Mech - Uni/Folio Project - Montu - Falcon Class Scout

samhakem

G'day all,

Just starting to work on this projet for uni. Hopefully going to be a folio piece if the quality pans out! Will update with progress regularly

Im still working out forms and masses at this point and mucking about with style and details.

Please feel free to crit and comment and thanks in advance guys.

- Work in Progress -

Animation of the cockpit opening
http://youtu.be/91JlqOfwRMw

Meloncov

The blockout is looking pretty good.

nickcomeau

I really like the laid back style of the mech (looks like a chill dude). Only thing I would say is that you may want to take into consideration that that would become very back-heavy and it looks as though if it took a step forward it would just fall backwards. Just a thought!

samhakem

@Melancov Many thanks man.

@nickcomeau. Many thanks buddy. Always need feedback when it comes to form, feel like I can never get enough of that

Sanislov

Looks realy cool:) I can't wait to see the finished mech:)

samhakem

@Sanislov Thanks dude! Much appreciated. I'm gonna do my best and shoot for the moon on this one bro. Hopefully with lots of help...

Some ideation and riffing for the cockpit, kinda rough, but I really need to get an idea of the things that will make up this cockpit. I've taken inspiration mostly from a lockheed ejector seat, I forget which plane. :poly124:

Add3r

This is dope. Really like the loose designs and the laid back feel of the mech, as well as the presentation of your work as well. All very clean and original feeling IMO. Maybe you could give some sort of rear foot support that doubles as a mini booster/rocket that could help with both running and jumping? could be a cool possible mechanic of whenever the foot lifts up it has a small propulsion jet come off the heel?

IDK just throwing some ideas out there. Looks like a fast/nimble/agile mech, and some sort of boost or spring mechanism on the foot could help with the visual and physical balancing of the design? I really like the flow of the upper body though, I think its mainly just the lower leg that feels like it wouldnt support that weight distribution.

samhakem

@Add3r Many thanks dude for the ace feedback buddy!

I loved your idea so...

Do you mean something like this?



Trying to address the centre of gravity and balance concerns. I pulled back the weight with a quick paintover so hopefully that fixes it and still looks visually appealing.

@nickcomeau Dude you were spot on.

samhakem

@DKK Many thanks dude! Im really trying to make sure I'm not surprised AFTER I start to model this thing. I want the design to be as strong as possible and Im trying to make sure I don't have any problems later. :poly121:



Some comping fun

BasicallyNormal

This is a really cool design. It's legs seem a little thin to support all that upper body weight, at least thinner than it's arms from this angle.

samhakem

@BasicallyNormal Yeah the legs are way too small in the block-out now I look at them aren't they? That block-out was done before the concept was drawn up, as just a quick riff of what I might build. Will need to up the carrying capacity of those legs, thanks man for the feedback!

samhakem

I've got a bit of stretch goal for myself. If I have some time at the end I'm going to build out this scene below and render it as is in AE. :poly121:

Lets see how we go...

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXt-z3XSWgQ[/ame]

samhakem

Started on the Zbrush block out to get it into Maya for Sub D high poly modelling and retopo.

Still got lots to go for form and making sure the shapes read well but I am liking the rhythms so far.



[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhJa-3DV4p0[/ame]

samhakem

Quick WIP update guys.

Got the final design and the final color development that I am going with. The decal stickers are just a trial, not final at all. I will be building my own ironic hipster robot at war stickers when the time comes.

The render is still WIP but I got nothing left in me engine for today :poly121:

Grubber

This is awesome! Hope to see more soon

samhakem

Thanks Grubber! More coming shortly mate. :poly121:

Got to get back into concept mesh now and update the forms.

samhakem

Updating the rough low poly with the new concept design. Im not done yet with the forms, they were thrown in pretty quick so I can get a sense of proportion and see if the design works. Got a long way to go yet to make it match the concept.











