Grand Space Opera 3D Entry: James Kaufeldt

#462

Lemog - Heh, it turns out that the first draft is already done :eek:

terraarc - The off-balance idea might be worth investigating. I’ll see what can be done :thumbsup:

Versiden - Good thinking… haven’t really considered engine cooling… :hmm:

Pyke - Me neither :scream: Good to see you’re in too btw!

Saschi0815 - Heh, I’m sure you could come up with something… I know I can…

Well, I got a first composition cooking already, so I might as well post it. Below… it’s to be considered idea #1 out of many hopefully… ah well, coming up:

#463

Testing my first idea for the final blocking, and some preliminary lighting.

To make this easier to do, I’ve modeled a rough proxy for the node (approx 2000 polygons) which makes things really smooth when testing lights.

The idea behind this particular composition is to get a very clear sense of an indirectly lit foreground, with a fluffian house rather close to the camera, and a big node hovering just above, while the node shadow cuts precisely over the roof of the house. If I go with this idea, I will add a scared little fluffian running away from his house and to the left, following a dirtroad that I’m supposed to model somehow.

Let me know what you think of this composition…

#464

Interesting - I like the 3 nodes mirroring the vertical composition of the piece - this is very nice on the eyes.

Only little question - will there be more than one fluffian house (I’m sure there will be, seeming as you modelled lots of varieties, but I just wanted to check) - and also, are you still doing the anchor idea with lots of destruction (as I think this will be really cool).

Great composition otherwise though.

#465

Your first composition has really something of imposing, of great, this thing is not in space, but goes very well with the idea that we can have topic. I’m wait the continuation impatiently :stuck_out_tongue:

#466

i’m not normally one to critique someone elses work but i do have a suggestion for this one…
The node to the right seems to me to be blocking something, BUT i can also see that is is there to give a relational idea between the natives and invaders… i might suggest removing that one (and making it a very distant object for HUGE invasion type scale) and sliding the one to the left over so it looms (as if it is emerging from below) over the cliff edge (like it does now) just in front of the little house(s) then shift the node in the center (the medium distance one) over to the right slightly to balance where the right node was removed. This will also help give geometry to the composition of the scene instead of it having a center balance.

#467

Very interesting feedback so far guys… I have to admit that composition is indeed one of the hardest things to get right (honestly, it should even be a separate milestone the way I see it). Get it right and the image becomes great, get it wrong or mediocre and the image is just bland… modeling and stuff doesn’t matter then… nevermind, just thinking out loud here.

stevetwist - Interesting observation! Oh and there will indeed be lots of houses, and the chain/anchor/destruction thing is still in the game - for this blocking test however I just wanted to see the big chunks though to avoid clutter.

Lemog - ‘Imposing’ and ‘great’ are keywords in the grand space opera, so I’m glad it conveys some of that… stay tuned for more tests…

stork - An intriguing suggestion. Might work well, and it also has the potential to open the image up a bit. I had some doubts that the current idea might feel a bit cramped…

Got another idea while thinking about this further… minor changes from #1 but still worth testing. And I will try out the stork variation as well. Updates coming in a while (or two whiles even).

#468

AWESOME! Nuff said.

#469

A last one before bedtime… Included the first one for reference.

In the second version, I’ve opened up the right side of the image as suggested, and also lowered the camera to give more of a “Fluffian-looking-up” POV here. The bluish distant terrain would be a terraced mountainside with small roads and houses.

Still undecided of course. I’ll probably be doing tests for the next few days it seems…

#470

I think i like the second one better, although, are you planning to make the final composition that narrow? The composition render reminds me of the road runner cartoons (just had to say it).

#471

I like the way yu se the house in the first plase with tha shadow and the idea of the little fella running away, but I like the camera angle better in the second one.
Or you could bring the ship on the left on the first image way back so you get kind of the same fealing as in the second picture :slight_smile:

I hope this make any sense.

Carl.

