Space Opera

[Kojocci]

I have now a mothership and two fighters. I plan to make better textures and add more details to all ships. I work all of them in same time, so I can make them look that they originate from same technology. I like old 60-70 eras scifi comix and fiction, so my space armada will look little like those ships. Here is my starting picture, where you can see scale of ships. Modelling and rendering with Lightwave 7.5.... Textures I make with Fireworks 8.
http://www.jessnet2005.com/rc/spaceopera1.jpg
....

[Mikala]

Love the huge ship!

[zonda]

Yeah, the big ship looks pretty cool, I think the thing that ruins it is the lighting but that could be down to the way your textures are reacting to the lighting. Nice model.

[Kojocci]

There is only one light, default. When I have made all textures and added details to models then I add spaceships own lights.

[Raffs]

Must agree i do like the large ship reminds me of the type of ship you would see on the cover of a novel.

[gpdesigner]

I agree with Mikala, that middle ship is awesome, what the heck is that . . ?
gp

[Kojocci]

Nearly all textures in place. About half of textures are same as fighter number 1. I must add more pipes and little parts. Next bigger work is to make motherships inside hangar, so I can make animation where ships launch from there.
http://www.jessnet2005.com/rc/spaceopera2.jpg
Background picture is only for this test.

[Mikala]

Crazy just crazy...but in a good way. I don't know why but I really like the colour scheme used in your texture work.

[Kojocci]

http://www.jessnet2005.com/kelat/spacemix1.swf

This is a early animation test about fighters coming out from mothership.
It takes about 10 sec. to load.

[CAClark]

I think these models could look nice, but the texturing is absolutely killing them. Such heavy use of bump mapping really doesn't work for me at least.

Cheers!

[Kojocci]

I added some lights (72) and used old rendering in background.

[juland]

the invasion has begun. :evil:

[Matt]

Don't think so - they're heading away from the planet :p :)

[juland]

AH HA! That;s what we what you think :evil: Its just a decoy for the real attack!!

**evil laughter fills the room **

[Kojocci]

I worked that last image with Fireworks so colours are little closer together:

[Mikala]

Has the look of a 60's/70's novel cover! Oh the memories.

[RonGC]

I tend to like the pic in post #11 better, the colors jump out more.

Ron

[pnevai]

I love em, say boo to the nay sayers the imply the bump is too strong. IMHO it gives the vehicles a character of thier own, yes a definite look that would be lost otherwise. You certainly hit on something here, intended or not.Im with RonCG liked it better when the colors were more vivid.

[Zippy]

My goodness those are some detailed ships! Are you using UVs for the ships? What's your technique?

[deg3D]

I LOVE IT!

Dude, that is beyond cool. :)

deg

[bmckain]

Love the huge ship!


Dittos, it's an absolute beast!, It's ugly, nasty and mean looking and that is exactly why I like it. :p

[Kojocci]

Zippy: Actually in mothership there is one seamless texture, same in bumb map and then I add in bumb map different scales of procedurals, grid, pipes.. ect.

[Cybit]

Reminds me of the old Flash Gordon stuff, Love the work definitely a 60’s feel to it where every bump on a spacecraft was exaggerated. The bump maps help bring that out, keep em coming. :)

[Kojocci]

About using bumb maps to replace real medelling details..... We forgot something.... 99.9 per cent of worlds people dont know bumb maps or nothing how 3D picture was done. We stick more of technical aspect of making and rest of the world sees only picture, good or bad.

[Rigel]

In that test animation, I love how the spotlight plays across the surface of the mother ship.

[CAClark]

[QUOTE=pnevai;4406 IMHO it gives the vehicles a character of thier own, yes a definite look that would be lost otherwise.[/QUOTE]

You are perfectly entitles to your humble opinion, regardless of how wrong it is :p

Seriously, it's less the use of bump, but the amplitude.

Cheers!

[Kojocci]

Thank you Clark :)
I started to make inside of mothership, hangar section. I make first area around a fighter and duplicate it many times. Final hangar is cylinder (rotating) so I can make things around. (tesla coils, generators and so on.) Plan is to make animation where is first only this camera angle and then fighter takes off and camera follows showing this big interior.

[Kojocci]

I have made motherships hangar and here is inside so far. No backwall yet, and few lights, only few fighters so I can see how it will be...

[Kojocci]

I moved all textures and start now to make them better.

[Kojocci]

I am somehow in dead end with my hangar scene? I try different ideas, but nothing is good. I want it big, but it must render in reasonable time in animation? When I think, in same time I work with Fireworks and pictures in no particular purpose...:(
Here is one picture:

[Darrell Lawrence]

That mothership in the first post reminds me of the enemy ship from Galaxy Quest.

