Commodore 64

[DJbLAZER]

I decided to model the Commodore 64 to go along with the tape drive I recently finished. Here's what I got so far. Hardest part is to get the real "curving" of the keys, all rows has a different curve to them (also new keyboards).

[ctbram]

Looks cool. God I loved my commodore 64.

[DJbLAZER]

Yeah the C-64 got me interested in computers... it's da real shiznit :)

Here's some more progress.

[DJbLAZER]

Did the side, so I think the modelling is done. I wont bother with the stuff at the back. So I guess the real fun starts now, texturing the keys :headbang:

[Jr.Who]

Looks pretty sweet, canÕt wait to see the texturing!
:beer:

[marlonjohn]

Haha! I remembered seeing one of my dads old one in the garage the other day ;) Really liking it blazer ... Especially that oldschool circle plug :) Now its time to use your magic of rendering and this will look marvelous,

keep us posted,

marlon

[ctbram]

Looking really great. How did you model the din connector?

Maya and precision hard surface modeling gives me troubles.

[happymat27]

My first computer was a commodore 64.

Ahh, those were the days, young and care free....

Ahem, sorry.....what I meant to say was...

Great model, I'm sure that you'll do it's texturing and rendering justice too.

Take it easy,

Mat.

[DJbLAZER]

ctbram: The din connector is just a cylinder with about 50 sides. I just manipulated the vertices in the front and deleted some faces. So this one isn't suitable for applying a smooth on. But since I don't need such extreme close-ups it's ok. A wire of everything unsmoothed:

[DJbLAZER]

By the way, I'm having trouble finding the font or a font with very high likeness to the font used on the keys. So if anyone happens to know what font or one that looks very alike pleeease let me know. Here's a pic http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/c64/h/front.jpg

[t1ck135]

hehe, quality choice to model :)
I'd forgotten about the on-off switch at the side and the great big power bobble on top. It looks great so far.

Had a quick look for the font but cant seem to find anything :(
In the meantime there's a flash emulator here with elite and some other games if you get bored searching for it:
http://codeazur.com.br/stuff/fc64_final/
Elite manual at:
http://www.iancgbell.clara.net/elite/manual.htm#A21

;)
Si

[ctbram]

Thanks for the wireframe. I need to work on some more hard surface models.

[DJbLAZER]

t1ck135: Holy crap, that's impressive to emulate at least some bits of the C64 in flash... since flash isn't the fastest thing in the world...

Gonna go throug my about 800 fonts now and see if I find anything... since there are alot of c64-freaks with sites I'm sure there MUST be anyone knowing the name or something aobut the font used. I also couln't find any dimensions of the computer when I searched for it, so now I've just eyeballed it. (since I don't own one myself)

[marlonjohn]

haha thanks for the link tick, im going to be glued to my chair playing galaga all morning ;)

[DJbLAZER]

I wen through about 800 fons (in MS Word, took only about 15 mins) and the font that looked most alike was exactly the last font, called Zurich. I'll go with that, dont think I'll find a better one, unless I get the name of the real one.

[DJbLAZER]

Ok, I did the top of all te keys. So now's just those strange symbols that I need to create by hand, oooh the humanity!

[Jr.Who]

Wow, that looks really good. It would be better if you could do an anti-aliased render though.
:beer:

[arran]

wow - you've pulled it out again DJbLAZER - this model is looking really cool! i think you might have to do the whole set up - a C64 hard drive and an eighties monitor... and lots of wires! great choice of model.
:beer:

One thing - you mentioned going through fonts in word - is that the best way to find a font? I'm looking for a certain font at the moment - is there no way to look at an entire font in photoshop as sometimes it comes down to finding a certain letter?....

sorry for the dumb question! thanks

[DJbLAZER]

Jr.Who, yeah it probably would look better, since that's no render at all, just a screen shot =)

thanks arran, actually I modelled the front of my old Commodore 1084S monitor for a project some year ago. I just needed a front render, though I could only find a very few image references so I couldn't model the sides and back even if I wanted to.

To look through fonts I think using MS Word is the best way. You type the letters you want to look at in a document (could be the whole alphabet if you want). Then you select the text and go to the font selector. Then you would just use the arrow keys to go through the fonts. Very quick and easy.