#472

James You Chose A Kind Of view Wich I die For It Very cinamatic View:drool:

#473

It’s very difficult to do a good choice… Then, I watch the 2 picture for a little time… to try to feel something… In first time, I prefer the first cause this feeling of great, amplified by the left and right towers… but maybe, the subject is too centered… and where is the viewer, we are in levitation, at few meters of the ground ? it’s not clear…

In the second one… this situation is clear now, we know where we are.
We are on the ground, or on the road… at the scale of the house… we understand better the size of these towers, this gigantism… axis of view is less centered, it’s largely better.
Just one thing in the picture is less better, the position of the left tower… to low for me… I think it’s better to see more of the reactors… always for the same problem of the position of the viewer/spectator… this tower seem inside the ground…

#474

The #2 seems more appealing to me too! Agree with Lemog on the position of the front tower is somewhat disturbing. Also the image frame looks very narrow in both cases (I think there is a rule on images to include long objects…don’t quite recall that one)[size=2]. But the feeling I get from the composition is better for #2. Just my opinion there.

Anyway, tons of time and inspiration to you James! :)[/size]

#475

Second view is much better than the first. Firstly, the viewer now knows exactly the scale of the piece - the fluffian houses are average sized, but the nodes are huge (rather than thinking that the houses are really really small - the anchor problem many pages back).

Also, the mountains in the background take up more area, which is a lot better - before there was a lot of sky (which is generally quite boring to look at, whereas mountains can have all the little details you specified - and a still piece requires so much more detail than an anim. because you’re looking at it for an infinite amount of time).

However, I, like many others, find the left most node’s positioning disturbing - for it to be that low it must have crashed into the ground! lol (as you can’t tell how steep the hill is the other side). I think that bringing it up just a little would work fine.

All in all a much much better composition. And I personally think that the elongated piece works in harmony with the fact that the nodes are tall and thin structures - as it really emphasises this fact (Which rocks).

Totally awesome work (as always).

#476

now that is one pretty tower!!! i hope it dosnt topple over :frowning:

the only thing i really think seems a little off is the base engines, like there angled wrong or somthing im not sure what it is about then. but yeah this still is an amazing work in progress, you freakin rock dood.

#477

ace4016, mr_carl, visualact.com, Lemog, terraarc and stevetwist - Lots and lots of thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts here, it’s invaluable information :thumbsup:

I’ll keep working with the general feel of #2, but I’ll try to do something about the left ship (it’s quite clearly very difficult to see if it’s coming up from a deep rift or simply has stuck in the ground somehow… at least in a still like this) and I will also test a few other image ratios.

Oh, and the Roadrunner feel as pointed out by ace4016 probably has a lot to do with the colours… If I remember correctly, it’s almost exactly the same palette :smiley:

And the angle of the engines as pointed out by fiftyfive… well, they’re really mostly stabilizors rather than the main propulsion system, as these things rely on a standard issue antigravity drive… so I’d say that the design of the engines is a purely stylistic choice rather than a believable construction from a physics point of view… just as the entire node design itself really :smiley:

… back to more testing :wip:

#478

yes… it´s something different… wait to see textures…

#479

OK, taking all sorts of things and comments into account, and generally playing around with it some more… also trying a landscape aspect ratio here… the 3rd draft.

For some reason I think the nodes don’t look as tall as they do with the portrait orientation, but on the other hand I would get a lot more open ground to play with in terms of anchors and general destruction.

Still not sure…

#480

Hey wabbit …i like the way you imagine the towers in your scene ( actually u are helping me with my composition thoughts too )…i undestand your problem…i have the same…my humble thought(just becuase it tortures my mind too:sad: ) is keep the perspective of things in your mind for both compos…until a reasonable time so that u can do the changes u want. keep crunching wabbit :bounce:

#481

those hills in the background are killing the scale if you ask me…which you won’t…go on run away and tell Mum again :rolleyes:

edit: and how’s about a few smaller hoses further away from the camera…and potatoes :smiley: