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Future Fighter
About Truespace Archives
These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
They are retained here for archive purposes only.
Future Fighter // Work in Progress
Post by Breech Block // May 8, 2008, 1:41pm
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Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
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Whilst making my last truespace animation, The Last Tomorrow (see Jan 2007 animation contest), I found the 5 second fighter plane sequence really difficult to pull off and quickly realised just how much I still need to learn. It was then that I decided to make my next project totally airborne. This is the first model for the new project (working title Future Fighter) and would be happy to hear your comments. |
Post by B_Soldier // May 8, 2008, 2:11pm
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B_Soldier
Total Posts: 58
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Not bad though it could do with a bit more work. BTW that's a Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut u're modeling there. |
Post by Breech Block // May 11, 2008, 11:07pm
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Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
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Thanks B_Soldier. I looked up the Sukhoi Su-47 on google and was startled at the resemblance. I was just trying to make a cool looking, stealth type fighter with a Y-Wing design. With regards your comment about it needing more work, could you possibly expand on that? My initial thoughts were job done and I have spent the last few days beavering away with textures. But if you think the model falls short in some areas I would appreciate your input. |
Post by B_Soldier // May 11, 2008, 11:56pm
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B_Soldier
Total Posts: 58
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I thought u were actually modeling the Su-47 that's y i said that. It's your vision so don't let me tell u wot 2 do. |
Post by Jack Edwards // May 12, 2008, 12:18am
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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A quick spot I see that you could improve on would be to rotate the edge I've scribbled through with red so that it goes where the blue dotted line is.
12360 |
Post by Breech Block // May 12, 2008, 8:43am
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Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
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Thanks Jack, man you've got eyes like a hawk. I've been working on this model for the best part of a month and I never even noticed that before. A case of not seeing the wood for the trees I guess and a good example of the benefits of using the Forums. Thanks again Jack and I'll be updating this thread with a view of the textured model in the very near future. |
Post by Breech Block // May 15, 2008, 5:41pm
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Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
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This is the model complete with texture map. Its an attempt to add some detail as the model deliberately has a fairly low poly count as there are going to be several on the screen at once (plus a barrel load of particles - well hopefully). I originally wanted it black, just like the F-17 Stealth Fighter but on my animation tests it just came out as a black blob and it was difficult to work out the aircraft's orientation. The jet exausts are fully animated. I'm now moving on to model the cockpit interior and pilot.
C&C always welcome. |
Post by W!ZARD // May 15, 2008, 10:43pm
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W!ZARD
Total Posts: 2603
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I like the styling - the shape looks dynamic and agressive - which is what you want in a war plane I guess!
The colour doesn't work well for me though. It's so black that the eye looses valuable cues as to the coolness of it's shape. Several suggestions; try lightening the colour somewhat, go for a more graphite look, dark grey rather than 'jet' black. Also (or alternatively) add some contrasting detail colour, (I'm thinking like racing stripes on a car) which could serve the dual purpose of both revealing the shapes of the aircraft and acting as unique identifiers for each plane - like Squadron markings and so on.
At the moment, if the enemy is also flying dark aircraft a dog fight scenario would get messy as you would be struggling to identify the goodies and the baddies.:D
Otherwise I like it - I've always been a fan of the forward wing shape - it looks way cool. |
Post by Nez // May 16, 2008, 12:02am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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I like the overall look and the 'low-contrast' markings are very appropriate for modern aircraft, if less good for 3d animations as W!zard points out! I was under the impression that the US typically adopted a lighter grey look with the markings in either a darker or lighter grey,although this wouldn't look nearly as menacing as your darker finish....
The wing markings look a little 'fuzzy' at the moment - not as sharp as the tail?
Could do with some formation lights and other markings for a bit more realism, but looks really good alreay, especially for relatively low-poly approach.
