Sorry for being so terrible at following up in this thread. I have quite a few updates I wanted to share regarding some recent re-visiting I did with the helicopter. As always, thanks to everyone for the comments and feedback up to this point.
1) Although it's not as in depth as I would have liked, I have finally written up a "making of" for the helicopter. Unfortunately, I didn't save out enough wip screens and files during development so I had to backtrack and try and dig things up after the fact. Hopefully I'll be better prepared for the next major vehicle I build in my free time.
2) Updated the beauty render on my site(mental ray + photoshop) - hiRes version HERE . Tried to add to 1st post but can't seem to edit my original reply.
3) I decided to create a <25k triangle version of the heli using Maya LT 2014 and re-baked everything with hard edges for the UV borders (original bake was 1 smoothing group unfortunately). Even though I generally love customizing Maya I have to admit that it was nice to have a trimmed down,unbloated version with LT that seemed to run quite fast. It was also nice to finally see shadows in the viewport 2.0 (don't remember that in 2012/2013).
4) Last but not least, I played around with shaderFX in Maya LT 2014 a bit and WOW I have to admit I'm very impressed! I don't have any screens to show but I'm itching to dive back into it and experiment more and more since the potential is quite insane. I remember seeing Rijnen's posts about it (see www.shaderfx.com) and it looked powerful but everyone with LT should try it for themselves just to see firsthand. It's going to be awesome to see how people utilize this in the next year or so.
The tutorial and workflow and ideas shown are fantastic really helpfull since iam right heavily into creating stuff in the style shown for Space Citizen. Thanks a lot for that
Congratulation on being featured on the AREA website. I suggest that everyone checks this out because is has a really detailed break down on how it was modeled. And lots about the techniques used in Mudbox.
Looks amazing Brian. I am finding myself in the same boat you were a few years ago when you started this project. I am staring at the inevitable that my employer is struggling with me being the last artist. I am planning out the revamping of my portfolio with many years of old work but nothing really new. I wanted to take the time to thank you for this inspirational posting even though it was a few years ago when it started. I too just started using Maya LT for my quick retopo workflow and am loving how much smoother it works. I also love the turtle baking tools it provides compared to the old Maya transfer maps. So happy the Nex modeling tools are now included since Maya 2014 as well.
Thanks again and I look forward to seeing your newest project on here.
I might say though, it doesn't really fit into the futuristic category does it? not only is is old and worn out, but futuristic stuff usually is a lot of hard edges and flats to remain undetectable? I could be wrong.
Beautifully presented! It was great the way you showcased your texture maps and renders. The AO renders are amazing! Top row stuff! Keep posting your work!
Damn gorgeous work, and your workflow breakdown is off the hook, thanks for sharing man!, for me its always a welcomed bonus when the Artist chooses too document his "making of" process - very cool
WOW!!
I have to show this to my coworkers. They always mock me for spending alot time and thought on squeezing the UV shells together perfectly. But you took it to a whole nother level.
Replies
1) Although it's not as in depth as I would have liked, I have finally written up a "making of" for the helicopter. Unfortunately, I didn't save out enough wip screens and files during development so I had to backtrack and try and dig things up after the fact. Hopefully I'll be better prepared for the next major vehicle I build in my free time.
** CLICK HERE - Helicopter tutorial **
2) Updated the beauty render on my site(mental ray + photoshop) - hiRes version HERE . Tried to add to 1st post but can't seem to edit my original reply.
3) I decided to create a <25k triangle version of the heli using Maya LT 2014 and re-baked everything with hard edges for the UV borders (original bake was 1 smoothing group unfortunately). Even though I generally love customizing Maya I have to admit that it was nice to have a trimmed down,unbloated version with LT that seemed to run quite fast. It was also nice to finally see shadows in the viewport 2.0 (don't remember that in 2012/2013).
4) Last but not least, I played around with shaderFX in Maya LT 2014 a bit and WOW I have to admit I'm very impressed! I don't have any screens to show but I'm itching to dive back into it and experiment more and more since the potential is quite insane. I remember seeing Rijnen's posts about it (see www.shaderfx.com) and it looked powerful but everyone with LT should try it for themselves just to see firsthand. It's going to be awesome to see how people utilize this in the next year or so.
Congratulation on being featured on the AREA website. I suggest that everyone checks this out because is has a really detailed break down on how it was modeled. And lots about the techniques used in Mudbox.
I would wish there would be a Tutorial how to model this complex shape in Maya!
Thanks again and I look forward to seeing your newest project on here.
I might say though, it doesn't really fit into the futuristic category does it? not only is is old and worn out, but futuristic stuff usually is a lot of hard edges and flats to remain undetectable? I could be wrong.
As for the quality of the work though, top notch!
I have to show this to my coworkers. They always mock me for spending alot time and thought on squeezing the UV shells together perfectly. But you took it to a whole nother level.