Foundation 3D Forums

Foundation 3D Forums http://www.foundation3d.com/forums Foundation 3D’s official forum dedicated to all CGI artists irrespective of software and pipeline. en Mon, 20 May 2013 04:38:12 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/images/misc_orange/rss.jpg Foundation 3D Forums http://www.foundation3d.com/forums The Thrilling Adventure Hour http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15497&goto=newpost Sun, 19 May 2013 23:32:23 GMT This is getting quite far from the world of 3D, but has anyone else been listening to the Thrilling Adventure Hour (http://thrillingadventurehour.com/) podcasts (or better yet, seen the show?). The... This is getting quite far from the world of 3D, but has anyone else been listening to the Thrilling Adventure Hour podcasts (or better yet, seen the show?). The premise is that it's performed in the style of a radio show, and features all sorts of famous guest stars, like Nathan Fillian (the only guest to have his own segment). I found out about the show from the Castle Season 4 DVD special features (Molly Quinn has also made several appearances), and it's been pretty much nonstop laughs.

Most of the podcasts can be found here.
http://www.nerdist.com/podcast/thril...dventure-hour/ ]]> The Cafe CrippledPidgeon http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15497 SciFi - Daedalaus http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15496&goto=newpost Sun, 19 May 2013 11:54:45 GMT Nick very kindly let me have a play with his BIS Daedalus model. So here she is on her way past Mars. A very simple composition - i opted for a long thin layout simply to accentuate the engine... Nick very kindly let me have a play with his BIS Daedalus model.
So here she is on her way past Mars.
A very simple composition - i opted for a long thin layout simply to accentuate the engine trail.

All credit to Nick Stevens for his Daedalus model and Mars textures.
Garish lighting and colours by me ;) ]]> 3D Stills GrahamTG http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15496 Recommended books? http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15495&goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 18:34:51 GMT Greetings all, I have been absent from the 3D scene for several years now, however I was recently asked if I'd be interested in a permanent job working on Lightwave 3D, the company I'm working at uses it for marketing their end product. My strength with Lightwave was always modelling, however this particular job is going to be focused on animation, rigging, and surfacing. My biggest weakness with Lightwave was always the task of painting textures, and I followed some tutorials, bought Leigh Van Der Byl's book and I still suck at painting/manipulating textures, I never do any scene that involves wood if I can help it cuz I just can't seem to make the textures, so my question is this:

Given that the only Lightwave specific book on the creation of textures seems to be Leigh's book, are there any other texture creation focused books that anyone would recommend, I'm ok with them being for another application such as 3DS Max or Maya as long as the concepts used in the texture creation side of things is still applicable to Lightwave. ]]> Texture Corner zonda http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15495 Weapons - Warehouse 13 - Tesla http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15494&goto=newpost Fri, 17 May 2013 20:09:37 GMT So I'm not taking any college classes this summer, so I thought I'd spend the rest of the summer working on adding some thickness to my portfolio.

I've been watching way to much warehouse 13 recently so of course I ended up having the urge to start on the Tesla hand gun that warehouse agents keep close at hand.

Tesla ref images:
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what I have so far.
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Needs some more details in areas, like inside the glass areas. I'm really struggling to get the glass to look real. I suspect the actual props have plastic instead of glass. But I have not figured out how to do a clear plastic effect in the cycles render engine that looks right.
As always comments are appreciated.

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]]> 3D WIP JSM http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15494 Flourescent Light Diffuser Bump Map? http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15493&goto=newpost Fri, 17 May 2013 16:23:22 GMT Anyone have a good tileable bump map for a prismatic flourescent light diffuser? I need one for a project at work, and there seems to be a severe shortage of images online of flourescent light... Anyone have a good tileable bump map for a prismatic flourescent light diffuser? I need one for a project at work, and there seems to be a severe shortage of images online of flourescent light diffusers taken normal to the thing. We use them in a mold here at work to make a non-skid texture, and I need the bump map for rendering some images of the finished product. ]]> Texture Corner Bishop http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15493 JJ Teleophoto Lens http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15491&goto=newpost Fri, 17 May 2013 15:27:24 GMT It's the worlds largest lens but I still say it's either a cryo chamber or JJ has now taken over Zeiss.

