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Re: Limit Theory Fan Contest - Discussion

#2027
CSE wrote:
Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:14 pm
So, here is the current status with regards to lights and angle of view / focal length:

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So basically I get the effect I want with the volumetric lights (glowing material is not possible, because I want to have no ambient lighting - in space without atmosphere, there is no such thing, which makes the typical very sharp shadows).
Two issues with it:
  • you cannot really control the decay (or at least I did not find how) so you cannot control independently the strength of the light and the size of the halo. I would like for instance to have a much brighter engine glow, but without it to extend much further away...
  • The second issue is for my "post-processing" - when I save the image with the option to have transparency (which I need to paste the ship later on a nice starry background) then the whole glow is considered fully transparent - in other words, it is not part of the picture. The picture above was saved without transparency - but how to paste it on a background?
    I have found a possible workflow ( a - copy non transparent picture in B&W in a new picture (temp), b - invert temp, c - copy alpha mask from transparent picture parties using magic wand to pick each opaque zone, d - paste in temp picture and adjust at the correct pixel, repeat c/d for each opaque zone, e - copy temp picture in alpha mask of non transparent picture, f - save as png and adapt levels) but this is cumbersome, needs pixel-precise manual placement of masks and need it for every contiguous ship.

Still, thanks HS, it was a good tip! :thumbup:

Note: in Vue, it is possible to select light by light what other objects are impacted by it! Using this, I could avoid that the colourful halo of the blue shuttle make ugly spots on the capital ship!

For the angle of view, the deformation is now more visible, it does look more massive. As thesleeve said - to get more effect I would need to renounce having the full model in view :cry:
No worries :twisted: I often use spheres with some kinda' cloud material to create nebulae for the background, or if I want to use an image a plane will work. That way I don't have to do any post processing at all.

Why not try animating it? Some kinda' flyby or something, with some other ships pottering around for scale?
0111narwhalz wrote:
Fri Mar 23, 2018 1:15 am
More of a general spaceship question than one relating specifically to capitals, but it's harder to answer with bigger ships.
What do you do with the stern of a spacecraft? I'm getting tired of just filling them with engines, and searching for references has proved fruitless ("spaceship stern" returns aircraft tails and spacecraft bows).
Well, you could try having a rear docking/launch bay? Or some kinda' shipyard or resource extraction thingy, like an asteroid cracker or something. If you have the engines at the front in a puller configuration or at the sides the world is your oyster!

You could also have some kinda' fins like the Minbari, or spiky bits like the Shadows.
Cody wrote:
Fri Mar 23, 2018 6:02 am
0111narwhalz wrote:
Fri Mar 23, 2018 1:15 am
What do you do with the stern of a spacecraft?
Plaster it with tailpipe stickers!
We brake for nobody! :twisted:
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Re: Limit Theory Fan Contest - Discussion

#2028
0111narwhalz wrote:
Fri Mar 23, 2018 1:15 am
More of a general spaceship question than one relating specifically to capitals, but it's harder to answer with bigger ships.
What do you do with the stern of a spacecraft? I'm getting tired of just filling them with engines, and searching for references has proved fruitless ("spaceship stern" returns aircraft tails and spacecraft bows).
Perhaps the whole habitat ?
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:ugeek:
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Re: Limit Theory Fan Contest - Discussion

#2029
HowSerendipitous wrote:
Fri Mar 23, 2018 7:10 am
No worries :twisted: I often use spheres with some kinda' cloud material to create nebulae for the background, or if I want to use an image a plane will work. That way I don't have to do any post processing at all.

Why not try animating it? Some kinda' flyby or something, with some other ships pottering around for scale?
Well, the animation bit - it's several hours of render for one picture and my computer is again at the limit just when moving the scene around, so I guess this is a bit beyond reasonable. There are however several small ships flying around - the "forklifts" and in the last picture, some fighters. Below there is a shuttle also.

For the background: my competence is not yet at the level of NASA :(

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Re: Limit Theory Fan Contest - Discussion

#2031
CSE: WOW. Just...wow. So cool! I see you've been infected by the graphics :monkey:. Congratulations!

My real-world 3D job this week made LTFC modelling seem more like homework than fun. Today, after some much needed rest and Battlefield 1, I'm feeling rejuvenated. WIP's by the end of the weekend... :geek: and judging by what I've seen from the last couple of days I've got my work cut out for me. I can't make a few suggestions and then post some crap! :D
"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things."
-Col. Lewis B. Puller, USMC
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Re: Limit Theory Fan Contest - Discussion

#2032
Here you go!

