Competition #14 - BARBEERIAN

BARBEERIAN · 13-07-2008, 03:19 PM

I'm working on a Dragonfly Bomber based on the Red-Veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii).

Red-veined darter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here's a reference pic of the insect.

Here's a pic of what I have so far. It's 994 Tris, and armed with a large bomb that it'll carry with it's legs, as well as a tail mounted flak cannon to defend itself against enemy 'interceptors'.

BARBEERIAN · 14-07-2008, 02:01 PM

Small update. Turned the wings into simple planes to free up more tri's to make the weapons more interesting. Decided to rework the concept a little bit too to make better use of the budget. Instead of being a heavy anti-vehicle/structure bomber his main role will be anti-infantry. I changed the tailgun to a 3-barrel gatling gun. I replaced the bomb with a hand grenade (and belt pouches to hold extras. I also decided to give him an aviator's helmet to give him a less 'natural dragonfly' look. Also added some planes on his legs to do texture the 'spiky leg hair things' onto.

fabiodan · 15-07-2008, 01:34 PM

Hmm. Now it looks odd -- a grenade is something a bug could never handle, it's been made for human hands. I'd rather see the bomb there. Also the tail cannon looks like it belongs to the bug, not like a prosthesis.

Nice one, making the wings alpha planes. But i dont think a simple unbent alpha plane will do.
Good luck though!

BARBEERIAN · 15-07-2008, 02:24 PM

Thanks for the C&C. The grenade might be a bit awkward but I think the dragonfly could manage it. I did put some thought into that and I think it could cradle it with the 'hand bend' enough to be able to throw it. The pin of this grenade has a large metal ring attached to it that it could slip another arm through to pull it out and yank the handle to light the fuse.

I'd definately like to add a slight bend at least in the middle of each wing. It's pretty tight on tri's (997) so I'll have to cut some thing out. I guess he could just have the 2 grenade pouches instead of 3.

Also a small update:

UVW unwrapped it, and built the skeleton for it. Started a little bit of the hi-poly version, mostly just tweaking the cage to get back all the partially removed edgeloops so it's all quads.

BARBEERIAN · 16-07-2008, 06:44 PM

Had to rush through and sculpt as much as I could, since my mudbox trial ended today. I couldn't import Sub-D level 6 into Max without crashing, so the eye facets aren't quite as spherical as I'd like them since Level-5 kinda smushes them together a bit. The facets are also a little bigger than a real dragonfly, but I didn't have enough mesh resolution to make them any smaller.

Looking for some C&C on the normals around the eyes especially. I can't really decide if I should go with these bigger facets with real normals, or just leave that area of the normals 'blank' and just draw the facets on the diffuse map and fake some AO.

Here are some pics with and without Eye facets in the normals.

BARBEERIAN · 18-07-2008, 02:09 PM

Got some work done on the diffuse map, and tweaked the normals around the eyes to make the individual facets smaller.

Nuclearpeanut · 18-07-2008, 02:33 PM

looks great! I especially like the wings, but the colors in general are really good. what are you planning to do with the grenade?

BARBEERIAN · 18-07-2008, 02:43 PM

Thanks! For the grenade I'm just going to put it in the front right hand. I think I'll end up posing him with that arm and his body flexed back like he's just about to throw it.

kingpin · 18-07-2008, 03:19 PM

nice job on the diffuse, wings look really good.keep it up

seanv · 19-07-2008, 07:28 PM

I'm with king pin the wings turned out really well. The head is coming along well also.

13-07-2008, 03:19 PM	#1 (permalink)
BARBEERIAN New Member 70 - 4	Competition #14 - BARBEERIAN I'm working on a Dragonfly Bomber based on the Red-Veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii). Red-veined darter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Here's a reference pic of the insect. Here's a pic of what I have so far. It's 994 Tris, and armed with a large bomb that it'll carry with it's legs, as well as a tail mounted flak cannon to defend itself against enemy 'interceptors'.

15-07-2008, 01:34 PM	#3 (permalink)
fabiodan Game Art Student 925 - 127	Hmm. Now it looks odd -- a grenade is something a bug could never handle, it's been made for human hands. I'd rather see the bomb there. Also the tail cannon looks like it belongs to the bug, not like a prosthesis. Nice one, making the wings alpha planes. But i dont think a simple unbent alpha plane will do. Good luck though! __________________

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14-07-2008, 02:01 PM	#2 (permalink)
BARBEERIAN New Member 70 - 4	Small update. Turned the wings into simple planes to free up more tri's to make the weapons more interesting. Decided to rework the concept a little bit too to make better use of the budget. Instead of being a heavy anti-vehicle/structure bomber his main role will be anti-infantry. I changed the tailgun to a 3-barrel gatling gun. I replaced the bomb with a hand grenade (and belt pouches to hold extras. I also decided to give him an aviator's helmet to give him a less 'natural dragonfly' look. Also added some planes on his legs to do texture the 'spiky leg hair things' onto.

15-07-2008, 02:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
BARBEERIAN New Member 70 - 4	Thanks for the C&C. The grenade might be a bit awkward but I think the dragonfly could manage it. I did put some thought into that and I think it could cradle it with the 'hand bend' enough to be able to throw it. The pin of this grenade has a large metal ring attached to it that it could slip another arm through to pull it out and yank the handle to light the fuse. I'd definately like to add a slight bend at least in the middle of each wing. It's pretty tight on tri's (997) so I'll have to cut some thing out. I guess he could just have the 2 grenade pouches instead of 3. Also a small update: UVW unwrapped it, and built the skeleton for it. Started a little bit of the hi-poly version, mostly just tweaking the cage to get back all the partially removed edgeloops so it's all quads.

16-07-2008, 06:44 PM	#5 (permalink)
BARBEERIAN New Member 70 - 4	Had to rush through and sculpt as much as I could, since my mudbox trial ended today. I couldn't import Sub-D level 6 into Max without crashing, so the eye facets aren't quite as spherical as I'd like them since Level-5 kinda smushes them together a bit. The facets are also a little bigger than a real dragonfly, but I didn't have enough mesh resolution to make them any smaller. Looking for some C&C on the normals around the eyes especially. I can't really decide if I should go with these bigger facets with real normals, or just leave that area of the normals 'blank' and just draw the facets on the diffuse map and fake some AO. Here are some pics with and without Eye facets in the normals.

18-07-2008, 02:09 PM	#6 (permalink)
BARBEERIAN New Member 70 - 4	Got some work done on the diffuse map, and tweaked the normals around the eyes to make the individual facets smaller.

18-07-2008, 02:33 PM	#7 (permalink)
Nuclearpeanut New Member 8 - 2	looks great! I especially like the wings, but the colors in general are really good. what are you planning to do with the grenade?

18-07-2008, 02:43 PM	#8 (permalink)
BARBEERIAN New Member 70 - 4	Thanks! For the grenade I'm just going to put it in the front right hand. I think I'll end up posing him with that arm and his body flexed back like he's just about to throw it.

18-07-2008, 03:19 PM	#9 (permalink)
kingpin Frequenter 150 - 16	nice job on the diffuse, wings look really good.keep it up

19-07-2008, 07:28 PM	#10 (permalink)
seanv New Member 30 - 4	I'm with king pin the wings turned out really well. The head is coming along well also.