This is SO amazing. I can't believe I'm not looking at press-release photos. HUGE congrats not only on the INSANELY cool R2-D2, but on the header as well.
It is very daunting to see someone that has this much 3D mesh ability as well as your UBER texturing skills.
Awesome work!!! :eek: I can't imagine the real thing looking this realistic...but
as i recall, the beginning of ep3 was supposed to have r2d2 and 3po looking perfectly brand new, b4 all of the *stuff* happened... how would you render a "perfect r2d2" that doesn't look bs?
it looks like the reflections on the blue material need to tint blue a little more, otherwise your environment isn't a perfect match, but other than that they really are almost identical
I've had your R2 in my random select wallpaper directory since forever ago. I didn't think you could improve on what you had before. Awesome work.
It's funny how even after seeing R2-D2 for nearly 30 years something like this comes along and I'm calling my wife over to look at the computer screen "This is so f****** cool!!! You gotta see this!"
I've had your R2 in my random select wallpaper directory since forever ago. I didn't think you could improve on what you had before. Awesome work.
It's funny how even after seeing R2-D2 for nearly 30 years something like this comes along and I'm calling my wife over to look at the computer screen "This is so f****** cool!!! You gotta see this!"
You must build the Millenium Falcon. Seriously.
then he would be challenging Al's kingdom over that model.:D
The next thing up will be the Tantive IV corridor, a model I built awhile ago and just pulled out of mothballs. I've pretty much lost interest in doing it for some reason, but all it needs is some minor modeling work and texturing, so why not?
The next thing up will be the Tantive IV corridor, a model I built awhile ago and just pulled out of mothballs. I've pretty much lost interest in doing it for some reason, but all it needs is some minor modeling work and texturing, so why not?
_Mike
I'll tell you why not, why not is because I will now, probably, never finish my R2, please don't put me through the same agony with the Tantive corridor lol
Of all the bloody things to choose to model I had to choose them two, and then Zoo had to say "Hey check out Mverta's work..."
Damn you both :P
Seriously though, your work is wow, and helping me to improve my own, with each step you take I am learning more and going down to a level of detail (well trying to anyway) I would never have strifed to achieve if I hadn't seen what was actually possible
Yep, it's amazing. That comparison pic is fantastic. How does maxwell handle sss. I know this is your R2 thread, but have you tried anything like that yet, and do you have any pics?
Can you explain a little about how you approached the texture work, usage of displacements, bumps, sizes etc. etc. would be great to hear more on how you achieved the ultra-realism (plus would be great to pick up some tips from the experts!).
In my work I have a couple of (almost hard-and-fast) rules: 1) NO procedurals. 2) NO hand-painting. 3) NO lighting cheats. 4) NO perfection.
It's like this... we're not trying to replicate reality in CG; we're trying to replicate photographed reality. We're not duplicating the way things look to our eyes, but the way they look to cameras. There's a vast and significant difference between the two.
I always use photographs for my textures; photographs of the real world. Even if I want a solid color, I draw from a library of "solid color" photographs I've taken of walls, etc. A flat, painted wall in the real world has a billion subtle variations on it. I don't use procedurals because they always look "mathematical" to me; they don't have a fraction of the randomness and variation that you find in nature. This is also why I don't hand-paint things: I would be fooling myself to believe I could replicate by hand what nature does, to the extent that would be necessary to fool the eye. The basic idea is that if I want to create a "photograph", I source photographs.
By lighting cheats, I mean exactly that... I don't have "invisible" fills or voids, all my lights have quadratic/accurate fall-off... the eye is extremely sensitive to that.
And by no perfection, I mean no perfection. There are no perfect edges, no perfect symmetries, no perfectly flat surfaces, no perfect angles. Everything is slightly misaligned; I usually do that post-modeling stage 1, but not always. Again, if your entire model is precise in a way that no real-world object ever is, you're already handicapping yourself.
And that's pretty much it. All I do is bring as much of the real-world into the project as possible, through randomness, photographic texture sources, realistic lighting, and a photographic approach to the camera. All my models and my scenes are at real-world scale 1:1, and most of my textures are built at 4k or higher. All the little things really add up.
yes ... I saw that imperfection on your X-Wing too. The panels on the Fuselage are sightly different
I would like to know how you get that colors on R2? You have a Blue metal color on the R2. Is this 100% a Photo or is it modified (havy modified) in Photoshop?
I'm learning UV Mapping right now and then I will start texturing the X-Wing. I have seen a good Tutorial (over at CGTallk) how to make used metal - simulating it (I Think it was made by Stefan Morrel (Stonemason) )...but I want to make it as you did ... using almost "real" textures.
Do you have some tips in handy? I'm always impressed by your work ... do you use Bumpmaps or Displacementmaps too? Or is it all mesh?
There is no Photoshop work of any kind - or any post, for that matter - on my R2 renders.
The blue paint replicates the actual ILM automotive paint formula (currently a mix of House of Kolor paints). It is a deep purple basecoat, mixed with silver and gold flecks, coated by a Kandy blue topcoat, and glossy clearcoat. The basecoat is metallic in nature, the flakes are heavily anisotropic for randomness and "sparkle", and the topcoat uses a custom ior profile to duplicate what the real paint does - it falls off into a much darker blue in the "flash" off-angle; only it's a very narrow angle. The actual paint only looks blue dead-on, and then it quickly turns dark.
