[NeoHunter]

Stuck at home with chicken pox, I felt pretty bored, so I created something in 3D. Played around with Lights, Glow Effects, Loft and some other stuff I forgot already.



Any comments?

[SKYNET-011]

Looks pretty good.

But there's something about that earth...

[NeoHunter]

That's not Earth. And I know what you mean.

It seems to lack an atmosphere right?

[Fetty]

the colors id think are more
disturbing

[Sesquipedalian]

Model is cool.  It needs to be retextured, but I'm sure you know that, and the turrets are much much too large.  Otherwise, nice stuff; I like the overall shape a lot.

[J.F.K.]

Really cool. Maybe you could add a smaller glow in front of the engines in post-production to make them look more realistic.

[NeoHunter]

Originally posted by Sesquipedalian
Model is cool.  It needs to be retextured, but I'm sure you know that, and the turrets are much much too large.  Otherwise, nice stuff; I like the overall shape a lot.

Well, the problem is that I don't quite know what textures to use. I wanted a metallic and shiny hull but I think it didn't turn out too well. I found the capital ship maps from FreeSpace 2 a bit too dark for me. But they make great Bump Maps.

I was wondering if you could offer any suggestions to soeone who knows little about textures and maps? Something for a capital ship that doesn't make it blend with the blackness of space? Those from Star Trek seem to be quite nice though. I wanted to achieve that effect.

[NeoHunter]

Originally posted by J.F.K.
Really cool. Maybe you could add a smaller glow in front of the engines in post-production to make them look more realistic.

Smaller glow? I used Omni Lights with the usual Far and Near Attenuation settings so that they don't add extra shine to the planet and used Len Effects -> Glow and placed the Omnis behind the engines. Occulation was used too so that even though the Omnis are blocked by the engines, their glows would still be visible.

You mean I should reduce the Occulation and Glow size and intensity?

[NeoHunter]

Originally posted by Fetty
the colors id think are more
disturbing

You mean the planet right?

[Shrike]

This was in MAX?  Try using some procedural maps, if you have a well-detailed hull they look very good.

Anyhow, try decreasing the ambient lighting....although that depends if you want a moody shot or not.  If you have strong shadows it'll provide better contrast.

[NeoHunter]

Originally posted by Shrike
This was in MAX?  Try using some procedural maps, if you have a well-detailed hull they look very good.

Anyhow, try decreasing the ambient lighting....although that depends if you want a moody shot or not.  If you have strong shadows it'll provide better contrast.

Er...what do you mean by ambient lighting? I'm pretty new to MAX. And what are procedural maps?

[Shrike]

How many lights did you use?  Cause the scene looks well-lit.

And procedurals are stuff like noise.

[NeoHunter]

Lights? Minus the ones that are used to illiminate the decals on the ship and the beacon lights and the engine glows, there were two omnis. Because with one, I felt it was a little too dark and so, hard to see the details of the ship. But, before I placed the second Omni, you could actually see the shadows on the hull caused by the turrets. Maybe I will cut down on the Omni then.

Noise for the hull? What good does it do? Any examples? You really got to teach me something man. I'm like a total newbie to 3D.

[Shrike]

You use a noise texture instead of bitmaps.  It can give some good results.

And if you want multiple lights, I think it looks better if you do have one strong light to give you some visible shadows.

[NeoHunter]

Originally posted by Shrike
You use a noise texture instead of bitmaps.  It can give some good results.

Okay. I'll experiment with Noise. If I can find it in the Material Editor...