Most modelling of large bits is done. Once I finish those I'll tackle turrets, comms, small-craft...the details essentially. Then materials, followed by textures, lighting and so on...but pretty pleased with the progress so far. A little less stressed, too: I re-read Tal's new LTFC breakdown when I thought I was running out of time. Cap-Ships till the end of April...it's not even April yet. Phew! Plenty of time to realize my plans! Mwah-hahahahaha! :twisted:

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"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things."
-Col. Lewis B. Puller, USMC
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Re: Limit Theory Fan Contest - Discussion

#2034
Thanks! Yeah, it could be anything at the moment...the small details will help out a lot. The big gaps in the front will be hangar bays. Most of the 'window' looking bits on the side will be gun galleries or additional launch bays. There's probably going to be a ridiculous number of small guns. The thing will most likely end up looking furry from distance... :lol:

Inspiration is from what little I can remember of Gamelan carrier's from Star Blazers as well as a bit from contemporary Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, but with the AA load-out similar to an Essex (multiplied by many times). This is the first large-scale modelling project I've done in a long while so interested to see where it ends up going!
"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things."
-Col. Lewis B. Puller, USMC
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Re: Limit Theory Fan Contest - Discussion

#2036
Cornflakes_91 wrote:
Tue Mar 27, 2018 10:26 am
CSE, something confuses me in your latest image:
The rightmost of the three firing turrets at the front has a weird perspective

The muzzle flash suggests that the barrel is raised until about pointing at the viewer, but the trace goes way below the viewer.
What is it supposed to do? :D
Yes, it is a good question. It is also disturbing me, and I do not really understand (thesleeve - may it be linked with the geometrical distortion due to the field of view?)

Let's gather the facts:

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In the top of the image, we see that the cannon at the right is seemingly pointing straight at the camera. The muzzle light (see real image) is actually positioned correctly. The other two canons are definitely not pointing at the camera!
In the second line, we see that the laser beam (dark red line) is really well aligned with the cannon in two plans (-> in space); the last shot is the 3D view from the camera.
In the 3rd line, we see that this canon is actually shooting below the camera and slightly to the left. The second and third canon are shooting at the same height, but more to the right (in the perspective of the last screenshot on the bottom-right).

If anything, the only mistake in the muzzle light (added in post processing) is that the second canon should have a muzzle-light a bit higher.

:crazy:

The perspective make it tough - keep in mind that the three pink laser shots are parallel lines! I think very slight mistakes in alignments can due to the distortion make large apparent discrepancies.

Here an improved muzzle flash positioning (slightly larger and the middle one higher - the position of the others including our rightmost canon is constant):
Spoiler:      SHOW
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Re: Limit Theory Fan Contest - Discussion

#2038
CSE, that image you posted in the contest/creations thread is amazing!!!!! That is definitely my absolute favorite from you :D Although there were a couple others that came close, this is my new favorite. I'm particularly pleased/impressed with the lighting, and I think the perspective advice from thesleeve certainly paid off. :D


Thesleeve - excellent capship work so far, and I'm sorry for any undue stress. :P This LTFC will run through April, yes. And I feel like your perspective/angle may not quite be doing your ship justice in that shot. Due to no real sense of "depth", it makes it feel... squattish toward the camera, I suppose? It could just be me, though. Regardless, neat design so far :thumbup: Very excited to see where you go with this!
Have a question? Send me a PM! || I have a Patreon page up for REKT now! || People talking in IRC over the past two hours: Image
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Re: Limit Theory Fan Contest - Discussion

#2039
Cornflakes_91 wrote:
Tue Mar 27, 2018 4:14 pm
hm... the changed one actually looks a bit wrong to me now, like the shot is firing off-bore now.

dunno, the third one's trace just seems too long for the (alleged) firing direction... maybe you got some scale variable messed up in it? :?
OK, this is another story. Indeed the strength of the lasers are not all the same. The rightmost has about 15% more strength; the top pink shot also. This was per design as I liked it better. Also the spread is a bit bigger in the far left and far right shots. Call this artistic licence ;)
NB: I cannot really control how far the laser goes, the control is indirect by the light strength and because of the weird perspective, it is not easy to predict. So I iterated a bit to get the length as I liked them.
NBB: this did not change between the previous and current pictures; I changed only the muzzle flashes.
Talvieno wrote:
Tue Mar 27, 2018 6:07 pm
CSE, that image you posted in the contest/creations thread is amazing!!!!! That is definitely my absolute favorite from you :D Although there were a couple others that came close, this is my new favorite. I'm particularly pleased/impressed with the lighting, and I think the perspective advice from thesleeve certainly paid off. :D
Thank you kind Sir, we do our utmost best to please! :D
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Re: Limit Theory Fan Contest - Discussion

#2040
Thanks!

I should've added the caveat that the camera angle was just to get evidence out there that things were actually happening! :lol: Yes, I totally agree that there are probably more evocative angles to discover.
Thinking more of an animation right now...something like a cock-pit or 3rd person view of a fighter taking off, followed by a high-speed fly-by could be a cool way to show scale. But it also mean's I'd have to detail one of the hangars a bit. When the ship is mostly done I will know how much more extra modelling/texturing I'm really keen for and, more importantly, what the render times look like.

Makin' guns right now...who likes Destroid-esque 8-barreled AA turrets? I sure do...

Also, missles/missle turrets? Yes? No? I'm currently undecided. Maybe just 'outer-doors' like on submarine torpedo tubes when they are closed...
"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things."
-Col. Lewis B. Puller, USMC

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