[rhettro]

UVed for the 100th time or so.

No more changes to the mesh. Time to focus on the textures.

[SypheDMar]

Hey. The render looks quite nice!

[rhettro]

Hey. The render looks quite nice!

Thanks. The new Cycles rendering engine (in Blender) is powerful (extremely powerful) and as a bonus, it's free. Once I get my textures done I want to do a really nice showcase rendering, ala brandx0.

[mandobardanjusik]

like I said before, remove the r2 now while its easy, before you waste your time, and uv space texturing it, if you need to talk to zoo about it, or hop on the irc, but I recomend you do so before you go any farther

[rhettro]

I've got a dedicated spot in my texture for the R2. So what happens if I yank him, I'll have space for a cockpit/pilot.

[zookeeper]

Yeah, we have dedicated textures for astromechs, and I can add the standard model(s) at the conversion phase, so no need for you to actually fully model/uv/texture the droid.

The X-wing and Y-wing have 3 different droid models that a FREDder can choose from (and there's no limit on the number of texture variations we can use), but on this ship I can only fit 2 models. Shouldn't matter much though, since 2 of the 3 are pretty similar-looking anyway.

[rhettro]

Thanks for the info zookeeper.  Whenever I get the model to a point were I think it is worthy of consideration I'll try to get a hold of you for your input. The droid, however, is already UV mapped and I created a vector based (i.e. Inkscape) version of the R2 texture that I simply drop in the right place. I haven't seen any Naboo fighters with anything other than dome shaped droids in them and in such a case I think it would be easier to just to drop the droid texture into the master diffuse one. We can talk about that when I get the model to a level I'm happy with.

[zookeeper]

Thanks for the info zookeeper.  Whenever I get the model to a point were I think it is worthy of consideration I'll try to get a hold of you for your input. The droid, however, is already UV mapped and I created a vector based (i.e. Inkscape) version of the R2 texture that I simply drop in the right place. I haven't seen any Naboo fighters with anything other than dome shaped droids in them and in such a case I think it would be easier to just to drop the droid texture into the master diffuse one. We can talk about that when I get the model to a level I'm happy with.

Sure. If we want the droid to be customizable (even if it just means switching to a different colour) then I'd suggest I replace it with the standard model when converting, but of course it's not mandatory or anything. In any case, at least this way you have a model right now that you can do renders with.

[rhettro]

Doing a few texture tests before bed.  Below is the latest.

[Vector Leader]

Wow! Now we're talkin'! She's looking gorgeous.

[Dragon]

It looks great, though the yellow part is a bit "plastic". The N1 from the movie, IIRC, had matte yellow paint and reflective chrome finish on the front.

[rhettro]

It's more of an eggshell/satin finish, but you're right the glossiness needs to be turned down. I'll try a different render later tonight. Still have quite a bit of work to do on the textures. And I'm glad you like it Vector Leader.

[rhettro]

I found a spare moment. I knocked the gloss down on the painted parts and I like it.

[rhettro]

I noticed that my texture was crooked so I had to fix it and I added a little gloss back.

[Thaeris]

I do hope you know how to fix the lighting issues on that - it really needs it.

[Dragon]

Right. Weird lighting is about the only thing that could be changed in here. I don't know if the yellow shouldn't be a bit darker, but this might just be the lighting.

[rhettro]

These are rendering "tests" after all, guys.  The last image looks great on my laptop, but washed out on my desktop computer. I'll do another pass with the lighting level lowered. The setup is simply a quick three rectangles set up as emitters. I think the next Blender build supports the more traditional directional lamp so it will be easier to setup the traditional 3 light studio setup.

[rhettro]

Image adjusted for washout.

[swashmebuckle]

I think Thaeris might be referring to the places (most noticeably on the leading edge of the wing) where the shadows look like they are behaving unusually.  The leading edge seems to be a straight line, but the line between what is illuminated and what is in shadow wavers around--sometimes a gradual gradient, sometimes a sharp delineation.

[Dragon]

That, and there's an oddity on the side of the fuselage, just below where the wing starts.

Regarding the yellow, it looks like it's changed between episode I and II. It was more orange in episode I, while later it was brighter yellow seen on your model. So it's fine afterall (though I preferred the episode I color).