Thanks Ice, next year will see Artoo and 3PO reunited (hopefully :P).
Well had some more time to play with the blue paint, adjusted the clear coat and also the anistropic(on the metal) and the isotropic highlights (in the clearcoat).
However I am getting some weird artifacts going on in the highlights so had to lessen the anistropic effect on the bluepaint layer whilst I figure what is causing that to happen, some conflict in the layers I imagine, which you can see coming through in the centre of Artoo's arms as a faint black line.
So whilst I go nuts trying to figure out why the material is acting this way here is a quick render
Edit: I have figured the problem with the material, and it turns out it is not the material, rather certain pieces of mesh. So easily corrected
Well hope everyone is having a great Christmas, had a chill day today (in recovery), so did a little work on Artoo, update below.
As ever working on the blue bits and continiung to detail the dome.
And the back
And just looking at the back I think the light panel and the one to the left of it are not correct size wise... Ok just off to check the blue prints although "I have a bad feeling about this"... So if you hear a loud scream in a few minutes you know why.
There are no accurate prints for the dome. So don't marry yourself to them... I'll do some one day, but there's one particular dome I want to dim at the Archives before I release anything. Blue's looking better. Try it under a few more .hdri's!
Thanks Mike, yeah Artoo has so many little differing variations, makes it fun
Looking forward to your plans, I see another big update to Artoo on the cards when they arrive
Ok, a hdr render, seeing how the blue is coming along and the highlights and scratches on the metal.
@ Mike
there are very accurate planes out there, as far as I know (AFAIK - I love that Acronym). There is a group of Astromech Builders that has the chance to messure the "original" R2. (AFAIK ... )
Yeeeeeees ... there were about 20 or 50 or 100 or 1000 R2 used in all the films but this one was mesured and there are BP's of it. Complete with Dome AFAIK ( heh heh )
So if you make BP's its only one BP of One R2 ... don't get me wrong. Your interpretation of Artoo is one of the best out there, no doubt. He is in Books and in shows but that only because your not an unkonwn in Holywood. You have a lot of connections. We are not that famous as you are We are just fans
You are doing a GREAT job with your models, that for sure! (hat off) but I'm not sure if you have done the ultimate R2. Maybe its WIZ or me (LOL ... another Acronym I love) ...
Mike: your work is amazing! but every time when we start talking about R2 and "blue colors" you step back, why? Why not share your knowledge about it? Or is it Lucas who says ... NO? whatelse ...
@WIZ:
Your Artoo is coming out Great! Its one of the two best out there!
ok ... just my 2 cent
You both are doing such a great Job ... keep it on!
I am a councilmember of the R2 Builders' Club and thus completely aware of what reference/materials are out there - I actually have one of every dome the club has ever produced, in fact. I have had hands-on access to multiple original R2's multiple times while working on LFL projects, and I can 100% guarantee no accurate plans or drawings exist. The ones floating in and around the group for years are inaccurate in all respects. They're not bad; they're not accurate. The domes, having been done all by hand, have varying measurements for sure for things like panel cut-outs, though they were all spun on the same tool, so there is little variation in the dome profile between them. But despite the hand-done differences, they vary in other respects only slightly. Still, it has not been properly dim'd and planned. Even my CG dome, while the most accurate to date, is not right.
There is a single dome which is featured in the vast majority of shots in the original Star Wars as a sort of "hero" dome, though it is not in any way the most pristine of them. In fact, it's downright wrecked by the end of shooting, but it is nonetheless the most "R2" of all the domes; it appears more often than any other. If you had to pick one that was "it," it would be the one. Fortunately, that dome is safely in the Archives now, and readily distinguishable if you know how to tell. It is that dome which I plan to dim exhaustively - hopefully in the near future - to put the issue to bed once and for all.
In regards to sharing data, I am aware that my CG R2 is the result of having unparalleled access, for which I'm grateful, and attempt to spread my good fortune by talking as much as I can about how I've done mine, and how things are on the originals. Wiz will attest to that, I'm sure, even if you won't.
I have terrabytes of reference images I've taken like this:
...the result of crawling over every surface of original R2's with a micrometer and a digital camera, and so when I provide info, it's in the hopes of helping. I know Wiz wants to get his R2 as right as I do. Despite the fact that 99% of the internet is powered by people talking out their asses, I hope to be the exception in this regard. If I say something is or isn't accurate, you can take my word for it. When I can't say, I say I can't say, or I stfu.