]]> The Cafe bmckain http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15491 I have declared war! http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15490&goto=newpost Fri, 17 May 2013 15:07:59 GMT Last night we came home to a river of ants across the floor to the cats dish. This morning I declared war on the ants. The perimeter of the house and the entire garden now looks like a chemical... Last night we came home to a river of ants across the floor to the cats dish. This morning I declared war on the ants. The perimeter of the house and the entire garden now looks like a chemical factory. DON"T MESS WITH THE GUY IN THE HOUSE! :devil::evil::evil:

]]> The Cafe bmckain http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15490 Misc - To be young again. http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15488&goto=newpost Fri, 17 May 2013 04:38:13 GMT This is the note my 9 year old nephew gave his mother.i think "God" needs spellcheck.

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]]> Photo Corner lonewriter http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15488 LightWave - Perspective/Classic Issues http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15487&goto=newpost Thu, 16 May 2013 17:52:11 GMT HI all, I was wondering if anyone could help me shed a little light into this subject below. Photo 1 is perspective camera and as you see, there are errors, where as photo 2 is a lot better result,... HI all,

I was wondering if anyone could help me shed a little light into this subject below.

Photo 1 is perspective camera and as you see, there are errors, where as photo 2 is a lot better result, I understand how each of the cameras is built up, I understand the full use of perspective and why a lot more people use it, However what I dont get is why they are so radically different, ive played around with various settings in the perspective camera, all to little avail, so I come here, if anyone can shed any light of the subject.

Kind regards,
lukemax

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]]> 3D Lukemax http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15487 Watercraft - Ming Dynasty Treasure Ship http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15486&goto=newpost Thu, 16 May 2013 15:08:53 GMT At work, we were commissioned to work on an opera about a fictionalized version Marco Polo's return to Europe from his travels in Asia. The idea was that we could project 3D rendered backgrounds behind the actors, and then have hardly any physical sets to worry about changing out between and throwing away at the end of the show. There were about half a dozen scenes, and I called dibs on the one taking place on a Chinese treasure ship at night.

The client had already done some preliminary research, and I found this giant photo of an equally giant model on Wikipedia that I used as my main reference for the ship.

I began by roughing out the general shape of the hull in Lightwave Modeler. Even though the concept only called for the deck to be seen, I wanted to have at least a foundation for the exterior in case it was needed later. It also made it easier to ensure the deck was proportionate. I matched the camera angle as best I could to my reference photo in Layout, and switched back and forth while adjusting the hull. I’ve found that while it isn’t a perfectly accurate technique compared to working off a set of orthographic schematics, it’s much better than eyeballing it.

I presented several options for the angle, and the client selected a 3/4 view looking aft. I populated the deck with various barrels and crates, set up the scene with a romantic full moon and animated the motion of the horizon based on some stock footage I found of a camera on a tripod on a boat. I did some test composites in Photoshop to figure out how exactly to break it out for rendering.

After I split the scene and had rendered most of the passes, our team did a site visit and found that our screen was smaller, squarer and with a weaker projector than we anticipated. Luckily, that could be corrected for in the composite, so I passed it on to our compositor, who went to work cropping it down and matching the style of the overall show.

The "workshop performance" was about a month ago. The producers have secured a larger venue for next April, and we're going to be reworking and expanding our backgrounds. I'm busy on another project right now, but my tentative plans are to add some background ships at the very least. There's also a pirate attack midway through the scene, so I've been talking with our tech guy about the feasibility of transitioning from one looping background to another with pirates and ships on fire and whatnot.

Oh, speaking of fire, there's a part on this project that I've been dodging and working around: Torches. If I try to do them in Lightwave, they look too flickery and fake, and trying to do them in post just ended up looking like one of the layers had a fractal noise texture over it (which it did). Does anyone know a good way to animate flickering torches that actually looks like flickering torches?

I've got a more detailed writeup with more WIP shots of the model on the company blog. And it turns out there's a video of the entire performance on-line. My scene starts at 47:45. Please don't feel obligated to watch the whole thing for the CG, they're all just subtly-moving loops of about a minute or so. ]]> 3D Stills David cgc http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15486 Sci fi convention confrontation http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15485&goto=newpost Thu, 16 May 2013 05:12:10 GMT Seriously guys, I would have thought it would be Star Wars against Star Trek. Dr. Who? ... Seriously guys, I would have thought it would be Star Wars against Star Trek.
Dr. Who? Really?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti..._campaign=1490 ]]> The Cafe Jessica6 http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15485 BSG - The Chase http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15484&goto=newpost Thu, 16 May 2013 01:26:27 GMT Three Vipers bite off a little more than they can chew... Image: http://www.foundation3d.com/uploads/art/2013/05/38-15-667516_tn.jpg ... Three Vipers bite off a little more than they can chew...