I like forward swept wings too - my recent jet model had one wing swept forward.... |
Post by B_Soldier // May 16, 2008, 1:30am
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B_Soldier
Total Posts: 58
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That's box of W!n right there! |
Post by ghost--scout // May 16, 2008, 8:27am
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ghost--scout
Total Posts: 85
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Maybe a dark gray would work better for you, sort of like the bottom F-22's paint scheme in the following image hyper link. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Two_F-22_Raptor_in_flying.jpg/763px-Two_F-22_Raptor_in_flying.jpg&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Two_F-22_Raptor_in_flying.jpg&h=599&w=763&sz=116&hl=en&start=11&um=1&tbnid=Mf5QsxQLS0Q_AM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=142&prev=/images%3Fq%3Df-22%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official
Apologies wizard, I didn't read your post fully and I'm just beating your horse with this one! You explained it much better than I could have! |
Post by Jack Edwards // May 17, 2008, 1:35am
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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I'm with Nez on this one. I really like the darker color. I think specular maps are the way to go to bring out the details. Also looks like the wings could use a bit more UV texture space. And the exhausts look too clean for an aircraft that is in service. ;)
In anycase, this is really awesome work already! I always find it amazing how much good texture work makes such a huge difference. :banana: |
Post by W!ZARD // May 17, 2008, 4:37pm
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W!ZARD
Total Posts: 2603
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I think specular maps are the way to go to bring out the details.
Hi Jack - this is an intriguing comment! Can you tell us a bit more about what you mean here? I'm always up for learning something new.:D (goes back to modeling his Jackfish) |
Post by Jack Edwards // May 17, 2008, 6:31pm
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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Hmm... well if you consider with a black object it's not the black that defines it's shape
so that the eye can tell what it is, it's the light reflected on the surface.
Consider these two images. The first one 3 black spheres, HDRI, no reflections:
12404
The second one I've added a reflection map and the shape of the spheres suddenly is revealed:
12405
With specular mapping it's much the same since it's basically a faked reflection of the light
source object. What you would do with the specular map is paint out where the shiny areas
are or aren't. ;)
LOL hopefully I'll get to see some of these evil Jackfish :D |
Post by Michael Billard // May 19, 2008, 10:58am
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Michael Billard
Total Posts: 125
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Looks like I'll need to read upon on TS' reflection maps. Does this work with steel chrome surfaces too? |
Post by Breech Block // May 19, 2008, 6:03pm
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Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
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Many thanks for all the comments and feedback on my project, it is greatly appreciated. I'm afraid the bad looking decals on my previous post are down to my over zealous use of some grunge textures I recently downloaded. And, like the proverbial kid with a brand new toy, have been splashing them about with gay abandon. I think the lesson here is “less is more.” I have just about addressed all the points raised so far and I think the model definitely looks the better for it. Don't know why I didn't use the forum for my last project as this certainly helps ramp up the quality. Sorry I can't post an updated picture just yet but I'm starting to experience out of memory errors on my PC whenever I try rendering. I have 4 gigs so its just a case of Vista misbehaving (didn't you just know I was going to say that). I can manage about 30 minute stints on the modelling side so I'm concentrating my efforts there for the time being and will post an updated image of the fighter as soon as I'm able. Meanwhile, this is the cockpit that will eventually be installed in to the fighter plane. This is the high poly version for the animation's VDU and pilot close ups. On completion it will be rendered out to create a simple texture map for the low poly version. |
Post by Jack Edwards // May 19, 2008, 7:13pm
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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Beautiful work on the cockpit. 'Can't wait to see it textured! :D |
Post by W!ZARD // May 19, 2008, 11:54pm
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W!ZARD
Total Posts: 2603
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I agree with Jack - nice work Mr Block. And you make a good point about these forums, specially the WIP forum - I often think it's the best learning resource available to tS users. It has certainly been incredibly helpful and influential to me and many others. It's a shame more folk don't take advantage of it in some ways.
