McGyver's (aka- lordvicore)... old forgotten WIP models and stuff
McGyver
Posts: 7,051
After years of thinking about it, I finally decided to make a WIP thread... actually two... one here and one elsewhere... its sort of a social experiment...
But anyway, mostly its about models and sets that I've had laying around for a while... some for years, some for less.
Some I ignored because they were not going the way I wanted, some because they got really complex, some because my modeling techniques improved and I didn't want to go back on them and redo them, some I just forgot about... some for other reasons.
This thread is about the models, most of the renders will just be straight out of modeler, using Kerkythea or Twilight Render... here and there Poser or DAZ... but the renders are usually just for me to see the model from a better view than in the modeler.
Nothing artistic.
Other than that there is no point to this thread.
If you feel like commenting, feel free... These were all meant to be freebies, so if there is something you like and would actually like to see finished up, let me know...
Other than that, it is what it is.
I'll Start with this one... I think I called it " The Tower of Sorleera"
The Tower of Soleera is a landmark mentioned in one of my short stories that I'll never publish because I'm too lazy. It is in ruins by the time of that story, but the beacon (not bacon) at the top of the Tower needs to be lit... why, is a long story, which is why as a short story it wasn't finished...
The model has been around since 2010 and started out as just the tower and the court walls... then it got the island and bridge... a moat... and a ring of outer walls... not shown are the straight sections of the outer walls and the main gates... the tower was also updated to add three more levels to it to clear the outer wall towers and give bad guys a long fall to their doom.
The model is made from Ngons, which back when I started this,I would just "triangulate" before I'd export it... some time later I realized that wasn't the best way to feed a model to Poser or DAZ... Not so bad for most PBRs (Physically Based Render... Not Peanut Butter & Raccoon), but sometimes it leaves weird distortions on parts when rendered by Firefly or 3D Delight.
The model is huge and is scaled to Poser/DAZ and has many interior rooms... in one version I even started a whole underground complex within the island.
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Comments
I dont know what the limit is for inline images... so I'll keep it to the number it used to be at the last forum version...
Anyway...Here are some other older images I found on another hard drive... turns out I started this in 2009... six years its been festering for...
The ABOVE image is what the main gate looks like... it's hinged, so it can open and close... The texture is a streaky patina I copied from a picture of a huge section of weathered bronze I photographed, some time before... it looks better close up... from far away its just mint green.
ABOVE: Close-ish close up of the tower...
ABOVE: This is why I make PBR "Progress Renders".... an NPR (Non Photo-Realistic) image of the tower's upper levers.
ABOVE: The tower again...
ABOVE: A really badly lit image of the upper level railings... I think I was trying out some HDR lighting... ?
Thats all on this one...
Here is another old model... from 2008.
I originally made this a story I was telling my daughters when they were little... over time the purpose of the structure changed.
The name of the structure is Alantrii...
The world on which this story occurs is 88% water and there are many large shallow seas. The world has been isolated for many, many centuries and after the event that led to its isolation, its technologies were lost... at the time of the stories, its in the process of a renaissance... rediscovering the past technologies in a mish-mash of interpretations and quacky ideas...
Basically its in a sort of steam-punk/diesel-punk phase.
The structure was originally a summer palace for a very wealthy merchant who eventually became a "king" of a small region of the world. When everything fell apart he tried hold a small section of the society together, losing most his assets in the process... though in the stories he is referred to as "king", he never took the title... it is a something that was added over many centuries.
By the time of the main story, the structure is more of a hotel and way-station, where huge airships dock.
This structure's design was reevaluated and I started instead to use "Caprina Palace" (there are some sectional sets from it in my SCG gallery). The location this depicts was to small for the airships I designed to dock at.
The airships can sit in water like a regular ship, but mostly they hover... they are an odd blend of steam-liner and Zeppelin with huge antigravity pods and 30s propeller drive nacelles.
Somewhere I have a few concept models, but I can't locate them now.
When I went to dock them, they were too dangerously large to fit here...
But anyway, thats what all the ramps and decks sticking out to nowhere are about.
Anyway, heres Alantrii:
ABOVE: "Front" view... Rendered in Twilight Render (uses Kerkythea Engine)
ABOVE: "Back" view...
ABOVE: A 2008 or 2009 Bryce render... probably took two or three hours to finish... sad.
ABOVE: More Bryce sadness... don't judge Bryce by any of this, please.
ABOVE: Bryce again... interior shot of some ballroom at sunset.
ABOVE: I used to hate this image so much because it took 24 or more hours to render and it came out off center even though the preview showed it was centered... I think somewhere I actually photoshop reconstructed the missing bits... I wasn't letting 24 hours of render go to waste no matter how bad the image.
Well, thats it for now...
800 pixels wide, please
Sorry, I thought the image size didn't matter if it was through a URL link... I thought the 800 pixel limit was for images uploaded from our computers...
So do I have to link to a smaller image, or can I use that resizing field in the upload image menu?
Just use the resizing field, then people can click to see the full size. It's only the in-line image - as it appears in the post - that we worry about.
Thank you, I'll do it that way from now on... I was trying to avoid making work for anyone, and instead I made more.
Clearly I have misunderstood the term "in-line"... I've taken it to mean consecutive or sequential, like when you write a little, add an image, then write a little more... I'm guessing the actual meaning is more like "within the posting field"? Or is that wrong too...?
