Battlepod

[mojacko]

saw this from the other thread....credits from the artist: Roberto Doussang

Great work!!!

Edited September 25, 2006 by mojacko

[jenius]

Absolutley beautiful.

I can't really understand the physics of how a Zent would squeeze into it though... but that's probably just because I don't understand the scale of the mech vs. the size of a Zent

[Mr March]

The body shape departs from the original and the guns are far too small, but the quality and detail of the model is very good. I really like the weathering and minor wear.

[chrono]

Yep the models off in many areas, but the texturing is very good!

@mojacko, give us a link to this guys work!

[Rodavan]

Great textures

But like chrono says , the model is a bit off

[mojacko]

yep hav to agree somethings off with the model....its seems a little flat rather than having a round body!!! but the weathering is really cool and real!!!

@ chrono:

sorry dude he doesnt have any link on his post on the other forum except for his e-mail add: rdoussang@gmail.com

[Mephistopheles]

I was never impressed with the battlepod. It feels like not much thought or effort was put into the design.

[Rodavan]

Mephistopheles - I would disagree , try and model one yourselve , your will soon change your mind . The shapes are extremely tricky in 3d ......

[sketchley]

I agree - a lot of work was put into the model. It's a shame that the designer couldn't (either through software, or skill,) get something a little closer to the original.

Nevertheless, the work is still stunning, and the first image of the 3 is relatively accurate.

[Aurel Tristen]

I blame the fact that 2D is 2D and 3D is 3D. I have tryed many times to model this and I think its somthing that you can't turn 3D and have it look right in all perspectives.

[chrono]

And I generally blame the fact that getting good discussion C&C on a Macross project is responsible for ALOT of the oddities in the existing Macross 3D fan-art. I've personally not attempted building this model but I've had plans in development for over 10 months now as to how I want to build it.

We can never have enough Zen. on this board!

[Rodavan]

Mine took a total of 5 week and still it is off

Good point about the zen chrono - if you do a project people seems scared to give feed back

(This model is more than a year old)

Edited September 27, 2006 by Rodavan

[jenius]

That's perty Rodavan.

[Mr March]

Getting it "perfect according to the lineart" is impossible people, since the lineart for most mecha is a skewed representation of what the mecha would look like in real life anyway. The VF-1 is a prime example, not even Kawamori could reproduce the "lineart look" faithfully in 3D. Wings don't shrink in 3D

I think Rodavan's model is damn fine and I wouldn't shed one tear about its accuracy if it was used in a mighty Macross movie in CGI

[Hurin]

Getting it "perfect according to the lineart" is impossible people, since the lineart for most mecha is a skewed representation of what the mecha would look like in real life anyway. The VF-1 is a prime example, not even Kawamori could reproduce the "lineart look" faithfully in 3D. Wings don't shrink in 3D

I think Rodavan's model is damn fine and I wouldn't shed one tear about its accuracy if it was used in a mighty Macross movie in CGI

Don't you mean that getting it perfect is impossible for transforming mecha and models? Perhaps I'm naive about 3D modeling, but why is it impossible to match the lineart for non-transforming mecha (that therefore lack "anime magic")?

H

[Mr March]

Don't you mean that getting it perfect is impossible for transforming mecha and models? Perhaps I'm naive about 3D modeling, but why is it impossible to match the lineart for non-transforming mecha (that therefore lack "anime magic")?

H

No. There's a reason no human hand can draw a perfect circle. It's the act of abstraction on a fundamental level. Each piece of lineart drawn freehand will always be different from another by the same artist, even drawings meant to be indentical from the same angle and scale. Accomplished skill can reduce the degree of noticable difference to slight variations, but it's impossible to get two drawings identical in every line, proportion, and especially curve. So the absolute accuracy down to each individual pixel in computer art is impossible to match in any freehand drawing (detractors often comment to this as a lacking aspect of CG art). So what piece of lineart is to be used as the absolute reference for any given 3D model of a mecha, given that each piece of lineart is different? Hence the dilemma and the futile quest for a "perfect" 3D model of a lineart drawing.

[sketchley]

With non-transforming mecha, it is possible to get a closer approximation, but there are still some distortions going on. As Masamune Shirow said when he was talking about 3D design, in his "Intron Depot: Bullets" pg. 20. "I couldn't fall back on the little "lies" possible with traditional animation, (...)."

As a fellow artist, I understand that as the distortions, exagerations, and 'fixes' an artist does to make a design (or picture) look that much better (or cooler.)

So, yes, the line-art of the Regult does, despite its apparent simplicity, contain 'visual lies.'

[sketchley]

Mr March, your post snuck in while I was making my post! Good points!

[Phyrox]

All this "2D can't be perfectly translated to 3D" talk aside, while the texturing of the OP battlepod is really nice, the shape sucks.

Rodovan's model, and Captain America's resin kit show that a far more accurate 3-D representation is quite possible. Even the 1/200 Nichimo gets most of the basic shapes right.

I'm not trying to put anyone down, but the original model needs a bit more modeling work, even if it is destined to always be imperfect.

[chrono]

Getting it "perfect according to the lineart" is impossible people,

I don't think that was ever much of a question really, but many of us who do attempt to build these in 3D understand that a balance between being faithful to the lineart/design can only go so far before we need to 'add' to the design to make it visually 'work' in 3D.

In the end all you really can do is be faithful to the anime and the feelings that it imbued upon you as you attempt to bring those same feelings out from your our work.

[Mephistopheles]

Mine took a total of 5 week and still it is off

Good point about the zen chrono - if you do a project people seems scared to give feed back

(This model is more than a year old)

That's a good model. I like it better than the drawings which always looked funny to me.

[Mr March]

I don't think that was ever much of a question really, but many of us who do attempt to build these in 3D understand that a balance between being faithful to the lineart/design can only go so far before we need to 'add' to the design to make it visually 'work' in 3D.

In the end all you really can do is be faithful to the anime and the feelings that it imbued upon you as you attempt to bring those same feelings out from your our work.

Often times it difficult to discern whether people are trying to get it perfect or berating themselves for flaws in their 3D models most of us would call nitpicking. If people do realize that a "perfect" representation is impossible, I'm content that they continue producing very impressive works that please the fans like me, such as Rodavan's fantastic model.

Part of my comment is also to politely encourage project completion. It'd be nice to see less time spent "perfecting" these models and more time spent doing something with them, like animations or wallpapers. Some of these projects have been going on for years now and show no signs of ever being completed. Part of producing a great piece of art is having the will to say "It's finished" and move forward. Artists I realize are their own worst critics, but if people couldn't enjoy the Mona Lisa because Da Vinci was constantly repainting the thing, we'd all lose out