Jack, thanks for the explanation - it had not occurred to me to use specular maps for defining shape in this way - that is a good tip!
W |
Post by Ambrose // May 20, 2008, 7:58am
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Ambrose
Total Posts: 261
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Yes looking good.
Fun to follow your progress.
Now something totally different and some of you might remember this so sorry ;)
I really don't know what kind of monitor to get next, now I've a Dell Triniton 21' and it's very nice...
So a question to you, how many of you saw the numbers in Jacks spheres with reflection map?
For me it's like this:
Home, Dell 21' Triniton monitor: I see numbers.
Work, IBM T43 14' TFT montor: Didn't notice them.
Please let me know!?
Breech Block sorry for hijacking.
Keep up the good work!
SeYa/Ambrose... |
Post by Dragneye // May 20, 2008, 4:39pm
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Dragneye
Total Posts: 602
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You're working in some very nice detailing on that cockpit. Great work. |
Post by Jack Edwards // May 20, 2008, 6:47pm
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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Hi Abmrose,
It may be more an issue of monitor calibration than the particular monitor itself.
Any computer being used for 3D graphics should have it's monitor calibrated. ;)
Something to watch out for is that a lot of the budget LCDs are now coming out as 6-bit (per channel) instead of 8-bit color. So that could also cause the problem by limiting range of visible colors for those monitors... |
Post by Breech Block // May 24, 2008, 4:19pm
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Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
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Any computer being used for 3D graphics should have it's monitor calibrated.
That's a very good point Jack. I know the real deal for achieving this is very expensive, but has anybody had any success in this area with freeware? |
Post by Jack Edwards // May 24, 2008, 11:37pm
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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Some links:
http://www.photofriday.com/calibrate.php
http://epaperpress.com/monitorcal/
http://home.comcast.net/~morrised2006/tips/monitor.htm
And a great little app that helps:
http://www.ykwong.com/checkemon.html
The color gradient tool is very helpful in tweaking the color distribution. |
Post by Breech Block // May 25, 2008, 12:12pm
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Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
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Thanks very much Jack. You're an absolute star. :banana: |
Post by Breech Block // May 26, 2008, 1:16am
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Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
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Here is a textured version of the Future Fighter's cockpit layout. There have been some slight changes to the previous post and there are still a few things I'm not happy with. But, as I have been staring at the thing for days on end now, I'd thought I'd give it a rest and throw it open for some comments and take it from there. The VDUs will eventually show story driven displays. I have just slapped in a few graphics for now to get an overall feel. The pilot by the way, is just a basic mesh from Poser. |
Post by Jack Edwards // May 26, 2008, 1:30am
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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Wow! It looks great Breech!
Did you fit all that on one texture/UV space? |
Post by Steinie // May 26, 2008, 3:32am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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What Program did you use to do your texturing/UV Mapping? Really came out awesome. |
Post by jamesmc // May 26, 2008, 3:58am
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jamesmc
Total Posts: 2566
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Great job Breech!
Really like the view you supplied as it gives a great look at all your hard work in modeling and texturing. :)
Just as aside, I used to work in research for the Air Force and we tested 'seats' for fighter jets in the Centrifuge.
The last seat I worked on in the late 1980s was for the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) which is the F-22 now.
That place was interesting, the cockpit integration lab worked on the 'reachability' of all the buttons and switches and visual determinations. It's quite a project to make a cockpit - hundreds of people involved and it takes years.
I think you did it quite well - the scientists and engineers who worked on the ATF would be impressed. |
Post by ghost--scout // May 26, 2008, 4:27am
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ghost--scout
Total Posts: 85
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Holy crap dude how did you do that? |
Post by W!ZARD // May 26, 2008, 4:35am
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W!ZARD
Total Posts: 2603
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OK mark me down as 'Highly Impressed'. That's a top notch job there Breech - marvellous effort. You'll be giving MadMouse a run for the 'Most Detailed Model' awards.
Very cool indeed. |
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