|
|
Strange Discoveries
About Truespace Archives
These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
They are retained here for archive purposes only.
Strange Discoveries // Work in Progress
Post by Finis // Dec 18, 2008, 9:50am
|
Finis
Total Posts: 386
|
PM Prodigy or 3DFrog to be sure they know about the thread name change.
Looking forward to the next discovery. |
Post by Breech Block // Jan 21, 2009, 2:54pm
|
Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
|
Well, work was well under way on the sequel to my previous image - untill I lost everything during one of the numerous power-cuts my village suffered in the storms before Crimbo. It's taken me some time to muster enough will power to redo it all but at least I have made a start. Now let me state straight away I did not make the police car (I wish). In fact, all the vehicles that will appear in this scene will be freebies off the net and when you see the final picture, hopefully you'll understand why. That said, it did take an entire evenings work to get the model as you see it as I didn't like all of the textures that came so altered quite a few of them and none of the UV mapping survived the import\export process. The scene is in a very early stage of development, but hopefully you can see I'm striving to maintain the level of quality set by the first image in the series. |
Post by robert // Jan 21, 2009, 3:14pm
|
robert
Total Posts: 609
|
Looks pretty good thus far. |
Post by kena // Jan 21, 2009, 3:46pm
|
kena
Total Posts: 2321
|
lo,l - I hope you arn't planning on parking those in the lobby! Your work is always excellent, so I'm looking forward to the progress on this one. |
Post by Breech Block // Jan 22, 2009, 12:42pm
|
Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
|
Looks pretty good thus far.
Thanks robert.
lol - I hope you arn't planning on parking those in the lobby! Your work is always excellent, so I'm looking forward to the progress on this one. .
lol - now there is an idea. Gosh, thanks for the compliment kena. Gonna have to work harder than ever on this one now.
So, here is an update. Doesn't look like much but I think I have made some good progress. The car model, whilst it looks really great was a bit of a mess. All the part names were in French so I had to change all of them so as I could understand where all the textures went. Some of the textures were pretty poor with the tyre tread bump map not even tiling so you could see all the repeats. And, I don't know if this was because of the conversion, but all the material settings were way off, especially the tyres and paintwork which were way to glossy. So the main police car is now sorted and I have created different versions of the texture maps to represent Command, Area and Patrol variants. But most importantly, I have worked on trying to nail down the lighting (No HDRI this time) and set the scene/camera angle to really give a sense of the scale of activity going. Still very early in the development stage but with these things tied down early I think the progress will be a lot easier going forward. |
Post by robert // Jan 22, 2009, 1:09pm
|
robert
Total Posts: 609
|
Do you know what time of day you're going to have this at yet?
Also are you planning on having the police sirens/lights going?
One more thing, is this meant to be a roadblock? I'm not sure how many cops would report to the actual scene some time after the fact as this is not a murder. Since he stole a bunch of stuff it shouldn't be too hard to know what to look for.
Just my speculativeness and general questions, feel free to not answer any of them and keep us in suspense. :p |
Post by Breech Block // Jan 22, 2009, 5:46pm
|
Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
|
Hi robert.
Ref: - Do you know what time of day you're going to have this at yet?
I think that the time of day will be finalised when I pick an image for the skydome as well as any final tweeks to the lighting/shadows.
Ref: - Also are you planning on having the police sirens/lights going?
The sirens are blaring away as we speak - can't you hear them? :D
As for the lights, yes, if I can render them realistically.
Ref: - One more thing, is this meant to be a roadblock? I'm not sure how many cops would report to the actual scene some time after the fact as this is not a murder. Since he stole a bunch of stuff it shouldn't be too hard to know what to look for.
This scene has nothing to do with the bank vault. This scene will be No 6 in a whole range of...err...Strange Discoveries that I'm planning to do. I'm just putting them together in one thread as a kind of collected works.
Ref: - Just my speculativeness and general questions, feel free to not answer any of them and keep us in suspense.
I'm happy to try and answer any questions both about the scene and any techniques, although the exact nature of each Strange Discoveries scene will always be kept secret until the final reveal.
This evenings work centred around converting an old van into a SWAT vehicle. Mmm, things are looking busy. I wonder what is going on. :D |
Post by jamesmc // Jan 22, 2009, 5:50pm
|
jamesmc
Total Posts: 2566
|
Is that a doughnut shop in the background? :) |
Post by tahnoak // Jan 23, 2009, 12:08am
|
tahnoak
Total Posts: 487
|
Looks great Breech. The only crit I would have is that either the policeman has a very small rear end or those are some pretty big hand cuffs :D |
Post by Breech Block // Jan 23, 2009, 9:12pm
|
Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
|
Is that a doughnut shop in the background? :)
Mmmm..cops at a donut shop...not exactly a strange discovery. :D
...either the policeman has a very small rear end or those are some pretty big hand cuffs.
