4d, textures and mapping with Bodypaint and Photoshop. Weeks worth of sleep missed…sure enough this was a challenge.
Even though I’m a little behind schedule I came up with some ideas sketches. I’m going to produce a city scene on the verge of planetary destruction. There will be a race of cyborgs rising from the city, which is still ongoing in terms of design.
Nice sketch… but much work to be done, Hope you will finish on time, because your concept looke realy great:thumbsup:
I’m starting to build a few structures for my city. The theme is very inudstrial and gritty. Any comments are appreciated…I’m still at a early point, but going smoothly.
I’m still working on supported characters in my scene. One majorly are the figures I want to produce. This is a early model I created.
When I was concern on texturing, I looked to some past techniques I used before. I painted a tiled background to mix with theme I’m presenting. Using photoshop I laid some tiles to use as the main texture for my structures and blended them together.
The Top Image is a newly addition to the scene. I wanted a diverse group of structures within the city. The top image is a building complex, which will be located near the “Time clock Palace” which is the model beneath it. Using Cinema 4d to model and Body paint for quick texture touch ups and U.V mapping editing, I finished the main structures, which I want to stand out as a backdrop.
At this point I’m setting up my backdrop scene. Testing out angles and what goes where, piece by piece I’m laying down my foundation for the backdrop.
This scene is a pivotal point and will be a focus of my design.
My lighting set up is pretty simple. One area light and several omni lighting set ups. Any fixtures will be done when we render and touch up in photoshop. But for now I want to keep it simple.
There were two setups I was going to go with, the top image for a rusty brown, but that would distract from extras objects in the back. So I settled for a mix of light grey and blue lights. Later we will colorbalance when we composite and place effects in the final.
Near finished I was happy with the rendering and added some “dummy” buildings I build for my distance scene. All though I have many more ideas to add, I will begin to put my scene togehter for effects and touchups.
As of now, I’m planning ahead on the following effects: Digital Hologramic effects for the city, which are meaningless advertisments. Atmosphere and smoke effetcs.
My lighting set up is pretty simple. One area light and several omni lighting set ups. Any fixtures will be done when we render and touch up in photoshop. But for now I want to keep it simple.
There were two setups I was going to go with, the top image for a rusty brown, but that would distract from extras objects in the back. So I settled for a mix of light grey and blue lights. Later we will colorbalance when we composite and place effects in the final.
Its been a long day and Im about to retire. I added what will happen next. I included a sketch of the additions I will add. During my rendering time, I painted a quick background, which will boost the atmosphere. Using Photoshop and its brush tools, I created a good idea of the effect I wanted to the sky to show. Even though I went through some color variations, the original being a blue sky, I ended up to have a color that would match greatly to my needs to support the city model.
As of now my setup for effects is coming along smoothly.
Designing my cyborg was a little rough. My idea for textures was a pearl white map with a reflection addition.My first body design became to simple and became a ram issue, causing slow rendering and very much time consuming. I took apart and modified pieces for a unique and natural look.
I smooth out and fixed the edges of the upper body. Fixing it so I can build the exoskeleton inside. As I finished fixing the points of the body, I created some objects to represent the exoskeleton, beginning with the neck area. Moving onto the collarbone. The inside materials was expected to be shiny and chromed out. So I wanted to make textures and have a chrome metal and plastic textures for the skeleton inside the shell.
Along with the neck and other joints, Detail for chords, wires, etc seemed tacky and became much of a frustration. Using lofts I came up with some simple wires to spread out for more detail of the model.
Moving on o the hip portion, which also contained an inside detail for the connection of the left and right legs.
As far as the head was going, my main focus was to create a more real then robotic face. Using points and bridging. I designed a suitable face for my first character. By using splines I created the back portion of the skull, adding onto it a texture mapped, created in Photoshop for a more technical look.
After organizing the models body parts for movement and positioning, I began to rethink some texture ideas. At this point I was happy with the structure and design, before adding some detail, I wanted to finish the limbs for a final view.
Hi there!
Real sleek and solid work! And within an impressive time frame 
I love your concept designs, both for structures and characters, really no crits there… good work 
However, I do have a few comments on your framing and background… I think the angle you chose isn’t as dramatic as your concept. I think aiming the camera upwards and using a slight wider FOV would really help give a more “Epic” feel, especially with the ascending cyborgs…
Also imho the background matte you did is a bit too detailed… that and the strong color you chose make it a major “focus” point in your piece. I think a more subtle background would help bring out the characters and scenery…
Hope I helped, if only just abit…
Take care 
Thanks for the comments Rui,
Your right on the angle and I’m reworking my background. I stopped to do some lighting, but I will go back and definetly rework some things. I’m going to move around the buildings and add some more structures for effects. I am trying to give it an “Epic feel”
After some critiquing I decided to re position my city buildings. And my final structures. I model some objects to bring more detail within the city scene.
