DWIV - 3D - Dolemite

dolemite

Well I said I'd do DOM war this year so here goes. This is just kind of a sketch to initiate things.


I'm doing a 3D scout. It is a small handheld drone that might be carried by a soldier and deployed into the field. It works like a tiny jet. It has one leg mounted on a swivel that wraps around the whole thing. I'm thinking of adding another leg onto it just to make it more bird-like. The wings will not flap, but will fold up and slide sort of like an f14 for different scenarios.

The gun is a 45 or 9 millimeter. It is just used for self defense.


And the camera... DOH. No camera.... whoops. Guess that'll come with iteration 2. Like I said, this is rough and I'm just trying to get some ideas rolling.

Steve Schulze

Sounds like an interesting idea.

It'd be a good idea to do some thumbnailing to get yourself a more striking silhouette. Perhaps give it a more organic, bird-like shape so that it can perch up high somehwere and watch without immediately being identified as a robotic spy.

machuca

agree

notebookguy

I think you should make the bird autonomous give it freewill

dolemite

Some quick lunchtime sketches.


thanks all for the suggestions and feedback!


@Jackablade: I think I will give that a go eventually. For now I want to see about pushing this idea of something that is totally a small jet and totally a bird at the same time.


My idea is that this is more about it being able to quickly launch out of an area if it gets into trouble, and flapping wings seem kind of useless for that. So while its a cyborg bird, I want to see if I can push that and make it work in a way that I haven't seen a cyborg bird work. Rather than just taking a bird and reinterpreting the shapes to be metal.

I know I run the risk of making something that is a silly dildo-jet with bird head slapped on top. So if I can't make this work I will definitely explore the other option of bird reinterpreted as high tech metal.

r4ptur3

i don't know about you, but if I saw a silly dildo jet hurtling towards me on the battlefield I'd sure as hell run the other way as fast as I could!

On that note -- maybe lean more towards the bird's form and less towards the jet? Check out some ostrich skeletons and maybe try to integrate the jet into that.

theStoff

If you want to keep the metal entirely perhaps you could use colors to make it look organic.

dolemite

Good call, I need to get some organic stuff in there. I'll probably try to do some kind of bio-muscle fibers connecting the wing to the base.


I have a ton of ideas now, I can't wait to get home and work it up.

dolemite

ok here's the next iteration. I spent more time looking at hawks and eagles. I wanted to capture the posture of the wings when the eagle is diving.


So there are bionic muscle fibers that start at the shoulder and run inside the length of the wing. They tighten and snap the wing into it's flying position, then woosh he jets away.


The feather shapes are countermeasures to distract heat seakers and some are bugs that can be dropped on people or in the field. They report position, audio, motion, etc.


I got rid of the magazine on the back of the head for now. The bullets are just... it just... It Just works fine without it OKAY!?!?!??!?!

SomberResplendence

The wings are definitely a step in the right direction. Good call on integrating the bird form and pronouncing it more.

Ninjas

It is cool, but it seems like it needs more to really show it is it's own character-- not sure what to add though

dolemite

thanks guys!

Here's another iteration. I guess it speaks for itself. I'm integrating the bionic muscle fibers more into the design. Basically at all the joints.

SomberResplendence

Trolling much?

Zwebbie

It's definitely getting cooler - but I think you might want to look into some more interesting birds. A hummingbird would fit perfectly with your hand-held drone idea, though that'll force you to rethink the wings. Vultures could also be cool with their low, bent necks... plenty of options, but I personally think eagles are a tad too clich

dolemite

@Zwebbie:


Damn fine reference pic! I think I'm going to start kicking around a vulcher version. I'm having a little too much fun with this hawk at the moment tho. And sorry but hummingbirds are pussies.

I went with the more blades too. You're a genius.

I'm trying an iteration without the gun face. I might put it under the beak?



Thanks everyone for the crits and feedback.

dolemite

Here's the next stuff.


Started kicking around the vulcher idea. I didn't want just one to choose from.

Steve Schulze

That last one based on the raptor design is coming together pretty well. The bundles of muscle fibres add some much needed organic detail.

Carl Brannstrom

Starting to come together now.

Can't wait to see this in 3d

Rick Stirling

For some reason it's got me thinking of the ships from Terrahawks - no bad thing

http://www.fab1.net/t-hawks/t-craft.htm

dolemite

OMFG! Terrahawks?!


