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Artwork => Anim8or Challenges => Topic started by: Raxx on July 31, 2011, 11:03:55 pm

Title: [ COMPLETE ] Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Raxx on July 31, 2011, 11:03:55 pm
Challenge #27: War Machine

(http://www.worldwar2aces.com/store/images/tm35190b.jpg)

FIRE!!!

What's a war machine? What can be a war machine?

Deadline: October 1st, 2011

This challenge will have a public poll. Vote for the best 10-second turntable video

Before you ask...

Just Have fun!

Entries:
davdud101 -

ENSONIQ5 -

headwax -
&feature=youtu.be
$imon -
d=1
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: davdud101 on August 01, 2011, 03:37:48 pm
Can I use a model I've been working on recently, but wasn't specifically for this comp? Cuz my computer's gotta get fixed this week, and I won't be around for the following 1-and-a-half weeks. Plz?
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Raxx on August 01, 2011, 05:45:17 pm
If you feel it's the only way you can make it in time for the deadline, I have no objections. Do note though that you have an entire month to work on it!
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: davdud101 on August 01, 2011, 05:59:23 pm
that's true... I say as I'm rendering My AO pass for my final.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Gyperboloid on August 04, 2011, 04:52:48 am
Wow another challenge already !  :) Great theme ! Hope, as in previous, there will be lot of entries ( and all finished in time  ;D ).
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Gyperboloid on August 14, 2011, 06:25:55 am
Hm, yet no entry ? I have some idea, don't know how it will come up ( if it will at all  ;D )

P.S.: And that 29-th kills me  :D , why not 31-st ?  :D
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: TheBlackHole on August 15, 2011, 06:21:48 pm
Would a Death Star-type thing work for this, or does the war machine need to work on Earth?
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Raxx on August 15, 2011, 09:59:00 pm
Lookin' good so far Gyperboloid! The deadline may be the 29th, but who knows, it might need to be the 31st if we need an extension ;)

TheBlackHole, any war machine, whether it's real or fictional, should be alright.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: dwsel on August 16, 2011, 06:17:37 am
Quote from: Raxx on August 15, 2011, 09:59:00 pm
The deadline may be the 29th, but who knows, it might need to be the 31st if we need an extension ;)
Oh yes, we need it :o
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on August 19, 2011, 07:57:57 pm
Make it through Labor Day (USA) and I'll make a solid go at it!

EDIT: I'll suffer with settling for Aug 31, if I gotta. Just need to crack down all the more.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on August 22, 2011, 10:57:56 pm
Working on something for this, I should be able to post a WIP tonight.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Gyperboloid on August 23, 2011, 05:45:45 am
These last weaks were all pain! Since it seams that the only entry will be that from ENSONIQ5, maybe it's better to extend the deadline for one more month  ???  I think it's a good "modeling skills" challenge ( although I am strongly against the war idea  : P E A C E  :) ) it would be great if more people could join it and of course finish it  :-\
                                                                         
                                                                                 ???
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: $imon on August 23, 2011, 08:07:26 am
I'm almost done my entry, gyberboloid.. but it doesnt matter if the deadline gets extended I guess. I don't really need it though.

Just need to render now. Are only Anim8or renders allowed? of course that would be most fun, but especially the clay renders take very long in Anim8or, especially in an animation..
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on August 23, 2011, 08:33:42 am
Below is a quick development sketch of a fictional war machine: a sort of VTOL troop carrier/gunship kinda thing.  I have started modelling with the port side engine nacelle, rocket array and undercarriage.  I am planning to UV map a camouflage pattern texture and if possible to render in Anim8or, though I may have to retreat to a quicker renderer if I don't get a move on!
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: $imon on August 23, 2011, 09:22:31 am
Ha! you're really making it easy on yourself eh, ensoniq.. what a concept.. Well its going to look great I'm very sure.. I hope you'll finish it in time! I'll assume for now that you won't animate it for the turntable.. Would be great to see though, a landing or take-off.. but maybe on a bigger timeframe it would be possible..