Lightwave, Fusion, and a smidgen of After Effects. ]]> 3D Stills PepeWan http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15484 I wish I could build this mesh. http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15483&goto=newpost Wed, 15 May 2013 01:22:17 GMT Once I saw this in BSG Blood and Chrome I loved the detail. Pierre Drolet did a great job rebuilding the Viper. http://sci-fi-museum-pierre-drolet-com.webs.com/viper-mark-ii-and-iib And this one is... Once I saw this in BSG Blood and Chrome I loved the detail. Pierre Drolet did a great job rebuilding the Viper.
http://sci-fi-museum-pierre-drolet-c...ark-ii-and-iib
And this one is also cool.
http://sci-fi-museum-pierre-drolet-c...ark-ii-and-iib ]]> The Cafe lonewriter http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15483 LightWave - Audio Timeline Speed Adjustment http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15482&goto=newpost Tue, 14 May 2013 19:16:38 GMT Hi all, I was wondering if anyone knew the technical details regarding changing the speed at which a song is played which is added to the timeline in Lightwave, Simply importing the tune was working... Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone knew the technical details regarding changing the speed at which a song is played which is added to the timeline in Lightwave, Simply importing the tune was working fine, but for some reason now plays at a much slower rate as if the theme as been slowed. No adjustment made to the original file.

Anyone come across this before? ]]> 3D Lukemax http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15482 Star Trek - STOL 2014 Calender Image http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15481&goto=newpost Tue, 14 May 2013 18:08:49 GMT Hey guys/gals, very long time no post, Now that they have shown images from next years SOTL calender (and I obtained permission from Doug) I can finally post this publicly, and make sure proper... Hey guys/gals,

very long time no post,

Now that they have shown images from next years SOTL calender (and I obtained permission from Doug) I can finally post this publicly, and make sure proper credit is given where it is due (it isn't in the calender :( , probably my fault, I never put my name on any of the original renders either)

First off I would like to make sure that people are aware that this image was never meant to be more than a technical exercise rising from an argument (a friendly one) that I had with my friend Mark, and I had only showed this to Doug after I "knew" that the SOTL calender was canceled by the publisher. Otherwise I would have never posted this anywhere other than my facebook page (which is largely just friends and industry relations), where I had made it clear that nothing in here was modeled by my self, however I did do a lot of material (not textures just how the materials worked) work on the Big E and the other ships, mostly on the E, as it was part of the exercise, the mesh's however were never my own, and Downloaded a fairly long time ago, to the extent that one of the mesh's no-longer seems to be available so I was unable to determine who built it as there was no read-me in the zip file).

Anyway long story short, STOL was back, and Doug liked the render and asked me to make a version formatted for the Calender, and I was in the middle of moving and starting a new job in a new state that was making me travel, and I had only just gotten my workstation shipped and repaired from the shipping roughage) with about a week to spare and no normal internet connection (I actually made the PSD delivery via drop box from my phone) and not even a desk to sit at while re-rendering the scene passes at the right format. What I had turned in was what it was, warts and all, this is actually a version I made a day or so later once I had time to catch my breath, but it was too late to get it into the Calender.

So with thanks to those who unknowingly contributed I am posting this here, to acknowledge them rightfully and to avoid any confusion later on down the road. Normally if I was going to use content it would have been from a project that I had contributed to, but I honestly never thought Doug would like it (because it deviates so much from Cannon stuff), and want to use it in the Calender or that anything else would ever come of the image, it was just what it was, part of many little tests and the like that I do from time to time, this argument I mentioned just happened to be about Startrek stuff so I needed Startrek stuff to prove a point my work history includes Battlestar Galactica so most of my personal Space stuff uses BSG content, usually stuff I built, but occasionally Lee's Galactica Model.

Convoluted and long winded but there it is. :P

Please enjoy, and thank you, and if anyone knows who modeled the Clydesdale let me know and I will update the image to reflect that. I probably will provide a Full Rez version once the Calender is out to the Artists who's models I used for their personal use, but I was told not to post that yet, but they will probably have to remind me.

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]]> 3D Stills Bookman http://www.foundation3d.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15481