Doing KURV Studios Viper tutorial.

[G_Starkiller]

Been working on KURV Studios two part video tutorial on building a BSG
Mk1 Viper in Lightwave. I have Modo, which is near enough to follow
along. :) Part 2 deals with texturing the model. Since texturing is
something I'm not good at, this will help I hope. ;)

Just finished the wing assembly. Though he mentioned in the tutorial that the
paneling will be done on the texture in the second part of the tutorial, I
wanted to see if I could model them instead. SIGH. Now I have to panel the
rest of it too, or it won't match. Such is life. :D

Eric

[Titon]

Looking very nice!

Kev does a nice job with that tutorial.

:)

[gmd3d]

Nice job .. I like to see the Panelling been done. but that a personal approach

[G_Starkiller]

Yes, I prefer the modeled detail approach too. The problem with
textured detail, is that the closer the camera gets, the more fake
it looks.

The eye opener for me in this tutorial, was the way the most basic
geometric shapes could be altered with a few modeling tools. This was
why I had trouble getting started. I didn't understand how the tools
could get the shapes they did. This tutorial shows how, with an
interest subject to model. BTW, got the tailfin modeled, detailed, and
added.

:D

Eric

[Darrell Lawrence]

I modeled my details.

[ulimann644]

The viper is looking very good - I´m interested to see one day the final version. :up:

[G_Starkiller]

Finished the rear nurnies. I watched do his in the tut, then did my own,
based on the 5 view reference I'm using. :)

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc304/Greywolf_Starkiller/viper_project-clay4.jpg

Starkiller

[Darrell Lawrence]

What 5 views are you using?

[G_Starkiller]

http://www.sextondesign.net/BG/html/gallery.html

This chap has some REALLY nice graphic sheets on the ships of
Classic Galactica, Modern Galactica, Star Trek, and Star Wars.
I don't know if they were done with his models, or if he made
them in Photoshop, but they are very good work, and excellent
for reference images.

Greywolf

EDIT: I mean Babylon 5, not Star Wars. :)

[CBSG4ever]

Yes, that site belongs to our very own "Gideon" here at Fleets. Haven't seen him around lately. I agree, he does excellent work. :salute:
Keep up the excellent work you are doing G_Starkiller. :thumbsup:

[gmd3d]

excellent work on this

[Darrell Lawrence]

http://www.sextondesign.net/BG/html/gallery.html

This chap has some REALLY nice graphic sheets on the ships of
Classic Galactica, Modern Galactica, Star Trek, and Star Wars.
I don't know if they were done with his models, or if he made
them in Photoshop, but they are very good work, and excellent
for reference images.

Greywolf

EDIT: I mean Babylon 5, not Star Wars. :)Ah. Well, you can use the originals of what he used. They're in the Gallery here. It's my model he used in his graphics ;)

[G_Starkiller]

Got the engine paneling done. Just a bit of detailing to do and then
it's on to the fuselage.

Warrior, that is a superb model of the viper! I'll check the gallery when
I get home from work. Did you do the Mk2 also? After I finish the Mk1,
I want to try the Mk2. With it's stylish lines, it'll be harder than the Mk1,
and a good exercise when I finish this tut. :)

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc304/Greywolf_Starkiller/Viper-WIP-EnginePanels.jpg

Greywolf

[Darrell Lawrence]

Thanks.

No, I didn't make a MkII version. Just the Classic.

[ulimann644]

Very impressive work - I love this baby... :)
BTW a little question: How is the work with modo ?? - I´ve got a version of it since a few weeks but never showed in so far...

[G_Starkiller]

Well, one Lightwave command I couldn't find the Modo version for, was
Rail Extrude. The Bend tool on a cylinder produced a similiar result.
In many other cases, Modo made certain thing easier, in others, a bit
harder. All in all, I would say the modelers are very similiar. If you can
do Lightwave, you should be able to do Modo with little difficulty.

Greywolf

[G_Starkiller]

Got the paneling on the fuselage done. Just a few details left to add.
Then it's off to find some references on the landing gear and the
cockpit. :)

Greywolf

[ernie90125]

I'm impressed with your modeling skills.....hoping to see her turboing around the galaxy shoting bad guys in a few animations too :-)

[gmd3d]

I built the landing gear for the Viper and it in the Downloads area .. it based on the blueprints from the show .. I don't have them on my HD but on disc ,.. I check tomorrow
too post them.

[gmd3d]

you can see the rear landing gear here in this thread

http://www.colonialfleets.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14052&page=8&highlight=Viper+landing+gear

[G_Starkiller]

Thanks Taranis. :) I grabbed your gear to use as a reference. I also
found a few shots of how they attach. Not very detailed shots, but good
enough to get started from. A few close B&W shots of the actual gear
and the blueprints you mentioned. Also located some nice cockpit
shots, again, not very detailed, but enough to get started. :)

Thanks to everyone for the nice comments. The tutorial was fun and
informative, and I added a lot. Hopefully, I won't regret it when UVmapping.
:D

Starkiller

[KJ]

Neat stuf there G_Starkiller!

