World Building Week 12: Large Weapon / Mech

This weeks theme is  to create a large weapon / mech. It must be hard surface and the final must be created in 3D with a paintover, like in the below video. Here is a checklist:

- Must be created in 3D.
- Paintover in photoshop to add all the details like nuts bolts, panels and logos.
- Must be textural and gritty.
The example video:

My references so far:



And here is a page of sihlouettes from today. I don't think i will do any more than these, i'll pick one to develop further so that i can get straight into 3D since the focus of this task is more so on the paintover. Also this weekend i've had to go back to Bristol so i've not had much access to my laptop so i am a few days behind.

Here is my final mech design, it's still quite quick (probably an extra 2 hours) and still considered a sketch, since it's not symmetrical and there are lots of undefined areas. However since i need to get this modelled in 3D quickly I'll jump straight in and fix those problems as i go. I've also tested out some decal ideas however  i should really do some more research into them for my final paintover.

(updated the sketch to refine the silhouette and added a sketch for the side to help with getting the posture and shape correct whilst modelling.)

Here is the start to my 3D mesh, i'm not entirely happy with it so far and may restart it. The approach i have taken is starting with a box and extruding out the faces and edges and then manipulating them into the right shape. However it may be best to start by blocking out large chunks and then refining them down using the insert edge loop tool, similar to how it is done in the video. I will try out this method and see which would work best.

As the purpose of my mesh is to be a base to paint over i am going to focus the details where they need to be (the plating, cannon) and then any underlying details i will just paint in as this will be quicker and more effective.

Another update, i made a rough darker object beneath the plating to act as the body which will have details added in photoshop. And also continued the mesh plating for the 'torso' area.

I'm feeling quite ill today (started on Monday) so my patience is wearing thin, here is a silly addition for the rest of the body... these obviously won't be the final mesh.

Still ill. Had a spike last night where i started being sick and it continued this morning. After resting i am feeling a bit better so continued work on this, decided to just build on top of the body parts i had before.

Another step, refining and detailing the gun:

Final WIP. Updated the hand, tweak other areas of the mesh, changed material colours of some plating on each object for added interest. This screenshot is in Max with the lighting set up that i will use for the final render.

This is the final render which consists of a perspective, font, back and side view. The lighting set up is Mental Ray and is 3 spot lights. A main in the top left corner which has shadows. An ambient in the bottom right colour which is dimmer to light the shadows (to simulate bounce light) and a very bright light at the back to create a rim light on the outer edge of my mech. I have rendered out different passes for each view (lighting, alpha, diffuse, shadow etc) which i will play around with for my final composit.

Lighten for the projector:

I'm still feeling pretty rough, but the days rest has helped a lot. I'm hoping to come into lesson tomorrow (though may be a little late..) and do the paintover in class. But i'll see how i feel in the morning, if i'm unable to come in i will just do the paintover at home and update the blog in the evening.

Though for now, i used the same techniques for my concept so hopefully that is enough to demonstrate my abilities.




..nearly finished.

annnnnnnd the final paintover..