I am done modeling in Anim8or.. I think I'm exporting to max for a quicker renderer now. Good luck everyone!
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on August 23, 2011, 06:20:55 pm
Just doing my normal thing... bite off more than you can chew then chew like crazy!  Actually, I did make a few concessions on the design to speed up the modelling process.  All three engines are identical from the swivelly bit backwards and all three undercarriage struts & housings are identical too.  I also designed the undercarriage 'foot' such that it forms the u/c bay door when retracted, negating the need for opening doors and subsequent hydraulics etc.  I would love to have the undercarriage fold and the engines rotate from VTOL to forward flight during the turntable but, realistically, that will add at least 5 or 6 hours work to the project so no guarantees at this stage.  More screenshots shortly.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Raxx on August 23, 2011, 08:58:28 pm
Overall consensus is that an extension wouldn't hurt, and I'd like one as well :P So...

Deadline is now September 19th, 2011!!!

As for renderer, I guess whatever you need to get the job done, though using Anim8or helps balance the playing field...

Great detail so far Ensoniq5, you will certainly have to chew a heck of a lot more to get it done!
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on August 25, 2011, 09:21:44 am
The modelling of the forward parts is mostly complete.  The turret cannons are loosely based on the nasty piece of work hanging under the nose of an Apache gunship.  Not a fan of war or weapons in general but they are fun to model!
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on August 25, 2011, 01:03:51 pm
Wellllll, despite Gyper not recognizing my good intentions... Yes, I'm working on a War Machine! I have already thrown three designs in the trash because I just didn't like them. I've settled on something, and am working away on the model.

It's not really far enough along for a WIP post, but THANK YOU RAXXX!!!!! I'll get this bubbyboo done by that deadline, fershore!

Awesome WIP, all you posters!
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: TheBlackHole on August 25, 2011, 11:21:47 pm
Another few questions: Does the video need to be exactly ten seconds long or can it go past there? Can the video be a turntable for the ten seconds and then a demo of the weapon lasting between five and twenty seconds? Or, since my design is symmetrical except for a single cluster of buildings, does the turntable even need to last the whole ten seconds?
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Raxx on August 25, 2011, 11:47:14 pm
Let's try to keep it a 10-second looping video. This way we don't have folks making long animations to try to make it more impressive than those who follow the 10-second requirement. Part of the challenge (for the ones who wish to animate the war machine), is to accomplish this as visually effective as possible while the model(s) are being rotated. It leads to there being blind spots during critical times during animations (such as if the front is animating while only its back is visible), and creatively avoiding those blind spots can make the turntable animation all the more impressive when done under the same restrictions as everyone else.

On that note, making the model itself obviously rotate with the camera while it's being animated is not "creative" and negates any reason for having a turntable animation in the first place :P

Even when symmetrical, having different views of a model help the user appreciate the detail and work it took to make it all the more, especially if the lighting or animations are not symmetrical.

Good progress so far, ENSONIQ5, the guns are well detailed and help make it look even more viable as a war machine (obviously ;))
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on August 26, 2011, 12:57:35 pm
Modelling is pretty much complete, starting on UV mapping and texturing etc.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: davdud101 on August 26, 2011, 06:59:48 pm
cmon, Ensoniq, now i may as well not participate. 'course, that's not to say i'm giving up this early...
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: 3Dgeek11 on August 27, 2011, 04:18:41 am
That's a very awesome and interesting piece of machinery there, ENSONIQ! ;)

I might join, but this game (my brother and I are making) is keeping me very busy, along with life in general, so I doubt I'll have the time…
Have fun, everyone. ^^
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: dwsel on August 27, 2011, 08:17:00 am
@ENSONIQ5: The model is just... wow :o
@Raxx: Thanks for extension - this way I have some tiny chance of finishing my entry (I guess I start modelling next week and I'm coming back to exporter as well)
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Indian8or on August 27, 2011, 10:42:36 am
@Ensoniq5:  Great model.  But, your gunship might have to fight mine.  So, better fortify your armour buddy.  I may participate this time (if I could keep up my enthusiasm for long enough).  I will try to post some WIP soon.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on August 27, 2011, 07:28:57 pm
Thanks for the encouragement guys.  I put in a marathon effort yesterday (10 hours straight... to the obvious detriment of my garden, laundry, grocery shopping etc!) and have completed the UV mapping, and I am pretty much ready to animate the turntable.  I will not be animating the undercarriage or engines, 10 seconds is too short a time to run a full retract/extend cycle on the u/c, as required for it to be a looping video, and speeding it up would just look silly.  I will leave that for a future project.