[gster123]

Looking really good man! great job.

It was only about 6 months ago that I threw my C64 away, it was stored in the loft for years, games and all, and I was getting rid of stuff before moving, I tried it out but it didnt work, shame.

I rember programming on it, I think if memory serves me correctly that those strange symbols were something to do with characters needed to programme (I remember making an adventure game from a book that I got from the library, copying all the code, took me weeks to do it and then there was loads of bugs, I was only about 8/9 at the time!)

When we going to see a full Maxwell jobbie on it?

I reckon a bit of fun would to have this in your living room scene, attached to your plasma!!

[t1ck135]

I've used this one in the past. You upload an image of the font in question and it checks what fonts are like the one in question. Might be an idea to see if it comes up with the right one ;)
http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/

Si

[gster123]

Originally posted by t1ck135
I've used this one in the past. You upload an image of the font in question and it checks what fonts are like the one in question. Might be an idea to see if it comes up with the right one ;)
http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/

Si


Superb link Si, Bookmarked!

[arran]

yeah - thanks a lot t1ck! :beer:

[DJbLAZER]

gster123: Hehe, I also did my first programming in basic on the C64 when I was about 12. I remember that it was a program in the manual that showed an air ballon with a Commodore logo on it.

Yeah would be nice to hook it up on the plasma... although I don't own one... but I should try play some games with an emulator on the plasma :D

t1ck135: Thanks for the tip! Although I don't have any good images on the font it actually found some pretty close ones. But my choice is so close to the original as you can get (and I'm NOT doing it all over again anyway =)

[DJbLAZER]

Ok, all keys textured and also the side. So now it's just the logo and power that need to be done. And they're not totally flat so I'll model those.

[DJbLAZER]

Ok, I'm done with the texturing. So now I'm gonna create materials and tweak a nice render in Maxwell. Here's a quick render in Mental Ray:

[DJbLAZER]

Here's a first render from Maxwell. I somehow lost "power"-logo (should be in the right upper corner). And maybe the base should be a litte more brownish. The chrome material doesn't show that well, I'll have to change the lightsources so they get reflected better.

[Jr.Who]

Wow, that looks really good! How long did it take to render?
:beer:

[DJbLAZER]

Thanks, about 2 hours. Originally in 800x600 though.

[DJbLAZER]

Last things mentioned fixed. I'll do some dirt and scratches and then I think I'm done.

[t1ck135]

looking very nice DJbLAZER, I like all the little symbols under the main keys (again I'd forgotten about them).
A bit of a worn look around the case will definitely add that extra realism like on your datasette.

I remember programming a pumpkin sprite by creating a chart and working out all the bit/byte values to get the sprite dots in position. I then began figuring out how to move the sprite with a joystick but just as I got one axis working we sold the computer and got an Amiga. Unfortunately the manual for Amiga basic was so bad (and therefore hard) that it put me off programming till I left Uni in 98 ;)

Si

[Rhetoric Camel]

wow that looks great. I wish the keyboard I modeled came out looking that clear.

[DJbLAZER]

I added a slight bump to everything so it looks more realistic in close-ups.

[DJbLAZER]

And also almost finished a model I started a long time ago. Just some minor texture/material things I'm gonna change. This is the old classic TAC-2. Gonna use it in the final scene with the 64.

[Jr.Who]

Wow, I wish I was that good at lighting and rendering.

[younglion]

very nice work man, can you explain your lighting setup?

[DJbLAZER]

I'm using Maxwell Renderer. I have 3 rectangular lights. Two white and one yellow. And a grey environment that casts a bit of ambient light.

[ctbram]

I know the results look fantastic but I heard maxwell render times are ridiculous. Like 20+ hour renders are normal. Fear of taking days to render a single image has kept me from investigating further. How has your first hand experience been using maxwell?

What is the advantage of using maxwell?

[arran]

Wow!! You are killing me DJ - the joystick is looking fab mate.

Keep it up - looking forward to seeing the final scene!

:beer:

[DJbLAZER]

These pics took about 5-10 hours. It depends when you think the image is done, the longer it renders, the less noisy image. But yeah around 10-20 hours are normal. But then again, if you render with MR and want the same quality you can't expect to render in 1 hour either.