[Kojocci]

Now I think that platform is better....fighters use somekind electricity and here they recharge them. No bumb maps....I took my old aeroplane motor and attached it to platform.
http://www.jessnet2005.com/rc/laturi1.jpg
...

[Epiphany]

I am somehow in dead end with my hangar scene? I try different ideas, but nothing is good. I want it big, but it must render in reasonable time in animation? When I think, in same time I work with Fireworks and pictures in no particular purpose...:(
Here is one picture:

I love this.

[Rigel]

The hanger shots look very nice.

Using the airplane motor on the recharging platform is so like what they used to do in low budget films; that's a nice touch.

Things to try to keep the render times reasonable on your hangar:

1) try using fewer sides on the pipes and get them looking round with smoothing. Maybe make a low polygon pipe then use sub-d to round it off.

2) try to set up your shots so that you can render it in multiple passes i.e. render all of the background stuff first, then render foreground stuff with the background composited in as a background image, then render your fighters using the images of the entire hangar as a background composite.

[Cybit]

I Love the airplane engine addition, really does fit with the 60's style your ships fit in. :D

[Alec Trevelyan]

It's cool, keep it up! Do have to agree about the bump maps though, WAY too much :) Could use some smoothing, too (TAB is your friend :D )

[Kojocci]

Now rendering times are good and I can start first animation test. I added small flying bots all over the hangar, so they lighten different areas when they move around. 2-3 fighters rise and fly past camera. Camera starts close that first platform and moves in here position:
http://www.jessnet2005.com/rc/hangar3.jpg
..

[Kojocci]

I made first animation and now I start make animation where fighters gome out from mothership and there is somekind forcefield at door.
http://www.jessnet2005.com/rc/hangaari.html

[Rigel]

Looks good so far!

[TheGreatRaja]

depends on what you mean by reasonable time :D
I have to agree with Craig about the bump maps, but you have to build it true to your vision rather than someone elses

[Kojocci]

Yes.. I like to make scenes that way... little different. I changed lights in hangar scene and rendered it again. Then I made a forcefield ( no effects yet) must test different effects. Now it looks like fighter is coming out of rubber :p

link: http://www.jessnet2005.com/rc/hangaari.html

[JackDeL]

I am somehow in dead end with my hangar scene? I try different ideas, but nothing is good. I want it big, but it must render in reasonable time in animation? When I think, in same time I work with Fireworks and pictures in no particular purpose...:(
Here is one picture:


Love the hanger pics! that last one is just too cool! What is the render time per frame?

[IceFire Studios]

Very cool, clunky ships i like em, you can kinda see "how they work" the mechanics are on the outside very nice designing

[IceFire Studios]

are you going to release those ?

[Kojocci]

Gladly, but they are really a mesh :) I must clean and make them little better first.
I am no purist when I make models, no matter what there is inside, only outside surface matters to me, so there is a lot of unused polygons inside.
JackDeL: One frame about 3 min.

[Kojocci]

My forcefield scene so far:
http://www.jessnet2005.com/rc/hangaari2.html

[Kojocci]

I started today to make my animations next scene.. spacefighters cockpit, where hero.. Flash Pantone and his sidekick performance a superb take-off to battle against alien menace.
http://www.jessnet2005.com/rc/ohjaamo1.jpg
...

[Rigel]

The alien menace looks like William Shatner. :)

[Mikala]

Well he IS a threat.

[Oscaron]

Just don't him talk to your on-board computer...he's good at talking computers into suicide.

Spurious Logic ftw.

[Kojocci]

Here is todays work. Some things dont change, some things are eternal.
http://www.jessnet2005.com/rc/ohjaamo2.jpg
...

[Kojocci]

Today I worked only few hours, so here is new fighter so far:
http://www.jessnet2005.com/rc/ohjaamo3.jpg
...

[Rigel]

Pine tree air freshener! I love it.

[Kojocci]

My computer is starting to slow down, so I must make rest of this spaceship in different layers. Here is todays work:
http://www.jessnet2005.com/rc/ohjaamo4.jpg
....

[Kojocci]

I made a test animation all what I have, added music and pictures. Next big thing is to make a cockpit scene where my main character is saying something clever :p
In first time when flash-movie is loading, there might be delays in loading.

http://www.jessnet2005.com/rc/spaceopera.html

[Rigel]

The animation looks good and the music fits well.

I like how you start with the style of the building, then keep that neon style going throughout the remainder of the video.