As below, the machine is shown in RAAF livery (with a 'fractal' camouflage pattern derived from the Australian infantry uniforms).  Considering the machine's primary role as infantry support it would probably be more likely to have army markings rather than air force, but I just like the look of the kangaroo logo better!  It appears to have already survived a significant attack Indian8or, so your gunship better bring it!
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: neirao on August 28, 2011, 09:56:10 am
amazing work even without texture!
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Gyperboloid on August 28, 2011, 03:59:02 pm
@Arik_the_Red
 :D Okidoki  :D

EMSONIQ5 
 8)

P.S.
What about the rotation ? I mean , since it's modeling challenge , let's move the animation to the second ...ehm, don't know the word (  ;D ). Let's use the same scene, with the infinite rotation script, same lights and camera position ( like the " hall challenge " ). If Raxx could post an Anim8or file with that scene and all just copy/past their models into there ?  ::)

They're coming
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Raxx on August 28, 2011, 05:22:13 pm
It's a turntable animation, pretty simple to accomplish. And it's not just a modeling challenge ;)
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on August 28, 2011, 11:04:44 pm
Quick question on the turntable concept, are camera zooms and pans allowable during the rotation or should it be a strictly fixed camera?
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on August 29, 2011, 12:06:34 am
Heck, I'd say have some camera fun! I intend to!

(once my fever breaks... went camping and, as soon as we got home, I got some sort of fever bug)
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: $imon on August 29, 2011, 05:49:14 am
Final Entry: $imon

I present - The Bakery


(http://i52.tinypic.com/1679r28.jpg)

HD turntable link:
d=1

Low quality turntable link:


I wanted to make a very goofy looking car into a vicious killing machine. That's how I got to a three-wheeler, they just look so funny.. and what's more innocent than a three-wheeler? A three-wheeler from a bakery..
I wanted to keep the modeling simple a bit this time so nothing fancy. It is all modeled in Anim8or, then exported to 3d Studio Max and rendered the whole video in Vray. I changed the colors and contrast a bit in Photoshop afterwards. For the beauty render I made the basket, breads and grains in 3d Studio Max.
The logo was taken off Google so I can't take credit for that.


Good luck to all of you finishing your entries!


In the attachments:
clay render (Anim8or scanline), wireframe render, Anim8or beauty render (it took an hour for 1 frame to render, so unfortunately it was impossible to do a whole animation in Anim8or..)
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: neirao on August 29, 2011, 10:28:50 am
 :o wow $imon!!
i first moment i think then is a "photo" hehe
because is very realistic render!!

amazing render and modelling!!
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on August 29, 2011, 03:55:28 pm
As usual, $imon and Ensoniq5 produce some fine, original material that is great to eyeball over and over.

Gyperboloid, your machines are a bit too dark to make sense of.


As for me... Well, still dealing with a fever and having a time taking my original ideas seriously, so I figured I'd let the illness rule the day - it took me on a completely different path... I hope that by letting it run its course through this process, I can let the fever run its course and be gone :P


Progress Post Number One:


(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d69/aric_001/progress1.jpg)
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on August 29, 2011, 05:51:47 pm
$imon: Excellent idea, lovely clean modelling as always.  I love how the turntable is a circular section through a road, kerb and all.  Brilliant!  I'd love one of these vehicles for the Monday morning traffic crawl... blast my way through!

Arik: My sure fire remedy for that sort of thing is Jalapeno pizza and plenty of orange juice and tequila!  Not sure if it actually works, but the tequila ensures you don't feel a thing!  Looking forward to seeing your work, looks cool so far. 
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on August 30, 2011, 01:53:51 am
Update... Working on textures. Yes, I know I sort of spoil the surprise... but here it is to date....

(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d69/aric_001/progress3.jpg)

Ensoniq... I think that mix would do some wicked things to my bowels right now ;-)
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: $imon on August 30, 2011, 09:01:46 am
haha I like where that is going, arik. The fever must be good for the inspiration! (I should try it myself...) I'm not sure if Ensoniq's nutrition suggestion is one to follow though lol.
There is some distortion on the model where the barrel meets the tank though. maybe you could look into that.
Oh I dont think this is your final render yet, but in the dark parts its a bit hard to make out the details, maybe try to up the ambient intensity in the scene lighting settings, or the ambient value of the materials?

