Nov/Dec - Norm - THX1138
 

I had a feeling this challenge would go "realism", but anyway , I'm in aswell. Will have an idea soon.

Ok, here is my entry.

I'm going to model the thing I work most with at my job.

Here pictured is a 35mm film projector. It's the same exact model I work with at my theater, and being a theater projectionist, I thought it might be cool to show off what I work with. FYI, the picture is not from my theater. This pic is from the UA Denver Pavillions 15: Denver, Colorado

I have some pics of my projection booth, but unfortunately I have missplaced the pics. I might just reshoot some pic's again.

Dude, that is a really interesting thing to model! Good luck!

It's a fairly complex thing, doesn't it? I hope you have success in modeling it!

It shouldn't be hard to model at all. I know this projector inside and out because I work on them all the time. It's merely just a bunch of basic shapes. The only challenging thing about it is that it's got alot of really small parts.

Nice choice!

It will be a few days before I post any WIPS on this. I have got to go over what I want to model seperately and what not. There is actually alot of stuff to this machine that you cant see, and I would like to show all that I can to the best of my ability. I cant say that it will be 100% accurate but it will be really close.

Info for the competitors that don't know. Be shure to check out the competition from the Lightwave, 3DS Max, and Zbrush sites ( if a simply Zbrush site exists ), they are in this challenge also.

Hey THX1138! Goodluck, dude! This could really rock.

Dave

Well, here are the first of many WIPS for this project. This is the "main" frame work for the projector. This is where the power transformers, diods, and bulb are located within the projector. The two parts that are sticking out the front connect to the head unit. The head unit is the part that the film goes through. I still have quite a bit to do the the main body.

A shot of the other side. The open areas are where the access panels will go.

nice start Txt

Thanks Vim! Your entry is a true inspiration. Mine wont be as pretty as yours, but it will have the same level of detail. It's too bad film projectors aren't built for looks.

lol,
looks to be starting off nicely nice n clean :D

Forgot to say thanks to Swankmonkey. Been busy with this project. Thanks for the comment! :)

Thanks for the comment magicsy! I'm really looking forward to modeling the head unit. Lots of cool stuff to show on it. Stuff that might make you say... Hmmmmmmm. Right know it's just a bare shell of a projector. Not much to look at.

np, will look good when those glowing lights are added and rendered.

Here are a couple of WIP renders .

Close up view of the Bulb Console.

Looking good man. Somehow I think my Panasonic AE100 would look like a toy in comparison :D

It should look a lot better when I have all the buttons and switches applied. I still have alot to do this the part of the projector. Then on to half that the film runs through. The final and biggest challenge will be the lighting.

Glad you like the work so far!

Well its really coming together. How big is the projector?

nice progress :)

looks like its going to be complicated but its a great object to model

BMS, The projector stands about 6 feet tall, and It's around 5 1/2 feet long . It's about 3 feet in width also.

t1ck135, It's not really all that complicated, it just has alot of really small parts.

You are doing very good. Congrats, I'm seeing this will be a great entry. Keep it up!

Looking Great THX1138 :attn:

Man that's a big projector! I've always wondered what they looked like and how big they would be.

Thanks for the info.

Cheers
Paul

CHRISTIE is not the only brand of projector theaters are using. Other brands are SIMPLEX, CINEMECCANICA, CINETECH, CENTURY, NORELCO, BALLANTYNE, DEVRY, ERNEMANN, GUAMONE-KALEE, SPECTRA, BRENKERT, and BAUER. There are more but I cant recall the names. The CHRISTIE is the most user friendly in my experience and in my opinion. However I cant say the CHRISTIE is the best one. I hear the CINETECH is the best one currently.

If you think the christie projector is big, get a load of this one. This projector pictured is a mix and match between 2 different brands ( SIMPLEX and STRONG ).

Should fit in my bedroom just nicely.....how small a screen can I get away with? ....hehe

It all depends on the bulb wattage. Small screens will use a lower wattage bulb. The small screens at my theater use 2000 watt bulbs and the Large use 4000 watts. The lowest I have heard of is 450 watts ( I think this would illuminate a home theater sized screen ok. ). These types bulbs are " Xenon projector bulbs of course".

Sorry for the lack up updates. I seem to be having a "Open GL Z-Buffer depth problem" My models are breking up a bit around the edges when a scroll back. Any help on this would be great.

A pic of what the problem looks like.

Ok, I have solved the problem. It was my near plane camera clipping. Will have more WIPS comming soon.

glad you figured the clipping issue out, here's hoping to see some more updates :)

I'm glad I popped by this thread, I also had the same problem, works fine for me now too when I increased the near clip plane distance.

Good luck on the monster projector modeling!

Still trying to get those updates up folks. Been installing and learning special Mental Ray shaders for the lighting of this projector. I'm more concerned with the lighting than anything else. I still have a ways to go before I can show any final lighting concepts.

DJbLAZER, It's good to know my problem has helped others out. My near clip was at 0.001 and I set it to 0.1 to fix the problem.

hmm i keep having a problem when i use my scale option it kinda wont go smaller (the poly or nurb i create) also it only goes larger in like a snap to grid kinda way.? any ideas?

magicsy, can you show a pic of the problem? It kinda sounds like you need to delete your history, but thats just a guess. I could be way off.

hey magicsy, go to modify>Transform Tools>Scale Tool>Option box. see whether the options there have changed. if they have, then reset it, and it might work...

THX, why was keeping the near clip plane value too small a problem for you?
i thought it should be the other way around. that, if your near clip value is too large, then you zoom in on an object, and the nearest objects would start disappearing...
just curious....

cheers its ok now i went to transform option box n reset Cheers guys. :)

utpal, 0.100 is my default setting for the near clipping in Maya 6.5. All my old projects use the same setting. I don't know if the other versions of maya use the same setting or not. It looks as if my near clip reset itself to a different value on my projector project. Near clipping works a bit different than you think. Try messing with your setting and see what happens. It's pretty intresting.