This is awesome work. I have been a follower of yours for a while now--both here and on the RPF (and YouTube). I wonder whether you would be amenable to posting a little more about your workflow? I use Lightwave and Zbrush and would like to know whether your techniques, relative to 3D printing, etc... would work with any software. Again, very inspiring work. Looking forward to more updates!
Hi James, thanks for the comment. I work almost exclusively in Sketchup, with just a few things done in 3ds Max. For a project like this, I first gather as much reference I can. Preferable as many photos with as little lens distortion as possible. I import an image of the full prop into sketchup's photomatch function, and match perspective lines. Then I start to draw vector lines along the major axes, connecting them up to establish the major planes of the object. I may need to readjust the photomatch a few times, if the resulting geometry looks distorted, or doesn't agree with photos from other angles. One useful trick is to find circular shapes that lay on the flat planes of the photomatched object. If you can draw a circle on the geometry of the plane, and the angle of the foreshortened ellipse matches the photo, then you're on a good track. Once the basic shell starts to take form, I sometimes photomatch a photo from a different angle, and make sure things are looking good. From there it's just a lot of squinting at photo reference, mental gymnastics trying to unravel details in 3D, and lots of erasing and rebuilding geometry. This works great for hard geometric objects, but rarely for organic shapes. I tend to avoid those... might explain my love of 70s sci-fi...
the free version is great with just a handful of plugins. It's definitely not as robust or complex as most programs but, as you can see, if you learn it well you can get it to do pretty much anything.
Gorgeous work.... :)
ReplyDeletethanks!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome work. I have been a follower of yours for a while now--both here and on the RPF (and YouTube). I wonder whether you would be amenable to posting a little more about your workflow? I use Lightwave and Zbrush and would like to know whether your techniques, relative to 3D printing, etc... would work with any software. Again, very inspiring work. Looking forward to more updates!
ReplyDeleteHi James, thanks for the comment. I work almost exclusively in Sketchup, with just a few things done in 3ds Max. For a project like this, I first gather as much reference I can. Preferable as many photos with as little lens distortion as possible. I import an image of the full prop into sketchup's photomatch function, and match perspective lines. Then I start to draw vector lines along the major axes, connecting them up to establish the major planes of the object. I may need to readjust the photomatch a few times, if the resulting geometry looks distorted, or doesn't agree with photos from other angles. One useful trick is to find circular shapes that lay on the flat planes of the photomatched object. If you can draw a circle on the geometry of the plane, and the angle of the foreshortened ellipse matches the photo, then you're on a good track. Once the basic shell starts to take form, I sometimes photomatch a photo from a different angle, and make sure things are looking good. From there it's just a lot of squinting at photo reference, mental gymnastics trying to unravel details in 3D, and lots of erasing and rebuilding geometry. This works great for hard geometric objects, but rarely for organic shapes. I tend to avoid those... might explain my love of 70s sci-fi...
ReplyDeleteThat's some incredible advice... Thank you. I may need to look into a full version of sketchup. Thanks--and looking forward to your updates!
ReplyDeletethe free version is great with just a handful of plugins. It's definitely not as robust or complex as most programs but, as you can see, if you learn it well you can get it to do pretty much anything.
ReplyDeleteAny chance you sell the kits or design?
ReplyDeleteHey StarWarsDave, feel free to drop me an email!
DeleteHey, any chance you sell some parts?
DeleteWhat an Amazing job you did here!
I do not seem to see your email, but please email me at dave#starwarsdave.com
ReplyDeleteI do not seem to see your email, but please email me at dave#starwarsdave.com
ReplyDeleteFound your email and sent.
ReplyDelete