Incredible! This is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for, but I didn't know how to describe it:
*This is going to take a while to read and experiment with so I don't know when there's going to be progress...
Thanks again!
Benny

I've been playing around with some of the stuff I've read. Most of it I knew already but it gave me a different view at things.
I've learned a LOT from the photoshop tips (that's not surprising as barely knew anything in it...). Thanks again :bow: .

Here's a render I did:
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/9163/tempsr9.th.png

Using a marble texture and the following textures from CGtextures:
http://www.cgtextures.com/texview.ph...63ffb52ac38e92
http://www.cgtextures.com/texview.ph...63ffb52ac38e92
http://www.cgtextures.com/texview.ph...63ffb52ac38e92

I'll soon get back to texturing my fridge... we'll see how it goes now ;) .
C&C please,
Benny

Fridge progress
 

Here's where I've got so far:
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/4889/temprr0.th.png

The rails look HORRIBLE :eek: but I have no idea how to improve them... I'll probably redo them later on.
Besides that I'm pretty pleased with these textures so far.
It takes a LOT of time drawing them in Photoshop (That's what I've been doing most of today and yesterday and I've got ~15% of them done. I keep postponing the texturing of wooden pieces since I've got no idea how I'm going to do those as well.
C&C please,
Benny

P.S.
I've discovered the drawbacks of running Maya and Photoshop with 1024X1024 multi-layered files on a 2.6 GHz (single core) Computer 5 seconds at a time (with 2 second intervals in which I could actually do something :( )

grab an image of wood and use that as your texture

it seems like whereever possible you shouldn't go reinventing the wheel

if the texture already exists somewhere then use it :p

I do use existing textures but they are seldom exactly what I'm looking for according to the reference... I haven't yet found a wood texture suitable for my plywood cover so I'm going draw that one anyway(based on other textures... I've got more then 30MB of those from CG Textures).

BTW, what's the best way of creating a bump map from a wood texture? Brightness-contrast modification don't seem to work.

Desaturate the image

Lol, I do use desaturated images for everything but color... Though I'm not sure that even matters. The output color for these is all about brightness anyway. Or is it?

something I forgot to post earlier is that I've made some modifications with the hull:
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/5647/templs9.th.png

I didn't get the desired effect with bump mapping since I needed bumps on my edges so I modeled them, and I also separated the inner and outer hull (it also solved a few problems with bump depth*** and texture size).

*** - Don't judge it by this picture

BTW, How do you like my new avatar?
Benny

yeah dude, love the avatar! looks a lot more fancier than your old one!
you made it yourself right?

I can't really take full credit for it because I used a fluid example from Maya that I played around with for those flames (It doesn't really look like flames that far away)
The rest I did myself - extrude along a CV curve, some tweaking, added a customized material with some glow and added a background + scaled it in PS.

Now that I look at it I can't take credit for the dog as well since it's from Kurt's tutorial... I grew tired of it anyway.

By the end of this challenge I hope to be able to use these particles/fluids on my own (I think I'll add some dust to the final render).

I'll go on now with my texturing. I'll post some progress soon hopefully...
Benny

Progress for today:
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/2953/tempql0.th.png

I put some some basic materials on the wires too but that isn't very exciting.

No, I didn't make up the logo (I bet someone will ask this one):
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/1...2747eu0.th.jpg

I'm going to a training now so I'm done for today I think.
C&C please,
Benny

nice job benny - this is looking good - hope you keep adding more detail and grime. :)

Thanks Arran, I certainly will ;) .
A bit of progress:
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/5232/tempjr1.th.png

Textured the cover - now that I look at it I think I'll tweak it some more so it doesn't resemble the shelf that much.
Fixed the rails' texture, though I left a bit of a rusty feeling to it in addition to the dust for more variety.
Also added some detail and bumps to the rag...

C&C please,
Benny

Finished the hull for now, got started on the frame:
http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/3430/temphl6.th.png

Used a high quality render this time to see if there's any difference.

C&C please,
Benny

the inside parts look pretty cool,

i think you could make the rust more ummm... prominent? (i think that's word i'm looking for), make it more like it's there

otherwise, what you textured so far looks damn good :)

Thanks Chirone,
The rust isn't really there in my refs, so I don't want to get too far away from those.
I thought I'll post my textures so you guys can tell me what you think:
Inner hull-
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/5655/hulloc8.th.png
Outer hull-
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/6127/ohullre4.th.png
Bottom shelf-
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/5...helfkj0.th.png
Top shelves-
http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/1...helfns7.th.png
Rails-
http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/5039/railstb3.th.png
Cover-
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/8161/coverxr3.th.png
Metal Supports-
http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/6181/fixfx8.th.png
Rag-
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7621/ragpt7.th.png
Rubber strips-
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/4...tripmn9.th.png

Most textures I used are 1024X1024. these are simply scaled down.

Any critics and comments are welcome at this point. I've still got a lot to do here, and there's still no deadline in sight so It's never to late for more adjustments.
Benny

Had only two hours on the computer today... I hadn't done much :( , and I'm going to a training again so I'm done for today.

I added some details to the frame for texturing's sake:
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/8656/tempre6.th.png
I haven't checked my poly-count in a long time so I attached it as well.
Spent the rest of my time re-editing the UVs (redoing actually).

Tomorrow I should get started on texturing the frame.

Benny

Started texturing the frame:
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/4958/templg0.th.png

First wood texture! :attn:
What do yo think?
Benny

Awesome progress BennyK, the texturing look first rate! :beer:

haha, was going to saying 'fridges aren't made of wood' but then i relooked at your reference and it is

maybe that's why it was abandoned :p

Thanks THX
Chirone: this fridge is over 20 years old!!! it has a wooden frame and a metal hull. the design is pretty efficient since there is a layer of heat isolation(air) between the two.

