CoG Render Farm

[Spectre-7]

There simply must be some artists around here that are into 3D graphics, so I'm starting this thread as a place to share your pixels. Finished renders, works in progress, wireframes... anything goes. Show us what you've got!

Here are a few of mine to get the ball rolling:

http://home.pacbell.net/ven_rand/spacehobbyist.jpg

http://home.pacbell.net/ven_rand/jackhare1.jpg

http://home.pacbell.net/ven_rand/praise_of_knowledge_sub.jpg

[Khrymsyn]

crap, with my ISP change, forgot none of my pictures are hosted anywhere now. I'll throw up a couple of things in a few days =)

[PanicBomb!]

I'm strictly 2D (and strictly amateur (http://www.epicmonsterbeatdown.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=25)) but those are ridiculawesome. What program do you use? 3D is something I'm definitely interested in, but I'm such a n00b that I don't even know where to begin.

MORE!

[Spectre-7]

crap, with my ISP change, forgot none of my pictures are hosted anywhere now. I'll throw up a couple of things in a few days =)

Cool. Looking forward to it!

I'm strictly 2D (and strictly amateur (http://www.epicmonsterbeatdown.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=25)) but those are ridiculawesome. What program do you use? 3D is something I'm definitely interested in, but I'm such a n00b that I don't even know where to begin.

MORE!

Not that amateur. Not really at all. I'm especially digging on your sketch section... there's a lot of really good line-work in there. Really expressive stuff. Do you have any sequentials?

My sketching has fallen by the wayside, but I've done a fair bit of amateur colorist work in the past. Maybe someone should start up a comic art thread?

As for the 3D stuff, I'm a Blender (http://www.blender.org/) user. It's free and open-source, which is sort of a kink of mine. The program's not really for everyone (it's not exactly friendly), but I'm definitely a fan.

If you decide to give it a shot, the best resource is still the manual (as horrifying as that sounds). Modeling, texturing and rendering are really big topics, and it pays off to learn as much about your chosen software as you can.

[PanicBomb!]

Not that amateur. Not really at all. I'm especially digging on your sketch section... there's a lot of really good line-work in there. Really expressive stuff. Do you have any sequentials?

I used to post on a lot of art forums, and then one day someone from one of the big publishers came along and offered me a job. The stress of drawing stuff I'd never drawn before on a monthly deadline, mixed with paralyzing self doubt, lead to me nearly having a nervous breakdown (hence my user name). I ended up passing on the gig. I did have sequentials, back in the day, but they're either long gone or horribly out of date.

Anyway, I'm not trying to hijack your thread to talk about myself, but thank you very much for the feedback, thank you for the advice on 3D rendering, and once again, very impressive work!

[LordDon]

You're giving me a twinge to fire up my copy of XSI. I've had brief flirtations with 3D work. I once created a mini tank, like the ones in Dominion: Tank Police, that I successfully imported into UT2k4.

I'd like to work on something akin to Dreamland Chronicles (http://www.dreamlandchronicles.com) one day:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/Lord_Don/2006-07-17.jpg

It's kind of fallen by the wayside as life has gotten busy but I do dig me some 3D art. Great stuff Spectre! Your 2d stuff is great as well, Panic.

[Spectre-7]

Thanks for the kind words, LordDon!

You're giving me a twinge to fire up my copy of XSI. I've had brief flirtations with 3D work. I once created a mini tank, like the ones in Dominion: Tank Police, that I successfully imported into UT2k4.

Like Bonaparte? Man, I haven't watched any Dominion in ages. I'd love to see a rendering if you still have one around.

I'd like to work on something akin to Dreamland Chronicles (http://www.dreamlandchronicles.com) one day:

I hear ya... I think a lot of us have had that desire at one time or another. It certainly occurred to me a while back, but I haven't been committed enough to organic modeling to make it happen, and rigging frankly scares me like spiders. The furthest I got was working up a bust or two, but organics still feel like something I'm muddling through.

Here's a half-finished head at a couple different stages of completion:

http://home.pacbell.net/ven_rand/humanhead.jpg

http://home.pacbell.net/ven_rand/humanhead3.jpg

Unfortunately, I just kind of stalled out. At some point, it felt like my topology was working against me, and I couldn't add any more detail. Organic modeling = grrrrr

[LordDon]

Wow, I still have some hanging around in my photobucket account. Here's the tank in Maya:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/Lord_Don/minitankwire1.gif

and in-game:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/Lord_Don/tankshot04.jpg

and for shits and giggles a steampunk indian I was working on for a monthly game art competiton:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/Lord_Don/ld-comp17-ironhorse1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/Lord_Don/orthos.jpg

[Spectre-7]

Very cool! I think it'd be absolutely hilarious to have a bunch of those tiny tanks running around between all the oh-so-serious military vehicles. Was it ever animated?