I didn't know this existed, but thanks a lot. I think this is like Thunderbirds in the U.S. Thankfully there are episodes of this on Youtube. I think I've found my new obsession. Thanks for letting me know about that.

I think I might start modeling pretty soon. I wanted to make some other versions, but I'm taking a trip to Japan for about 10 days in the middle of the contest and I want to make sure I get my entry done on time.

thanks for the feedback!

dolemite

So I didn't want to post but I felt like I should. In this iteration I'm playing with a bomb rack design that I already hate. I have another plan that I will try out tonight after I get back from work. I think a rack that clatches onto each feather-probe from behind would look cooler.






I know its not much to crit on yet, but if you can think of anything please crit away.

dolemite

doing a paintover on the back of the bird to work out some details.

Ninjas

Nice work. I am liking the paint-over more-- especially the repetition of forms on the wings and tail

dolemite

more WIP. I think I'm going to work in the skeletal shapes into more of the body. Perhaps on the hinge of the blades.

dolemite

More progress. I redid the spine. I thought it was just a little too skeletal. Made it more streamlined and techy.

dolemite

and just FYI, this is the size I'm imagining it at. It's going to be autonomous onced launched. The feathers are sensors that litter the battlefield and create a digital representation of enemy movements, etc.

Ninjas

Some of the shapes in the wings I think are looking pretty cool. It is very busy looking, especially the chest area.

r4ptur3

haven't checked back in a while - -you made some real progress since the first iteration! I think you could get away with extending the wings just a little to make them feel a little less stubby. I love the feathers in the front -- definantly keep those. One last thing I would love to see is some sort of beak or triangle shape on his head to make it feel more arrow dynamic. Right now it seems sort of blunt. Nice work, keep going!

dolemite

So I was on vacation for a few weeks, and now I'm trying to get back into this. I redid the entire front, it was just too noisy and useless. After I did the back of the bird, I decided that I like some of those shapes better than what I had going on up front.

I thought the head on the last one was just too much like a metallic bird's head, and at the same time... not enough somehow?


I went to this more sleek head, and went back to the small caliber pistol under the beak.

So all very WIP but crits welcome.

dolemite

update.

dolemite

Quick update, I've been working on getting it exported into the Phoenix engine. This is the low poly with normals and temporary spec and color maps. Mostly I just used a tweaked version of the AO to make the color and SPEC. This is where all the fun starts.

Ninjas

and

r4ptur3

thanks for the feedback!

Ged

are you sure the normal map is rendering right? somehow it seems very flat and there isnt any kind of lighting or shadows?

dolemite

Ged:
Hmm... Possibly something is wrong, I'm still working everything out with it. I just wanted to post to show where I'm at.


This one is more bright on the specular, I think it looks better. I haven't really started the texturing yet, so i'm just doing quick things with AO as a substitute.


Normal maps are where I always embarass myself Thanks for the feedback!

dolemite

Another update in the phoenix engine. Trying to figure out what I want to do about the color....

dolemite

latest image. Still working on how to get a flat background in engine.





I'm building a power line top for his base. Hopefully it'll look shot up and burned like it is from a war zone

Ged

nice progress, I like the shine, have you sorted out the colour? 2 metal tones and one colour could be a safe bet with something robotic?

dolemite

Hey Ged, thanks for the feedback!

yeh I was kind of thinking this would be the basic color scheme. I think I'll add some little decals and Green stripes of paint for the Polycount theme. Going to put a big polycount logo on the tail so it;s like AIR POLYCOUNT.

dolemite

small update. Got the base in there. Still haven't really done anything with the colors on the telephone pole. Also I'm going to mess up the polycount logo on the wings so it looks more like scratched up paint.

dolemite

little update. worked on the wood some. Getting close to time to wrap it up.... deadline on monday.

Ged

starting to look cool, some more dramatic lighting might be worth a try. Also you could add a few small scratches through the paintwork to the metal on him to make it look more battledamaged.

Ninjas

Yeah, this design has really come a long way. Looking cool!

dolemite

Well, I submitted my final images. For better or worse I'm done


special shoutout goes to r4ptur3, Ged, and Ninjas.


Thanks for all the feedback. Was a great experience and I learned a lot! Good luck guys!!


and thanks to everyone else who gave feedback. This noob appreciates you.