Piece of the puzzle

Besides being sick and focusing on exercising, I've been as busy as ever.  So with the downtime from being somewhat laziness-bound I've worked more on the mechanical angel design and FINALLY got some more software working again...

I started on the hip area and the joint system for where the legs will branch from the hip.  Still needs a lot of work as I'm visualizing how joints should move and be fluid but I'm also constantly weighing decisions on what mechanical features I want to emulate the human anatomy and still retain a more "machine" feel.

I also started on some of the structure work in the forearms....

Gearing up for some fun!

I've been pretty busy most of this month doing a LOT of everything except my artwork.  Filming projects coming together, music production and recording studio stuff aside; I've been dealing with some computer issues as of late and finally got all the bugs worked out and software back in the game to do some more work.

As of right now, I'm finally fleshing out some ideas on paper for the wing designs.  Let's just say toying with a lot of notions for how the final piece should look can be fun and difficult at the same time.  So far my favorite design which i may post up after a few iterative sketches are proofed, is a multi-spur gear system that the blades will be attached to, to create the wings themselves.

Above, you can see I've started the base for the joint, and i'm just trying to decide on how I want the overall design to look before i start working the entire span from Humerus, elbow, radius, all the way out to the phalanges.  The wings will definitely be menacing :)

Just another view to see the mechanical structure that will connect the wings to the body frame.  Note that the Joints will actually be pointing almost completely vertical when the actual wing skeleton is created.

So far she's coming together better than i imagined, I just wish it wouldn't take me so long to progress.  It definitely helps to do your homework,  an excellent quick reference for proper anatomy of a wing, now that I know this, I know what I want it to look like (since it will be mechanical) but I will at least have the proper ideal to source from.

Amazing-race?

It's amazing how far I got just from scratch piecing things together..  I've reached a point where i really need to start sketching out plans for what I need to finish to make sure things remain consistent and believable.

Quick render of frontview

 Quick render of sideview.

Once all the major framework is properly in place, I'm going to do some finishing work with wires and detail work.

I wish I had friends to be around to collaborate with on stuff..  On another note, the orchestral song project I was working on is complete finally!  I am going to be spending the next few days prioritizing my projects and really deciding what should be worked on next: to final product!

These organs definitely don't grow on trees..

Just playing around with the model a bit more.  I need to really sit down with this project and start forging ahead.  Another close-up of the mechanics, and a quick and dirty render with Vray.  

 

Fun in the sun

Got some plugins back up and running, and couldn't wait to play around.  10 minutes of playing with camera angles, and lights, and materials... and the mesh!  Greeble can be fun, just a quick fun shot...

Some pretty big changes have been going on lately.  Because of those changes I've been quite busy with friends and film ideas and a pretty decent sized project is coming up!

Right now i'm working on pre-production for a short film concept and helping get things together for production.  All out of pocket!  If you're a friend, and you're interested in helping out, contact me!

Wierd Science

She's back...

Some more progress on the mechanical angel...

An oops shot, playing with the DOF settings and never have before, now i know they directly control the size of the aperture and not the F-stop like a physical camera.

Dialed back in right, still got a pretty "extreme" DOF effect on but it's within reasonable expectations..

My angel in disguise, Part 2

Finally!  Getting to play with some of my projects, and I'm enjoying the little updates here and there.  i'll soon be back to modelling the steampunk-ish angel, just playing around with some new texture ideas and a different renderer.

So far I'm liking the way she's turning out. I definitely want a rustic look to her.  Now that I like some of the texture ideas going on I need to do some real texture mapping.

 

 Just playing with the light, and no GI is not on.

My sky is falling!

It was very easy getting the lighting and background as I really didn't plan for it to be much.  Overall it was really simple thanks to Maxwell!  The studio application really simplifies things.

Alternate shot, no post on either of these.  I wanted to show some of the detail work that I did for the main shaft that's holding the whole thing together.  I'm thinking if I ever go back to this project I may update the panels for a series of glass windows with interiors that stretch across (kind of like a deck system from some futuristic space movie / tv show, take your pick).

So, with that said, I promised the wait would soon be over and there would be more updates on some of the projects I've started.  The wait is over!! Next blog expect some nice surprises for a favorite project of mine that I want to get rolling again.

That said, I wanted to show really quick some of the earlier renders I did working on this one,  this is where i started duplicating what i had made.

Crack the Skye

So, I was playing around with some modelling tutorials to get used to the different modifiers and working with geometry in different ways, and I combined what i was learning together to make something geometric.  It started out as 1 little piece and next thing i know.. "hm, what if i duplicate this, rotate this, duplicate this and move this here" etc...  Viola, a little space project in about 30 minutes.

Definitely took me a whole minute to figure out how to go into the modifier stacks once i'd done all the work to start deleting out sections here and there (a small hint, create copies instead of instances).

She's Sprouting Wings!

Baby got back...

A view to behold!  Alas, more work on the mechanical figure below...

L

Loving the texture and materials so far.  All the mechanical pieces are coming together nicely.  I had an idea to start putting in the wings, I will start working on that soon.  You can see where the gears are held in place by upper and lower hydraulic pistons.

Time to start working on the extremities and filling her in.  Trying to figure out what to do for the hip area.  This is going to get tricky.

 

Angels come from heaven...

Until now, I've been progressing pretty quickly through the design of the parts, but I'm running out of ideas for visualizing this thing.  However, I did get a little further..

Still toying with the arrangement.  From the angle below you can see the pistons holding the gears in place for the back support, but those gears aren't for support, they will be where the wings are going to originate from.  Still got a lot of design ideas to play with

Like Clockwork...

Continuing to work on the structure of the mechanics.  Playing with the placement and design of the motors underneath the chest as well as the support struts that will hold the weight together.

I'm not so sure I like the vertebra idea along the back there.  But I do like the placement and arrangement of the motors and the struts, so here's a second shot with some different materials selected below:

The mechanical system for the shoulders and arm joints is tough!  Not sure what I'm going to do for this just yet.  This is what I have so far however, and I just need to figure out what should come next.

... And an Angel she shall be...

So an update: more shots of the shell and the underlying components...  Lots of iterating.

Yet Another Shot.  Really get a sense of the concept from this angle.  I started going for a more modern mechanical approach.  Getting a sense for the mechanical innards can be frustrating, I'm finding.  The idea I had so far was to place the motor or power source in the stomach area.

Yet Another shot below, different angle.

An Angel in Disguise

Steampunk Angel is a concept I actually started last year trying to enter into a contest held by a Deviant Art group.  I never got to finish the project due to computer problems.  I did get a few quick renders of the progress off though.  As well as screen-shots.  

Started with a model I worked on and hollowed out the mesh to creating an armor-like shell.  Then I started working on these mechanical components as seen below.

Let's March On...

Just about ready to get back into some Wacom tablet action...  Just posting up some old drawings I did way back in high school for reference.  Definitely would like to revisit the ideas and see if I can manage something more... refined.

Bunny Killer!

Bunny Killer:  He will hunt down your stuffed animals...  There is no escaping! 

Final sketch on paper.

Touched up and coloring in Photoshop CS4.  Bunny added with Wacom tablet for effect :)