The indian's coming along well, too. It's good low-poly work... stuff I have real trouble with. I hope you plan to finish him. :)

Most of my stuff has been done for weekend challenges at the Blenderartists forum, (http://blenderartists.org/forum/) so I can go as ass-wild with poly counts as I like... just so long as the render finishes in time.

Here's a vehicle I put together a while back. I originally wanted it to be a bit more like a mechanical grasshopper, but I settled for more of a traditional motorcycle-style body, with legs sort of haphazardly attached.

http://home.pacbell.net/ven_rand/stompmaster_final_1024.jpg

[BrassGecko]

Here's a vehicle I put together a while back. I originally wanted it to be a bit more like a mechanical grasshopper, but I settled for more of a traditional motorcycle-style body, with legs sort of haphazardly attached.


Despite your eco-friendly claim, it looks like something a Captain Planet villain might cruise around in. It just needs oil and/or toxic waste spewing out from random vents.

Edit: Okay, not quiiite so much, but look at 1:10, and that's what it made me think of! ;)
_w_TE3yuGqw

[Spectre-7]

Despite your eco-friendly claim, it looks like something a Captain Planet villain might cruise around in. It just needs oil and/or toxic waste spewing out from random vents.

Edit: Okay, not quiiite so much, but look at 1:10, and that's what it made me think of! ;)
_w_TE3yuGqw

That Landblaster appears to be the SUV to my Stompmaster's sporty sub-compact. :D

Man, I'd forgotten just how much I hated Kwame. Is that racist?

[Spectre-7]

...and now, a bit of classic gaming homage.

http://home.pacbell.net/ven_rand/pacman_up.jpg

[LordDon]

Nice one! I love the look of the ghosts and the lighting.

[pomeroy]

Why is the pink/red ghost retarded?

[Spectre-7]

Nice one! I love the look of the ghosts and the lighting.

Thanks! :D

Why is the pink/red ghost retarded?

I'm not sure. I suspect he ingested heavy metals as a young ghost, but I'm not willing to rule out the possibility of a chromosomal anomaly just yet.

[Spectre-7]

I did some goofing around this afternoon. I think I spent more time straightening out video codecs than anything else.

1W2Lb2JLsZY

Edit: Dang it. Tried to make an animated avatar, but the site won't allow it.

http://home.pacbell.net/ven_rand/cog2.gif

Drat!

[Khrymsyn]

Ok, as promised, once I got my hosting squared away I'd post some of my work up... soooo here we go!

Here's a toy dinosaur.
http://khrymsyn.infinited.net/CoG/screens/renders/trex-render.jpg

One of my favorites (mainly because I LOOOOOVE P-38s)
http://khrymsyn.infinited.net/CoG/screens/renders/render4.jpg

And if you're really interested (but honestly, why would you be?), here's a link to a test I was doing trying to get my Darth Vader model's cape flowing correctly.
http://khrymsyn.infinited.net/CoG/screens/renders/clothtest2.mov

[Thanasimos]

One of my favorites (mainly because I LOOOOOVE P-38s)
http://khrymsyn.infinited.net/CoG/screens/renders/render4.jpg


You're not the only person here that loves P-38s. (But of us, I dare say yours is the best.) I strung my own interpretation of one together (and I made it sort of retro-futuristic, but not very much), equally in 3D. Model's okay, but not remotely strict; mostly, it was a study in texturing -- specifically in hiding seams and/or working smoothly through them (So I abused squiggly/ribbon-ey lines to make sure that took a lot of work). Then I did the same thing with the Gee Bee R-1, except I also put effort into the design of the texture, and a bit more into the model. I'll post those pics:

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/5249/luckythunderbdl8.jpg
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/6858/luckythunderfrontpd8.jpg
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/8849/luckythunderflor0.jpg

Now for the Gee Bee R-1, where I actually put a lot of effort into the model, and a lot of effort into the texture (except for naming, which I did with the books in my backpack: "The Stranger," and a Latin dictionary), etc. I'm really proud of how this piece turned out.

