The render so far

This is just the occlusion, color, specular, and reflective passes. shadow pass was pretty badly messed up for some reason, so I'll need to try a different method than originally taught.



[update]

I got the new shadow pass on it. Tried to do a glow pass, but something about the background shader refuses to work properly. That'll be fixed shortly. Thankfully shot 1 is almost done. Unfortunately, its the shortest one, so it'll be some time before this thing gets done completely. Crud.



With the glow

The Baretta 92FS

Started on the first model for the game I'm working on. So far this thing is just over 530 polys. still needs several things.




[update]

Added hammer and trigger. Did some minor cleanup and smoothing out. May end up taking out geometry to let the engine render it more easily, since its at 714 right now, and the game is supposed to be 3rd person.

Slide, hammer, and trigger now have a limit to their movement. This'll get rigged in 3ds max once its unwrapped and the normals are set up.

The full compilation

I finally got the whole thing running relatively well, and somehow the muzzle flash looks better than it did before thanks to the recoil animation. All thats left for this thing is to do a few render tests and then a full on render.

Particle Cannon fly through

Just giving a quick camera move through the complex.




I'll do an occlusion pass of this event, if it doesn't turn out too dark, and then post a demonstration video on what portions of the scene do what.

singularity

What happens when an object moving near the speed of light hits a stationary object in normal space? Something like this perhaps, though highly improbably. Still looks cool though.

Lock n' Load

A bit of camera work now on the loading sequence. I'm pretty ready to start rendering, though I need t separate a few things into their own layers, such as the fluid effects, but everything is primed. Might have to do a bit of texture work on the target as well.

So close I can taste it

I've nearly got the feel I want now. Just need to speed it up a bit and extend the container a bit, and possibly modify the dissipation and temp, but its nearly good to go. Once thats done, I can fix the other two containers so as it doesn't chew up RAM while rendering.

muzzle flash rough

This is semi close to what I'm shooting for, but the problem is getting consistency out of this thing. It never looks the same twice, and so far this is the best one. Much more tweaking is needed. The dust kick up isn't fairing much better either, but for now the flash will be the only one viewable.





[UPDATE]


I've got a semi-consistent flash going. Not quite escaping the barrel like the previous one, but emitting enough so it is just visible.

one step forward, 2 steps back

Well, I've gone and wrecked another fluid container, so back to square one with the muzzle flash. Least I'm learning, though not as fast as I would've liked.

loading sequence

Blah, I hate working with fluids. So finicky, but useful. I won't lose to you, FLUIDS!

Anyway, I at least got the gun animations itself pretty much set. There may be tweaks later on to add to the effect, possibly some braces failing and some upward recoil as a result of the momentum generated. I do have the fans going though, though at the rate their spinning, they'd hardly be noticeable, even with motion blur. As per the target the gun is aiming at, I may just create a destructible wall and duplicate it several dozen times in post to show the force of the shot. Maybe even have some other things destroyed on the outside of the building as well. Maybe even create a black hole event as a result of the speed through which the slug is traveling, (since in theory a rail gun is supposed to fire its projectile at the speed of light) where in the target object almost collapses in on the impact point, but explodes none the less.

confound technology

Started working on the firing sequence, and my first order was to get the barrel to look overheated. Well, after a huge amount of trial and error, this is the result. I even have it rigged so that the level of the color can change with the use of a slider. Thank you set driven key.

Head sculpt

So far its just the sculpt and the skin tones. Gotta model out the hair and attempt to rig it a different way, since the blend shape setup isn't working as it should. Model is based off my friend's face.

[Update]



placed a Lambert shader on top to give a better highlight on the warm and cool tones of the skin.

The MK-I has been confirmed

I've finally put up the MK-I onto the site. It may be incomplete, but where it stands now does merit some form of display. I won't add textures for some time, and it will probably only be an occlusion pass from now on.

Check the main site to view it.

TMR 30D lighting update

adjusted the lighting on here as well.

MKII updated lighting

New lighting setup to bring out the gun's form.

New lighting setup

Update: fixed the render issues using an increased filter. Also adjusted lighting again.







Based using studio lighting setup. Also added some textures to the armor bits. Not sure on the helm colors yet though.

LEDs on the endosuit

Did a texture for the endo suit, which now includes some incandescent points of lights. More shots later.

