AuthorTopic: Kenneth Fejer Inspired 3D Pixel Ship (Read 17627 times)

QuickSilva · **on:** March 03, 2007, 05:43:09 pm

After seeing Kenneth Fejer`s great pixelled 3D models recently and eagerly awaiting some more new ones I thought that I`d give it a go, boy what a mistake that was. Just kidding but it is a lot harder than it intially seems. Anyway I thought I`d post my effort here while I try to knock up a rotating animation for anyone who`s interested. I certainly learned heaps doing this and my next one will be much better now I know what I`m doing. I had to make a few sacrifices with this one as I ran out of texture space and didn`t plan properly in the beginning but all in all, even though not up to Kenneths high standards, I think it still looks pretty neat. Hope you like it.

(96 Polys)

Jason.

OK, I managed to grab an animation, here it is with an alternate colour version too. Enjoy!

And here is the texture. I tackled it in the standard way that you would with a 3D model but this turned out to be a bad choice in the long run as I wasted to much space. It did make the texture easier to paint but when you only have a small 64x64 texture space like this one I think Kenneth approach, although a tad more difficult to visualise, would probably be the best way to go. I`ll try that next time if anyone wants to see some more.

AlexHW · **Reply #1 on:** March 03, 2007, 08:34:32 pm

nice work,
I tried doing one in the past but never managed to complete mine.. so i give you props for manageing one.

Xion · **Reply #2 on:** March 03, 2007, 08:38:36 pm

Very cool.

There are just a few things bugging me. The most blatant one is the cockpit which I think could go without the AA. Hard edges would have been much more fitting here, methinks. The other thing is the air intake (or whatever it is) part on the wing. I think it needs more contrast. Everything else is really cool though. I especially like the bottom.
Would you mind showing us the actual texture?

Larwick · **Reply #3 on:** March 03, 2007, 09:14:24 pm

Wow, there's something about these that really appeals to me. Perhaps it's the general chunky, simple shape. I don't think i like the colour choices too much though. And yeah, i'd like to see the textchars.

QuickSilva · **Reply #4 on:** March 04, 2007, 08:07:59 am

Sure, I`ll try and pop the texture and a wireframe up later. I agree with the comments made about the the window part too, I wanted to leave it as a hard edge but as I didn`t plan ahead properly when building the model and it just looked far too jagged, the pixels seem to get even more exaggerated when placed on a 3D model at this low resolution. If I had gone for some different angles then it would have come out a little better but you learn by doing I guess. You will see what I mean when I post the wireframe later. Also, with the texture I did it in a more conventional way which I thought would be easier than the way Kenneth did it, I now realise he did it this way for a reason and I wasted a lot of space that I could have used. Like I said, the next one should hopefully go smoother.

Jason.

Jad · **Reply #5 on:** March 04, 2007, 10:11:07 am

Man, somehow, this is one of the cutest space ships I've seen in a while. I love the design and the alternate colour scheme. It just suits my tastes perfectly. I should try this sometime

QuickSilva · **Reply #6 on:** March 04, 2007, 12:58:58 pm

Thanks for all the kind comments. I`m looking forward to doing a few more, possibly with some animation. I`ve added the wireframe and texture up above if anyone is interested. Next time I will pack the texture tighter like Kenneth Fejer did to get a bit more detail and resolution in there. I was just experimenting with a few different techniques with this one.

Jason.

mprey · **Reply #7 on:** March 04, 2007, 05:45:25 pm

Just curious, what did you model this with?

QuickSilva · **Reply #8 on:** March 04, 2007, 07:51:00 pm

LightWave and Promotion for the texture.

Jason.

mprey · **Reply #9 on:** March 04, 2007, 09:13:45 pm

Thanks. I ask because I'd be interested in doing something like Kenneth's and your work as well, but I'm not exactly willing to shell out money for such a high-end application (+ huge learning process?) if I only want to be able to experiment with low poly models and stuff, heh.

Delgneith · **Reply #10 on:** March 05, 2007, 12:21:15 am

Quote from: mprey on March 04, 2007, 09:13:45 pm

Thanks. I ask because I'd be interested in doing something like Kenneth's and your work as well, but I'm not exactly willing to shell out money for such a high-end application (+ huge learning process?) if I only want to be able to experiment with low poly models and stuff, heh.

