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School Project, Future CAT

NoltaN
polycounter lvl 15
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NoltaN polycounter lvl 15
Hey guys so I was assigned this project about a week and a half ago, This is where its currently at. Let me know your thoughts as of where it is currently. The project gave us up to 5k polygons, i'm currently at around 2700 or so. i've still got some to play around with and have been considering adding an interior and I also need to add the wires. The project is due thursday morning and as you can see the texture needs a lot more loving. Well anyways, let me know what you guys think

-NoltaN




Concept.jpg


Profile.jpg

CatBase.jpg

Replies

  • Anuxinamoon
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    Anuxinamoon polycounter lvl 14
    Well you could make some rubble to put in his scoop and roughen up his paint job a bit. Bulldozers tend to get slammed around alot by the workers, especially the scoop and you should show that by making it look more metallic and the paint worn away :D

    Pretty cool for a school project!
  • verybad
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    verybad polycounter lvl 17
    Dozers always get graffiti'd on. Thats another bit of grime you can put on. They also tend to have a lot of external pipes.
  • aesir
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    aesir polycounter lvl 18
    I think it looks pretty gnarly
  • sketch81
    Hey NoltaN,

    Your model looks unreal!! I really dig the lighting and the way the model has been presented.
    If they have allocated 5k, try and come as close as you can to the budget. So making an interior sounds like a great idea, because you don't tend to see many vehicle interiors modeled.

    In regards to the texture, maybe add in some highlights and wear and tear(scratches, dints,dirt etc) unless it has just come from the factory.

    Anyways Good luck dude!!
  • Monolith
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    Monolith polycounter lvl 18
    From a realistic standpoint this is so not going to work.

    Those Vector controlled "Vents" or what they're called on the reference are WAY to small to support the Vehiecle not to mention the additional weight of rubble or even the weight needed to actually break rubble out of something.

    I can only imagine this vehiecle trying to lift of a stone then skyrocketing the moment it falls of the bucket.
    I'd add 2 pair of Arms/Legs used to support it during it's time on the ground while digging and additional/larger boosters for the aerial part.

    Another option would be to change the Boosters into something like what I call "Gravity Hooks" fixing the vehiecle into place like a mountain even though it's not connected to the ground.

    Other than that it looks like a good interpretation of the original reference.
  • Mark Dygert
    That's looking great! A really good translation from the main concept.

    As for Monolith's point, I agree but there isn't much we can do sometimes about the concepts we are handed. Sometimes we can make huge sweeping changes, sometimes we can't, it all depends on the project.

    I think its safe to say most hover vehicles we see in games are highly improbable yet we still have them. There's always some element of "its the future, someone figured out a way to lift more with less".

    I think your material needs more variation, some dings and dirt. Speaking of textures, how's the UV's look? Spec, diffuse?

    I think the back area between the jets could use some more bulk. It looks like there is some kind of power plant back there in the concept. The exhaust pipe sticking out of the hinge is kind of weird. But the concept is far from detailed in that area...

    The bucket might be a bit too long and maybe too thick on the sides making it look heavy.

    Since you have the polys I would first pack them into a power plant, then the interior.

    Looking good keep at it!
  • slipsius
    I think it looks awsome. I dont agree with the dirty it up comments either. yes, you COULD do that, and more times than not, its probably better to because that's what we`re use to seeing, but models aren't always going to be a couple years old. Sometimes they`ll be fresh off the assembly line (say, beginning of the game, your character gets his new armour or beginning of the game, you finish your training, they give you your gun).
  • NoltaN
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    NoltaN polycounter lvl 15
    Hey thanks for the comments guys!

    Monolith - I've understood this fact sense I started modeling it. I have known it isnt functional in the real world. The project was to come really close to your concept so I didnt have much room to modify it. Could you explain in more detail how the gravity hook works? Or maybe draw a quick illustration?

    Vig - Yeah, the material does need more variation. This is more or less just a rough color for the basic diffuse. I've got to add all the scratches grime and dirt. Any ideas behind the 'power plant' thought?? I may not have time to make to many large changes to the area as I'm running out of time but we'll see. The bucket is a little wider than in the concept, I knowingly built it a little different in that area. Do you think I should modify the shape a little?

    Slipsius - I'll probably show both versions, a clean aswell as a dirty.

    Verybad - I like the idea of graffiti i'll probably play around with it!


    Any ideas for the windows (assuming I dont have an interior??)

    As for the UV's heres the diffuse, No spec yet. Theres a few spots left open for the wiring and what not. I'f I do the interior i'll have to add another 1024 or something.

    Diffuse.jpg
  • PieJesu
    The references show the 'vents' to be much larger than you have depicted.

    Look at the three abstract drawings at the top.


    Other than the need to add a bit of wear and tear (which you don't need to actually do), I'd say this is a very sturdy representation of the concept (apart from the above mentioned).


    I'd personally model the interior but if you don't want to, make the windows darker but more reflective.
  • arrangemonk
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    arrangemonk polycounter lvl 15
    i would add some feet or things to fix on the ground since flying all the time seems very energy consuming to me
  • NoltaN
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    NoltaN polycounter lvl 15
    haha, remember this is the future!!! anythings possible (i think lol) I am exploring some ideas but I'm currently out of UV space (for any larger object) and would really like to keep it all on one map. I dont have enough time to rearrange UV space again before thursday morning either :/

    -NoltaN
  • crazyfingers
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    crazyfingers polycounter lvl 10
    Anyone remember that hover tank from the Pauly Shore movie? ;)
  • nfrrtycmplx
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    nfrrtycmplx polycounter lvl 18
    arrangemonk - Who's to say this thing doesn't doc at a fueling station, where it doesn't need feet. But yeah... it's not great from a design perspective... what if it ran out of gas? lol
  • kies.matt
    I think the model looks awesome
    but i would definitely grunge up the texture
    i doubt construction vehicles ever look that clean even when rolled straight out off the assembly line
  • kies.matt
    btw, what book did this reference come from?
    id like to check it out
  • NoltaN
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    NoltaN polycounter lvl 15
    nfrrtycmplx - whats to say it doesnt use gas? Or maybe supplies its own gas? :D lol. I have been thinking about conceptualizing and designing a docking station for the craft aswell actually.

