WIP, version 3, finished

BronzeDragon

Hi. I've been working on this lander, on and off, for awhile now. Thought it was ok but when I started looking at other models and images I find that I'm liking it less and less. Just doesn't seem to measure up, if you know what I mean.  Any suggestions? Please feel free to comment, even if it's bad.

 

zombietaggerung

#1. Don't compare your work to others. There are always people who will be better and people who will be worse. Only compare your own progress to itself.

#2. It looks really good! The shape is nice, the legs look believable, the ladder/stairs look right and properly scaled. The only change i would suggest is, make the window glass more clear, and cover the back of the stair/ladder so it looks like if it was closed it would seal up the ship, like a door. Otherwise, good work. 

BronzeDragon

Thanks Zombietaggeru, will look into that suggestion. The legs are result of twenty plus years designing and working with two and three stage hydraulic leg cylinders for underground mining systems. Could support upwards of a thousand tons each. I did try just glass in the portholes but it only shows the same color as the main ship color is sinc that all that's inside, so they kinda disappear and fade into the hull.

perlk

I think it looks good - I don't do a lot of sci-fi renders to use something like this, but I think you did a great job with the modeling. The textures are what I would focus on to make it more real-looking. As @zombietaggerung suggested, the window glass is pretty dark - if you didn't want to make it transparent, you could at least make it mirrored. Also, I would look to change the dark gray/black ring around the center to make it look less like plastic-y, although maybe that's the look you were going for?

Just my two cents - of course, texturing is where I fall down most of the time, so take my comments with a grain of salt! 

3141592654

BronzeDragon said:

Thanks Zombietaggeru, will look into that suggestion. The legs are result of twenty plus years designing and working with two and three stage hydraulic leg cylinders for underground mining systems. Could support upwards of a thousand tons each. I did try just glass in the portholes but it only shows the same color as the main ship color is sinc that all that's inside, so they kinda disappear and fade into the hull.

For the ship in general, I think it looks really good. When you compare with other people, you may also be comparing with other genres or different types of uses as well. This just might work very well for the use you intended it for.

Regarding the glass, perhaps you can greatly increase reflectivity and maybe add a little gloss. If it cannot show the inside of the ship, why not reflect what is around it?

EDIT: if you want to add some extra zing to it, maybe add a map to displace a little bit of mesh - create one or two or many scratches / impacts to make it look older and more used.

Catherine3678ab

Looks fine to me. We can all change the textures to suit our scenes anyways. I'd make the window more transparent, and the stairs - well they would have to fold up to close with the form of the ship - they look a tad steep to me BUT then I haven't climbed into any spaceships recently ;-)

 

BronzeDragon

perlk said:

I think it looks good - I don't do a lot of sci-fi renders to use something like this, but I think you did a great job with the modeling. The textures are what I would focus on to make it more real-looking. As @zombietaggerung suggested, the window glass is pretty dark - if you didn't want to make it transparent, you could at least make it mirrored. Also, I would look to change the dark gray/black ring around the center to make it look less like plastic-y, although maybe that's the look you were going for?

Just my two cents - of course, texturing is where I fall down most of the time, so take my comments with a grain of salt! 

Thanks for the suggestions. As for the textures, I'm trying to use bog standard IRAY ones so any one can load it without having to find other textures and load them. The mirrored is a good idea, will give it a look. The dark gray center band is actuall the same shader as the ship itself, jus adjusted darker.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. 

BronzeDragon

3141592654 said:

BronzeDragon said:

Thanks Zombietaggeru, will look into that suggestion. The legs are result of twenty plus years designing and working with two and three stage hydraulic leg cylinders for underground mining systems. Could support upwards of a thousand tons each. I did try just glass in the portholes but it only shows the same color as the main ship color is sinc that all that's inside, so they kinda disappear and fade into the hull.

For the ship in general, I think it looks really good. When you compare with other people, you may also be comparing with other genres or different types of uses as well. This just might work very well for the use you intended it for.

Regarding the glass, perhaps you can greatly increase reflectivity and maybe add a little gloss. If it cannot show the inside of the ship, why not reflect what is around it?

EDIT: if you want to add some extra zing to it, maybe add a map to displace a little bit of mesh - create one or two or many scratches / impacts to make it look older and more used.

 Actually I don't have a use for it. Just making a model to put up for free (I post them in the free stuff at Rendo). So I was just trying to make something anyone doing sci-fi might be able to us. The reflecting on the glass area is a good idea, I'll look at it. Not quite sure how to add a map, as I said the message above I try to use standard DAZ shaders so anyone can load it. But if I can find a good tutorial I'll look into.

 

Again, thanks.