Had to make some allowances with the new design regarding the smaller cockpit space, its probably a blessing in disguise honestly. I'll tighten it up a bit with cabling and machinery, should look better and be less work to fill. :poly121:

samhakem

Tightening up. Making some progress on the rough low poly shapes now.

So hard not to forge ahead but I'm trying to stay disciplined and get the forms and rhythms right.

The military netting will be worked on too of course, it wont look like a cape in the end, but more like a piece of cargo that is covered for camo.

First up construction shot.

Comments and crits very much wanted too guys if I haven't said that yet.

samhakem

Starting to get to work on characterising this guy a bit.

Had to build a frame to attach his pieces too, rebuild the shoulder cause it was so mundane and will need to rebuild the arm too...

samhakem

More progress. Started to work out the shapes of the arm. Now have a design language for all the details for the rest of him. Really happy he is losing that anime style I didn't know I had built into the concept and moving more towards western definition of Mech.

Once all the final shapes are in, I am going to do a clean up pass and make sure I have all the details I use across the whole model to bring it all together. Right now there are too many styles going on but that's only because I haven't got to all of it yet...

I think tomorrow I will work on the leg and bring that up a bit. Then I will work out the mechanics for the pelvis.

EDIT: Needed to go back to the arm for a bit to close up the gaps and spaces and make it more solid looking.

samhakem

Ok update on the rough low poly. I still need to head into maya from here.

I iterated on the design a lot, the original design just had way too much Anime style about it, and I simply don't want to work on Anime

- The "face" has stumped me at present, I don't have any ideas to make it work.

- I need to figure out how to connect logically the trunk to the pelvis

- The pelvis is pretty weak design wise at the moment so I might need to revisit that

- I also still have to do the cargo net

- I grabbed just any falcon off the net for a stamp, I will redraw my own at some point (stamp is on the lower leg outer plate)

- I'm not sure about the packs on the right side

Tomorrow cockpit!

PitelinM

This looks badass Sam. Really looking forward for final piece. But I've got to say, I liked previous design more, but anyway, it still looks awesome.

pixelpatron

Shapes read a lot better on your new design, your on the right track. I personally like the scrapmetal plate with bolts armor. The slick sci-fi stuff is so played out, this is giving me a Hawken vibe.

samhakem

@PitelinM Thank man! Shame you don't like the new direction dude. I will try and win you back at texture stage. :poly124:

@pixelpatron Thanks dude! I looked at a LOT of Hawken man, especially for the cockpit and the cabling and the detail. And yeah I am over the slick sci fi stuff especially the anime stuff. :poly142:

Ok IM spent for tonight.

Cockpit below. I don't know what to do with the walls of the cockpit, Im stuck there, so some feedback would be great. They are just smooth at the moment, but I was thinking some panelling maybe. I'm not done with the interior of the upper canopy.

I've worked out most of the spacing and how everything fits together almost...and the cockpit canopy opens on an axel now too with no clipping.

Tomorrow more cockpit.

Kaine123

I think the connections from the body to the arms/legs could maybe be beefed up a bit. At the moment they look almost like they're floating in space from certain angles. You could probably add some pistons.

samhakem

@Kaine123 Yeah dude you're spot on there. I've been ignoring the connection between the shoulder lever and the frame of the body. Its even weaker from the back. Haven't had any ideas yet but I will beef it up now I think with a piston or whatever. Many thanks for the crit mate, just what I need. :thumbup:

KurtR

Really love how this design is progressing. Nice smooth feel to the overall design. I got a consideration, but I'm actually not sure about it. But my first impression of the hands were that they were a little "weak". But after I studied it more I got unsure. Just throwing it out there anyway. Good work.

samhakem

@KurtR Hey Kurt, thanks for the feedback mate. The hands have been mostly neglected dude to be honest, so your feeling is right on that mate. I am taking a 2nd swing at the arms tomorrow to bring them, design wise in line with the legs so I think I need to get on the hands then too.

Gotta start a report on texturing today so I won't be back on this model until tomorrow now.