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/8616/jeebsfrontleftev1.jpg
http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/1010/jeebsfrontrightnc0.jpg
http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/1001/jeebsfullleftnd2.jpg
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/8551/afrontrmidse4.jpg
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/9492/aleftmidfw4.jpg
And for good measure, a quick animation (from before I finished the tail up). Low res, low fps, etc. TIME!

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/5770/jeebsgifnr4.gif

[Spectre-7]

Very cool stuff, gents.

Khrymsyn: I really dig that P-38. I seem to recall having a technique/tutorial for motion-blurred spinning propellers around. I might be able to find it if you're interested.

Gilius Thunderhead: Very fanciful little flyer. That looks like it was probably a pain to UV map, so congrats. It looks really sweet! :D

Keep 'em rollin', folks. :)

[Khrymsyn]

Very cool Gilius. I love the intakes on the futuristic P38 especially... the turbofans behind the screen look great. The GB is cool too. I like the "organic" curvy feel I get from yours.

Thanks for the offer Spectre. I actually made those models before I ever started trying animation, but I never went back to add in the props. I'm a bit out of practice at this point =( Always wanted to go back to the 38 and fix the canopy, figure out why the tail came out black, and actually add moving surfaces such as he Props, elevators, and aerialons (sp?).

What are you guys creating in? Just curious what everyone uses. Mine were in Lightwave.

[Spectre-7]

What are you guys creating in? Just curious what everyone uses. Mine were in Lightwave.

I'm a confirmed Blender Offender, and I believe LordDon mentioned that he uses Maya. How about you, Gilius?

Has anybody used Silo or Zbrush? I'm kind of interested in both, but haven't gotten around to trying them yet. I messed around with Modo a bit earlier this year, but the interface wasn't clicking for me.


Here's something from yesterday. I was procrastinating and ended up experimenting with some material settings, then dumped it into Photoshop and messed around a bit more. I thought the final result looked kind of nifty, as far as experiments go.

http://home.pacbell.net/ven_rand/bulb_x-ray.jpg

[LordDon]

What are you guys creating in? Just curious what everyone uses. Mine were in Lightwave.

I used the stripped trial version of Maya for the stuff I posted but I went out and bought a copy of XSI: Foundation for whatever ungodly price 3D packages go for. I hope to start doing a regular blog comic soon here and get some use out of it.

[Rilav]

well, it's been a while since I have posted any of my 3D online due to a mixture of real life and a Big project.

My dArt account (http://warcade.deviantart.com/)

and

Project Kali (http://projectkalisynth.blogspot.com/) where you can see my progress on the project.

I use 3dsmax, thinking about switching to blender.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v607/warcade/Models/Scenes/cd1.jpg
Old work place

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v607/warcade/Models/Scenes/ds9.jpg
a modified version of the DS9 space station

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v607/warcade/Models/Vehicles/AtAt.jpg
a personal favorite, this was the first model I made that I was truly happy with

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v607/warcade/Models/Vehicles/Tank.jpg
the standard tank :)

[bapenguin]

I made a bunch of shit in Bryce and Poser like 10 years ago...does that count? :D

[vuk]

I used to do a bunch of stuff in 3DSMAX and Vue d'esprit. I'll have to dig around my DVDs and see if I still have some renders to pop up.

Love that first rocket pic, Spec. Shame I can't use it as a widescreen wallpaper.

[Spectre-7]

I used the stripped trial version of Maya for the stuff I posted but I went out and bought a copy of XSI: Foundation for whatever ungodly price 3D packages go for. I hope to start doing a regular blog comic soon here and get some use out of it.

Like 500 bones for XSI: Foundation, I think. Yow! I hope you get some use out of it, too. :(

Edit: On second thought, at least Softimage doesn't cost $10K like it used to.

well, it's been a while since I have posted any of my 3D online due to a mixture of real life and a Big project.

Big projects will do that. Cool stuff you got there... I'm always a sucker for Star Trek or Star Wars, and you hit us with both. :)

As is becoming the standard question: What software are you working in?

I made a bunch of shit in Bryce and Poser like 10 years ago...does that count? :D

Absitively posilutely. Anything and everything.

Heh, and I know this is weird coming from a Blender user, but I remember opening Bryce around 10 years ago, and being scared stupid by the interface. I've never gone back, even though I've always been jealous of the stuff I see coming out of it, and no matter that they released a free version last year. :( #2

I used to do a bunch of stuff in 3DSMAX and Vue d'esprit. I'll have to dig around my DVDs and see if I still have some renders to pop up.