Depends what they are trying to arrest! :D
Here is the latest update. Improvements include: better shadows, improved skin tones, more models added, caps and firarms added to some figures and some general texture/material tweeks. |
Post by Steinie // Jan 24, 2009, 4:06am
|
Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
|
Really cool stuff being created in this one, I can't wait!
FYI
I noticed that the police car bottom right either has a flat tire or it is below
the surface.
What is going to be on that podium....hmmmm:) |
Post by robert // Jan 24, 2009, 2:06pm
|
robert
Total Posts: 609
|
...I noticed that the police car bottom right either has a flat tire or it is below
the surface...
That's just a raised median, at least I would assume since the texture is slightly different and there's another one just up and left of it. |
Post by Breech Block // Jan 24, 2009, 5:13pm
|
Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
|
Really cool stuff being created in this one, I can't wait!
Thanks for the kind words Steinie. As I believe I said at the start of this thread, these Strange Discovery "Postcards" (as I like to think of them), are a direct result of the influence/inspiration your comedic images have had on me. So I'm glad your enjoying them too.
FYI...I noticed that the police car bottom right either has a flat tire or it is below the surface.
I think its just a case of the raised pavement/kerb stone giving that impression but I will double check that area when I next load the scene. |
Post by Breech Block // Jan 24, 2009, 7:56pm
|
Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
|
Not much done today what with my eleventh hour decision to enter the Salvador Dali MMC. Added the lamp-post and police tape, tweaked a few more shader settings and then spent quite a bit of time hunting through my Skies library for a decent backplate. I eventually narrowed it down to these 2 because of the close match in both angle and scaling. I think my current light set up is probably somewhere in between the 2 so I'm either going to have to try and edit the photos or tweak the settings if I want a closer match. Here is a look see; the background plates have just been roughly composited in at the moment. |
Post by Nez // Jan 25, 2009, 11:16pm
|
Nez
Total Posts: 1102
|
Hey Breech, looking good, as usual.
The skies look pretty good but both are quite cloudy compared to the realtively strong shadows you've got going, so you might need to soften the shadows or go for something 'sunnier'.....
The cars look pretty great - think I might have that Volvo model somewhere too; I tend to find the textures/shaders on these imported car models do tend to go a bit screwy and need some adjustment - they almost always seem to import with very shiny/reflective materials like you mention, uqite time consuming to change. I've never been aware of different car-markings for command etc in our local police force, although it's an interesting idea (reminds me of Star Wars battle droids...)
One minor quibble - to the best of my knowledge, we don't have 'SWAT' in the UK; we have similar tactical officers in various squads (SO19 and the like) but they're not usually officially called SWAT and wouldn't have it on the van... you could say you're not in the UK of course, but those are very british squad cars...
just being difficult of course, as it's always so difficult to find stuff to criticise; needless to say, Robert and I have exhanged a flurry of PMs trying to think of something to complain about...!! ;) |
Post by marcel // Jan 26, 2009, 1:57am
|
marcel
Total Posts: 569
|
the horizon is not well positioned. May be a little lower than on my image if there is a hill in front. |
Post by Johny // Jan 26, 2009, 2:23am
|
Johny
Total Posts: 672
|
the horizon is not well positioned. May be a little lower than on my image if there is a hill in front.
Hi Marcel thanks for the knowledge! :) I dont know about this before. |
Post by Breech Block // Jan 27, 2009, 4:01pm
|
Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
|
Hey Breech, looking good, as usual.
The skies look pretty good but both are quite cloudy compared to the realtively strong shadows you've got going, so you might need to soften the shadows or go for something 'sunnier'.
Thanks Nez. Definately want to try and get an overcast look for this one. I'm getting fed-up of rendering perfect summer's day type piccies now.
The cars look pretty great - think I might have that Volvo model somewhere too; I tend to find the textures/shaders on these imported car models do tend to go a bit screwy and need some adjustment - they almost always seem to import with very shiny/reflective materials like you mention, uqite time consuming to change. I've never been aware of different car-markings for command etc in our local police force, although it's an interesting idea (reminds me of Star Wars battle droids...).
Yeah, don't know what it is about the material settings. I have tried several different apps for converting formats but none of them come out any better. It's a real pain and very time consuming to try and get them to look good in tS. As for the different markings on the cars, I have a brother in the police force. :D
One minor quibble - to the best of my knowledge, we don't have 'SWAT' in the UK; we have similar tactical officers in various squads (SO19 and the like) but they're not usually officially called SWAT and wouldn't have it on the van... you could say you're not in the UK of course, but those are very british squad cars...
Yeah, I know. I thought long and hard about that and I'm sure my brother will give me some stick for it. I nearly put SO19 on the van but as the forum has an international audience I didn't think anybody (apart from you and robert of course) would know what it meant. Whereas, just about everybody on the planet knows what a SWAT team is and it is very important for the image that the viewer realises that the police have taken the situation very seriously and have responded in full.
just being difficult of course, as it's always so difficult to find stuff to criticise; needless to say, Robert and I have exhanged a flurry of PMs trying to think of something to complain about...!! ;)
Hahaha - I nearly fell out my chair laughing at that one. Yes, needless to say I've already had an e-mail from robert with a long list of inaccuracies. Top of the list is that the license plate on the far command car is actually registered to a Nissan Sunny. :D
the horizon is not well positioned. May be a little lower than on my image if there is a hill in front.)
Thanks very much for that marcel. You know, I can now remember being taught that at school (Technical Drawing) but for some unknown reason, I have never thought to apply 2d drawing skills to 3D artwork. I guess I'm slowly starting to learn that the difference between a good 3D image and a great one is finding and eradicating all those little faults that the brain recognises sub-consciously and alerts the viewer it is false even if he/she doesn't understand why. I hope that makes some kind of sense. Thanks again marcel for taking the time to post up a corrected image, it is much appreciated. |
Post by Nez // Jan 27, 2009, 11:24pm
|
Nez
Total Posts: 1102
|
Yes, that's a good tip from Marcel and a good point about recalling what you learnt on 2d stuff - there's a few folks round here who take their composition very seriously and a lot of the rest of us (me included) forget all to often....
On the other points - all fair and reasonable answers, I wasn't trying (too much) to be awkward, honest! I'll have to keep my eyes peeled now for police cars with different markings.... I understand your reasoning onthe SWAT matter - I guess you could just go with 'Tactical', 'Armed Response' or some such, but SWAT is more universally recognised. No offence to Robert, but even he may not know of SO19 as I gather he's in the US (although there's a few other Brits about)... besides, that's a London only squad as far as I know, other parts of the country must use different names...
Interested to see what's got them all so worked up anyway.... |
Post by tahnoak // Jan 28, 2009, 12:35am
|
tahnoak
Total Posts: 487
|
Clearly they got the word that Vray is not being sold anymore for tS and a band of 3D modelers has taken over a building in protest! :D |
Post by marcel // Jan 28, 2009, 4:23am
|
marcel
Total Posts: 569
|
They are afraid to have a vray for free software because it can only be hacked by 5000000 downloaders. :D |
Post by Steinie // Jan 28, 2009, 5:05am
|
Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
|
Looks like Breech won't be working on this one for a while. The mystery of this rendering will haunt me. Hurry back when you can.:) |
Post by Breech Block // Jan 28, 2009, 9:52am
|
Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
|
Clearly they got the word that Vray is not being sold anymore for tS and a band of 3D modelers has taken over a building in protest! :D
Hey, that's not fair, your ideas are funnier than mine. :D
Looks like Breech won't be working on this one for a while. The mystery of this rendering will haunt me. Hurry back when you can.
Just to tide you over matey.
Colonel Custer had got hold of the last V-Ray shipment and decided to make a last stand. |
Post by Finis // Jan 28, 2009, 10:48am
|
Finis
Total Posts: 386
|
Swat. SO19. It says Snat on their vests. |
Post by Steinie // Jan 28, 2009, 11:30am
|
Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
|
Looks like he has the last known copy of VRay!...and their SNOT going to get it either. (or is that SNAT?) |
Post by tahnoak // Jan 31, 2009, 1:31am
|
tahnoak
Total Posts: 487
|
Now all it is missing is Steinie's donkey poking its head around the corner and waving a white flag :) |
Post by Breech Block // Jan 31, 2009, 9:37pm
|
Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
|
Managed to find a bit of time to work on this today. The problem with the SWAT vests was a UV error had crept in somehow. That's now been resolved. the background elements are starting to go in but nothing finalised yet. And i did play about trying to make the shadows less harsh but nothing I tries seem to have any effect. i changed the brightness levels, fall off levels, switched between ray traced and mapped shadows. Nada. Every render brings the shadows out exactly the same and as Nez pointed out earlier they are way to harsh for the background plate. |
Post by TomG // Feb 2, 2009, 4:14am
|
TomG
Total Posts: 3397
|
What kind of light is it, and what render engine is being used? You could just use an array of lights and not rely on a setting at all, just clone your existing light source and turn the intensity down in each copy to make a group - if local lights, just offset them in position a tiny amount; if infinite lights, just offset the angle a tiny amount.
HTH!
Tom |
Post by Finis // Feb 2, 2009, 6:58am
|
Finis
Total Posts: 386
|
Strange Discoveries, Matrix Phone, Future Fighter? How do you have time to work on three projects at once? And work of such quality in each one too? I must be very inefficient in my TS'ing. |
Post by marcel // Feb 2, 2009, 7:20am
|
marcel
Total Posts: 569
|
For the atmosphere, use the fog (ground) to joint the 3d scene with the backgroung. try differents values and colors. |
|