Yes, when they say in-line, it's what goes in the text box. I really like Alantrii. And being off centered is actually more desirable from an artistic point of view. Centered is boring!
Thank you Novica!
Yeah, bring on more big buildings! They're all good.
Thanks SteveM17!
Here are some more projects....
Here is a Spaceship I've been working on... Her name is "Tiny Dancer".
She is from a series vessels that were probably the equivalent of WW2 C-47 "Skytrain" (aka "Dakotas" on the other side of the pond) cargo aircraft on earth...
Tiny Dancer served as an armed cargo transport, an evacuation medical transport and at the end of her career participated in something equivalent to the Berlin airlift... after the war, she was sold for scrap, but instead ended up in a parts yard for twenty years before she was sold to one of the characters from another story I was working on (all my models are in some way related to a greater universe within which my stories take place... that can be from about 30,000 years ago, to around 75,000 years from now... sorry but my time machine is a cheap one).
After that she was gradually rebuilt to something respectable (but, "Butt ugly")... the character who owns her, chose her because his late father flew one during that war and he had great admiration for these vessel's durability and reliability.
Not unlike a million other sci-fi ships, she is a mix of The "African Queen", Millennium Falcon, Firefly, and the Bebop (from Cowboy Bebop)... or whatever your favorite hero ship is... The real difference with Tiny Dancer is she looks like crap, but she is actually far more advanced, well taken care of and tricked out than her looks let you think... like a "sleeper" hot rod, everyone underestimates her.
At the end of the story the character gives Tiny Dancer to his daughter, she keeps it and it stays in the family for many generations until records of her are lost... If I ever finish her maybe other's can figure out what became of her... what other adventures did she have...
This model I'm still working on and will have a lot of working features... hatches, doors, interior details, landing pads, weapons, maybe an interior lift, and some ducts to crawl through or hide in...
One day I'll finish her...
Anyway... Here is Tiny Dancer in plain old Primer Grey...
Hopefully I resized these properly... if not... sorry!
This next thing is part of a big semi-futuristic city Im working on... I've used it for the background for the Bruckner Typhoon model's promo...
I'm still working on it and this is actually a much rougher version with placeholder textures... these textures are from CG textures... I am making my own version of these from scratch for each building... that is one of the most boring tasks... My intent is to make a Poser version with emissive material windows, and an iRay version for DAZ studio... I was really thrilled when I got the iRay materials to work like I wanted them to... Having a nighttime city skyline should look cool if it's not a nine hundred million hour render.
I also intend to include finer details for most of the building... Rooftop details, landing pads, communications arrays, etc...
Anyway... The older pix:
More stuff...
ABOVE: "The Central Core" set... Poorly lit, and only in material zone stand-in colors (no textures yet)... I never got around to properly setting up Twilight Render, so the lights don't work yet, but the sun does, so its lit by whatever I could get the sun to reach...
The unit is supposed to have a longer shaftway (this is only half its length), filled with lava at the bottom... it would be good for desperate laser battles, destroying an evil overlord's lair and "Luke... I am your father... really... no foolin'" type of renders and or scenes.
ABOVE: "Doctor Doomont"s Amazing Destruct-O-Tron"... I don't know what it does and I don't care, but I bought a real one from some old lady at a garage sale for $3 in Canadian pennies... She said something about it "warping the fabric of reality and merging the borders between other universes" and "being highly unstable and dangerous" and "great for making popcorn"...
It didn't pop corn but the last I cranked it up, a talking ferret named Larry materialized... He went out for some beer and never showed up again... never give beer money to a talking ferret.
Anyway... I intend to finish this up in proper Steampunk fashion... lots of different metals and dark wood...with dial gauges and toggle switches. Right now its just in placeholder colors.
ABOVE: Just a "Corner Store"... as in store on a corner... It was going to be an old arcade, but it could also be a pool hall or Laundromat... it has offices or apartments upstairs and a full basement... all doors open and all windows too... there are stairs inside too.
This is one of several structures from my "Four Block" project... I'll be happy if I complete one block... all the buildings were to have full interiors and working doors and windows.
This model is also in placeholder materials, sans textures for he time being.
ABOVE: This does not even really have an official name yet... the working title is "SumCliffLedge"... very original and descriptive, no?
It is a cliffside lair entrance or secret base... it will have a couple of interior rooms and some corridors... It will be open for expansion modules.
That sloshy translucent stuff at the bottom is supposed to be ocean... I don't know how I feel about that. Its very hard to model good choppy seas.
Yet more...
ABOVE:... Some of the arcade machines that were to go with the corner store...
ABOVE: Another model all in placeholder materials and lit by whatever sun could reach it... This was meant for going overboard with creepy glows and dull ceiling lights... a dark "Aliens" kind of set that I was going to use a lot of emissive materials in... I started it for Poser, but will make an iRay version too.
Here are some pix from a model that belongs to the Caprinia Palace series... its called "The Octagon"... Its also only in placeholder materials.
The Octagon is meant to link with the long bridge attached to my Caprinia Solarium set.
The city looks amazing, the sheer size and variety is impressive.
A spaceship interior would be great. There's not many out there.
I like working with this one.
Thanks atticanne, it's nice to see renders using models I've made. That's the model that the Octagon links up to.
I've had zero modeling opportunities this summer... Ditto with any rendering... I'm hoping that once stuff slows down here I will get to work on some of my models and hopefully finish up some and put them up on SCG.