Love that first rocket pic, Spec. Shame I can't use it as a widescreen wallpaper.

Heh, I just started investigating Vue a day or two ago; I'd heard the name but never really looked into it until I saw that Gnomon has a few training DVDs for it. Landscape modeling, right? I'd love to see whatever you can dig up.

As for the rocket pic, I'm glad you like it! I've got a larger render around somewhere if you want it, but it's obviously never going to fit a wide-screen display very well. Unless it's turned sideways, of course. ;)

...this concludes our test of the multi-quoting system.

[vuk]

As for the rocket pic, I'm glad you like it! I've got a larger render around somewhere if you want it, but it's obviously never going to fit a wide-screen display very well. Unless it's turned sideways, of course. ;)

...this concludes our test of the multi-quoting system.

Please! If you don't mind and find the time to nab it, I'd love to have it. I'd be able to use it at work at the very least.

Cheers. :)

(Sorry, and yes, Vue is a landscape/scenery type thing. It was released as a competitor to Bryce at the time...I think...but I always found it much easier to use. When my exams are up, I'll definitely dig through my DVDs and see how it held up to the test of time)

[Spectre-7]

Found it, but it's unfortunately only a little bit larger. :(

http://home.pacbell.net/ven_rand/spacehobbyist_large.jpg

[CptTripps]

Panic, I dig your 2D stuff as it is very comic book'ish. I need some hot chick art (in comic book style) for my band, even though we are broke think of all the joy you would get from being in the credits of an album that will sell at least 10 copies.

[Zrikz]

I've played around with Zbrush.. will dig around and see if I can find my beginner stuff.

[PanicBomb!]

Panic, I dig your 2D stuff as it is very comic book'ish. I need some hot chick art (in comic book style) for my band, even though we are broke think of all the joy you would get from being in the credits of an album that will sell at least 10 copies.

Thanks dude! Honestly, I'd be happy to be on 10 copies of anything that didn't say "wanted for questioning" on it. And hey, if I don't charge, you can't get mad at me if you hate it, right?;) Hit me with the details and I'm sure I can bang something out.

There's a shit ton of awesome work in this thread. I can't say enough how impressed I am by you talented bastards. Some of the aircraft in particular have blown my mind, and that CoG logo is righteous.

[vuk]

Cheers Spectre. :D

[Spectre-7]

I know this is a little cheese, but what the hell... Here's a desktop I've been cobbling together piece by piece. The cog and tiny astronaut were each modeled and rendered in Blender, and the starscape background was an original painting (I guess I use that term loosely) done in Photoshop.

http://home.pacbell.net/ven_rand/starscape_astro.jpg

I've also been doing some experimenting with Renderman compliant renderers (Pixie and Aqsis), but I'm having some difficulty getting precisely the output I want. I'm just terribly in love with the technology, though, and I plan to keep hacking at it.

Question: If I started a Digital Arts social group, would anyone be interested in joining?

[Nura]

Some of my old HL1 modding stuff, i've lost most of what i've done over the years these were all i could find for now :/

http://hvisjegvarkonge.dk/nura/nades.jpg

http://hvisjegvarkonge.dk/nura/knife.jpg

Not my greatest work, but i made them from scratch, modelled, unwrapped, skinned and rigged so i were rather happy with them at the time :)

[Zrikz]

Question: If I started a Digital Arts social group, would anyone be interested in joining?

I would join, for sure. Have not made any digital art in a few months, but after December 7th I have a whole lot of free time on my hands.

[Rilav]

Question: If I started a Digital Arts social group, would anyone be interested in joining?

count me in

[Hotcod]

I'm thinking of flinging my self with abandon in to 3d animation as much as i can over the next year. I've been enjoying doing a lot of 3d stuff in after effects and i want to see if i've got any talent in that area as it's one of the more defined paths i can take towards a job... it's also something that's always really interested me. This for uni means i'm likely going to have to try modelling my own stuff which i'm not looking forward to... from what little messing about i've done and what animation i've done in flash i think if have an object or a character (with a skeleton) jumping in and actually animating shouldn't be to hard for me... it's just getting those models to represent my own art work which is going to be the pain in the ass. It's just annoying that the most work i see my self doing for this kind of stuff is not "relevant" to the stuff i want to do it for.

So long winded way of saying what do you guys recommend... lets just say money isn't an object in this case since like most students i'll get a discount. so to speak. I think it's likely for the kind of character style that i have that i'll be looking to do forms of cell shading and a few other things along those lines.

