Back to doing some more 3D modeling: cargo ship design process

Hi, It's been a while since I've done some stuff.
I'm modeling a cargo ship and going through it stage by stage.
(Actually, I'm more focussed on making modular components that can be combined into more designs. May or may not be game design related, still thinking about that :p )
To start off: here's the basic layout for the design:

Now for the refining process, let's start off with the core block first.

Next up, the cargo blocks have been reworked for the V2.

It's been a while since I last updated yet again.
Cockpit area and engine block added. Time to add some point defense guns in case it needs to handle some floating debris.

Added a pair of railguns, but for now, the thing still looks a bit boring, right? Time to add some textures

After some fiddling around with the materials, here's what I got

... Probably going to rework that soon, but for now, I'm going to experiment with the modules I've done so far.

Gunship variant:

Well, you can't really make up anything out of these screenshots...

How to highlight the edges in blender: Under render options - Post Processing - Edge

Latest blender experiment

I'm in the process of rendering a tanker (ship).
Still early progress'ish, but coming along quite nicely.

The materials were acquired from blender open material database
Only around 366 faces for this one, but only one problem.
It takes forever to render, so I doubt it's suitable for ingame use yet.
I'm going to try to bake it next.

First attempt, copy the mesh, unwrap and bake to selected.
Result: too dark

 Used two standard lights in the baking process.

Second attempt: used a normal baking method this time, results are better this time, and I might actually be able to use it as an ingame passive prop now.

3D scanning experiment

I've had this fun little experiment in my head for a short while now, and I decided to give it a go.

I've basically just improvised a crude 3D scanner.

Components used:
- Trust spotlight webcam (paid around 9,99€)
- Laser level square (was lying around in garage, price unknown, but didn't feel like getting the parts required to build diy line laser)
- David laserscanner software (free)
- Sheet of cardboard/foam plates at a 90° angle to keep calibration sheet in place.

Here's a single angle attempt at scanning so far:

 It's a scan of a little sculpt I did a few years ago.

Issues I have yet to properly resolve:
- The residues you see around the scan results. Can probably resolved through more controlled sweeping of the laser line and tweaking of the scanning corner.

Issues I have run across and found a solution for:
- Can't start camera error: under hardware setup, click the camera format button, and set up the format. The camera should start up now.
- Calibration issues: Place the camera close enough to the scanning corner, make sure enough of the markers are in frame, use a flashlight/lamp to illuminate the scanning corner and tweak the cam properties (contrast and brightness specifically)
- Laser not detected: Change the cam properties, again tweak contrast and brightness.



Software can be downloaded at: http://www.david-laserscanner.com/

Mecha design process

It's been a long while since I posted.
I'm doing this particular design in steps, and will add to this post as I move along with the design.
The newest image will be on top of the list.
The basic premise: A simple mass production mecha model without a head and with the ability to design some variant models... oh, and a reasonable polygon count.

Stage 6: added some more detailing to various parts, as well as modifying some of the materials a bit.

Fifth stage: added some basic materials, next up, more detailing.
Poly count for this stage model: 2K'ish faces

Materials acquired from: http://matrep.parastudios.de/


Fourth stage: Legs reworked, next up, texturing

Third stage: arms reworked, now busy with the legs.

First stage was just a crude first design to figure out the general layout of the machine, and in the second stage I expanded on the cockpit and spine sections of the machine.
Polygon count is still quite low, with just under 2K faces for both models combined.

Submarine render, texture baking experiment

A small experiment I did with texture baking in blender.
It did not entirely succeed... The model on the left has around 60K+ faces, while the one on the right only has only in the 400+ range.

Here's the first try, somehow ended up rather strange.

Going to keep experimenting until I figure this out properly.

Learned: pack the texture images and link them to your materials before appending the model to another file or saving, otherwise they won't be added properly.

Pirate mecha, now with materials added

Added some more materials to my little pirate mecha I posted a while ago.
I'll continue rigging the thing soon enough, and animation experiments will follow.
After I finally figure out this baking thing, as right now, it takes too long to render.

Click image for full size view of the render.

Update: assault mech

I've added some materials to the assault mech mesh I've shown you guys a short while ago.
As you've probably noticed, I tried going for a touch of mechwarrior with this one.

Armament:
- Dorsal mounted medium particle accelerator cannon.
- Side mounted four barrel caseless high explosive shell launcher X2

 To be added:
- More materials
- Some textures

Render of the day: another mech

The blender render of the day... Is another mech.
Materials coming.

Behold! Fluffy! (link to rotation included)

Another fun little blender experiment with fur.
I just wanted to make something a bit more cartoony with this one.

And here's a link to a 360° rotation vid.
Link to rotation on youtube

Best viewed at large size.

Next experiment: mammoth beetle

Got kind of tired of making robots, so I designed a beetle, once again using blender.

Still looks a bit plastic, though...
Some minor editing later:

Have I mentioned today how much I like bump mapping?
Textures used:

For fur pattern (less visible, so less detail needed)

Bump mapping pattern for shell

Bump mapping pattern for eye

Texture for spots on shell.

Desert material acquired from:
http://matrep.parastudios.de/index.php?action=view&material=165-sand&fc=10
(always give credit where due)

Not the best of results yet, but learned a lot so far.

Assault rover (blender 3D)

Made another materials experiment.
This time it's a combat vehicle intended for use on other worlds.
The wheel suspensions are pivoted, allowing it to lower its center of gravity for higher speed stability and maneuverability.

Gun render

An experiment with blender toon materials.
Starting to understand on this work, but still got a fair amount of manual to go through.

Blender mecha

I've been working on this little experiment over the weekend.
You'll notice some zeon/zaku aspects here.

Underwater miner

A small underwater mining vessel I've been having quite a bit of fun with.
Got tired of using sculptris, so I've switched to blender.


Here it is again after some material tweaking.

And here it is after some more tweaking and putting it into a little scene.

 

Spider-ant golem made with 3D coat

Here's another 360° spin.
I'm thinking of how I'll go about animating this one.