_Mike
P.S. Wiz - I'm digging that blue big-time, now. Step away from it for a bit!
Thanks Chris for the kind words (always nice to hear )
Also I can definitely attest (and more than happy too) that Mike has been more than helpful and forward with his knowledge on Artoo, not only here on the thread but in pm's as well.
The problem is (or has been for me) taking the shared knowledge and properly understanding it (trust me on more than one occasion after a comment from Mike I have had to go away and study further to properly understand what Mike was referring too; which in turn has helped push my own knowledge base further:)).
Then on top of all that is the added complication of working with Mental Ray (which I both love and hate :P) and getting MR to pull off the complexity required in the materials
Also I reguraly head over to Maxwell renderer where Mike (and others) have several fantastic video tutorials which have helped me immensely in improving my own work (giving me a better understand of materials and lighting) So would definitely recommend heading over there and viewing them
Now as for the blue, yeah do think I need a break (tend to find yourself going in circles - waiting to get over the brick wall); so I am going to do some fun stuff for a while, dirtying up the dome (replacing some of the lower res dirt patches).
Here is a quick close up view of just the dome, and you can see the scratch detail is probably a little heavy and some of the dirt isnt working (ignore the non smoothed polys, doing a pass on all of this now).
@Mike I almost had a coronary when I seen the Artoo photos image in your post, my mouse pointer was a mere blur as I moved it that fast over across the screen to the image and clicked like a maniac thinking it was a link for them hehe
I know you would mate, and no problem, I totally understand.
Now if you could just give me your address, I will get my best cat burglar outfit and you should expect to see me soon (well actually if I do the job right you shouldnt see me)
@Mike
oh my ... I want to have that ref material too ... LOL
It looks like for me that R2D2 is a kind of the holy grail of Star Wars. I don't know why but I think its because there were so much differenet models in every movie.
I know who you are at the R2 Builders Club and its great that your are sharing most of your stuff
What I wanted to say was ... hey kids ... I'm sorry but there is not THE Artoo Detoo ... its all interpretation of the "rar" material we all have
Thats why I like this forum with all the crazy, insane (yes I have heard the word here often) people here
I never wanted to critisize your work ... never! But I hoped I would be able to get the "big blue mystery" out here ... LOL (hmmm you have seen Artoo in person ... so?)
Good to have you here
@WIZ
don't hear on that crazy words above ... ok? The Force is with us ... with you ... ok ok ... I will delete my R2 ... yes ... this is too much for me LOL
@ Mike, the MOST accurate physical model in existence, as far as your knowledge; and your digital R2 are "inaccurate" to the "hero" dome by what margin? (colors, layouts, sizing, etc). Because wiz's looks pretty damn accurate to me, but i have never had access to the LFL archives, and i never really cared about that level of detail
And what does "dim" mean?
@ Mike, the MOST accurate physical model in existence, as far as your knowledge; and your digital R2 are "inaccurate" to the "hero" dome by what margin? (colors, layouts, sizing, etc). Because wiz's looks pretty damn accurate to me, but i have never had access to the LFL archives, and i never really cared about that level of detail
And what does "dim" mean?
Mine is inaccurate to what I call the "hero" dome, (and to the dim's (dimensions) of an "averaged" dome we might derive by averaging the dimensions of all domes) by about 10%, I'd say. While all the domes vary somewhat, they're just not as off from each other as you'd expect considering they were done by hand. The 10% inaccuracy is spread out across many features - size and placement of panel cutouts, etc.
Well another update, the metal dome material is becoming even more of a monster; ok there are 3 layers working the anistropic/isotropic reflections, each containing a blend material which has a dirt layer extracted with its own difuse/reflection properties. Which now means every time I make a change to the detail I have to save out several different versions of the base texture to accomadate the roughness and reflection layers for metal and dirt... aye carumba... ("will it never end" ).
It is probably more complex that it needs to be, but I will refine that over the next few years... I mean it looks like I have till at least 2039...
I am also considering adding a final layer to give the dirt its own bump layer (or is that just going one step to far)...
one question ... do you use photographes as your base layer or do you use procedural shaders (<--- spell? I hate english language from time to time LOL) for the Alu?