[Spectre-7]

Just a little something I've been working on the past few days. I've been hoping to run across someone flying off the handle in the forum so I could test in the wild, but no such luck.

http://sites.google.com/site/spectre7/Home/ChillPill.jpg

It's also my new spray in TF2. :D

[BrassGecko]

Just a little something I've been working on the past few days. I've been hoping to run across someone flying off the handle in the forum so I could test in the wild, but no such luck.

http://sites.google.com/site/spectre7/Home/ChillPill.jpg

It's also my new spray in TF2. :D

That's awesome. If you ever make a version 2.0 let me know, and I'll gladly flip out about something dumb just to give you an excuse to use it!

[Spectre-7]

That's awesome. If you ever make a version 2.0 let me know, and I'll gladly flip out about something dumb just to give you an excuse to use it!

Thanks! :)

Ya know, I suppose you still could flip out. Less than 5% of CoG's population stops into the Creative Arts forum, so it's not as if the seal is broken on this one yet.

Then again, I've heard rumors of your flipping out. Something about every living creature in a two mile radius being killed? Or was that a ninja? Damn it, I can never keep ninjas and geckos straight.

[Spectre-7]

Just dropping in some recently rendered random flotsam and jetsam. The first two are basically doodles... I was experimenting with lighting and rather liked the results, but there's nothing really special in the modeling department.

http://sites.google.com/site/spectre7/Home/lonely_ball1.jpg

http://sites.google.com/site/spectre7/Home/worshipstones.jpg

...and this is from a project I've been working on (very, very slowly). I'm pretty pleased with the model overall, but I'm dragging my feet on rigging the little bastard. That's partially because rigging scares the piss out of me.

http://sites.google.com/site/spectre7/Home/gecko_090414.jpg

So, what've you been working on recently? Show us whatcha got. :)

[Spectre-7]

I put a bit more effort into that tower from my last post, and turned it into something a little more complete.

http://sites.google.com/site/spectre7/Home/techromancer1.jpg

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the result.

[x Returner x]

Found it, but it's unfortunately only a little bit larger. :(

http://home.pacbell.net/ven_rand/spacehobbyist_large.jpg

I love the style

[BrassGecko]

Lots of neat things!

Looking at those makes me want to start playing with 3D stuff again, and actually figure out more of what I'm doing this time...

Also, I have to admit some bias, but I think that metal lizard is by far the best thing in this thread.

[Lint of Death]

Excellent stuff, Spectre.

[Spectre-7]

Thanks a bunch for the eyes and the kind words, fellas!

Gecko - By all means, go back to it, and lemme know if you need help. I'm clearly not a master or anything like that, but I've got a pretty solid grounding in how things work. :)

[Siraris]

http://i44.tinypic.com/eino8i.jpg

I have this off hand, as well as http://www.siraris.net/vault.avi which is unfortunately 190 megs for like 4 seconds of animation because I did not compress the video, but I modeled and animated the robot. (connection is fast if you want to dl). I have other stuff I can dig up.

[Spectre-7]

Hey, hey... very cool! I'm going to guess that he was modeled and textured in Max? Also, was this for a project or just personal amusement.

I haven't checked out the animation yet, but I will. Strange that I hesitate at downloading a 190 meg clip, when I grab certain other sorts of videos by the tens of gigs. Does your video have any tits in it by any chance? The answer to this question might induce me to download more quickly.

[Spectre-7]

This was for a weekend challenge over at BlenderArtists. (http://blenderartists.org/forum/index.php) The subject was Fabergé Egg, and I was running late and disinterested in spending much time on it, so I did the laziest thing possible.

http://sites.google.com/site/spectre7/Home/improd.png

[Khrymsyn]

hahaha. Nice =)

[Rilav]

me playing with car painting and lighting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62jdPslT-dI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp-kcXDdAC4

me bored

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=degSWRwSFKM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=degSWRwSFKM)

[LordDon]

Blender's come a long way, baby:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1f8YhvymTd0/TyTq62EXGZI/AAAAAAAABv8/SFBF08AZkBQ/s1600/blender04.png

[Khrymsyn]

I think free 3d modelling in general has come a long way. Not only is blender (IMHO) a very valid product to use, NOT just because it's free, but I'm reaaaaaaly enjoying doing some work in Google Sketch Up.

Sketch Up does have some limitations, however, so it's nice to know that you can get a base down in Sketch Up, and export it as collada and bring into Blender. ;-)