A slight bump map on the side might help with that flatness. If you plan to have electric arcs coming from teh pads to anywhere in the surroundings, I would suggest one from the front-lower-left (the pad farthest right in the image) sending a large arc down and slightly towards the camera. This would justify more light on the front . . .
Sci-fi: - Matrix Hover Ship -
system
#452
wait, u did tat ship in maya, i thought u modelled it using max
damn if u modelled that in maya thats cool as hell
great model btw i like that it’s ur own design but it fits into the matrix world
Hellwolve
#453
In addition what Jeroen said (which is what I wanted to say originally ;)) I’d like to add that I don’t really like the look of the explosion. IMHO, it looks a tad too fake. I think you could improve it with adding/doing the following things:
[ul]
[li]More contrast.
[/li][li]A larger range of hues, e.g. add some red.
[/li][li]Bits and pieces blown down the tunnel; flying debris.
[/li][/ul]
That’s all I can think of right now. Here’s a quick ref. It happens to be from the Matrix, too 
Likesyrup
#454
That last image was freaking fantastic, can’t wait to see the short i am shure you will stun me. Good luck bro.
DigitalCrystal
#455
Hey guys, thanks for the response.
Jeroen / Vicioun- The ship is rendered out with a default lambert… it sucks that it isn’t textured, i may try a blinn, use a 3d bump, and then add that same file to the spec channel. Rendering is always a fun chore. Hopefully it’ll all work out. i’ve tried an occlusion pass, but I don’t think mental ray is setup properly for this scene, it’s just a matter of working with the bsp settings… but if i do get that occlusion pass, I could mult that on top of the image as a dirt pass just to add to the overall image. But like I said in my last post, I will be painting a lot of the texture detail.
(Vicioun, I like the idea of the arc causing more light. i’ll experiment with the idea some to see what I can come up with)
gunslingerblack - Yeah dude, I actually did start it in max. But my old quadro fx500 couldn’t handle it… so I moved over to a dual xeon with quadro fx3400… and maya. plus I found that, at least in max 5.1, that the hardware views can only support about 60k polys without slowing down to a crawl. Where as in maya, the viewports are able to hold about 140k with the same hardware. The scene is 27 mil polys (yes, way way way too much, I need to optimize)… but with something this size, my home computer just can’t handle it. I’m working on a dual cpu G5 now. Thanks for the comments!
Hellwolve- More contrast in the tunnel? Or overall? Or just the fire? I think you’re right, the fire has very similar color temperature. I may even brighten the blast center, and drop the surrounding blast into some cooler colors. And yes, debris… indeed!
Luciddream79- Hey hey, thanks man 
Too bad it’s only a still. Maybe it could be my inspiration to getting this thing animated… Take it easy man.
I’m working on the framing now, I’m not pleased with the look. So here is what I’m thinking… (5 minute sketch) I haven’t applied any of the suggestions yet, but I have a much better idea of what I’m going for now.
Thanks again guys-
Zerafian
#457
Now Jeremy…I have to ask…hows the texturing coming along. I remember you telling me a guy…what in south american somewhere was suppost to be texturing it? I like that you brought this back to the front page. Let us know man
randalverde
#458
Holy guacamole! The Industrial Maniac strikes again! I knew you were still alive. I heartly believe you are the best mechanical creator of the 3D world…if you are anyone else doesnt agree with me…just wait a couple of years and I’ll be there to say…“I told you so”…good stuff Jay.
William_b_Hand
#459
Hey, Digital Crystal! Didn’t expect to see you here again…
Hm… Well, I don’t care for the smokey look on the pads. If you’re gonna do something like that, I think you should lessen the brightness of it quite a bit. Also, if I remember correctly, the arcing of the pads tended to sort of reach out to the surrounding environment.
Also, it’s become extremely difficult to make out the form of the ship. I’m not even convinced that this is the best angle to see it from in the first place, but I really can’t tell.