I also did the second part of the frame yesterday but I decided It's not enough to post by itself. here it is:
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/1095/tempfo4.th.png

I'm going to start on (hopefully finish) the plywood today. I'll be posting more progress soon.
C&C please,
Benny

OK, I'm done for today...
Here's what I've done:
http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/5751/tempdb7.th.png

Got two more pieces of plywood to texture but they're barely visible so it won't take much time. I need to give my brother the computer again :(.

EDIT: I can also see from this render I've got to fix the materials for the top shelves...

C&C please, especially for the plywood,
Benny

that's bizarre - you have a wooden fridge!

looking very good so far - not sure about the back bit - is there space between the wooden frame and metal case? i might try to push the color contrast in certain places - just so it doesn't look too samey.

coming along nicely though. :)

There is approximately 10cm between the frame and the hull.
Progress so far:
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/4617/temped0.th.png

Finished the frame and the hull, and fixed the angle of the anisotropic reflectivity.

Just the door left now! :attn:

Now's a good time to ask you about good lighting tutorials...
So, C&C and lighting tutorials please,
Benny

Progress on the door...
 

More downtime or is it just me? I tried downforeveryoneorjustme but it told me something weird about simplymaya not being a site or something. Never mind that now... here's the progress on the door so far:
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/6574/tempjq6.th.png
And from the final render angle:
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/4201/tempsq5.th.png

Almost done with basic textures! :attn: :attn: :attn:

How about those lighting/rendering tutorials?
C&C please,
Benny

EDIT:
BTW, I remember reading about blured reflections. How do you make one?

the wood texture looks a bit big to me. i also still think you need to push the color contrast - everything looks like it has the same value at the moment.

looks very nice, BennyK, I like the texture work :)

Joopson: Yah, thanks, Me too :beer: (though I'm still too young)

Arran: I tried to increase the contrast as much as possible by adding different sorts of grim, but keep in mind that the wood parts are supposed to look about the same color since no one wants a colorful fridge ;)

I'll be pretty busy today so I don't think there'll be any progress soon :(

Benny

how old are you, BennyK? I picture you being like 48, haha

Haha, 48... I'm only 16. I believe I mentioned it here somewhere around 1st of August.

How about some rendering/lighting tutorials? I could use some advice here since I barely even know what's mental ray...

I'll continue with the texturing tomorrow meanwhile...
Benny

it's not that i think it should be more colorful - but rather that the tones need more contrast - even in your ref pictures you can see a lot more variation. at some point it's likely that that wood was painted / varnished - you can even see it on the side (i think) so there would be traces of that as well. i usually find that you have to push the contrast in ps as things tend to look a little bland when applied to the model. anyway, sorry to go on...

as for lighting / rendering tutorials, you'll likely get a better response if you ask more specific questions. you should be able to find decent tutorials if you just google. in the meantime, check out the 3 point lighting tutorial here....

http://3drender.com/archives/index.htm

i'm wondering where you got this idea from! i always thought he was younger than 18 before i saw his birthday post :p

as for lighting and rendering tutorials... not sure of any ones outside of the maya tutorials

i haven't get gotten round to that part... still fine tuning other things...

Thanks for the tutorials Arran, I'm currently reading Maya's help on rendering, waiting to find something useful.
Pushed the contrast a bit:
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/1197/temprd7.th.png
C&C please,
Benny

Your project is really looking good BennyK

Thanks Perfecto, I'm waiting to see what comes out (or slams in) to your wheal chair ;) .

I need help with a problem I encountered while trying to texture the handle - The UVs became rotated in a nasty way since I opened (rotated around the hinges) the door (a group containing all the relevant objects). When I rotate it back it goes back to the way it's supposed to be. How can I fix it so it won't be effected by rotation? I really don't want lay the UVs for it over again...
Thanks in advance,
Benny

you just need to delete the history before rotating.

Thanks Arran (again...)
Here's the handle:
http://imageshack.us/thumbnmail.png
And from the render camera:
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/8230/tempmm7.th.png
C&C please,
Benny

DONE TEXTURING!!! (basicly)
 

The logo:
http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/8772/temppj0.th.png

Now I need to figure out how to use shadows in this scene...

I've also started experimenting with 3D liquid but I think it's not what I need in this case. Anyone knows how to get a feeling of dust?

C&C&Help please,
Benny

You've done a really great job on the texturing and modeling. As for shadows, there should be some really great information in your help files (F1). But the very basics, is to select your light and then in the attributes, under the shadow section, check either "use dept map shadows" or if you are going to render with Mental Ray, check "Use Ray Trace Shadows".

For Dept Map Shadows: 1) Higher Resolution makes cleaner shadows but increases render time. 2) Filter size adjusts the sharpness of the shadow edges whether you want soft shadows or harsh shadows.

For Ray Trace Shadows: 1) Higher Light Radius makes shadows softer, lower radius makes shadows harsher. 2) More shadow rays makes cleaner shadows, less rays makes shadows more grainy looking.

For more detailed shadow information, search around in your help files, but this should give you a decent start. Good job so far BennyK

Thanks Perfecto but I know how to do shadows. the problem is the creativity it takes to create the light in a way that the shadows will look good (with the fridge door blocking the whole interior it is tricky to get realistic shadows and still make the scene look good).
Here's the render with more work on the lights + shadows on:
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/6374/tempaq6.th.png

Still need help with the dust...
C&C please,
Benny

what about using a particle emitter?
have a -ve run up on the timeline so frame1 (or does it start from 0?) will have some particles

or maybe just texture on some particles? merik was playing with texture layers before, so maybe you could do something similar