Futuristic Crate Series
polycounter lvl 9
I've put my Ford Probe project on hold for a bit (partially because I'm having difficulty figuring out how to go about modeling it) and have started work on a futuristic crate series. The first one I've been working on serves the purpose of a casket, which explains the cross and the circle at one end.
The box that I have the whole scene set up in isn't the environment that the crates will be in; it's just there to provide some contrast and make the details a bit easier to see. Also, I was being lazy and didn't want to have a bunch of lamps everywhere since this particular render was just for a friend.
The cover is done, except for some material properties that I haven't bothered with yet because I'm still working on the details of the design. The problem I'm having that has led me to post the project (and the following crates that will be in the series) is that I'm unsure of what to do with the storage portion of the object.
The end caps were something that I kind of threw together to cover up the triangle-smoothing errors created by Blender's "Subsurf" modifier, as well as give the rotating sections something to connect to. For simplicity, I used Blender's "Mirror" modifier to avoid the risk of asymmetry.
Did I use too many lights in the material? Too few lights? Should I move/change certain lights? I'm just a little concerned someone might look at it and think I got carried away.
Also, this particular design doesn't sit right with me, but I still wanted to get it done. The next crate I do will have the same light design on the cover, but it'll open differently and have a different shape.
As always, any crits/comments/suggestions are welcome. I'll provide wires if they're asked for.
The box that I have the whole scene set up in isn't the environment that the crates will be in; it's just there to provide some contrast and make the details a bit easier to see. Also, I was being lazy and didn't want to have a bunch of lamps everywhere since this particular render was just for a friend.
The cover is done, except for some material properties that I haven't bothered with yet because I'm still working on the details of the design. The problem I'm having that has led me to post the project (and the following crates that will be in the series) is that I'm unsure of what to do with the storage portion of the object.
The end caps were something that I kind of threw together to cover up the triangle-smoothing errors created by Blender's "Subsurf" modifier, as well as give the rotating sections something to connect to. For simplicity, I used Blender's "Mirror" modifier to avoid the risk of asymmetry.
Did I use too many lights in the material? Too few lights? Should I move/change certain lights? I'm just a little concerned someone might look at it and think I got carried away.
Also, this particular design doesn't sit right with me, but I still wanted to get it done. The next crate I do will have the same light design on the cover, but it'll open differently and have a different shape.
As always, any crits/comments/suggestions are welcome. I'll provide wires if they're asked for.
Replies
Gamer-mind tells me that the crate contains: Nades, ammo, health and shield recharges though.
You're right, though. The crate series will have different crates for arms, munitions, and medical supplies. I was thinking I'd change the design a bit for each one, including the color of the lights. I'm thinking red for health, green for ammo, and blue for shields.
I've a design in mind for each, in terms of both light placement and design, but this casket is still giving me problems. Give me a few minutes and I'll move a couple lights to the side. Specifically what busyness are you talking about? I'm thinking you mean that 3 bars on both sides is a bit much. The original sketch I made had only two bars, and it wasn't the same shape.
Without further delay, here are the different designs. Feel free to suggest your own:
I know you're going for futuristic, but it's not really reading as a coffin. I noticed the cross but I don't think that's enough. For the base maybe ad some panels in there, indicator lights, a holographic projection on the base with the person's name & history. (it doesn't all have to be legible, just placeholder text)
Maybe have some tubing going from the base to the caps at the ends of the coffin?
It just seems like there's a lot missing right now. But I like the idea of it.
Are you thinking I should connect the top and bottom halves with the tubing, or maybe have the tubing going from the caps to disks that are bolted to the floor? Neatly cutting circles into curved surfaces is a bit time-consuming and tedious. I think I had to do the halo over the cross maybe 3 times (twice to mistakes, once to an unsaved file crash).
The panels should be easy enough. They'd only be short extrusions. Should I have them only on the flat sides or going all the way around?
Regarding the cross, did you think I should have it extend to the ends of the bars?
Oh, and specifically what did you mean by indicator lights?
As for the tubing, when I suggested it I was imagining it coming out of the circular caps and going into either a place on the base or into the floor.
With the cross I would just make it larger so it's easier to see, and to drive home the tombstone vibe. I don't know if you want it intersecting with the bars on the side...
By indicator lights I mean the stereotypical little LED-style lights you see littered on panels everywhere in sci-fi scenes.
I think you would benefit greatly from doing some sketchovers/paintovers. Basically take a screenshot of your model, fire up photoshop or whatever paint program you prefer, and sketch/paint on top of the screenshot. Sketch in the panels and different designs and draw different versions of the tubing. It's easier to try out ideas that way then trying to model everything and changing it over and over again.
It's a lot easier to experiment with colors this way too.
And are you working from some references? I know this may sound like a ridiculous question, but it really helps to collect some inspirational images with the kind of feel you're going for. Observe what makes it believable & interesting to look at.
Try looking through some "cryo chamber" images on google.
http://www.google.com/search?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&biw=1366&bih=649&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=cryo+chamber&oq=cryo+chamber&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=179283l179283l0l179607l1l1l0l0l0l0l303l303l3-1l1l0
I think it's the closest thing to what you have here, it might give you some more ideas. And pictures are so much easier than trying to explain stuff lol.