Yeah I build all my textures from photographs (I avoid procedural textures, unless it background stuff). The base metal for instance started out with this texture
and I am grabbing dirt from all sorts of metal textures to make up the scratches, oil patches etc. etc.
Also I have just realised the last update didnt actually have the dirt layer working properly, so below is the correct update :P (still lots to do on the dirtying up tho yet).
Posts
& I can't wait to see 3P0 back and IG-88:D
Well had some more time to play with the blue paint, adjusted the clear coat and also the anistropic(on the metal) and the isotropic highlights (in the clearcoat).
However I am getting some weird artifacts going on in the highlights so had to lessen the anistropic effect on the bluepaint layer whilst I figure what is causing that to happen, some conflict in the layers I imagine, which you can see coming through in the centre of Artoo's arms as a faint black line.
So whilst I go nuts trying to figure out why the material is acting this way here is a quick render
Edit: I have figured the problem with the material, and it turns out it is not the material, rather certain pieces of mesh. So easily corrected
Well hope everyone is having a great Christmas, had a chill day today (in recovery), so did a little work on Artoo, update below.
As ever working on the blue bits and continiung to detail the dome.
And the back
And just looking at the back I think the light panel and the one to the left of it are not correct size wise... Ok just off to check the blue prints although "I have a bad feeling about this"... So if you hear a loud scream in a few minutes you know why.
All the best to all,
Wiz.
Just checked the blue prints and it appears to be correct... hmmmm... well will see
_Mike
Looking forward to your plans, I see another big update to Artoo on the cards when they arrive
Ok, a hdr render, seeing how the blue is coming along and the highlights and scratches on the metal.
there are very accurate planes out there, as far as I know (AFAIK - I love that Acronym). There is a group of Astromech Builders that has the chance to messure the "original" R2. (AFAIK ...
Yeeeeeees ... there were about 20 or 50 or 100 or 1000 R2 used in all the films but this one was mesured and there are BP's of it. Complete with Dome AFAIK ( heh heh )
So if you make BP's its only one BP of One R2 ... don't get me wrong. Your interpretation of Artoo is one of the best out there, no doubt. He is in Books and in shows but that only because your not an unkonwn in Holywood. You have a lot of connections. We are not that famous as you are
You are doing a GREAT job with your models, that for sure! (hat off) but I'm not sure if you have done the ultimate R2. Maybe its WIZ or me (LOL ... another Acronym I love) ...
Mike: your work is amazing! but every time when we start talking about R2 and "blue colors" you step back, why? Why not share your knowledge about it? Or is it Lucas who says ... NO? whatelse ...
@WIZ:
Your Artoo is coming out Great! Its one of the two best out there!
ok ... just my 2 cent
You both are doing such a great Job ... keep it on!
Chris
I am a councilmember of the R2 Builders' Club and thus completely aware of what reference/materials are out there - I actually have one of every dome the club has ever produced, in fact. I have had hands-on access to multiple original R2's multiple times while working on LFL projects, and I can 100% guarantee no accurate plans or drawings exist. The ones floating in and around the group for years are inaccurate in all respects. They're not bad; they're not accurate. The domes, having been done all by hand, have varying measurements for sure for things like panel cut-outs, though they were all spun on the same tool, so there is little variation in the dome profile between them. But despite the hand-done differences, they vary in other respects only slightly. Still, it has not been properly dim'd and planned. Even my CG dome, while the most accurate to date, is not right.
There is a single dome which is featured in the vast majority of shots in the original Star Wars as a sort of "hero" dome, though it is not in any way the most pristine of them. In fact, it's downright wrecked by the end of shooting, but it is nonetheless the most "R2" of all the domes; it appears more often than any other. If you had to pick one that was "it," it would be the one. Fortunately, that dome is safely in the Archives now, and readily distinguishable if you know how to tell. It is that dome which I plan to dim exhaustively - hopefully in the near future - to put the issue to bed once and for all.
In regards to sharing data, I am aware that my CG R2 is the result of having unparalleled access, for which I'm grateful, and attempt to spread my good fortune by talking as much as I can about how I've done mine, and how things are on the originals. Wiz will attest to that, I'm sure, even if you won't.