The endo suit

after a bit of trial and error in z brush, I managed to create the endo suit's detailed plating system, though they're probably be a flexible polymer. The details were projected using maya however, as z-brush would keep offseting the normals for some reason I probably missed. Oh well, I got what I needed and will continue with refinement work.

The Spartan Wireframe

this is roughly what I'm working with. The dense patches are where the slashes and dents are located

Robot render

Figured that he was the only thing not shown on this blog yet, so why not give him a nice render

render style idea

So I've an idea of what I'd like to do for my reel, as in having the models in vector ray exploded in the background to show the parts and such, while a better render sits up close for details and textures. The vector rays will sit along side the concepts for their respective models.

Its very reminiscent of how Iron Man's credits were done, which is what I wanted to try to replicate.

Status update

Chest plates are pretty much done. I may add some lights to certain portions later on, but its up for debate.

Another update

After a bit of thought and some quick sketching, I figured out the mechanics for the sword canister unit on the thigh guard. Its innitially similar to The legging panels, but the sword place holder is similar to that of a cassette tape player. I did another variant of the sword handle, in that it extends at the head and base to allow for the knuckle guard emitters, while the stabilizer blade extends from the head. I've no definite design for the blade yet, but I may just go with a strait blade or the 4th design for simplicity sake.





[Edit] Fixed the plates and inner armor. no visible collisions now. Might leave sword mechanics out to save time.

More designs

had these sitting on the website, so now I'm putting them here. Gotta work out the mechanics of the sword dispersal unit, but that won't take long.

Thigh guards

chest plates

arm guards

Helmet design

Finally got a design I like. Felt that the top of the helm piece on the original concept was odd.

Boot panels test

So the boot panels are rigged, as well as the securing talons on the base, so here's a quick vid of them working.

progress

Boot plating and booster ports modeled out(not visible). Mechanics will be modeled and installed after armlets are modeled

Spartan shin and arm guards

The first iteration of the leg armor. Asked around and was decided that the feet were the strongest.



Second iteration of the leggings. Started with a multi-panel sliding system, but swapped for a more streamlined look. Settled on that and began arm guard work.



Several variants on the arm guard, originally having the shield(see earlier post on shield design) under the armor, but was told to just keep it outside. Used style of leg guards for arm guard design, resulting in the finalized version circled.

2/3 done

With the video portion of the 3d animation "Trash Me" complete, it mean's I've 2 pieces of my reel done. Now to get crackin' on the Spartan and compile it all.

And so I have a render

So I've got a complete render of The Chimera finally, which means I've a third of my reel completed. I may have an occlusion pass separated later on, but I'm not certain of that yet. This just leaves the Robot to be rendered(which I'll probably grab from the animation its involved in) and the spartan to be completed. Now if only it were so easy.

completion

And so the Chimera is finished. I'll play around with the render layers at another time, but here is the piece, Final gather enabled beauty pass.

Dragon Head

Honestly, this piece has nothing to do with any of my other projects. It just happened.

Design updates

So I've been playing with the sword storage system, and I'm leaning more towards a wrist holster on the right arm.



Meanwhile, I've thought up of another upper body armor design with a shield mount on the left arm. Still uncertain about it.

Spartan shield

Okay, so I did a quick version on the shield, and I kinda dig it, but I want to get the energy portion textured properly before I'm satisfied. Obviously, the energy rail's unfolding design got swapped for an extension design, since the unfolding wouldn't hide properly without showing up on the other side of the arm. I've still to develop a connection unit to link it to the left for arm guard, but it'll come to me as I work on this.

Spartan pose

I think I'm getting a better idea for him, but the armor is still a bit hazy. at least the shield is coming together in my mind.

more updates

Textures are near done on the gun. added the battery case and battery cells to the list, and adjusted the main body colors. added texture to cables, though not set on their color just yet.

Updated textures

So this is where things stand now. I still need a proper color for the barrel and battery casing, as well as unwrap the battery, but beyond that its just spacular and normal mapping and it'll be complete.

possible new project

So I've had a bit of an "aHa" moment and have decided that one of my next projects will be a modernized spartan warrior. Its still a fledgling idea, but I have an idea for the shield that really floats my boat, and the idea for the sword isn't too far from what I'd like. As for the spear, well it needs work. I like the idea that it folds up, it still lacks that pizazz that I'm looking for. Time for more research on collapsible weapons.