Recently got myself the new 30 anniversary revell Viper kit, so i guess we're all doing something viper related. Although i've got to get the necessary paints and whatnot, working space etc, other materials etc.

Like what i'm looking at far as your CG model goes though. :thumbsup:

KJ

[gmd3d]

here you go.. these are the ones

[G_Starkiller]

Taranis, thanks for the references. I was wondering if I should even
bother with landing gear, when I scaled your gear to fit my Viper, rendered,
took one look amd that was all it took. :) It looks so cool with the gear,
that I'm modeling them using your excellent gear as a reference. I'm
hoping to be able to do it in half the number of polys, but it looks like
3/4 may be more likely.

Here is a shot of my Viper with your gear attached.

Eric

EDIT: Added a shot of where I am with my own front gear. So far,
I'm managing to hold the number of polys at the 3/4 mark. :)

[gmd3d]

Looks great .. I never attempted to reduce the polys more than I did .. look forward to see
what you will do

[G_Starkiller]

Here are some WIP screen caps of my own landing gear. Almost done
them, then it's the cockpit. :) Taranis, your help was definitely above
and beyond the call of duty. It's thanks to you that I got this far. :salute:

Eric

PS: So far, the 3/4 quote seems to be holding. I might have managed
half, but I just kept adding more detail for some reason. :D

[gmd3d]

your gear looks right on .. and no problem about the refs :) glad to help out a fellow Artist

[G_Starkiller]

I didn't really save all that much. The final poly count on the Landing
Gear came in at 41350. That's only about 7000 polys less than your Gear. :)

Here's a beauty shot and a few orthos. Now it's time to try the
cockpit. :D

Eric

[Athene]

Those look really good. :)
I'd like to make a viper too at some point.

[G_Starkiller]

It's a good ship to start out with. I deviated a lot from the tutorial, but
I'm just about ready to start the UVmapping part, then the texturing part.
Gotta do the cockpit though. After putting so much detail into it, I just
can't skip that. :D

Eric

[gmd3d]

awesome work mate .. now I am looking forward to your Cockpit work

[G_Starkiller]

I did find something useful as regards to the cockpit. Using Google, I
found a review of the Revell Viper kit. The cockpit was based on the
1:1 studio model. He had pics from both the left and right. It's a
good find as it gives me the basic shaping of the cockpit, which I
didn't know before. :)

Greywolf

[gmd3d]

cool .. I be watching :)

[Titon]

Looks pretty good.

Those ortho's though look a bit off....

I had Modo at one time. Does it have a "perspective camera"?

Otherwise nice job. The landing may be a bit poly heavy but that's ok.

:)

[G_Starkiller]

Thanks. Hmmm. I had the Modo camera on Orthographic, but some other
settings may have needed adjustment. Still getting used to the camera.

Taranis, here's a rough look at the cockpit layout. I copied the empty
interior into another layer, so I could work on it without the Viper getting
in the way. This is the best I could do with the refs I had. Hopefully,
I can get enough from all the intrument refs, to find out what goes
where, but I think I got the basic layout as close as I can.

Eric

[gmd3d]

look spot on G_Starkiller. you going to model the controls ??

[G_Starkiller]

I think that would be best. Aside from the other refs I've managed to
track down, I also have the series on DVD. There are quite a few
moments in the series where you get a good look at some of the
panels. Modeling them should be relatively easy. I may need to
improvise in some places, but between the series and the refs, I
should be able to get relatively close to the control layout.

Alas, I work all week, so my time to work at this will be limited until
the weekend. Ain't Real Life grand? :D

Eric

[G_Starkiller]

Just finished UVmapping the main areas of the fuselage. I won't know if I did it
right until I start the texturing phase. Here's what I've done on the cockpit
so far. The area behind the canopy is being redone, as in the tut, it was
modeled without an opening canopy in mind. :D

Eric

[G_Starkiller]

Looks like I finally figured out UVmapping. Now going through the
texturing tutorial, while I work out the cockpit modeling.

Starkiller

[gmd3d]

Good work on this mate

[G_Starkiller]

Taranis,
Here are the caps you requested. Several from in Modo at different
angles. You can see through the cockpit walls because they are
single sided polys. :) Good for the pics as you can see better. Alsio
a render to show how it looks in the fuselage, and one of the pics
of the Viper re-release cockpit. Hope this helps. No it's WAY past my
beddie bye time. :D Night.

Eric

[gmd3d]

sweet thanks .. that helps :)

[G_Starkiller]

Ok, textures on the fuselage and engine casing are done. I just finished
UVmapping the wings and tailfin. Too tired to start texturing though.
Gotta catch some Zs as I gotta work tomorrow (today actually)
:D

Eric

[gmd3d]

I have to have a goo at that course sometime :)

[G_Starkiller]

Got the Viper off my virtual shelf, no that life is not so hectic.
I intend to finish this puppy! :D
Much of the texturing is completed. I need to detail the cockpit
and gear bays, but that it all the modeling left. Pics are of where
I am at this point.

Eric

[G_Starkiller]

With the completion of Poserizing the engines, the only things left to do,
are detailing the cockpit and the Gear bays. Back to Modo for that! :D

Eric