I have terrabytes of reference images I've taken like this:
...the result of crawling over every surface of original R2's with a micrometer and a digital camera, and so when I provide info, it's in the hopes of helping. I know Wiz wants to get his R2 as right as I do. Despite the fact that 99% of the internet is powered by people talking out their asses, I hope to be the exception in this regard. If I say something is or isn't accurate, you can take my word for it. When I can't say, I say I can't say, or I stfu.
_Mike
P.S. Wiz - I'm digging that blue big-time, now. Step away from it for a bit!
Also I can definitely attest (and more than happy too) that Mike has been more than helpful and forward with his knowledge on Artoo, not only here on the thread but in pm's as well.
The problem is (or has been for me) taking the shared knowledge and properly understanding it (trust me on more than one occasion after a comment from Mike I have had to go away and study further to properly understand what Mike was referring too; which in turn has helped push my own knowledge base further:)).
Then on top of all that is the added complication of working with Mental Ray (which I both love and hate :P) and getting MR to pull off the complexity required in the materials
Also I reguraly head over to Maxwell renderer where Mike (and others) have several fantastic video tutorials which have helped me immensely in improving my own work (giving me a better understand of materials and lighting)
Now as for the blue, yeah do think I need a break (tend to find yourself going in circles - waiting to get over the brick wall); so I am going to do some fun stuff for a while, dirtying up the dome (replacing some of the lower res dirt patches).
Here is a quick close up view of just the dome, and you can see the scratch detail is probably a little heavy and some of the dirt isnt working (ignore the non smoothed polys, doing a pass on all of this now).
_Mike
Now if you could just give me your address, I will get my best cat burglar outfit and you should expect to see me soon (well actually if I do the job right you shouldnt see me)
oh my ... I want to have that ref material too ... LOL
It looks like for me that R2D2 is a kind of the holy grail of Star Wars. I don't know why but I think its because there were so much differenet models in every movie.
I know who you are at the R2 Builders Club and its great that your are sharing most of your stuff
What I wanted to say was ... hey kids ... I'm sorry but there is not THE Artoo Detoo ... its all interpretation of the "rar" material we all have
Thats why I like this forum with all the crazy, insane (yes I have heard the word here often) people here
I never wanted to critisize your work ... never! But I hoped I would be able to get the "big blue mystery" out here ... LOL (hmmm you have seen Artoo in person ... so?)
Good to have you here
@WIZ
don't hear on that crazy words above ... ok? The Force is with us ... with you ... ok ok ...
so now ... more renders please
Chris
The big blue mystery can wait for a while longer (well for me anyway, will come back to it another day hehe)
More renders soon, but for not its a break time so off to sit down and watch Moon, been looking forward to this film
I'm glad Mike is here to (maybe) lift some secrets
ok ... no more words on R2 now ... I need to make some nice Shuttle renders LOL:)
Chris
And what does "dim" mean?
Mine is inaccurate to what I call the "hero" dome, (and to the dim's (dimensions) of an "averaged" dome we might derive by averaging the dimensions of all domes) by about 10%, I'd say. While all the domes vary somewhat, they're just not as off from each other as you'd expect considering they were done by hand. The 10% inaccuracy is spread out across many features - size and placement of panel cutouts, etc.
_Mike
Jas
Well another update, the metal dome material is becoming even more of a monster; ok there are 3 layers working the anistropic/isotropic reflections, each containing a blend material which has a dirt layer extracted with its own difuse/reflection properties. Which now means every time I make a change to the detail I have to save out several different versions of the base texture to accomadate the roughness and reflection layers for metal and dirt... aye carumba... ("will it never end"
It is probably more complex that it needs to be, but I will refine that over the next few years... I mean it looks like I have till at least 2039...
I am also considering adding a final layer to give the dirt its own bump layer (or is that just going one step to far)...
one question ... do you use photographes as your base layer or do you use procedural shaders (<--- spell? I hate english language from time to time LOL) for the Alu?
Chris
Yeah I build all my textures from photographs (I avoid procedural textures, unless it background stuff). The base metal for instance started out with this texture
http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=26827&PHPSESSID=f105ff07679cfab9ac80507290a9625b
and I am grabbing dirt from all sorts of metal textures to make up the scratches, oil patches etc. etc.
Also I have just realised the last update didnt actually have the dirt layer working properly, so below is the correct update :P (still lots to do on the dirtying up tho yet).
Jas