BronzeDragon

Catherine3678ab said:

Looks fine to me. We can all change the textures to suit our scenes anyways. I'd make the window more transparent, and the stairs - well they would have to fold up to close with the form of the ship - they look a tad steep to me BUT then I haven't climbed into any spaceships recently ;-)

 

Thanks.

 

The "ladder" is actually at the same rise and house stair, it just isn't as high to the so the "run" is shorter. Yes the under side of the stairs could be shaped to form the seal up ship wall, but I figured that the actual ships wall is slid into the other part of the ships wall and so is hidden. The ladder would just fold into the compression/decompression lock. I might just do a version of the closed up ship in flight. Have think about that. 

 

Again,

 

Thanks

Catherine3678ab

Looking forward for this, however it's released [can never have too many chariots] , thank you :-)

BronzeDragon

New version with a few changes to the design and the shaders. Is this an improvement, or, more likley, not? Comments please.

 

 

 

 

zombietaggerung

I like the new shaders, and the blue windows look really good. 

Catherine3678ab

Snazzy!!!

McGyver

I don't know what models you are comparing yours to, but I think what you've got there is just fine.

It's got a fun 50s-60s "Lost In Space" vibe going... it's reminiscent of lots of movie set props from that era and would probably work well for someone doing a nostalgic sci-fi render from that era.

As far as the ladder is concerned, you could always make a closed hatch without the ladder and hide it, so users could choose between an open hatch with the ladder deployed and the closed hatch with the ladder retracted/stowed...

Not all movie set props have logical or practical working parts like that... 

A perfect example is in the original Star Wars movie  "A New Hope"... at the end when they are preparing to attack the Death Star, the X-Wing access ladders appear to be the type that would retract or store onboard... yet there is nowhere for them to go, no panel, no recess... they just appear and disappear from scene to scene... I think it's the same in the scenes on Dagobah too (Empire Strikes Back).

Lots of old movies did it too with similar parts like gangways and landing struts... you never actually see how they fold up or retract... they are closed in one scene and open in another... so especially if you are going for the retro-nostalgic sci-fi movie look, you don't have to worry about it too much... it's so high tech it's like magic... like how Iron Man's nano suit deploys out of nothing or someone taps a button on their sunglasses and they are instantly surrounded and protected by a suit of armor that magically unfolds from the glasses... seriously, if that's okay, your ladder is okay and no explanation is necessary.

Of course if it really bugs you, I understand that... even though I said what I just did, I don't like making stuff that isn't really physically possible... but I'm just saying that for a freebie, lots of people would be happy with it just as it is and all the better with a closed hatch option to toggle between.

You did a good job there... I hope this was helpful or the kind of commentary you were looking for.

BronzeDragon

zombietaggerung said:

I like the new shaders, and the blue windows look really good. 

Thanks very much. I think I might change the inner walls of the lock to that shade of blue. 

BronzeDragon

Catherine3678ab said:

Snazzy!!!

 

Thanks very much. I've been looking at the idea of a closed up lander on the legs, as if it hasn't opened yet, or is lock up to keep the aliens out while you're away exploring. 

BronzeDragon

McGyver said:

I don't know what models you are comparing yours to, but I think what you've got there is just fine.

It's got a fun 50s-60s "Lost In Space" vibe going... it's reminiscent of lots of movie set props from that era and would probably work well for someone doing a nostalgic sci-fi render from that era.

..........

Of course if it really bugs you, I understand that... even though I said what I just did, I don't like making stuff that isn't really physically possible... but I'm just saying that for a freebie, lots of people would be happy with it just as it is and all the better with a closed hatch option to toggle between.

You did a good job there... I hope this was helpful or the kind of commentary you were looking for.

Thanks very much. This is just what I wanted. I guess I wondered if it was detailed enough. Compared to things I've seen sold, it looks a bit plain, if you know what I mean. Don't want to go overboard though. As I told Catherine, above, I'm looking at doing other models to go with it. One closed up as if just landed, and one more that also has the legs retracted, as if in flight. I'll see what they turn out like.

 

When they (maybe) are finished I'll post the files to the freebies section on Rendo (where my others are), post a notice here. I usually also post fbx, blend, and obj files to, but those are generic shaders more for designating areas. May also post some renders of the other one(s) as I do them.

 

Again, thanks for the comments. 

perlk

Love it. The textures are really great!!!

BronzeDragon

perlk said:

Love it. The textures are really great!!!

 

Thanks perlk, much appreciated coming from you. Wish I knew how you manage the fashions and particularly the jewerly you've been doing with Hexagon. I could never figure that program out. Seems counterintutive to me, maybe I'm just so used to using proper engineering software for so many (to many) years, that it makes it hard.