    Kies.matt - i'll have to email my instructor I grabbed the image out of one of his books. I'm currently working on grunging up the texture. Its got a little more work though. I'll post again when its a little further.
  • Shogun3d
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    Shogun3d polycounter lvl 12
    This is definitely coming along nicely. I'm with everyone as far as crits go, would definitely like to see some more glunged placed strategically as well as chippings, taggings, etc. Bring it some life!
  • NoltaN
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    NoltaN polycounter lvl 15
    Heres a small update, I've got a lot of work to do still on the texture but figured i'd update anyway. I added some rubble, although I was pretty much 100% out of uv space so it got a little less than it should have :/. Anyway some of the scratches are a little to random so i'll be adjusting those. I also want some more prominant chips of paint missing so i'll be looking at that next.

    Cat2.jpg

    -NoltaN
  • shinobix
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    shinobix polycounter lvl 16
    The model looks really good. Nice and clean. Speaking of clean, the only thing I'd suggest is that you dirty the texture up a bit. Chip away the paint around the heavily used areas, and surfaces that would naturally get a lot of wear on them. Some mud and grime would be good too. Overall it looks great, but it looks like it just came off the production assembly line. Oh, and why isn't it green like in the reference?
  • NoltaN
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    NoltaN polycounter lvl 15
    shinobix - i'm going to start chipping away at the heavily used areas probably a little later tonight, I've got to grime it up a bit more aswell. I really didnt like the green color scheme of the concept. to quote myself from something i said to a friend...

    "I hate the color of the concept its ugly. Like those tacky ass green firetrucks everyone laughs at....sure its a fire truck, but at the cost of its dignity?!?!?! I DONT THINK SO!"

    Do you guys think It would be alright if I added another 1024 texture slot for the rubble, cableing And maybe a few other objects? I really wanted to keep it all on one set of UV's but the rubble looks aweful and I'd like to see the cableing still.
  • kies.matt
    NoltaN wrote: »
    Heres a small update, I've got a lot of work to do still on the texture but figured i'd update anyway. I added some rubble, although I was pretty much 100% out of uv space so it got a little less than it should have :/. Anyway some of the scratches are a little to random so i'll be adjusting those. I also want some more prominant chips of paint missing so i'll be looking at that next.
    -NoltaN

    It's looking better already
    keep up the good work
  • nfrrtycmplx
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    nfrrtycmplx polycounter lvl 18
    I see you're trying to dirty up the texture... that's good.

    The dirt and grime you've added is too soft and too low contrast... you need to look at reference of farm equipment and construction equipment and try using texture overlays to get your initial dirt and grime going... and if you're going for a painted look painting over it. after you get comfortable with the painting over of the grime and start to understand how the things wear and tear... you can start free-styling it.

    Add scratches that expose the metal... and depending on the environment it's in... it may rust.

    http://www.jpower.net/bulldozer.jpg
    http://www.robertocampus.com/wp-content/uploads/rc_texture_rusty-yellow-metal_thumb.jpg

    The thing to keep in mind is... if it looked better before you made changes to it... you've made the wrong changes (not to be too blunt) The clean version looks much better than the dirty version, simply because the detail/painting you've put into it is distracting from the good job you've done on the model. And the model does look great.

    Keep up the good work and put more effort in studying the subject/reference before going in and painting your textures.

    Cheers
  • NoltaN
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    NoltaN polycounter lvl 15
    Thanks for the comments - nfrrtycmplx I completely agree with your statements, and honestly i wasnt very happy with it either :/.

    I've updated the texture quite a bit. Let me know if you guys think its headed in the right direction now!! Thanks a bunch guys!

    Cat4.jpg
  • arrangemonk
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    arrangemonk polycounter lvl 15
    isnt a caterpillar supposed to flatten the ground unlike a digger
    and the jets seem a bit off, i think the're supposed to be in the mass centre so it doesnt freak around in the air

    and now i used "supposted" 3 times
  • praxedes
    I like it- I feel posters commenting on the design are rather missing the point as your assignment is to produce the concept from the book- if the concept's off, the model will be too!

    As an execution of the book concept I can't fault what you've done- the dirt is really starting to work as well!

    Do you have normals maps for this? Because you want to pop the dirt by baking some roughness into the map with crazybump or nvidia filter (how I love nvidia filter for this kind of thing!) Also, the spec will help separate materials out into metal, rubber, dirst etc!

    Great stuff!

    ~P~
  • Sam Hatami
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    Sam Hatami polycounter lvl 16
    I find the feasibility of the model beeing not fully developed as it can, not cause of the design, simply by the texture. I'm sure you are working on it as we speak, and I'm sure you have a lot of references. But I'm going give you a pic and let the others pin point where you can improve it.

    (Oh yeh, Caterpillar is a huge manufactorer of all machinery things, and more...not only those things that flatten the ground :P )

    caterpillar_910_tyre_loader_pix.jpg
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