Ensoniq: Thanks for the reply! I love those types of vehicles, maybe we'll have to have a race sometime :P
Sorry i didn't reply to your model yet, Ive been a bit busy.. It's looking great! I hope you will change the camera angle a bit for the final turntable though, it looks a bit like a miniature model at the moment.. I like the blocked camouflage! It looks battle-ready! Good luck finishing..
Ps. I'm like you - not a big fan of making weapons etc. but once you start it looks cool pretty fast haha.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on August 30, 2011, 09:53:36 am
$imon, by distortion do you mean the areas where the barrel sink into the turret?

(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d69/aric_001/progress4.jpg)

If so, maybe this shot helps better portray what I'm attempting. This is styled after those wind-up tin toys that were made "a bit before your time." Thus, the slots in the turret and the tabs that insert from the barrel (and hatch on top). I made the tabs as if actually bent inside the turret as if holding the pieces together.

Otherwise, I'm not sure what you mean by distortion.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: $imon on August 30, 2011, 10:02:56 am
Oh that makes a lot more sense, Arik ;) You're right - I played with lego's when I was young, and even thats old at the moment..

there is an area in the shadow though that seems to be bulging out or something:

http://i54.tinypic.com/6o03d3.jpg

But I cant really make it out.. I'm sure youve got it under control haha. Just hope the fever won't catch up to you!
Good luck finishing :D
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on August 30, 2011, 06:50:58 pm
Heh... call it a dent in the metal?  ;)
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: 3Dgeek11 on August 30, 2011, 08:00:31 pm
$imon, that is AWESOME. :D

Arik, good start. I think the finished product will be great. ^^
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Indian8or on August 31, 2011, 04:24:51 am
@Simon:  Great work.  I knew something was going to rise from the roof hatch, but side guns were total surprise.  Your machine is not just war machine.  It is infact Mafia War Machine, waiting to take out the entire gang.

I have not yet posted any WIP, but I am happy I could keep my enthusiasm up so far.

Here is an overall progress of my product so far.

I have yet not started with final rendering.



Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: headwax on September 01, 2011, 10:59:49 pm
amazing stuff gents

$imon you are taking the cake and lifting the bar as usual
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on September 02, 2011, 01:49:03 am
dammit, I hate it when he lifts the bar... it makes it soooo hard to focus o the drinks! 
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: headwax on September 02, 2011, 01:52:15 am
heh that's funny arik :)
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on September 04, 2011, 06:01:20 am
My final submission, so long as it isn't too much of a departure from the turntable concept.  The camera does do a single full 360 degree rotation but the video does not loop, obviously.  If not acceptable I will take it down and put up an earlier non-animated rotation.  I figured that with the time extension I should have a go at animating the undercarriage, to make sure it worked as planned.  Rendered in Carrara for speed reasons (240 frames at 1280x720px in about 2 hours... Anim8or would have taken days), modelled in Anim8or, UV mapped in Lithunwrap, 2D frame-by-frame edited in Corel, video rendered with VirtualDub (Xvid).  The video is in high def (720), please select a lower resolution on the player if it runs badly.

Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on September 04, 2011, 11:49:22 am
hmmmm... could have had the craft land on a circular pad, which would then in turn rotate mechanically... Just time the rotation on the pad itself at 10 seconds (I do think 10 seconds should be more like 20 for the sake of easy viewing of the subject, but...)... but regardless of the rules, I like it!
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Raxx on September 04, 2011, 12:40:07 pm
Very nice, $imon and Ensoniq. Since your submissions weren't "looping", I guess we shouldn't worry too much about it so long as it's a turntable animation in all other aspects.

Good work so far Arik and Indian8or, looking forward to seeing the finished results ;)
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on September 04, 2011, 10:57:19 pm
Thanks Raxx, much appreciated, but happy to replace it with a more rigid looping animation if that's the consensus.

Arik: great idea but the submission is fixed to 10 seconds as previously discussed.  The problem with going to 20 seconds is that it would unfairly restrict those who choose to render in Anim8or... 10 extra seconds of video could equal a week of rendering!  My sincere hope is that Steve's apparent absence is due to his total rebuild of the render engine for V0.98.  Yes, I am a 'cup half full' kinda guy!