Last night was too tired to do any work on him so I was having some fun with compositing practice and testing out renders instead.

Cheeky_Pickle

Looks great! My eyes tend to be drawn to the 3 small holes in the legs though

samhakem

Thanks Holly! Ah bugger, I see it now...I don't want that. Im gonna need to do a bit of a detail normalisation run across his form and make sure the rhythms are working to lead you up to the cockpit...thanks very much for the feedback mate!

:poly121:

samhakem

@KurtR There we go...gave the hands some love now. Sprted out some decent shapes and got some edges to work with in Maya for the high poly. I liked the idea of brass knuckles.

Hopefully their a bit stronger now design wise.

Ok next up today final tightening to make sure I know where to place my polys in maya and a detail pass across his whole form. Then we're in Maya finally.

Fomori

Loving looking through your progress. It's great to see you putting the time into pre-production and concepting.

I can see that his arms are attached by some kind of ball joint to give him nice free movement of the arms. But it looks like the legs are on a hinge joint and can only rotate forward/back? I would consider a ball joint for them or something that can rotate freely.

nickcomeau

The progress I see is really awesome! One thing I would say to keep in mind is funcionality. It seems like some pieces you have would be in the way of other parts moving and don't necessarily serve any purpose. You may just want to go through your model and see what is needed and what isn't. Funcionality is very imporant for this kind of mech! Super clean though I'm really enjoying the direction you're going in

samhakem

@Fomori Thanks mate. Yeah pre production is so important to me. I need to get the crappy designs out and come to terms with the archetype I'm designing. It really helps every time to increase my design language. Plus I freakin love it. Yeah you're right of course man, a ball joint would be awesome. I will have another look and try and get it in bro.


@nickcomeau Thanks dude. Thats great feedback man, thank you. I will go over the design before I head into Maya and try to normalise it all. Glad you like it bud.

ok had a very productive day today. Got lots of the design issues sorted, and the cockpit started in earnest. I might be in Maya tomorrow!

I really didn't like all the exposed details in the pelvis, they really reduced the impact and the quality so I covered them up.

Ive already fixed the collision on the rear bull-bar with the cargo net. The screen caps are before that. :poly122:

Left to do:
Calf plates are weird
Belt for grenades
Left side cockpit screens
Lots of Cockpit tightening
Figure out how to attach the upper arm plates

PitelinM

Man, this looks so good. The amount of details and design you are putting there is crazy. Also Im really liking that you are putting thing like net on his back and rags on hands. Btw Im wondering, what final result you want to achieve? Is it textured low poly or just high poly renders?

samhakem

@PitelinM Thanks mate! Yeah I am going to get him in engine.

Ok rebuilt pretty much the whole lower half in Maya in preparation for the final detail and high poly run. Nice and clean edges now. Had to straighten up his pose to make things easier for myself.

Next up upper outer body, then cockpit, then organics. :poly121:

Left to do:
Bar for thigh plate connecting to pelvis and knee
Bar for toe connecting foot
Upper body rebuild

Final detail high poly build. Im going to be working right up to the last minute.

samhakem

Blocked in the basics of the glove (its only gonna be on one side) and just working through the remaining pieces that need a retop. Making progress now. The LP should be a simple matter from here. I'm so excited for the high detail pass and the organics.

Got some panelling designs ready for the cockpit walls too for some more visual interest which I will build in Maya. Tuesday is my cut off for when I switch to LP only, with bakes hopefully by Friday.

I really built this guy badly right from the beginning and have been fighting with that from the start. This could have gone so much faster if I had just closed off his sections first and built him like a person rather than a segmented machine.. Which I have had to do today finally. Learnt a LOT from this one.

:poly142:

and_im_javert

looking really cool man, keep it up! i would say the upper leg pieces look a little too blocky. sorta too gundam-y for the rest of the model. this is just personal preference though

Rhoutermans

looking good, keep going! Noticing myself as well, every project you finish means a better start and product next time You might have trouble baking some edges tho, too hard edged or missing bevels..Maybe bake just one plate first to see what kinda result you want on ur low poly.

