Mar/Apr - Noob - Eelco - Simply Maya User Community

# 1 08-03-2005 , 10:58 AM

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Mar/Apr - Noob - Eelco

Well ... This is going to be my concept robot for the competition. It's an office desk helper! We all know the egg-shaped pencil sharpener? Exactly that ... but ... it's ALIVE!! ALIVE!!! :laugh:

A one-wheel propulsioned pencil sharpener with 2 long arms to collect pencils and stick 'm in his magnetised paperclip-collecting head to sharpen them. Then clamp 'm on its back. Also has storage space for an eraser.

First I wanted to go for a more scrap metal robot look (like in the "Robots" movie). A tiny external gasoline engine, rivet-plated body, hydraulic arms with tubes sticking out.
But on second though.. I'd need to scale up the model to make more space, losing its cute and tiny kinda look. And it would require me to give it complicated textures (complicated for me that is). Besides .. less is more.
So I'm gonna stick with the smooth plastic looking electro engined model.

All I now have to do .... is learn Maya modeling ... lol :p

What do u all think?

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Last edited by Eelco; 08-03-2005 at 11:00 AM.

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# 2 08-03-2005 , 03:12 PM

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Excellent! This looks fun!

AIM: mhcannonDMC

"If you love your job, you'll never work another day in your life."

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# 3 08-03-2005 , 04:41 PM

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hahaha this is so cute !

Carsten Lind
Senior 3D Artist,
Maya Software Manager & Maya Instructor
LEGO Systems A/S

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# 4 08-03-2005 , 11:08 PM

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I like it. Great idea.

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# 5 09-03-2005 , 12:32 AM

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awesome, if u pull off a good texture and rendering, and with this model, im tellin ya rite now, u have a very good chance that ur gonna be one of the few to actually have a chance to win!! Good Luck

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# 6 09-03-2005 , 04:01 PM

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Thanks all for the positive reactions. Glad u all like it.
I'm still not sure whether to change the arms to the flexible doc Ock tentacle kinda tubes or not. It would allow the character to grap things more easier from its back. Of course its gonna keep its mickey mouse gloves user added image

Give me a few days to get the hang of modeling, and I'll try to post some rough modeled renderings.

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# 7 09-03-2005 , 06:07 PM

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Originally posted by Eelco
Give me a few days to get the hang of modeling...

Originally Posted by

Now THATS optimism! user added image

AIM: mhcannonDMC

"If you love your job, you'll never work another day in your life."

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# 8 15-03-2005 , 06:19 AM

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Great concept. The scary part is I woke up this morning and see myself in your design haha. Hope you get the modeling sorted and all. Don't be shy to ask questions around here. There are no stupid questions. Only bad explanations and answers.

Have fun with this one.

Currently working on reclaiming Space
The Salvation Prophecy

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# 9 23-03-2005 , 08:25 AM

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Finally I got something worth posting; a bold pose of my character user added image

Still need to add some things like panels and rails for the pencil-clips on its back. They'll be popping out of some panel and rail them self in position. Still needs some way to storage erasers. But the basic elements are there.
I gave him a bit more complex arms than in my original design to make them look heavier. But i think they're still simple and crudely shaped enough to pass as cartoon-like arms.

I want to Blend Shape animate the eyelids (make 'm blink with cartoon-like expressions). I haven't touched the Blend Shape animation chapter yet, but think I can master the basics in time.
However I'm not sure if I should model the character with bulged eyes (1) or make them sink in the head (2). The eyelids are still simple spheres with start/end sweep to give an impression, but will make them look more organically later.
The big bulging eyes look funnier but I think they're hard to model from the head-shape because the eyelids intersect. Expecting it to be harder to give them individual expressions.
If I were to place them on the head like they are now (1), I'm afraid the junction of the head and eyelids wont look nice and organic enough. Maybe I'll have to seperate them by scaling the eyes a bit. :ermm:
I would very much get some ideas and suggestions on this from you all.

If I were to sink the eyes in the head, I'd need to add eyebrows to fill up the empty forehead. I should spend more time on the eyebrows, because it now makes 'm look like some sly Casanova. :laugh:

But in all .. what do u think?

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Last edited by Eelco; 23-03-2005 at 08:28 AM.

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# 10 31-03-2005 , 01:58 AM

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I wasn't satisfied with the arms so I changed them again. I wanted to have more things going on the arms. The head itself isn't much more than an egg-shape, so had to put some detail somewhere else to keep it a bit interesting for the competition. Therefore I also changed the Mickey Mouse hands with real robot-like hands.
I probably going to add some cables and stuff to fill it up a bit. But I think I'll go with this one.
I'm afraid there is not much to texture. Everything is suppose to be squeaky clean. So I guess it's going to be:
- Chrome for the arms and wheel-rim,
- Plastic yellow for the body/head and arm patches,
- Rubber black for the tires
- But I will try something nice with the eyes user added image

Any suggestions/comments making it more interesting?

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# 11 31-03-2005 , 02:24 AM

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Looks pritty cool. can we see some wire frams, and maby a bit closer up on the arms.

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# 12 31-03-2005 , 02:37 AM

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I Love This Bot! Great character. I vote for bulging eyes, for the character it gives it. The new arms look more viable, but I think the old arms fit the look better. The post was worth the wait. rock on.

AIM: mhcannonDMC

"If you love your job, you'll never work another day in your life."

Last edited by mhcannon; 31-03-2005 at 09:42 PM.

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# 13 31-03-2005 , 04:44 PM

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yeah ... the previous set of arms suit the bot's design a bit better (less is more). But I'm afraid that the judges wont have anything to judge on ... i mean .. 2 pieces of gemotery stuck together for arms ?? hehehe user added image

Now I get to chance to show off hydrolic pistons that actually do things and stuff user added image

Here is a wireframe capture ... it's full of stuff ... I can't even figure all the wires out. But you asked for it user added image

The blocky parts at the shoulder, elbow and wrist are polygons. The cylinders, tubes and balls are NURBS The last 2 knockels on each finger are poly cylinders however (might redo the fingers to remove some detail at the top). The arm patches are SUBDivs (poly hand-patch forgot to convert).

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# 14 31-03-2005 , 09:18 PM

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nice. lol i see u did the hand tutorial at highend3d

I'm not a geek. I'm a nerd.

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I'm up for a chat anytime.

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# 15 01-04-2005 , 01:32 AM

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Yep, I checked out Craig Daughtrey's great tutorial "Mech Hand" for some inspiration. I only followed the finger's design for my arm as placeholders and the technique to animate the pistons. That's why I still want to redo the fingers. They feel alien to me cause ther're not my design. user added image

Everything from the hand's knockles and up are my own though.

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