Lifedrawing 27/10/2013

Done at the Metropolitan Waterworks Museum, Boston.

Steampunk Raypistol Turnaround

Steampunk Raypistol Turnaround from Daniel Rolph on Vimeo.

Steampunk Raypistol

More hard-surface modelling practice, based on an old concept pic (below)

Turnaround to follow

LFA Remote Weapon Station Turnaround

RWS Turnaround from Daniel Rolph on Vimeo.

LFA Remote Weapon Station

A bit of high-resolution modelling practice, using the low-frontal-area remote weapon station design from the Pegasus revisit

Pegasus Revisit Cont.

 

Painted-up versions of the 3 main turret variations

Atlas/Pegasus revisit

Revisiting an old idea (4 years ago), in this case for a wheeled ICV designed to be carried under a helicopter.

Although I liked the concept, I wasn't too sure about the actual designs - the helicopter rotors are far too small, the wings would rob too much power in hover, etc. so I decided to have a go at redesigning them.

First, the helicopter:

Exploring several different designs of cockpit, landing gear, wings etc whilst trying to keep a resemblance to the original design.  Also, I wasn't too happy with the transport clamps - the articulated arms were just too "fiddly" and didn't look robust enough for hanging a 10 tonne vehicle off.  I explored several options until I hit on the idea of using a version of the twist-lock mechanism that shipping containers are moved with.

And the ICV:

The original design had an '70s design aesthetic; for the revisit I decided to go for a more modern '90s aesthetic, which also fits in with the boom in wheeled MICVs post Cold-War.  The various turret designs (actually more like remote weapon stations) are derived from the need to keep the height as low as possible so that the vehicle fits under the helicopter without the 'copter having to have stilt-like landing gear.

A more developed version of one of the turret design, with a fold-down independent commanders sight to permit hunter-killer operations.  At the bottom are some sketches of a retractable ATGM launcher based on the "Mephisto" HOT missile launcher.

Sketches to see how the different turret designs fit onto the chassis (both physically and aesthetically); I also used them to explore different modular armour and side hatch layouts.  An important consideration is how the transport clamp would attack to the front brackets - for the cannon turrets, the barrel needs to be swung out of the way; on the first design it would have to be traversed to the side (since the rear of the turret has quite a significant overhang), whilst the second option would simply traverse to the rear (which looks neater, at least)

Since one of the chief intended uses of the helicopter/ICV combo is operating behind enemy lines, some sort of air defence seemed like a sensible idea, hence this design based on the ill-fated Mauler SAM system; it also shows the location of the exhaust louvers on the side.

Updated Showreel

Show Reel from Daniel Rolph on Vimeo.

Feedback much appreciated

Henry Moore Golem - Final

Stone Golem from Daniel Rolph on Vimeo.

Stone Golem "Unpacking" from Daniel Rolph on Vimeo.

(Trying out something a little different from the usual crossfade unpacking - what do people think?)

Laser Tag Concept

Not sure I can remember exactly what triggered this, but the idea of designing laser-tag gear using electroluminescent paint for lighting.
And then I added a HUD, because that's just cool

Flying Car Concept

 Trying out a vignette look

I may go back to this and work into it more later

"logical" flying car underdrawing

Ready to start adding colour

"logical" flying car WIP

A set of doodles based on the question "why should a flying car look like a road car?"

Ditched the ducted fans on the assumption that the car uses an antigravity lifting engine and some sort of reactionless drive; this way you get to keep the sleek lines.

For neatness, I think the antigrav and drive will be under the floor; therefore the next pic needs a thicker underfloor.  Also, windscreen wipers seem a bit off for the high tech aesthetic, so I think self-cleaning super-hydrophobic glass is indicated for the windscreen.

Henry Moore Golem Turnaround WIP

So, although the HMG is fully modelled and poseable, there was one big problem with it - render time.  Since it was all done with displacement maps, it took far too long to render a frame for it to be practical to do a turnaround.  So, I switched to a combination of Displacement and Normal mapping:

It's not quite as detailed as before, but you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference, and the reduction in render time more than makes up for it.

Before - took just over 30 minutes to do the colour pass (all displacement)

After - took 41 seconds to do the colour pass on this image (2 levels less subdivision + normal mapping)

Henry Moore Golem

All rigged and poseable.  Also, features one of the coolest render-passes I've seen so far -

Henry Moore Golem WIP 6

Fully textured, although I'm not entirely happy with the moss; I may go back and add more

Henry Moore Golem WIP 5

The torso is now fully textured, showing the glowing carvings.

Henry Moore Golem WIP 4

Sculpting complete - next step, texturing

Henry Moore Golem WIP 3

Henry Moore Golem WIP 2

The more eagle-eyed among you may notice that the carvings on the head are subtly different - this is because I had to tweak the UVs slightly in order to reduce distortion; as a result I had to restart the sculpting.  Fortunately, I only lost the work I'd already done on the head, and the lessons learned mean I should get a better result overall.

Henry Moore Golem WIP

Spent most of today trying to get to grips with the idiosyncracies of floating-point displacement maps (once you get used to them, it's certainly easier than the old 8-bit format); I did at least manage to get the head done for use as a test.

The eventual plan is for the engravings to glow with the magic that animates the golem.

Henry Moore Mecha Modelled

I liked the shapes of the Henry Moore Mecha from the speedpaint challenge, so I decided to have a go at modelling it. 

Total poly count - 1437 polygons

Looking at it now, I think it'd make a great stone-golem type creature, with moss and carved details - in addition it will be a great chance to hone my Mudbox skills.