Love what you have so far, good luck finishing up!

samhakem

@and_im_javert Thanks mate! Ah damn, yeah I see that now. I will get onto that. I really do not want it to like anime.

@Rhoutermans Thanks buddy! "Noticing myself as well, every project you finish means a better start and product next time" Very true mate, thanks for that.

I will def do that dude, do a test bake. I'm gonna make sure I dont have any right angles thoug too. Thats great advice man. And thanks for the well wishes!

LensFlare

Hey man, this is looking awesome so far! I think the one crit I have is that the new thigh pieces kind of mess up the arch you had going from the top of the figure to the bottom. In the post before that the thinner thigh plates allowed that arch to flow through, giving it that more powerful figure. Taking a second look at it, your pose is also different between the two, so that is probably a big part of it too. Just a thought either way. Keep it up! Super excited to see this finished.

samhakem

@LensFlare Thanks mate! Yeah your right about that man, the thigh pieces lost their shape in the rebuild dude. The pose will help a lot for sure, but those front plates got blocked out too much. I am going over them tomorrow with the high poly and detail pass! Cheers man.

Ok so I have pretty much rebuilt every damn piece on this thing in preperation for the high poly and detail pass tomorrow! Finally! Im so excited.:poly142:

Now I put all the details across him to bring it all together...I hope...

I will try with the high poly to have quiet zones between things like his shoulder and elbow, elbow and wrist etc to keep visual interest strong.

Left to do:

Organics (belts, buckles, cloths/folds etc)
Lower half details on the cockpit wall
Gap between booster and core section
Edge bevel for best baking
HP and Details
LP Bake test
Friggin sleep

Mathew O

Oh shit, this is awesome. Nice work so far man

samhakem

@Mathew O Thanks dude! Appreciate that.

Had to take a couple days off to hit a milestone for this Uni project so not as much progress as I would have liked. But we're getting a little closer now!

Still left to do

Details on the back, upper arms
rebuild forearm to match design language of rest of mech
The cloth/packs etc still need to be rebuilt and surfaced with a cloth texture
The lower half of the cockpit wall
The toes
The straps connecting the lower canopy cover

KurtR

Didn't catch your updates on this before. Looks really awesome now, seeing some of the previous knots being untied. The one-sided arm difference breaks symmetry nicely. And ofc the cockpit just creats stories by being there. Great overall concept and progress, man.

samhakem

@KurtR Thanks man! Yeah your spot on, knots is a great way to put this mate. One big bundle of knots. Im starting to like where I am going at least with this a bit more.

Ok been ages since I updated. Had to hit a milestone at Uni.

To do:

Bicep plates
Asymmetry on seat
Forearm blockiness
Final cockpit wall
Seatbelts
Toe plate

Feel free to crit and shoot me your feedback as always everybody. :poly121:

CharlieD

I'm loving the stream of updates. Cool to see this coming along.

samhakem

@CharlieD Thanks man! glad your enjoyin it, me too matey.

OK I'm calling the high done for now (just need to quickly rebuild the shoulder bars). I dont dare push it any further to this deadline. As it is I will be working every day until hand in now. I've removed all of the sharpest edges that I can see. straightened out everything to make sense for rigging and animating (except the hands) and adding some smaller details to give me something to work with in the diffuse/textures.

I really have no ideas for the crotch plate thing. I guess I am just going to take care of it in textures. Ideas VERY welcome. :poly121:

Ok next up, prep starts for the LP build and texture planning/gathering.

Shiv

This looks so awesome

It would be cool if maybe the ankles had a similair wrap to the forearms? They are looking like the clunkiest piece at the moment and that might help break that up.

Looking forward to the texturing and such!

nickcomeau

Wow, great progress since the last time I looked at this! Really clean model and lots of interesting detail! Can't wait to see this low poly and see how the bakes and textures come out