Grand Space Opera 3D Entry: Michael Crawford

#41

Still working on this one. Lots of additional components to put together so it looks less like a … um … well, you know what I mean.

#42

i like those detail bits that stick up. they give it a nice look, not too smooth.

#43

Marcin: Thanks for the suggestion – it’s an excellent idea, and I will implement it this weekend. I took a break from working on the scout ship to work on some of the ships for other members of the Trade Alliance … only to end up with another Kahir vessel. Groan. Have some very different things in various stages of completion, including a Terran scientific vessel, but I need to settle on some aspects of the designs before I can really get them whipped into shape.

#44

Sparky: Thanks for dropping by! The technique is really very simple, and gives one a lot of control over the overall look:

  1. Convert any NURBS mesh to a polygon mesh, making sure the mesh is dense enough that you can select fairly narrow bands of polygons.

  2. Start tracing out patterns by selecting, but (and this is a limitation of the “solidify” script in XSI) make sure you keep the selected polygons within about 90 degrees of curvature – ie, don’t go all the way around a cylinder, sphere, etc.

  3. Use the “extract (keep polygons)” command to lift a copy off the surface.

  4. Open the script editor and load Mindthink Tools’ original “solidify” script (dated from 2003 – there’s a version 2 out there, but it requires the use of weightmaps) and select the amount you want to extrude the extracted polygons (small amounts work best – ie, look most realistic when subdividing).

  5. Subdivide the extruded polygons (level 2 Catmull-Clarke works best, IMO) – this will give the appearce of rounded pipes / mechanical stuff sticking out from the surface, though you can achieve other fx with difference shaders.

  6. Repeat on another area of the underlying polygon model, varying the height of extrusion to give a more interesting texture to the work.

As I said: very simple technique, and quite fast once you get used to the kind of selection patterns that look best for what you’re trying to achieve.

#45

Love the waterhole idea. I like the ship but as RK already mentioned it, if the tentacles were maybe moving around (different positions) and maybe even different lengths it would look better in my opinion - but that’s just my opinion so feel free to ignore it.

Keep up the good work :thumbsup:

#46

Thats some serious detail on that probe, and its looking great. Looks kind of like a nano bug until some sense of scale will go with it.

#47

• Hey Michael Rav4, you are good!
• Wich software are u using, seems great!

I wish you luck, and keep working hard dude!

#48

Well, I can’t add anything to what I’m seeing. Your style is very impressive. The tech you’re using to generate the details, I don’t think I’ve even head of some of those.

What I’m really liking is your overall presentation. Feels like I’m reading a documentary. I guess you’re getting a jump start on the “how to” portion. Please keep it up, I enjoy watching someone else’s workflow. It’s amazing the better techniques you can pick up that way.

#49

Holy Shit! That is really great work man! I’ve been working with microcosmos stuff recently myself at work and I can say that the procedurals you’ve made look really nice. Never mind how nice the model looks. How’d yuu do that on the tail?

#50

wow some gr8 jobs going here… i believe this is my first tym to this thread… so far looking totally hot… i really dig those SSS… nice modeling too… keep goin… i wanna c wad u cook with all those vegis;) :thumbsup:

#51

Mad Inventor: Thanks! I will whip those tentacles into shape – add some variety in length, diameter, and positioning, just like you get with squid and jelly fish. I’m just trying to solve a problem on another ship at the moment, so I’m a bit behind on getting the first ship revised and completed.

Jayden: The detail is primarily an optical illusion – the product of shaders, textures and bump mapping. I’ll be posting a more detailing explanation of how the look is achieved momentarily.

Climax: Thanks. The software is Softimage XSI 4.0 , with an assist from DarkTree 2.5, Photoshop, and Helge Mathee’s superb Mindthink Tools 2.01.

Wyatt: Thank you very much. Most of the scripts I’m using are courtesy of XSIbase.com – a real godsend for the XSI community. There are some superbly-skilled, technically-oriented folks who have made a real effort to extend the capabilities of the program by coding solutions to common production problems. Without their efforts, there’d be a lot less time available for working on the artistic end of things, that’s for sure.

Gamoron: Just about every great shader I’ve seen for the microcosmos stuff makes clever use of incidence nodes, so, yeah, there’s a lot of crossover between that and how I’m approaching the look of the Kahir ships. As for how I did the tail … the tale will be uploaded shortly.

#52

3doid: No SSS involved. I’ve tested most of the available SSS shaders and love the results but hate the render times with multiple lights. Have opted for incidence shaders and transparency effects to get the look, but will be making use of SSS on some other ships.

#53

Just some additional details to show how this simple effect was achieved.

#54

The rest of the info on the inner cone.

#55

Trying out some new approaches and not worrying all that much (at the moment) about poly counts, since I’m saving all the pre-subdivided pieces and will swap 'em in as things get heavy – thank goodness for the geometry approximation controls!

#56

Just impressive nuclear , is looking great thanks for the explanation about that . :thumbsup: We want more hehe:applause:

#57

:applause: Fantastic work,this is very impressive,good luck

#58

All of your work so far is fantastic. The organic looking of the tentacles and your texturing are a wonder.

And, as a XSI learner at the very beginning, I just can’t help but to thank you a LOT about all the explanations. Just looking at how you’re working on this is an incredible help for me.

Now I’m subscribed, so I won’t miss anything of your new posts.

Stefano

#59

Hey very nice progress! The deep space probe looks gr8, also the power conduit looks very solid, that layer think really gave it hell of a depth! Keep it up mate!:thumbsup:

#60

:eek: :eek: :eek: As it was said in one great film: " that’s some crazy shit" lol!!! Keep it up man, I knew you would make a great scene :slight_smile: