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[Arik_the_Red]

This project is so wide open, being a sort of urban street scene, that there's plenty of room for work. I've fallen behind some since I got slammed with job-related things, but I'm still working my stuff.

My big hang-up is in the area of texturing... though I am determined to accomplish things there.

rellik420: I've found that one of the advantages of getting paid in peanuts is that at least you always have something to eat! But I never cared for boiled peanuts... Seriously though, I hope things sort out for you soon.


IDEA PUT IN MY HEAD! headwax, on his artist blog, was saying I should build a blogsite for this project... so, while this is the "nuts and bolts" work thread, I'm going to create a blog for this, and give the project its own identity of sorts for when it develops finished aspects... Once I have the blog sorted, and in a graphic form that fits the theme, I'll put up the link for all to see...

With that in mind, I'd like to name the blog after the city... We never really got a solid idea for the name... except to throw "steampunk" into it. While the name can always be changed, I think using "steampunk" in the blog name will at least portray the concept for things. So...

Steampunk City
Steampunktopia
Steampunkopolis
Steampunkana
Steampunkton
Steampunksville

I think I blew a pressure valve in my last brain cell...>insert steam-hissing sound here<

[headwax]

hehe be careful with that pressure valve

I like the first three names

cheers !

Edit Arik you and the crew are doing an amazing job. Damn wonderful, doing anim8or proud!

[kreator]

Steampunktopia

Then I don`t have to alter my signs on the factory
 

[Arik_the_Red]

Good enough reason for me! Steampunktopia it is!

[kreator]

If anybody is having trouble with thinking of something to model check out

http://steampunk-pics.com

[Indian8or]

Good project.  I would have loved to chip in, but I am not a big fan of "victorian era".  I would have loved to contribute if the project would have been something like "Aftermath".  The world trying to rise up after destruction.  With crude, but crazy machines ranging from steam to assembled junk bots.

The victorian era puts a lot of restrictions on imagination.

Just my opinion though.  Give us some renders guys.

[MeepII]

Seeing as I can't use anim8or currently, I made a detailed planof my design. Here it is.

It even has a little steampunk stickfigure (but only one leg on the original machine).

[davdud101]

Seems as if progress is slowing down... I so far haven't figured out exaclty what the product of this project is.. A video?

[ENSONIQ5]

Everyone's working on their bits and pieces, methinks.  Maybe don't worry too much about what the project will ultimately be, once the scene is built it can go in a number of different directions.

[ENSONIQ5]

I have built a steam powered radial engine, the sort of thing that might be used to drive a large airship, here:

.  All the motion is scripted (aside from the camera) and the speed of each rotating or oscillating part is linked to the scale of an invisible sphere (I used scale since it is already a floating point variable).  So, the apparent speed of the engine can be changed by increasing or decreasing the size of the sphere.  In the animation above, the sphere's size is keyframed from 0.01 in frame 1 to 7.00 in the last frame, making the engine appear to accelerate.

Particulars of the engine: Each cylinder is single-sided rather than double action like a standard Walshaerts setup, allowing a horizontal valve setup (which can allow the addition of more cylinders if required by extending the valve rods forward).  The valve gear is fixed and preset to achieve an efficient balance between full boiler pressure drive and in-cylinder expansion.  Reverse is effected by switching the steam input and exhaust pipes using a valve (not shown) rather than using the more traditional mechanical reversing gear arrangement to save weight and reduce moving parts.  Exhausted steam can be utilised to drive low-pressure turbines connected to dynamos for the generation of electrical power, to power navigation lights and the wireless radio, before being channeled through condenser coils positioned to radiate heat away from the vessel and return a large proportion of the spent steam to water.  This allows a minimum amount of 'dead weight' water to be carried by the airship.  The engine design also incorporates a concentric 1:4 up-gearing system to convert the engines high torque output into greater propeller rotation speed without increasing total steam throughput.

In terms of the project:  This has gone off the spec a bit, and kinda became a pet project to see if complex mechanical motion like the action of the conrods could be scripted.  I plan to build a simplified version of this engine within a cowling, without many of the moving parts, which could then be incorporated into a model airship.

[Arik_the_Red]

1: Yes, I've been squeezing time where able to work on my part in things.

2: The immediate goal is to create the "urban steampunk neighborhood" as outlined early on.

3: Ensoniq5, I wet myself when I saw that machine...   Seriously, that is really cool! You must have to do a lot of brainfarting to figure out the timings and such.  One thing, does the machine appear to reverse its prop spin because its rotation speed exceeds the frames per second?

[ENSONIQ5]

Hi Arik.  The only serious brainfarting (heh heh, love the phrase!) involved working out the scripts.  Trying to work our how quaternion coordinates work is totally beyond me... the Wiki page might as well be written in Klingon.  I had to convert to roll/pitch/yaw, which at least makes some sort of rational sense!

As you said, the prop appears to reverse due to the stroboscopic effect caused between the rotation and the frame rate (one full rev per frame and the prop appears to stand still).  Ideally there should be a strong motion blur once the prop builds up speed since even a very fast shutter speed on the imaginary camera couldn't freeze the motion so cleanly.  There are a couple of ways this might be achieved within Anim8or, Kreator had good results ages back, from memory.  The tricky bit will be cleanly transitioning from stationary prop to motion-blurred prop, but I will play around with it a bit... it could be a nice scene seeing an airship 'powering up'.

[$imon]

That is awesome Ensoniq! Just wonderful! I can't stop watching it haha. That is an amazin piece of technology/animation you have made there, in anim8or! I love the functionality of it as well, one can just imagine how this would work. Obviously it would be neat on an airplane but could be used to power just about anything by the looks of it.

I'm working on a big telescope to come out of the inventors house..  but my schoolwork is completely ruining my inspiration.. Ill have to draw out some basic functionalities of a telescope and work from there.

[blazecon0]

srry i havnt been helping, life and other projects slammed me and i have no time left -.-

[davdud101]

Ensoniq, absolutley amazing! Seems you got every single detail!!!