New to modelling

Wow, I came across this old post of mine on the 3dbuzz forums from years ago. It's funny being reminded of the time when I couldn't do any of the things I can now.

Hi there people,
I've been messing with Max on and off for a while now and I've decided to get serious with it.
At the moment Im trying to model using splines and a surface/meshsmooth modifier.
I've achieved some simple constructs but I have a few problems which I can not find the answer to

Ok here goes :S

First of all how do you get that ultra smooth surface, for instance Im trying to model the side panel of a futuristic motorbike, then general shape is right but I just cant get those little bumps and ditches out of whats supposed to be a flat surface. Im pulling verices here there and everywhere but just cant get it smooooooth.

my other main problem is detail. Here are a few examples of what Im trying to achieve.....

Screws/rivets on panels
(dont know how to explain this one) grooves (like the line you have down the side of most cars or on the hood).
And basically general detail (raised and lowered bits of various shapes)
The best I can do so far is extruding normal polygons which dont exactly give the desired effect :P (at all)

Any help would be VERY appreciated, I've looked all over for hints/guides/tuts dedicated to this kind of thing but to no avail.

Thanks Alot in Advance

PS if anyone could point me to absolute beginner zbrush tutorials (I've watched the 3D buzz VTM's) because I just cant get my head around that :P

Carboard Cutouts

We hope to get carboard cutouts of our characters for "The Glammies" this year. There's limitations as to what we can do due to size restrictions.

I put this together quickly to get an idea. The final pose, whatever it may be, needs to be similair to this one for the proportions of the cutout.

I'm fairly happy with it but it doesn't feel quite right yet. I don't really feel the weight of her stance...any models out there?

C&C welcome


Thirtyseven Cutout by ~AcidTsunami on deviantART

Ultimate Image Composition Two

Here's another render of my character. I liked the first one but I wanted the image to appear more dynamic and for her face to be more of a focal point. I used common composition techniques (golden mean etc.) to improve the overall image.

I hope to improve the specular on her eyes if time permits. I'll also be posting one with notes about the composition and more.


Thirtyseven 02 by ~AcidTsunami on deviantART

Ffresh Awards 2011

I was extremely lucky to be nominated in the Ffresh 2011 festival. It was for my second year game cinematic, in the "Games and Interactive Media" category. I was shocked and honoured when I was announced the winner. I came across this photo from the night.

And here's the award winning cinematic. Seems so long ago now. I'm a bit embarrased by it to be honest, the animation is mostly terrible, just didn't have the time!

Thirtyseven Updated

I updated Thirtyseven, she now has a gask mask as I felt her chest area was too plain. There's also other bits like straps on her back which you don't see in the render. I rendered at double the resolution this time so you can really see the detail in the textures. So glad I made 4096 textures! See the post below for the updated image.

Thirtyseven Production Render

For our business module we have to create an 'Ultimate Image'. So I thought I'd try rendering my game character and vehicle. Even though they aren't intended for that purpose as all materials are the same and only vary depending on specular alone, it's impossible to get "realistic" results. I do feel however that the outcome was pretty succesful considering.



Thirtyseven by ~AcidTsunami on deviantART

Menu Character and Vehicle Selection

The pressure is mounting for sure! A week until first hand in and still plenty to do. It's hard to judge really because production will continue after the project is handed in. I'm obviously aiming for a first (who isn't?) but given the size of the project it's hard to know what's "enough" to get a good grade.

I have had great success with the character/vehicle selection however. Liam got his head around scaleform and produced a menu screen, with which I created the character and vehicle selection. It wasn't only a case of the interface but saving those selections and applying them in-game.

Here's a video :)