Modeling Challenge Thread

[Experiment 442]

A carrier as the next challange might be a good idea.... got two carrier WIPs on my HD atm... need a good excuse to actualy finish them

did you happen to get the idea for this challenge here?

[Merlin1701]

How is everyone else doing with their fighter carrier???

[Commander of the USS Capricorn]

How is everyone else doing with their fighter carrier???

I'm mostly experimenting with bump mapping, with a touch here and there to the model to fit it.

[Merlin1701]

My fighter carrier, the Earth Vessel - Bellerophon.



need to do the history and specs now...

[Experiment 442]

looking good.

EDIT: update on my carrier:

made an underside to it, i never like having it flat. (apart for a few exceptions)

Spoiler:

[Johannus]

I know this isnt directly related to the challenge but it is about 3D modelling so I figured you guys might be able to help.

I was wondering once you have a finished ship model, and it has been rendered and everything else, how much more effort would it take to make a simple movie using that model, for example of it flying. I have always thought the majority of the work lay in creating the finished model, but seeing as how lots of people make pictures like these but not many people then take the next step and make it into a video clip, does that mean it is much more difficult than I had imagined?

Thanks for any help you can give me here and great models everyone.

[Experiment 442]

3D studios max can make animations, but i heard the tutorial is about 110 hours long.

[Finger13]

I know this isnt directly related to the challenge but it is about 3D modelling so I figured you guys might be able to help.

I was wondering once you have a finished ship model, and it has been rendered and everything else, how much more effort would it take to make a simple movie using that model, for example of it flying. I have always thought the majority of the work lay in creating the finished model, but seeing as how lots of people make pictures like these but not many people then take the next step and make it into a video clip, does that mean it is much more difficult than I had imagined?

Thanks for any help you can give me here and great models everyone.

Making a scene is more a question of time than difficulty IMO. It depends on how elaborate the scene is. If it's some space battle then I think that'd be harder than modeling the objects themselves. Render times are huge for high or even standard quality animations, that's why a lot of people don't do them. Even with a quad core and 4GB of RAM, a simple fly by with 8x AA can take half an hour on my computer if not more.

It's also tricky getting camera movements and lighting all set up.

[dboy-2007]

I tried doing a simple fly by and tbh it is pretty simple but It takes time and effort.

[Finger13]

I tried doing a simple fly by and tbh it is pretty simple but It takes time and effort.

Yeah it's simple but takes ages to render if it's got even decent quality. If you only have a few lights and no effects or elaborate maneuvers then it's pretty much as simple as putting the object where you want it to start and where you want it to end.

[Johannus]

OK thanks for the info there guys. I have recently been learning to use After Effects and found out you can make 3D shapes which you can then 'animate' but from what I can tell the creating of complex 3D shapes in after effects is going to be a big task all on its own so wondered if the way you guys do things might be easier but it is sounding like it probbaly wouldn't.

Oh well, this is a good reason to stick to making physical models instead of computer ones I guess.

Thanks again.

[Finger13]

OK thanks for the info there guys. I have recently been learning to use After Effects and found out you can make 3D shapes which you can then 'animate' but from what I can tell the creating of complex 3D shapes in after effects is going to be a big task all on its own so wondered if the way you guys do things might be easier but it is sounding like it probbaly wouldn't.

Oh well, this is a good reason to stick to making physical models instead of computer ones I guess.

Thanks again.

So you know, from my understanding, most visual effects people model their objects in 3D modelling programs like 3DS MAX or Lightwave, and then do tweaking, effects, alterations and so forth in After Effects. At least that's how I understood it.

Physical modeling is way harder than 3D modeling.

[Experiment 442]

the long render time is why companies like pixar st. and dreamwork st. have systems that only have 3D modeling and animation software, so as soon as you turn it on it goes into the 3D software and all you need to do is load it up, because with all the windows and mac things more than 10GB RAM is too much for them to work. Sometimes its a modeling programme which has been made by the st. itself. i heard that the final render time of shrek three was something like 4 weeks though, so i wouldn't try and go over ten mins for an animation in 3D, acctually, a minute would be better.

all from watching TV. isn't it wonderful how television can tell us so much, but were still killing ourselves? lol. by the way, some of this might be inaccurate.

[Finger13]

the long render time is why companies like pixar st. and dreamwork st. have systems that only have 3D modeling and animation software, so as soon as you turn it on it goes into the 3D software and all you need to do is load it up, because with all the windows and mac things more than 10GB RAM is too much for them to work. Sometimes its a modeling programme which has been made by the st. itself. i heard that the final render time of shrek three was something like 4 weeks though, so i wouldn't try and go over ten mins for an animation in 3D, acctually, a minute would be better.

all from watching TV. isn't it wonderful how television can tell us so much, but were still killing ourselves? lol. by the way, some of this might be inaccurate.

A computer/server still needs an OS to function. Even routers have operating systems, they are just stripped down in most cases, only being a CLI (Command Line Interface). Some of them have GUIs though I guess.

3D animation companies like Pixar and Zoic and so forth have huge render farms which are essentially dozens of computers networked together that split the task of rendering up amongst them. It's essentially like taking 20, 30 or however many computers and combining them to do a single task, which allows them to pump out super high quality animations in short periods of time (well, short is relative to how huge the file is. Of course a 2 hour movie composed entirely of 3D animations in 1080p or higher quality would take weeks).

I'm not sure what they'd use as an OS, perhaps an open source platform custom tailored for 3D applications. Unix-based OS' are by far the most stable OS out there, so it would be a logical choice if it were configured to handle the proper applications.

But just so you know 64-bit Windows & Linux can take far more than 10GB of RAM. Whether or not they use it efficiently is up to each specific program, but they can take a ridiculous amount of RAM, I just can't remember the number.

But Windows wouldn't really be ideal in this setting. And OSx? Don't even get me started on OSx! Oh how I loathe Apple.

[Johannus]

So you know, from my understanding, most visual effects people model their objects in 3D modelling programs like 3DS MAX or Lightwave, and then do tweaking, effects, alterations and so forth in After Effects. At least that's how I understood it.

Physical modeling is way harder than 3D modeling.

Yeah I mentioned After Effects because it is the only programme I have used so far which does anything 3D.

As for physical modelling, I have been making and painting miniatures for years so I am not too bad at it, though dont often try my hand at ships and the like. What I meant was that from my point of view I would be able to make a model of a ship, paint it up and then film it and add backgrounds and effects much quicker and easier than I would be able to do the same thing with 3D programmes.

Though having seen some of the great work on this site I am guessing most of you guys could top it. Maybe I'll have a go and post it up one of the days.