PS: Love the idea of the tin tank, looking forward to seeing more.  I am always amazed at the wide range of imaginative ideas these contests generate.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: TheBlackHole on September 05, 2011, 01:33:34 am
My vid ended up being 12 seconds long and I have no means of compressing it to 10.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on September 05, 2011, 09:31:26 am
I think 12 seconds should be acceptable.

Ensoniq5: As for "imaginative ideas", blame it on my fever ;)
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: RudySchneider on September 05, 2011, 11:03:20 am
Quote from: TheBlackHole on September 05, 2011, 01:33:34 am
My vid ended up being 12 seconds long and I have no means of compressing it to 10.

Why not load it into VirtualDub and simply up the frame rate?
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: TheBlackHole on September 05, 2011, 09:47:09 pm
That's a good idea, but the computer I had the video on quit working. All the USB ports broke and I'd been using a tablet instead of a mouse because the mouse was broken. Computers seem to hate me. All of my computers eventually commit suicide. :(
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: $imon on September 06, 2011, 03:36:58 am
Ew thats a shame... But I'm sure noone minds a 12 second video, it's about the idea that there won't be any long, complexly animated videos to compete. Mine is over 10 seconds too a bit I think..
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: headwax on September 06, 2011, 05:17:07 pm
well I mucked aroud last night with an old model
and forgot to save my scene :( heh
take it as a wip

eg turbine is mislocated, bad uv on LHS of pilot cockpit, crooked engines, hard edges on the wings
and I don't know how to use windows live movie maker :0
so the smoke and lights are a smoke screen
I'll try and do something more 'clean' later
and add a still


!!!!!!!!!!!  ensonique that is classic esp the oz logo :)




the music is good tho
anim8or mesh, uvmapper pro (thanks Raxx! ) Carrara render
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Gyperboloid on September 07, 2011, 11:26:53 am
Grrrrr, all over again  :P
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on September 08, 2011, 05:00:39 am
Headwax: Funny how we are always more critical of our own work that that of others.  Had you not mentioned the problems I would have been unlikely to have noticed them.  It's difficult to tell where the modelling ends and the bumpmapping starts... always a sign of good work!

Gyperboloid:  What happened, did you lose your work?  Nice modelling so far, looking good, hope to see some renders.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: headwax on September 08, 2011, 06:09:30 am
Hey ensoniq5 :) yjanks. Oh I wasn't being honest, just embaressed at my only clumsy footedness :) If I had saved the car file it would have ,made life eaiser. Thanks for sharing your heat haze  method by the way.

Gyperboloid - so this is the rampant war chicken ? Nice start.!
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: neirao on September 08, 2011, 01:43:39 pm
wow :o
Amazing work of all the guys!!
i aways say, Anim8or is a powerfull software!!
congratulations to all challenges!!
good luck to better work!!


Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Gyperboloid on September 09, 2011, 12:14:57 pm
Yeap, nice stuff all.

I had system crash ( haha my computer  :D ). Lost some data which was created/edited these days. Project too  :-\. Nevermind, I didn't like it anyway   :).

There are some things I want to know. There are some bugzz ( >:( ), that just kill me everytime. I don't know if it's because of mine system or it's Anim8or's "fault". So if you have same problems, then it's not my comp.

a) When I group something and then scale it, sometimes, all the meshes just go everywhere ( pic.1-2 )
b) When I group something ( but sometimes even without grouping, just a single mesh ) and rotate it, then if I hit "undo", it doesn't return into first position ( pic.3-4 )
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Gyperboloid on September 09, 2011, 12:36:54 pm
And just one "clean" pic. with mili-progress   :D


P.S.: Those renders were made with a renderer I found, called Appleseed . It's open source, free  8) Renders are noisy, BUT rendering time was for everyone about 2 minutes !!! Don't need to install...like Anim8or  ;D
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: $imon on September 09, 2011, 01:40:51 pm
Gyperboloid: Your Anim8or errors are common, so it's not you... if you want to work around the group-rescaling error, I guess you can join solids instead of group the objects, and detach them if you have to afterwards (which is a lot of work of course..)
I havent found any good workarounds, but then again I usually just 'deal with it' and move on. Maybe someone else has experimented with it and came up with an answer.
(maybe 'join solids' on all objects seperately might work? thus resetting the pivot etc... not sure)