As for how to make metal textures, it is entirely dependent on your rendering engine. My current approach, for Maxwell, is different than virtually every other engine.
I use bumps and displacements when I "have to", meaning I can't 100% commit until late in the game. Usually then I bake them in (convert to geometry) unless the rendertime hit is too great.
There is no Photoshop work of any kind - or any post, for that matter - on my R2 renders.
That was not what I meant ... I mean when you start making a texture your "painting" on a UVMap or something simular. You said you are using photos only but you need to composite them in Photoshop. Or do you make all in Maxwell?
Posts
Greets
Chris
It is very daunting to see someone that has this much 3D mesh ability as well as your UBER texturing skills.
You ROCK!
AG
as i recall, the beginning of ep3 was supposed to have r2d2 and 3po looking perfectly brand new, b4 all of the *stuff* happened... how would you render a "perfect r2d2" that doesn't look bs?
_Mike
_Mike
It's funny how even after seeing R2-D2 for nearly 30 years something like this comes along and I'm calling my wife over to look at the computer screen "This is so f****** cool!!! You gotta see this!"
You must build the Millenium Falcon. Seriously.
then he would be challenging Al's kingdom over that model.:D
I know. Al3d sets a very high bar. Not to slight his work in any way.
Anyhow, the R2 is so outstanding is makes me wonder what we'll see next.
_Mike
I always wanted to make the silent running robots, my computer died the other night though so I dont know when I'll make 3D again.
I'll tell you why not, why not is because I will now, probably, never finish my R2, please don't put me through the same agony with the Tantive corridor lol
Of all the bloody things to choose to model I had to choose them two, and then Zoo had to say "Hey check out Mverta's work..."
Damn you both :P
Seriously though, your work is wow, and helping me to improve my own, with each step you take I am learning more and going down to a level of detail (well trying to anyway) I would never have strifed to achieve if I hadn't seen what was actually possible
Mucho gracious, now stop it! hehe
Wiz.
_Mike
Thanks!!
They look nothing like the original :flippy:
DAve
I gotta go get that vis dictionary.
Can you explain a little about how you approached the texture work, usage of displacements, bumps, sizes etc. etc. would be great to hear more on how you achieved the ultra-realism (plus would be great to pick up some tips from the experts!).
Thanks,
Paul.
It's like this... we're not trying to replicate reality in CG; we're trying to replicate photographed reality. We're not duplicating the way things look to our eyes, but the way they look to cameras. There's a vast and significant difference between the two.
I always use photographs for my textures; photographs of the real world. Even if I want a solid color, I draw from a library of "solid color" photographs I've taken of walls, etc. A flat, painted wall in the real world has a billion subtle variations on it. I don't use procedurals because they always look "mathematical" to me; they don't have a fraction of the randomness and variation that you find in nature. This is also why I don't hand-paint things: I would be fooling myself to believe I could replicate by hand what nature does, to the extent that would be necessary to fool the eye. The basic idea is that if I want to create a "photograph", I source photographs.
By lighting cheats, I mean exactly that... I don't have "invisible" fills or voids, all my lights have quadratic/accurate fall-off... the eye is extremely sensitive to that.
And by no perfection, I mean no perfection. There are no perfect edges, no perfect symmetries, no perfectly flat surfaces, no perfect angles. Everything is slightly misaligned; I usually do that post-modeling stage 1, but not always. Again, if your entire model is precise in a way that no real-world object ever is, you're already handicapping yourself.
And that's pretty much it. All I do is bring as much of the real-world into the project as possible, through randomness, photographic texture sources, realistic lighting, and a photographic approach to the camera. All my models and my scenes are at real-world scale 1:1, and most of my textures are built at 4k or higher. All the little things really add up.
_Mike
I would like to know how you get that colors on R2? You have a Blue metal color on the R2. Is this 100% a Photo or is it modified (havy modified) in Photoshop?
I'm learning UV Mapping right now and then I will start texturing the X-Wing. I have seen a good Tutorial (over at CGTallk) how to make used metal - simulating it (I Think it was made by Stefan Morrel (Stonemason) )...but I want to make it as you did ... using almost "real" textures.
Do you have some tips in handy? I'm always impressed by your work ... do you use Bumpmaps or Displacementmaps too? Or is it all mesh?
Greets
Chris
The blue paint replicates the actual ILM automotive paint formula (currently a mix of House of Kolor paints). It is a deep purple basecoat, mixed with silver and gold flecks, coated by a Kandy blue topcoat, and glossy clearcoat. The basecoat is metallic in nature, the flakes are heavily anisotropic for randomness and "sparkle", and the topcoat uses a custom ior profile to duplicate what the real paint does - it falls off into a much darker blue in the "flash" off-angle; only it's a very narrow angle. The actual paint only looks blue dead-on, and then it quickly turns dark.
As for how to make metal textures, it is entirely dependent on your rendering engine. My current approach, for Maxwell, is different than virtually every other engine.
I use bumps and displacements when I "have to", meaning I can't 100% commit until late in the game. Usually then I bake them in (convert to geometry) unless the rendertime hit is too great.
_Mike
Another fantastic quote from Mike Verta.....
That was not what I meant ... I mean when you start making a texture your "painting" on a UVMap or something simular. You said you are using photos only but you need to composite them in Photoshop. Or do you make all in Maxwell?
Greets
Chris
_Mike