 

You should consider doing tutorial for Hexagon showing how you do what you do. I'm sure many people would find it very helpful.

 

Anyway, thanks for the comments. 

perlk

BronzeDragon said:

perlk said:

Love it. The textures are really great!!!

 

Thanks perlk, much appreciated coming from you. Wish I knew how you manage the fashions and particularly the jewerly you've been doing with Hexagon. I could never figure that program out. Seems counterintutive to me, maybe I'm just so used to using proper engineering software for so many (to many) years, that it makes it hard.

 

You should consider doing tutorial for Hexagon showing how you do what you do. I'm sure many people would find it very helpful.

 

Anyway, thanks for the comments. 

Good suggestion - I'll look into that! I think I like Hexagon just because it is the first program I ever used. Can't teach an old dog new tricks and all that jazz.

Thanks for the kind words :-)

leemoon_c43b45a114

I like this spaceship quite a lot.  Are the landing legs and doors going to be moveable so we can retract/extend them and open/close the door?  That would be perfect, but I understand if you don't want to rig the model that way.  It's a wonderful throwback to older sci-fi ships.  Job well done! :)

Lee

 

BronzeDragon

leemoon_c43b45a114 said:

I like this spaceship quite a lot.  Are the landing legs and doors going to be moveable so we can retract/extend them and open/close the door?  That would be perfect, but I understand if you don't want to rig the model that way.  It's a wonderful throwback to older sci-fi ships.  Job well done! :)

Lee

 

Thanks much for the comments. Actually I don't think so. I've never really tried to rig anything except some earrings I did so that they would be easy to adjust as the model moved. That turned into a disaster (you can find the unadjusted versions here - https://www.renderosity.com/users/BronzeDragon2001/freestuff). However I'm looking into two other stand-alone versions, one with the legs out and the door closed, and one with no legs or door suitable as in flight.  Also thinking about somekind of cone shaped flames(?) for that version. Three seperate models is a lot eaiser for me.

 

Anyway, thanks.

nabob21

I think this is really good as well. I really like the overall design. One suggestion I have is to mak the stairs part of a door that would fit over the opening. As it is right now, the stairs look too big to do that, but if you made them part of the door I think it would work better. If the stairs don't reach the ground you could have them extend like a ladder would.

BronzeDragon

nabob21 said:

I think this is really good as well. I really like the overall design. One suggestion I have is to mak the stairs part of a door that would fit over the opening. As it is right now, the stairs look too big to do that, but if you made them part of the door I think it would work better. If the stairs don't reach the ground you could have them extend like a ladder would.

 

As mentioned above, I'm trying to do three version, 1st as shown, 2nd with door closed and stairs inside (not visable), but the legs still out, and 3rd door closed, legs retracted, and drive force cone, as if in flight.  Sorry, I can't do it as one model cause the software likes one or the other to export.

 

Thanks for the comments

 

nabob21

Whatever you decide to do, it is going to be an awesome model. I can't wait to see the final product.

BronzeDragon

Is there a way to copy surface values from one model to another? As I said I'm trying to make three versions of the model and would like all the surfaces in each model that show them to be the same.  

Catherine3678ab

BronzeDragon said:

Is there a way to copy surface values from one model to another? As I said I'm trying to make three versions of the model and would like all the surfaces in each model that show them to be the same.  

Possibly - and maybe somebody will tell us.

The method I use is to make a Material Preset - if the other models all have the same surface assignments it will work on them too.

richardandtracy

I use a material preset when testing my models, as Catherine suggested. Copy and paste with one or two surfaces is OK, but any more than that is a pain. Regards, Richard.

BronzeDragon

Catherine3678ab said:

BronzeDragon said:

Is there a way to copy surface values from one model to another? As I said I'm trying to make three versions of the model and would like all the surfaces in each model that show them to be the same.  

Possibly - and maybe somebody will tell us.

The method I use is to make a Material Preset - if the other models all have the same surface assignments it will work on them too.

Thanks Carherine3678ab. Followed Richards suggestion and made shader preset for each of the surfaces and the used them on the proper surface of the other two models. 

BronzeDragon

richardandtracy said:

I use a material preset when testing my models, as Catherine suggested. Copy and paste with one or two surfaces is OK, but any more than that is a pain. Regards, Richard.

Thanks Richard. I made a shader preset for each of the layers in the first model that were needed in the other two models (none of the interior stuff) so that cut it down some for the second model and even less for the third one. Only took a couple of minutes. So, thanks a bunch.

BronzeDragon

Have all three models done and packaged up. Will probably up load to Rendo later unless someone wants to be a guinea pig before that.