I like your model so far! it will look awesome animated! It might need some weapons though.. thats up to you!
Good luck
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Gyperboloid on September 09, 2011, 05:42:18 pm
Heh, thanks, I think I will finish it . :) And of course weapons are coming, those are just unfinished " legs ".  ;)

About those errors... at least it's not my comp.  :-\ I have tried a lot, groups, meshes ( in the last pic it was just a single mesh...but still  :-[ ). I just think it's a bug ( sure it is ), as any others, but it's a very annoying one. Maybe we could find exactly what's going on, but it needs a lot of tests. I think because I do a lot of do/undo , delete some meshes all the time , rotate/re-rotate , group/ungroup , somewhere there Anim8or looses the ball  :D. And not that a lot of do/undo is by default a problem, but again because it's a kind of bug. And again, maybe we could find after which manipulation series ( grouping+/or rotating+/or ungrouping+/or joining solids +/or undoing all these e.t.c ) those errors show up, but it needs a lot of research. :-\
But as I said before , it is not present all the time, you know , only ...at the most inopportune moment  :D. We can live with that.
About join/unjoin solids, because you said a lot of work...I don't know, maybe you know that , but there is somewhere a topic ( was good one as an idea, but as a lot other here is dead now ) where kubazz said ( don't know how did he find that ) that there is a "trick", if you want to unjoin some solids go into point editor and hit "l" ( Caps Lock of ) and all the solids will be unjointed ( although you maybe want to unjoin only some and not all, but you just then join again those you need ). I were always wondering why there is no unjoin command since there is a join solids one and thats why I always were afraid of joining solids, but after I found that topic and kubazz's message , I use it all the time. And don't know how did he find that ( probably by luck, since "l" as you know is a short cut for edge loop cut command ) since, as kubazz self said, Steve didn't say about that anywhere (site, manual ).

Any way, for these things we need a new topic ( or maybe get back to life that old one ), to discuss about everything technical , do some practice stuff e.t.c ( always were wondering  / again/ why there wasn't anything "alive" such )

Uh, we are very lazy, you know ?!!  ;D
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: davdud101 on September 10, 2011, 09:05:54 am
Tell me why it just occured to me that I'm horrible at modelling?
My final, very, very junky entry:
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: dwsel on September 12, 2011, 11:19:45 am
Quote from: davdud101 on September 10, 2011, 09:05:54 am
Tell me why it just occured to me that I'm horrible at modelling?

Don't be so harsh about your skills! I believe it's not that you're BAD at modelling. I see other things that might count here.

1. I'm wondering how many hours (by average) it takes for you to build the scene (modelling, mapping, texturing, lighting, composition, not counting rendering time)? I remember that you posted your final entry for the previous challenge sth. like 1 or 2 days after the topic was given. I was kinda surprised by such speed - mine took me 6-7 days 4-5 hours/day - which was obviously overkill, I think I was inefficient in many places, and I believe I'd do it faster next time or I'd build more complex thing in the same timespan. But my point here is to have patience and tweak the thing until you like the result.
..I dropped this challenge :( because I decided that I'd rather post noting than to release half-product...

2. Another reason is that imagination might not play well with reality. I have very often the feeling that something looks much differently from what I have imagined, what I had in mind.
I've read once that when you want to remember dream you have to write it quickly down immediately after you wake up, because you'll forget your dream very soon. I think it's the same case - when you have an idea - you might need to write it down first - wherever, because during the work the idea starts to blur in the memory. I started sketchbook/notebook lately for that task. I post example (not very pretty) pages from it with concepts for previous and current comp.

3. Next thing is to gather reference. It's easy nowadays - I google for i.e. 'motel desert' , 'vintage 50's motel' or sth. like that.
and http://www.rockhounds.com/rockgem/articles/laplap.shtml were meant to be my references for 'war machine'. Now I can fix errors of my imagination by comparing it to real-existing things.

4. Following 1 tutorial teaches nothing. I hate especially some Blender tutorials that say i.e. 'Hit 'A' shortcut and then something happens' without even knowing which function I called (sometimes no name is given just the short way to get to it), how it works (what if I want to use it in the future work for different task?), where I can find it (when I forgot the shortcut). So at the end I have an object and I don't know how it was created at all ;). Only combination of tutorials, some targeting other software gives one generic knowledge.