Pros: Don't have try tons of settings to get a nice render. Almost "press render and wait". You can spend the time tweaking the materials instead.

Cons: It takes time. You can't optimze the renders that much.

[DJbLAZER]

Thanks arran!

[plaski]

all your keyboard needs now is a crap load of dust inbetween the keys. lol. I can't tell if its 3d or a photo.

[younglion]

Originally posted by DJbLAZER
I'm using Maxwell Renderer. I have 3 rectangular lights. Two white and one yellow. And a grey environment that casts a bit of ambient light.
thanks for the info

Originally posted by plaski
all your keyboard needs now is a crap load of dust inbetween the keys. lol. I can't tell if its 3d or a photo.
yea it need some dust now, i think he can use an ambient occlusion pass for that or just do some post work in ps.

[marlonjohn]

Pulled it off like usual DJ ... love the close-up render alot, stunning ;)

Marlon J

[EDIT: haha love the TAC2 aswell :p]

[DJbLAZER]

Dust between keys? Nah, I wont bother with such extreme detail, and the guy who shot the keyboard just vacuumed it anyway ;)

Well, here's the final render of TAC-2. Did some changes to the buttons and did a whole lot of renders to tweak scratches and stuff.

http://andreas.blazer.nu/pictures/48b.jpg

[plaski]

heh, I was only kidding about the dust. this is an impressive render. I know I have maxwell somewhere in my files. Makes me want to take the time to go find it.

[marlonjohn]

hey blazer, whats your next thing your going to make now since your like finished up on this one?

Marlon J

[DJbLAZER]

First I'm gonna finish off the c-64, just dirty it up a bit. Then I think I'm gonna model a monitor... I have a monitor modeled, but it's the one I had for my Amiga, so it's too new. Have to decide what monitor to model. (I only had a TV to my C-64, I'm not 100% sure which ones was common)

[tiddles]

"Are you keeping up with the Commodore, 'cause the Commodore keeping up with you?".....

Sorry about that - massive 80's flashback!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8pK_q-_6dw

Totally awesome work DJ, I love what you've done so far. I was one of the few lucky kids who's dad paid the extra for a 5.25" disc drive. I only waited 15-20 mins for a game to load (my poor mates with cheep dads had to wait 3 times that for their tape drive to run its course - LOL).

I don't think you should model a monitor - 99% of uses had a 34cm TV set with a manual UHF dial (I seem to remember the C64 broadcasting on the UHF band). So for the sake of authenticity, model an old TV set ;)

Dave.

PS: Damn good renders!

[DJbLAZER]

Thanks Tiddles,

hehe, that commercial rocks!

Yeah, maybe I should go with an old TV instead... none of my friends had a monitor either. I'll see if I can get some good ref pics of some old TV.

Did a couple of more renders of the TAC-2.

[flamemaster]

That looks very impressive. Looks loke i may need to dig out my old C64.

Originally posted by DJbLAZER
I also couln't find any dimensions of the computer when I searched for it, so now I've just eyeballed it. (since I don't own one myself)

If you still need the dimensions etc, i can messure one up.

We still own 2 different version C64's with a 1541 disk drive and a few tape drives. Also a whole stack lode of tapes.
I might fire it up tonight. Still use the emu's to play games.
Favoite game was Creatures 2, gory as hell but nice.
C - Clide,
R - Radcliffe
E - Exterminates
A - All
T - The
U - Unfriendly
R - Repolsive
E - Earthridden
S - Slime.

I guess this means i'm SAD ;)

Keep up the grat work.

[DJbLAZER]

Thanks dude,

a bit too late for the dimensions, too much work to change them now, although I appreciate it.

I also use emu's a lot, although mostly for Amiga (WinUAE).

[flamemaster]

Thanks for the reply, sorry, first time i've logged in for a while, only seen this thread today.

your work is great, looks so realistic, same goes with the tape deck.

I can't help you out on a monitor as we only hooked it up to a normal tv. Got an Amstrad CPC monitor :eek:

I'm only just getting back into the swing of moddeling after a long break from it.