I know it’s just a quick brainstorming pic, but it seems to be more about the light sources, and less about the vessel. :shrug:
AndrewHwang
#460
sup man, personally i think i liked the right sided version more, i dont know why, but its more pleasing tot he ey, maybe easier to follow the action from left to right instaed of right to left focusing ont he explosion. quick question how on earth are you planning on emulating a bump map in 2d? thats gonna bes ome microscopic detailed work, but im sure you got a trick up your sleeve take care man
ps couple more cc
the fog rolling over the pad ont he right looks completely painted, but im sure youll get to that, like the new led’s and lights
jfelrod1960
#461
This is an excellent work Jeremy! I wish it was a way you and I could work out a real time animation with this model. I don’t know if you remember us talking about it before. But I was thinking about a short scene where the viewer could control the camera movements during the animation.
Personal note: I don’t know why this is not a 5-star thread. Excellent work is shown here! Must be some green monsters around.
Hellwolve
#462
No problem
In the fire/explosion Increasing contrast could be done by increasing the range of colors it has, e.g. for instance more red.
Cool, you agree with me 
urgaffel
#464
If possible, try to get a blueish-white rim light from the opposite side of the explosion. As someone mentioned, you could do a big arc of lighting to the tunnel wall and we can all pretend that the blur rim light is the reflected light of the lightning bolt Other than that, no crits really
DigitalCrystal
#465
Younglion, thanks.
Lee, haha, textures? What textures? Nah man, no texturing for it right now. Been too busy to worry about that. So I’m just painting them Some day? Take it easy.
Mr. Xen, lol, i can always count on you to uphold the madness. Thought I highly doubt i’m the best What have you been up to recently? lata
William, interesting viewpoints. I think I will take you’re advice about the brightness of the pads… at least the rear ones. The fire is pretty bright an would make those pads look less intense. I considered different views of the ship… I’m sure there is several different views that would work. It just seems that a low shot from the front looks the most dynamic… but I haven’t experimented too much… And yes, i think i’ve finally come to grips with the fact that models don’t make the shot, they make the shot better, so I think the fact that the ship isn’t so dominant helps the composite and framing.
Andrew, lol, nice edit. I have a feeling that the details on the ship will be a challenge but how is that different than anything else I try. I’ll be doing several layers of painting, some for dirt… spec… I’d say the hardest part will be the lighting. See ya around!
Jeff, Thanks again! I figure that this model is a bit too intense for realtime sims. How many polys can your hardware hold at 30fps? I struggle with this scene in maya, with quadro fx3400’s… so it makes me wonder how normal accelerators would handle it. PM me some of the specs you’d be looking at using, like which engine you plan on using, etc… it may be possible. Thanks again.
Hellwolve, cool, sound good.
Urgaffel, I’m experimenting with some of your lighting suggestions for the front of the ship. We’ll see what happens. Some folks I’ve asked, say they like the real dark front. Others, like yourself, think the front needs some additional light. I’m struggling between both. I’m separating my lights in maya and will be comp’in them back together. I find that I need a bit more control over the way the light effects the ship, having all the lights in the same layer is starting to bog me down.
Hopefully I’ll have something up soon to show some of my latest progression.
Thanks again everyone for the help!
urgaffel
#466
I’m not saying you need to light up the ship, but I think you need to separate it a little from the background. That could be done with the blue lit bakcground and a nice cool blue rim light always look good
Good luck
TSB
#467
wow. just found this thread and don’t know how i could have missed it.
the mechanical/detail aspect of this is right up my alley (it’s also given me a few good ideas relating to my own project).
nice work.
Satellite1984
#468
Damn Jeremy what the hell you been doing
you have taken this a long way
nice job
have u started any other new models
ill see ya around man
lata bro
Dustin
DigitalCrystal
#469
Like in all other updates in this thread I figured I’d speak back up here to show some of the painted texturing in the image. I’ve considered doing a camera projection of the color file onto the ship and then possibly doing a bump on the surface to give a bit more depth. As of right now though this is just some photoshop painting. I fixed some of the lighting around the front of the ship.
No Texture:
Painted Texture + Some added highlighting
The "spec" of the texture in this image is def a bit blocky.. some of the "spots" on the front hover pads need to be toned down a bit as well. But for the most part, I think it's turning out alright. I also plan on adding some bounce light to illuminate the ship a bit more.. as is right now, the nose still too contrast for my taste.
AndrewHwang
#470
Looking cool man, still a great project to view, i dont know how early or complete the color work on the ship is right now, but i think that some of the blotches could be blended in a little better. keep it goin man, looking forward to seein your upcomming projects.