Introduction to Maya - Rendering in Arnold
This course will look at the fundamentals of rendering in Arnold. We'll go through the different light types available, cameras, shaders, Arnold's render settings and finally how to split an image into render passes (AOV's), before we then reassemble it i
# 1 29-01-2007 , 03:25 AM
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High Tech Armour

Hi all.

I posted a finished work a couple of days ago, but ended up being inspired to do the rest of the armour. So here goes. Any ideas or pointers would be welcomed with thanks. It's supposed to have a sort of carbon fibre look to it, and to fit some padding and a person inside.

Atm i'm trying to model the arms, but I'm a bit stuck on that part, migth be because the shoulder-guards are too small. 8/

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In the begining God created a whole lot of rigid bodies, and set some motion paths. He also set the lighting.
# 2 29-01-2007 , 06:27 AM
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im not too sure what you mean but a few lights in strategic places to bring up some high lights and shadows would help make it easier to see look better, maybe you should also bump up the qulity of render.

what sort of help you need, looks fine to me, looks like you are doing well. If its shaders, you would probably need to be a little more specific, it would be good for us and good for you to know what areas of the model need work. sort of clear your head about it, make it clearer to yourself.., hope i didn't confuse you as much as I confused myself?? user added image


take it easy and life will be easy
# 3 29-01-2007 , 06:57 AM
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Lights would be very helpful to see it.

Also, remove that green-screen background. It's overtaking the image and almost washing out the colors in the foreground.


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# 4 29-01-2007 , 08:28 AM
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Thanks for the comments, here's a little update. I'm still sort of modeling, just like to try out some renders to get an idea about how the object will look. I will look into the lighting, and remove the green background.

I'm partly modeling for realism, and part for the game look. I'm in fact thinking about building the armour in real life, but that is a project for later.

I'm not sure about the transition from the shoulder and down to the upper arm. There would have to be some sort of gap there in order to be able to move the arm, but how much, and what angles. How do avoid loosing too much of the protection but still allow for a fair bit of movement.

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In the begining God created a whole lot of rigid bodies, and set some motion paths. He also set the lighting.

Last edited by Ph0N37Ic5; 29-01-2007 at 08:34 AM.
# 5 30-01-2007 , 12:03 AM
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1. NEED LIGHTS
2. NEED MORE LIGHTS
3. And when you've got lights, ADD MORE LIGHTS!

I'm sure you're seeing the same image we are. Tell me, can you see any detail in the dark parts? The smooth shaded/wire frame looks fine, but all of the other things are too dark.

REASON:
The contrast between the dark greens of your image and the bright gray of the forums is hiding all of your details.

SOLUTION:

1. Get rid of the green background. I'm sure it's an artistic thing, but get rid of it. Use a neutral color like, ohhh I don't know... GRAY.

2. Add even just one light to your scene.
"In the absence of light, darkness prevails" - Dr. Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm, Hellboy


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Digital Media Arts College
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dbaer@dmac.edu
# 6 30-01-2007 , 01:00 AM
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LOL (no offence) 'we shall meet in a place where there is no darkness'.., or green!

1984 G Orwell


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# 7 30-01-2007 , 04:20 AM
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That's it, no renders for you. At least not for the moment, the renders weren't really my focus. They obviously look quite different on my screen anyway. Here's a bit of unrendered progress.

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In the begining God created a whole lot of rigid bodies, and set some motion paths. He also set the lighting.
# 8 30-01-2007 , 05:02 AM
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now you are cooking with gas, much easier to see user added image


take it easy and life will be easy
# 9 30-01-2007 , 05:43 AM
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Ok, sometimes it's best to take a step back and look through a couple of things, so here is a render. I removed the carbon fiber skin, changed the lighting, and, ehm, turned on shadows :headbang:

I'm not really sure about the upper arms and legs, but at least there is something there, would be very happy if I could get some suggestions on these parts.

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In the begining God created a whole lot of rigid bodies, and set some motion paths. He also set the lighting.
# 10 30-01-2007 , 07:48 AM
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ehh... I think I like the green better. user added image

Okay. First thing - the shoulders. If you rotate those down, which parts are supposed to move? If the bigger parts rotate down, then do those little shoulder parts stick straight out? But if they rotate also, do they stick straight up?

Second - You don't need shadows. This is a WIP forum. Just use lights so we can see it and you're good to go.

Third - A wireframe would be nice. It helps to see where there may be errors in the mesh.


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Digital Media Arts College
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# 11 30-01-2007 , 11:56 AM
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for me everything is looking a little too blocky - all I see are primitive shapes at the moment. Do you have any concept sketches? This might be what you are going for, but I would be more inclined to soften some of the shapes - at the moment some of those hard edges look like they would make this pretty uncomfortable to wear.

# 12 30-01-2007 , 02:10 PM
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The shoulders - Only the arm part is supposed to move, the shoulder guards would be loosly attached near the neck to allow them to move a little bit up when the user needs to move his arms in that direction.

Shadows and wireframe - Comming up in the next update 8)

Blockyness - It's supposed to be a bit blocky, as for the edges, I see the need to soften these. But remember this is an outer shell, the wearer is supposed to wear some sort of padding underneath. An armour like that with no padding would be uncomfortable in any case if there were no padding.

Concept sketches - Sorry I don't have any, I couldn't draw if my life depended on it. But I'm sort of developing a picture in my mind, and modeling something like it.


In the begining God created a whole lot of rigid bodies, and set some motion paths. He also set the lighting.
# 13 30-01-2007 , 02:15 PM
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To help I thought maybe the best way would be to illustrate my thoughts. This is rough and only there to offer a different perspective user added image

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# 14 30-01-2007 , 03:25 PM
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Spacegoat - I see your point, it gives it more of an organic form, but I haven't really decided if that is what I want. (If I should fit into it, I would probably have to make it more pear shaped, but that might be because I need to work out 8) My point being, most people are not users of steroids, and I'm not sure the overmuscular type is the one I want into this armour.

As for now, heres an update, front and back, with wireframe.
That flat area on the top of the underarm is supposed to be a screen some time in the future.

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In the begining God created a whole lot of rigid bodies, and set some motion paths. He also set the lighting.
# 15 30-01-2007 , 03:51 PM
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I get what you mean but I don't think my rendition was for an over the top muscle parade...More slim to medium. The shoulders should be wider plus underneath them too so as to make room for the ribs. There are a few basic things that need pushing and pulling to fit a general human body so that it would work out if you were to make this in real life. Another idea would be to maybe take a photo of yourself? and just try and model the armour around till it suits you user added image

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