5. Modelling after photo or real life objects give another opportunity to learn. You have to jump through all problems encountered, solving them by yourself with no shortcuts. Measure the object to have good proportions, take photo of it and tweak, tweak, tweak.... until you get the exact representation. The same is for textures and lighting.

6. Showing WIPs and asking others for help, and actually following these advices.

I hope it's helpful somehow. Cheers! :)
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on September 12, 2011, 05:53:35 pm
Dwsel's given some really good advice there, particularly regarding the sketchbook/notebook.  One problem we have as hobbyist modellers/animators is that we are one person working on all aspects of a project, from concept and design through to modelling, rigging and even sound recording.  Professional studios split these tasks across a team of people, each skilled in a particular area.  This means the conceptual artists can think big, imagining sweeping vistas and dynamic scenes, while the modellers can concentrate on getting every nut and bolt correct, every eyelash perfectly positioned.  By trying to be all members of the team rolled into one, it is often difficult to keep a handle on the big picture while still getting the tiny details correct.  We can tend to overlook problems or weaknesses in one area while concentrating on another.  The sketchbook (or notebook, or voice recorder, whatever) is a great way to record those big ideas and prevent them from getting lost in the detail.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Gyperboloid on September 16, 2011, 02:01:05 pm
 ::) An extension ... please ?  ::) Maybe a week ?  :-X
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on September 19, 2011, 12:09:27 am
Well folks, I got all my work in order and thought I'd be able to upload, but this hospital network doesn't let me do file transfers :(

I'm in for a few more days, so I guess I'll just enjoy all the other works. I like everyone's entries. A lot of fun stuff, regardless of what each of you may think or not of your work.

I had this one in the bag, too... :S Oh well, maybe I can make it up the next time, and stay OUT of the hospital for it?
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Raxx on September 19, 2011, 12:12:24 am
Well, how about an extension instead then? Anyone who doesn't approve of an extension, speak up!
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on September 19, 2011, 12:18:50 am
Heck... what's the extension limit on a challenge? Seems to me we've had a few already...? I'll take it... though not sure when I can get an upload done. Maybe I can get my son to figure things out and haul a memory stick to the home machine....
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Raxx on September 19, 2011, 12:29:11 am
It's a general amount of time that lets people catch up. In this case the deadline will probably be extended until October 1st
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on September 19, 2011, 12:40:22 am
Raxx, whatever nasty things I ever said about you in the last 30 minutes... I didn't ;) Thanks for dragging it on and on... though I hate to see Ensoniq5 and crew have to hold out for so long....
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on September 19, 2011, 04:35:26 am
I have no problem with it at all.  I think we all have enough unfinished projects languishing on our hard drives, I would much prefer to see finished works.

EDIT: Personally, the payoff from these contests is not the result of the voting, but the chance to be inspired and very often astonished by the entries of other entrants, and to share my output with those who appreciate the work that went into it.  My suggestion to all is to post whatever you have, keep regular WIPs coming, because that way you get the benefit of what the community can offer, even if your project never does get finished (and let's face it, no project is ever really finished.... just abandoned!).
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Gyperboloid on September 19, 2011, 09:21:37 am
Nice !  ::)  And Arik, you are in hospital ? What happened ? :-\  Or you just work there ? 
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on September 19, 2011, 09:43:02 am
Just having some indoor plumbing issues. Once all the pipes are replaced, I should be as good as old :P
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Gyperboloid on September 19, 2011, 12:46:57 pm
 :) Okidoki. All good then !  8)
So , deadline is October 1-st now ? Finally all this university running will stop ( damned strikes ... Greece , you know   :D ) and I'll for sure finish it.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: TheBlackHole on September 20, 2011, 01:27:18 am
Yeah, I don't think I'll be able to by a new USB card for my computer. I guess I'll just have to start over from scratch... :(
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Raxx on September 20, 2011, 11:57:40 pm
Yep, the official deadline is now October 1st

Sorry to hear that TheBlackHole, you've still got 11 days left to figure something out
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on September 21, 2011, 03:36:03 pm
Well... My tank project may be in limbo since I sent it home for "family assistance" in posting... and the USB stick has come up missing.

I don't want to rebuild it... so, in the event that it remains missing, I have begun a quick attempt to create another item...

