3d character mesh project

[Mr March]

Creatively manipulating something like the VF-1 Valkyrie will get you in hot water because of the exceptional abundance of reference pictures available. In the case of possibly unfavorable fan reaction to your rendition of Isamu's flight suit (something with very little reference available, I say you should take the attitude "Try and do better you damn dirty haters"

[Chronocidal]

Well, we could always argue that he didn't get the threadcount right on the material...

Looking absolutely awesome, I'll have to get you a copy of my YF-19 mesh to pose him in. (provided you want to build a cockpit for it.. it's not done yet)

[chillyche]

The helmet is nearing completion.

I was hoping to do all major design elements without texture mapping, but I may have to use a texture for the helmet arrow. That's not too shabby, I can use a simple mapping method and feel good about that.

I just have to futz around with the back of the helmet, mess with the interior padding, and I think I might call the helmet done.

Checklist:

[] Air hose

[] Padding

[] Connect Helmet to Suit

[] Pouches

[] Elbow Pads

[] Backpack

[] Isamu's head

[] Isamu's hair

[] Frosty beverage and a good night's sleep

[chillyche]

Well, we could always argue that he didn't get the threadcount right on the material...

Looking absolutely awesome, I'll have to get you a copy of my YF-19 mesh to pose him in. (provided you want to build a cockpit for it.. it's not done yet)

Dude, that's awesome. If there's cockpit reference shots I might just take that on.

Truth be told, this project was born out of something really quite odd, and quite alarming to purists of the world (of which I am sometimes):

A music video for a completely throw away song I did a year ago. The song, which is still under cover, until I'm ready to premiere it with the video, is basically just a love letter to a bunch of stuff I used to like as a kid, and stuff I like now, that's all spacey in its theme. There's a big space dogfight sequence, and while I had initially planned to put my animated self in the cockpit of a Colonial Viper, I thought better of that, when I realized I could fly a Valkyrie. I looked around the web for some meshes and found an animated, sorta low poly VF-1s model, and decided that was the one I was going to use. It didn't have a cockpit, so I modeled one, the DYRL version (still doesn't have joysticks, though). Like a lot of Macross fans, my initial introduction to the franchise was as kid, watching Robotech. I know a lot of Macross fans shudder to even hear the word, since it's a bastardization, but hey, I grew up with the thing and there's a soft spot in my heart for the train wreck that it is. Of course, in high school, one of the first anime joints I rented on VHS was Macross II, and in college I sat stunned, watching Macross Plus. I always knew there was some connection between Macross and Robotech because of the model kits and stuff, but I didn't actually know what that was all about until the 90s. Whatever. The point of that little history is that my music video is not particularly canon, as there will be a pilot rocking Isamu's suit in a SW1 era VF-1 (I thought about using the 19, but I think that the Skull One will be recognizable to Macross fans and people reliving their 80s childhoods alike). Not only that, but the bogeys that are getting shot down are from all manner of Space Operas.

But once I found this forum, and saw the awesome work people were doing (the Space War One mod stuff blew my mind), I decided that I wanted to add to the stew, and make a legit Isamu for all y'all. This is my first character modeling adventure, and while it's taking a while, it's been a great learning experience. When I get more time, I'm considering do a Myung model, as well -- it will be a different kind of challenge.

Anyway that's my story. I have no intention of bastardizing something we all love.

Peace for now

[Mr March]

I don't mind. I dislike Robotech and refuse to watch or support it. I instead support and promote Macross. But that's just fan opinion. Still, it is very important that you remember this is a Macross website. We do have Robotech fans here and you can share Robotech with them to an extent, but the purpose of this site is to promote Macross and celebrate Macross fandom. It's an important distinction to keep in mind.

[chillyche]

I don't mind. I dislike Robotech and refuse to watch or support it. I instead support and promote Macross. But that's just fan opinion. Still, it is very important that you remember this is a Macross website. We do have Robotech fans here and you can share Robotech with them to an extent, but the purpose of this site is to promote Macross and celebrate Macross fandom. It's an important distinction to keep in mind.

Oh yeah, don't worry about that. My Robotech fandom, if you could call it that, is all nostalgia. You could say it's one of the things that got me into Anime. And frankly, as a kid I lost interest in the show once the Macross saga had completed anyway. Since then, I sorta treat Robotech like the easter bunny -- it's fun to believe in as a kid, but now that I'm grown up, I know that Macross is the real deal. I'm not one of those guys that watches Macross Frontier and asks, "Hey, whatever happened to Rick Hunter?" I know what's going on. And I respect everybody's personal preferences. Obviously Macross is more mature than it's American bastardization, and obviously the world is so much larger. And Macross Plus is probably my all time favorite mecha related OAV. As much as the CGI in Macross Zero blew my mind (the action was out of control), what they accomplished by hand in Plus, along with a very human story was really, to me, the best realization of the themes of pop music, variable fighter technology, love triangles and the human condition.