Thanks.

[THX1138]

Awsome work DJbLAZER! Your renders are always top notch!

[Minstrel]

Fantastic work, all nurbs I presume. Id love to see you try a formula 1 car... :)

[arran]

hey DJbLAZER - i just wanted to ask you a quick question - when you're laying out UVs for a project like this, how much do you worry about sewing them together - I guess because the main body is all one color with a few scratches and marks here and there, do you even bother sewing them together, or do you just do a quick automatic / planar map and leave it at that?

Sorry for the noob question or if I'm not been clear - just trying to get my head around texturing and any help you can offer would be really appreciated.
:beer:

[Eelco]

Just picked up on this thread today. Looks awesome. Brings me back to my first gaming and programming experience.

I used to play the C64 on a big@ss color TV. Not at all like the black/white in the commercial. It was amazing. Still is. Wanne play those games again???
http://www.c64.com/

[DJbLAZER]

I just found out that I didn't see these replies until now... a tad late, but I'll answer the questions:

Minstrel: No, there's no nurbs at all actually. All polys.

arran: Depends on how complicated the texture is. But it's exactly as you said. If it's pretty simple, just a automatic mapping with some basic editing and sewing is sufficient.

[arran]

thanks mate!:beer:

[DocMAX]

what is maxwell?

[Jr.Who]

Originally posted by DocMAX
what is maxwell?

It’s a very realistic render engine:
http://www.maxwellrender.com/

[DocMAX]

better than mental ray?

[Jr.Who]

Originally posted by DocMAX
better than mental ray?

Did you visit the website? It’s, like, the best realistic render out there! On the website, go to Gallery>Videos. I’d recommend that you watch all of them, it’s pretty amazing stuff. The only downside is the long renders (as in more than 10 hours).

[DocMAX]

10 hours for an anmation or still picture? ok i will check it out. but seems there is no plugin for maya 2008?

[Jr.Who]

Originally posted by DocMAX
10 hours for an anmation or still picture? ok i will check it out. but seems there is no plugin for maya 2008?

lol, for an image. It’s probably much longer than 10 hours, depending on how much stuff is in the scene, your hardware, etc. Since 2008 just came out, no, there’s no support.

[DJbLAZER]

Here's a 35 mins render of the old classic Commodore 1084 monitor. Bought this one when I bought my Amiga 500.

[DJbLAZER]

Here a test render of all the stuff together. It's a bit noisy in some areas and the left cable is floating and the lighting is ugly.

[louis56]

Wow! Nice. How long did that take to render?

[arran]

that looks great. :beer:

[marlonjohn]

Nice render, they all fit in well together ...

Only crit would be that there seems to be a lot of noise on the tape glass/plastic opening thing.

[DJbLAZER]

Thanks guys,

this one took 50 minutes I think.

Yeah the plastic lid is problemsome. It may be because of it's a confined space and also have a plastic lid on top... I'll see if I can do something about it so I doesn't take so long to render.

[DJbLAZER]

Added the white version of TAC-2.

[Jr.Who]

Jeez, these renders are just pure awesomeness. :bow:

[DJbLAZER]

My modelling of game controllers goes on...

This time it's Wico command control.

[jsprogg]

Steady DJ you are going to get us all envious of your controller collection :)

Very nice render btw.

[DJbLAZER]

Hehe... I only own the gravis gamepad actually... the others are long gone.... so I modelled them after photos.

[arran]

****! i think i had that one - that is so weird!

[DJbLAZER]

Here's the famous "Red Ball".

And good news: I just found out that I sold my TAC-2-model on Turbosquid for $20, I got $10. Woohoo! :attn: My first earnings in the 3D-field :)

[THX1138]

Man, those controllers bring back memories! You should model the Atari 2600 game system next!:beer:

[DJbLAZER]

Hehe... that was before my time though, I was too young to have seen it in action. Got my first computer, C-64, around 1986-87 when I was 10-11.

[marlonjohn]

Funny how, if we look at the controllers back then we may probably say the design is totally horrible or crap, though in 50 years down the track we will be criticizing the ones we have now :p


Steady DJ you are going to get us all envious of your controller collection :)

Haha agreed ;)