Mechanical Spider
 

Just the rough base and legs for a mechanical spider I am working on as part of an animation. This is the first proper model and animation I have worked on, so any suggestions are welcome. The whole thing is modelled entirely from extruded cubes and cylinders.

looks like a cool idea. would like to see some more renders of different angles and perhaps a concept to see where you are going.

its looks like that contraption type thing in star wars (episode 1). the thing the bad guy rides on when he is talking with the queen.

Agreed, and a wireframe too if you please! God...how i love my wireframes...mmmm....

Looks nice so far! :)

and now for the cannon
 

here's the cannon that will be mounted on the spider. The fuel feed still needs doing, and a bit more detail to allow me to animate recoil, but the actuator at the back works (I did it using skeletons and an aim constraint. simple but effective.

actuator short

actuator extended

Is the piston locked in position? ie if you move the actuator it moves on its own...or do you have to move it every time? I would like to learn how to make an actual piston that works when you move the model.

when you turn the central sphere, both parts of the piston move accordingly. It's quite simple to do with a skeleton and a couple of aim constraints. I will do a little tutorial tonight if I can.

Its a cool start to your model, but a suggestion - try to avoid sharp edges on the legs etc give them a bevel this way it will look far more realistic in the final renders to come, as the spec hilites will bounce off nicely.

Cheers
Jay

Thanks for the suggestion. My problem is that sometimes it ends up beveling edges that I don't want beveling.

Here is the next step. After days of mucking around I have managed to rig the feeder line from the fuel tank at the back onto the cannon body in such a way that when I rotate it, the feder line bends accordingly. The feeder line is not a perfect curve, and it's not meant to be really. besides I couldn't get the IK splines doing what I want. It was tough enough the way I did it.

and here is the cannon down, to show the effect a bit more.

Then dont select those edges or faces, or use extrude instead, never say die...

Jay

Following Jay's advice, I took the opportunity to remodel the leg a little bit, adding some bevelling and extra details. As with the cannon, the pistons on the legs are functional.

This is coming along really nicely, love the style. How large is the cannon in comparison to the mechanical spider?

Also i'm curious as to what the plan is for your animation.

The cannon will cover about a third of the octagonal base in the first pic (although the base will change completely. There will also be a cockpit for the pilot, and 2 other units, one mounted at the back and another to the other side.

and as for the plans.... aah I don't want to spoil it :)

The drive section of the leg is complete, and I added a little more detail to the legs. you can see the pipes here. I need to figure out how to get the drive gear to turn in the opposite direction to the gear on the leg joint.... looking that up now.

<update> got the gears meshing with set driven keys, thanks to kevin for the free SDK tutorials.

and the final joint has a driving gear. again with set driven key.

WOW! :eek:

I'd love to see an animation test.....

I have a rendered anim of the gear section turning, but it's too big to post, even as a rar. I'll see if I can compress it a bit more.


here is the leg joint section complete now, apart from two bits I will do at the end. this will attach to the base when that is done.

this has come quite a way since the first render.

Taking great shape Ed !!

Have you designed a walk cycle yet? That can be difficult with only 2 legs, I think you have your work cut out for you with 8....

Also, if you need a place to upload video, you might try: http://savefile.com/ . Free file hosting of up to 60MB per file.

lol looks creepy but i like it alot :attn: