Ornathopter - Game Model - Simply Maya User Community

# 1 24-03-2007 , 04:29 AM

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Ornathopter - Game Model

This was a project we were working on in class at Escape. We had about 3 days to get as much done as possible to complete the model from a concept sketch (unable to show you that at the moment sorry, but will try to get permission).

It's not something I would've normally have thought to model but it's actually rather good fun. There were 2 vehicles to choose from based on a Flushed Away / Stuart Little style game that was planned but never made it. The first was a Teapot Submarine, the other was this - the Ornathopter. Made of a battery, electric motor, a few furniture casters, a couple of beer lids, a cork, lollysticks and other stuff. If you're wondering, the main character is a mouse, who has a professor mouse constructing vehicles and weaponry for him out of random household bits n pieces.

This will get finished shortly as my course has now ended and I need some portfolio-ness while I'm currently unemployed. After this is complete, I will go back and basically redo almost everything else of mine in the WIP's section ... the low poly axe should be fine as is but the speeder and rider are almost certainly going to be restarted.

The modelling is still in progress so this is NOT a finished AO render! It's just easier to see details like this. Eventually it'll be textured and normal/AO mapped. Model limit is 10,000 tris. Crits welcome chaps.

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Game art WIP - Speeder Bike
Game art WIP - Speeder Bike Rider
Game art WIP - Ornathopter!

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# 2 24-03-2007 , 11:20 AM

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Looks nice, but looks like more than 10 000 tris... how many is it?

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# 3 24-03-2007 , 11:52 AM

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Thanks, at the moment, i'm at about 8800. So I'm not heading seriously over budget but yeah, I will need to cut back a bit in places to get the rest done. Hopefully it shouldn't affect the visuals too much, if at all really. Well, thats the plan anyway!

I'll have another update tomorrow night, as I plan to get the grey model done by tuesday.

Game art WIP - Speeder Bike
Game art WIP - Speeder Bike Rider
Game art WIP - Ornathopter!

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# 4 24-03-2007 , 12:49 PM

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Nice model, simple and sweet. I'm impressed that your poly count seems very low. What does AO stand for (excuse me I'm a rookie).

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# 5 24-03-2007 , 09:46 PM

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AO = Ambient Occlusion. I would explain it but you're better off looking for a proper definition. Thanks for the comment - if the polycount seems higher than it is then I'm doing an ok job i guess!

Game art WIP - Speeder Bike
Game art WIP - Speeder Bike Rider
Game art WIP - Ornathopter!

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# 6 27-03-2007 , 01:40 AM

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Here's an update AO render. The gearing + rotor's are modified to create a controlled lift. Kind of unnecessary some might say for a fantasy vehicle but my tutor said we must include a counter rotor somewhere. I think it's turned out ok. I've chucked out the placeholder rear wheel too and sorted it. Funny thing is now I'm down to about 7700 as I had to take the drillbit out for modifications which was tri heavy. I also cleaned up a bit elsewhere so I've got more polys to play with for wires, glue, staples and other fastening stuffs.

And yes, I know the switch is floating user added image

I'm probably changing it a bit for a variable lever switch thing soon.

Next thing is adding a bit of meccano (or similar) to hold the rotor up. It's gonna be a long night. user added image

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ID: 33691

Game art WIP - Speeder Bike
Game art WIP - Speeder Bike Rider
Game art WIP - Ornathopter!

Last edited by petrol; 27-03-2007 at 01:42 AM.

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# 7 27-03-2007 , 09:00 AM

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Cool little model!

"No pressure, no diamonds" Thomas Carlyle

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# 8 28-03-2007 , 05:46 PM

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Cheers dude user added image

Right I've started getting down to details. I've bevelled the wood and placed the wires and some staples. I need to solder the wires to the switch still, and tape the excess wire to the frame. I also have to add glue, some string, and possibly another staple or two to secure the chassis together.

Thankfully I'm at 8800 tris at the moment (cleaning up along the way) so I'm not struggling to stay in budget. Thoughts and crits appreciated.

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Name: ao_perspwip4.jpg
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Size: 68.7 KB
ID: 33730

Game art WIP - Speeder Bike
Game art WIP - Speeder Bike Rider
Game art WIP - Ornathopter!

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# 9 28-03-2007 , 06:35 PM

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hey man looking good. what are you AO settings there? getting a nice detailed render and when i did mine it just wasnt as clear?

keep up the good work

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# 10 29-03-2007 , 05:07 AM

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Thanks rcb25! Does yours come out grainy when you try it? If thats the case, just click on the mib_amb_occ node and open its attributes. Up the samples from 16 to whatever you require. Best way to test is good old power of 2, go from 16 to 32 to 64 to 128 etc until you're happy with the result!

Hope that helps!

Game art WIP - Speeder Bike
Game art WIP - Speeder Bike Rider
Game art WIP - Ornathopter!

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# 11 29-03-2007 , 07:18 AM

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So coool that no critic can had.....really nice

"One day someone tells me that I was no one, no one is perfect, if God is perfect so I'm God" - No One

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# 12 29-03-2007 , 09:09 AM

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cheers mate will give that a crack. did you apply the same AO material to the walls and floor? i love how clean it looks!

im loving the detail of the wires. how did you model that as my current turntable project may require some fiddly wires like that and I dont no the best way to do it. Nurbs cylinders?

robin

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# 13 29-03-2007 , 10:19 AM

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Thanks Gamester user added image

rcb25 : Well I only have a 'floor' in my scene, no walls. To get the 'total white' effect just open the attributes for your persp camera, change under the 'Environment' tab the background colour to white.

The wires are really simple. Make a face of the shape you want your wire diameter to be (circular, square... as many edges as you like). Use the CV curve tool to create your wire path from the center of the face/s. Select face/s, then shift select the wire coming out of it. Use the extrude option box to extrude along selected curve with however many divisions you like. Don't worry about getting it right first time, just adjust the divisions in your extrude history and even the control vertex points on your CV curve history after its created to move the geometry. Hope that makes sense :s

Game art WIP - Speeder Bike
Game art WIP - Speeder Bike Rider
Game art WIP - Ornathopter!

Last edited by petrol; 07-04-2007 at 01:07 PM.

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# 14 29-03-2007 , 10:37 AM

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cheers man.. much appreciated! wow there is so much to learn. when you think you have one thing down something else pops up! haha

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# 15 29-03-2007 , 01:35 PM

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Indeed

Well here's what I've ended up with. Edit : Rendering another view so you can see new bits better.

Anyway hopefully starting to unwrap soon! The model won't change much from here so this might be the last wipshot for a bit. Constructive crits appreciated!

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