Yeah, don't worry, I'd recommend Macross over Robotech any day of the week.

I just thought I should come clean and let people know where I came from. Yes, it's true. My name is Che, and I used to watch Robotech. I'm recovering.

Ha.

More updates coming very soon.

[chillyche]

And second try at the backpack (the first try failed miserably)

[Mr March]

Hmm, the color looks off. It should be silver.

[chillyche]

That just about does that.

[chillyche]

Hmm, the color looks off. It should be silver.

woops! Didn't mean to post the blue version. When I model, I use that shiny blue because it's easy to see if there's any weirdness, pinched areas, hard edges where they should be smooth, etc. Once I switch to the silver/white/light gray color, it's a little harder to see that, so I bounce back and forth as I'm modeling. I forgot to change it, my bad.

How bout the new version? The backpack was really tough, because in every shot, it looks different. Sometimes, the center raised circle has space both above and below it, sometimes it's only got space below it. Sometimes it's small, sometimes it's large. It's unclear what the two smaller circles on that circle are, whether they're indentations, panels, or what. Then the notches and grooves on the bottom section of the pack are totally variable. I basically created something that was in the middle of the references I had and wouldn't kill me to figure out. I generally use the character sketch you (Mr. March) sent me as a starting point for everything, and then use some screengrabs and other materials to get other views/reference points. That character sketch is invaluable. I'm so glad you had it.

I think I'm going to tackle my dreaded elbow pads now, because I want to feel like the suit is done, and just needing tweaks.

Here's another part that varies quite a bit: the harnesses that go under the arms to the bottom of the chest box. Sometimes these are really wide, and go up to the suit's arm pits, othertimes, they're just a bit thicker than the top harnesses. Not sure what material they're meant to be, either -- they're colored like his gloves, so I assume they may be a similar, flexible cloth-like material, but at the same time, they could be more of a hard-shell sorta thing. I noticed that the DYRL pilot uniforms have something that looks like a shell serving the same purpose. Difficult to judge.

[chillyche]

That just about does that.

Hmm, I might make the whole pack a little larger.

[Mr March]

It's perfect. The size is just right.

[chillyche]

Tweaked the gap at the top of the pack.

Somehow messed up the circle in the center, and had to replace it, but somehow the circle is a bit smaller, and it's messing up when I scale it up. I think that I'm calling that finished for the time being.

[Vinnie]

I of course am asking for my own selfish reasons, but I do believe this is an idea everybody here can get behind. How hard would it be to make a female version of the pilot model?

[chillyche]

I of course am asking for my own selfish reasons, but I do believe this is an idea everybody here can get behind. How hard would it be to make a female version of the pilot model?

That's a great question.

Let's assume for a minute that the suits are almost identical, and it's just the pilot's body that differs -- then it wouldn't be too hard. Just a matter of tweaking the overall proportions, shortening the torso, adding a bust, slimming down things here and there, narrowing the shoulders. THAT would be really easy, truthfully. The difficulty would be if we, like so many others, insisted that for some reason, female pilots had to have far more form fitting flight suits. Oy, that would be troublesome. There are a lot of things I skipped when making this model, that would be helpful for a feminine form, certain cuts in the polygons and stuff. It wouldn't be impossible by any stretch.

That may go on the to-do list, if there's enough interest.

Just got back from a trip, so gimme a day to post some more updates.

-Che

[Ironside]

SNIP

That may go on the to-do list, if there's enough interest. SNIP

I'm interested. I'd prefer the suit be generic. I don't think there's a need for a special version for females, but that's just me.

[Vinnie]

I'm interested. I'd prefer the suit be generic. I don't think there's a need for a special version for females, but that's just me.

I don't think a special tighter fitting female suit needs to be made either. However, the differences between genders is readily apparent in contemporary non-gender specific flightsuits, survival gear, and armour. It's more the basic principle of exaggerating the differences in anatomy to ensure a viewer can readily identify a character's gender, and along the lines of what Che was initially suggesting.

[chillyche]

If anybody has any kind of reference material, send it my way, and I'll entertain the possibility. Fan generated or otherwise.

[chillyche]

I guess now, for the most part, all I've got left on the suit is adding various wrinkles and seams and stuff. It sorta feels anticlimactic. Feedback?

Oh, I'm waiting to do the hose connecting the pack to the helmet until I've got a head inside of there.

Bunch of freelance work coming up, so progress might slow down a bit.

[chillyche]

And here's me in the suit.

[Mr March]

Go chilly, you living-on-the-edge ace pilot

[Hikuro]

Hey wha do ya know, that's my face j/k j/k.

I'm lovin the toonshade man. I really wish I could do stuff like this...but it's a bitch just to learn how to use AnimeStudio.

[chillyche]

Hey wha do ya know, that's my face j/k j/k.

I'm lovin the toonshade man. I really wish I could do stuff like this...but it's a bitch just to learn how to use AnimeStudio.

It's all about the Illustrate 5.4 plugin for 3DS Max.

Right now, I've shifted attention to facial rigging. Needed to stop staring at that flight suit for a few days. Next up, I'm redoing the chest box with a rounder round part.

[SeminNV]

hi!

If you want, I can send you VF-19 in .max or .3ds

just gimme your email

Edited April 17, 2008 by SeminNV

[chillyche]

Okay, I have fixed the pouches for the most part, and I added the seal between the helmet and the suit. I also did some minor tweaks on the helmet.

The Isamu head is looming over my own head, now. But on the plus side, there are already some facial morphs I've worked on, so this may not be too hard after all.

[Mr March]

Congratulations. This worked out very well.

[chillyche]

Just right click on this bad boy to play it.

EDIT: Dang! I tried to embed a flash movie right there... lemme try something else.

Edited April 25, 2008 by chillyche

[chillyche]

Congratulations. This worked out very well.

Thanks. I learned a whole ton during this process, too. That's my favorite part. It's funny, I actually have to go back and edit the legs, because I did stuff there kind of strangely, that I've learned better ways of dealing with, particularly surrounding creases (for any modelers out there, I've discovered it's better for something like this to add creases to poly or mesh's edges, rather than to the MeshSmooth modifier's edges, because you can duplicate them to the other half of the model using symmetry, and still keep your meshsmooth modifer on the top of your stack, and keep any asymmetrical UVW mapping).

It's just hard to bring oneself to go back and fix things, but fix them I must, so I can add the final touches (some wrinkles around the knees/back of knees, around the waste, legs joining at hips, etc) and then get a skeleton in there.

I'd like to know who wants a copy of the .MAX file when I'm finished.

Also: does anybody have a decent DYRL VF-1 cockpit they'd loan/license/give/share with me?

Edited April 25, 2008 by chillyche

[Mr March]

That was a great little animation. Nice way to show the model. I know what you mean about learning new stuff. I learned some new shading techniques in photoshop and I've created new color schemes for some of my previous released vehicles on the M3. It's fun stuff.

[chillyche]

I've started down the path and I can't stop!

This render shows, if you know where to look, some more detailing in the creases and folds in the suit. There's a lot of behind the scenes stuff that's changed there, but to the casual observer, not much.

Also, the toon shading really hides a lot of this particular detail, so here's a pic without toon shading.

[chillyche]

Almost done!

[Vinnie]

Lookin good!

I just got back from my travels, so I'll be breaking out the tablet and max again to have a go at the DYRL cockpit. However, if there is someone here that has one in .max format it'd save me some extra work, and I can move onto something else.

[chillyche]

Lookin good!

I just got back from my travels, so I'll be breaking out the tablet and max again to have a go at the DYRL cockpit. However, if there is someone here that has one in .max format it'd save me some extra work, and I can move onto something else.

I found one in OBJ format that looked good, but upon closer inspection, it was so-so. Did you get the files I sent you?

[Vinnie]

Yup, got em. Just starting to play with them now.

EDIT: Actually, my Max 8 doesn't seem to like the file. It's complaining about missing classes and I think it makes mention of Illustrate. Not sure if this is an issue with version compatibility or the additional software you're using.

Edited April 27, 2008 by Vinnie

[chillyche]

Yup, got em. Just starting to play with them now.

EDIT: Actually, my Max 8 doesn't seem to like the file. It's complaining about missing classes and I think it makes mention of Illustrate. Not sure if this is an issue with version compatibility or the additional software you're using.

Ahhhh, yes, the illustrate art materials. hmm. So, if skipping all those errors doesn't work, I can save a version sans Illustrate. Although, I'm using 3ds max version 9. I can probably save something in an older format, though.