Zoom! Jedi Starfighter

# 1 15-02-2007 , 11:59 AM

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Right, this tutorial looks cool. Learning some polygon modelling techniques and most of all - texturising! (Can you tell I know nothing about it? :p )

Ok, so I've blocked out the basic shape of the cockpit and wing. From the pictures, you can see I've gone from a bit of a plain-yet-messy mesh to a nice clean one with three edges per corner so that when I come to smooth it will have nice sharp corners.

Next up is extruding the wing and putting in the flappy bits (yes that is a technical term).

Before split-fast
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After split polygon treatment
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Last edited by ZeroAlarm; 15-02-2007 at 12:07 PM.

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# 2 16-02-2007 , 01:28 AM

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Nice start Zoom! user added image

Can't wait to see the finnished product!

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# 3 16-02-2007 , 05:29 AM

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Cheers THX!

I've only done a bit more so far; I've extruded it:
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Here's a pic of it converted to SubDs.

It doesn't look right to me; too many dark areas. I'm totally new to SubDs so is this correct, and if not can anyone help?
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# 4 16-02-2007 , 06:48 AM

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I reccomend sticking with poly's, Sub-D's can be very fustrating to work with, especially on a project like yours.

Just curious, does the Star fighter tut require you to convert to Sub-D?

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# 5 16-02-2007 , 07:16 PM

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if i were you i would make the entire thing in polygons, model only the half and use a mirrored smooth proxy so that you can see the end result better.
If you are making some gamemodel i would use an instance (duplicate==> optionbox).

good luck
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# 6 17-02-2007 , 12:33 AM

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Have you hit 3 after you convert to Sub-d by chance?

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination, knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world. (Albert Einstein)

https://www.artstation.com/kurtb

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# 7 17-02-2007 , 04:02 AM

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THX: Yep, Kurt converts to subDs quite early in the project. I don't really have a clue about them; all I know is I prefer working with polygons! I'm going to go with it though, and perhaps model it again in polygons to see which I work best with

mastone: thanks for the tip! I'll probably duplicate it near the end as I have some image planes for reference

Kurt: I can't believe I missed that! I've hit 3 and it looks right now user added image

Just out a subD-newbish curiosity, what are the advantages of SubDs?

Thanks for the help guys user added image

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# 8 18-02-2007 , 02:29 AM

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Well, they are more of an alternative to Nurbs surfaces as oppsed to polygons. Here are a few text book reasons.

#1. They can exist on arbitrary topology, such as polygons surfaces, bypassing the difficulity of creating a form in four-sided patches ( Nurbs ).

#2. They are smooth and continuous, like Nurbs surfaces. They do not have the problem of creating a faceted look, as polygons do.

#3. They allow a hierarchy of as many as 13 levels of detail, which allows isolated areas of highly detailed modeling and allows binding at base levels.

Hope that makes sence to you.

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# 9 18-02-2007 , 04:16 AM

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Cheers that does make sense. I guess I'll go with the subDs for the tutorial and see if I like them or not user added image

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# 10 19-02-2007 , 03:09 AM

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If you're planning to improve yourself as an artist then you should really throw yourself at stuff you aren't comfortable with. At first in Escape, nurbs seemed like the enemy- so hard to work out at times with curves and tangency and birails and all the rest of it. Now I know how powerful they are, and have a bit more practice with it, they are an option for future projects user added image

Keep at it mate

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

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