As for the primitives statement, I'm not quite sure what you mean. Caskets and crates are pretty primitive objects.
Primitives are 'basic shapes' in the 3D world. Things like rectangles, spheres, cylinders etc. Basically - you're not making interesting shapes, you're just using a few simple ones.
What I'm gonna say next may sound contradictory, but it's not: Your shape is too complex, and also too simple. Take a look at these 3 designs:
Visually, these are all calmer than yours. You have a bunch of glowy lights on there which keep pulling the eye around, all screaming "LOOK AT ME!". Which probably isn't a good thing on a burial - those tend to be calm, serene or emotional. Not very active.
So you need to reduce that visual clutter. But when we do that to your model, we end up with very little detail:
It's just a stretched cylinder-primitive with a capsule-primitive, 2 other cylinder-primitives, and then some insets. Not interesting. It's also not recognizable as a coffin.
The closest semblance to this model is the coffin from Star Trek. But if you look at the silhouette, you see it's a bit more angular. It's not straight up from the ground, it tapers in and out a bit. The curved top is also not curved exactly like a sphere - it's squished and flattened a bunch. It's still not a great basic shape, but a bit better.
What makes this coffin work is the sparse detail. The hand grips are very typical for a coffin: it's the only object in the world designed with 6 spots for people to carry. Aside from those trademark details there's only a single pinstripe and logo. Very sober, very minimal, very sleek and stylish.
Contrasting with that is the one from Starship Troopers. It's ugly, but in this case it works: it's a warriors' grave and it should look tough. It's very angular, but not quite a rectangular box, and there's a huge logo with several small ones. There are also 6 spots for people to carry - they're separated by the 4 small boxes.
I personally like the last one, because it really shows the 'simple but complex' which I was talking about earlier. There's no shape in there that you can describe, really. It's not a box, it's not a sphere, it's a unique shape. The closest thing I can come up with is a "bulging, tapering box with slanted sides and smooth corners". The gold bar is also not an easy to define shape. Yet the coffin has all the essential shapes to be a coffin:
-thin at the head and feet
-carrying possibilities
-a sense of peace and calm
So in short, what you want to aim for is: a single, original shape, rather than a bunch of bland shapes mashed together.
I do have another design in mind, that's similar to the Starship Troopers casket you posted, in that it could possibly be mistaken for a storage crate. It's more of a box with double-doors on top and panels and such throughout the design.
I could remove the capsule and the end caps, which would make it look even MORE like the Star Trek casket you posted. I personally think that just looks like a fancy present-day casket.
My design does kind of look like an engine of some sort at the moment. It's been suggested that perhaps I could taper the design at one end. Sort of like the hexagonal coffins, but it'd be round. The only thing I can think to compare the shape to would be a narrow version of the Half-Life 2 logo.
I agree with Snader that the shape of it just isn't reading as a coffin. You can take the examples he posted and put a completely new spin on it. Or you could still go the cryo route if the bodies are supposed to remain preserved in the coffin with the tubes and whatnot.
But yeah, don't get too caught up with trying to re-invent the wheel. It'll hurt you in the long run.
What you need is something that people will recognize as a coffin. That's the most essential part. Originality is actually a secondary goal. Players won't be spending much time in each game world, so it's essential they can quickly figure out what they're looking at. Of course this doesn't mean you can't have some originality, but you should design with function as a focal point.
Here's a good example of that: http://kotaku.com/5724354/problem-we-dont-shoot-green-things-enough
Having a shape like a water drop is a good start. This will give you the tapering near the head and feet you're looking for. From there on you can play around a bit with having hard corners in some places and soft ones in others. Then you can add grips; these can be a bar, or insets, or stuck on grips, or perhaps something else.
What might also help, is to draw a couple of simple sketches - just line drawings should be enough - to figure out the basic shapes really fast. You can doodle out a bunch of quite-different-but-looking-like-a-coffin shapes in a couple of minutes.
From your original design I did not get casket nor could I even tell what the model was for. I also could not tell if the white strips and shapes were buttons to be pressed or just lights for decoration. Try to give everything a purpose on the model. Build it like an engineer would in real life. If you need a code to open it make a keypad, use a gauge to show the level of material inside etc.
Imagine if I came into your home and moved everything around and put things randomly anywhere I wanted, or what if the MS-Windows or MAC interface just suddenly changed, like you close a window with the ! icon on the bottom left of the window..you'd be like WTF is that? Straying to far from conventional design archetypes can be confusing to anyone but the designer.
Also consider the golden rules of design, golden rectangle / golden ratio / rule of thirds / use of white space, these methods have been in place for thousands of years and proven to be more pleasing and less confusing to the eye.
P.S. Snader nailed it.
I'm thinking about dropping my current opening mechanism and implementing an electronic "Full-Couch" casket lid. Also, I've been looking at casket designs and I'm considering using some of the design elements, such as step patterns near the base.