ALTERNATIVE WAR MACHINE SUBMISSION WIP:

Attached is the bare beginnings of another "war machine" (as I interpret it). It's something that has been around for around 25 years... The great thing about this little goody is that it comes with its own pedestal as a part of its "natural" setting :D

I am able to post still images, so am attaching an early in progress render here. I just cannot upload youtube and AVI type works for some reason. Can anyone guess what it is at this point?
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: davdud101 on September 21, 2011, 10:15:13 pm
Turret. Turret all the way.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on September 21, 2011, 10:33:24 pm
awww, you can guess better than that, surely...?
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: dwsel on September 22, 2011, 08:01:31 am
underwater city? top entrance to submarine? (I don't know English name of that door/lock)
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on September 22, 2011, 10:07:02 am
I think "hatch" is the word, but no, it is not either of those guesses. It IS something that many have seen in certain movie review magazines, and very well-known in its own movie genre. Davdud is closer in his guess, sorta...

The movie I am designing from has had sequel work before, but it never revisited this particular part of the original movie.

In fact, after starting on this little model, I found out yesterday that there is actually a sequel/prequel in the works for to the movie in question, exploring this particular part of the original movie. The sequel/prequel release was due for this summer, but got delayed until next year... The man who directed the original movie never worked on the sequel projects, but now he has taken up again to work on the prequel. Many would say he was the key to the original movie's success, and the reason that the sequel efforts did not achieve near the success of the original.
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on September 23, 2011, 04:49:35 am
Ah, I think I know, Arik!  Would it have anything to do with face huggers, acid blood and, more specifically, a 'space jockey' with a rather large hole in his chest?
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on September 23, 2011, 09:45:06 am
I have no idea WHAT yer talking about, buddy!

(http://images.wikia.com/avp/images/4/42/Space-jockey-alien-3_1199468861_640w.jpg)

After I started working on this, I found out that there is a prequel in the works! And the original Alien director, Ridley Scott, is working it!
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on September 28, 2011, 07:23:52 pm
Well, I have had problems with the Space Jockey model... but I found some earlier autosaves of the little tank, so I'm crunching to try and re-create that before deadline...
Title: Re: Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Arik_the_Red on October 01, 2011, 09:17:00 am
Once again I fell short of getting things done - in this case, re-done... Please don't hold up on account of me. I had problems in rebuilding the tank set... some texture issues and quirks in animating...

And of course I didn't have much free time since I've been working extra to make up for time off while having my fun at the butcher-shop and boarding-house ...
Title: Re: [ VOTING OPEN ]Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Raxx on October 01, 2011, 08:35:40 pm
Alright, I went ahead and put up the poll, voting is now open!

If you guys ever finish your submissions later, feel free to post them here anyway.
Title: Re: [ VOTING OPEN ]Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Gyperboloid on October 03, 2011, 03:13:28 pm
Heh, so sorry ! I had some exams problems, just actually from the day I started on this ! Feww, I'm the only one who ask for an extention every  time and never get it finished !   :-\  Never again !!! I promise  8)  From now and on I'll try to stay at easy level and just will going from challenge to challenge by slightly pushing the limit . ;)   And nice entries every one...as always  ;D
Title: Re: [ VOTING OPEN ]Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: headwax on October 04, 2011, 08:56:04 pm
nice work everybody

thanks Raxx ;)
Title: Re: [ VOTING OPEN ]Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: Raxx on October 07, 2011, 11:30:13 am
Congratulations to ENSONIQ5, placing first! Great job everyone else as well!
Title: Re: [ VOTING OPEN ]Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: $imon on October 07, 2011, 03:00:13 pm
Congrats Ensoniq with the scariest war machine! ;) good job!
Title: Re: [ VOTING OPEN ]Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: headwax on October 07, 2011, 04:40:33 pm
Yes it was fantastic work - I have to admit that $imon's rips as well.
Congrats to Ensoniq5 and everyone who managed to make something.

The number of entries might be dwindling - but the quality is getting better and better.
Thanls again Raax for all your work!
Title: Re: [ VOTING OPEN ]Challenge #27: War Machine
Post by: ENSONIQ5 on October 07, 2011, 11:36:09 pm
Thanks all.  I believe yours was far scarier $imon... a true 'wolf in sheep's clothing'!