I think Kenneth uses 3DS Max and there used to be a free version of it around called GMax that I'm sure has all the feature you'd need for something like this. Apparently Autodesk doesn't offer it anymore but I found it here > http://www.turbosquid.com/gmax

As for the picture I think it looks really quite well done and well.... "cute". I'm curious to see a video of someone modeling one of these low poly pixel models.

Joseph · **Reply #11 on:** March 05, 2007, 07:20:10 am

Quote from: Delgneith on March 05, 2007, 12:21:15 am

I'm curious to see a video of someone modeling one of these low poly pixel models.

QuickSilva · **Reply #12 on:** March 05, 2007, 01:30:08 pm

There are plenty of free\cheap 3D apps out there that you could use to get similar results but be warned, there is quite a big learning curve if you`re new to 3D modelling. The process is also a fairly lengthy one (especially the unwraping part) so be prepared to invest a fair bit of time. I may make a step by step process of my next model if there is enough demand for one, I`ll see how time goes.

Although I cannot provide a video at the moment if anyone wants any tips on any part of the creation process then please feel free to ask.

Jason.

Mr.Modem · **Reply #13 on:** March 05, 2007, 02:02:31 pm

Quote from: mprey on March 04, 2007, 09:13:45 pm

Thanks. I ask because I'd be interested in doing something like Kenneth's and your work as well, but I'm not exactly willing to shell out money for such a high-end application (+ huge learning process?) if I only want to be able to experiment with low poly models and stuff, heh.

I can really recommend Wings 3D. I don't know how well it handles textures but it's awesome (better than 3d studio max) for low poly modeling.

ndchristie · **Reply #14 on:** March 05, 2007, 02:14:08 pm

when last i checked, Gmax and Wings didn't handle textures..? (without a number of expanders and plugins and other apps)

Wayuki · **Reply #15 on:** March 05, 2007, 02:56:49 pm

You could try Milkshape: http://chumbalum.swissquake.ch/

It's very cheap, it supports textures and animation and you can export to many different games. I've used it to make custom Quake 3 characters with.

It's also much, MUCH easier to learn how to use than most other 3d programs, because of the simple toolset. Basically, it has all the tools you need for lowpoly modeling, but without any extras.

Mr.Modem · **Reply #16 on:** March 05, 2007, 03:10:55 pm

Quote from: Adarias on March 05, 2007, 02:14:08 pm

when last i checked, Gmax and Wings didn't handle textures..? (without a number of expanders and plugins and other apps)

No, but it's a damn nice modeler

Blender looks rather nice too. I haven't tried it myself though.

Lackey · **Reply #17 on:** March 05, 2007, 04:02:36 pm

Wings handles textures, at least the version I downloaded off their website does. I haven't tried using the tools for it extensively, but it definately has UV mapping.

mprey · **Reply #18 on:** March 05, 2007, 09:28:12 pm

A step-by-step thing would be really great, I'd appreciate it, if just to see how much work would actually be involved, and how much technical skill is required.

AdamAtomic · **Reply #19 on:** March 06, 2007, 12:12:27 am

wings handles textures just fine, it just doesn't do alpha/z-trans particularly well. if your textures do not have any alpha then you'll be just fine! however, wings does NOT have animation or rendering capabilities (well technically it can render but its a pain in the ass). I use wings for all my modeling and texturing, and then rig/animate/render in blender.

ndchristie · **Reply #20 on:** March 06, 2007, 12:32:27 am

Quote from: Lackey on March 05, 2007, 04:02:36 pm

Wings handles textures, at least the version I downloaded off their website does. I haven't tried using the tools for it extensively, but it definately has UV mapping.

~~but you still cannot render....~~already been said

Blender is great, but get ready for a steep learning curve (and trust me, i mean steep.....not as bad as it used to be, but still reallys hard). worth a try if you have some time to spend on it though

Lawrence · **Reply #21 on:** March 06, 2007, 02:07:08 am

Whilst we're on the subject of 3D modelling programs, I recommend anim8or, I've used it for 6 years, and it's great!

Anyway, these are very nice, QuickSilva.

Joseph · **Reply #22 on:** March 06, 2007, 03:37:48 am

I use wings 3D and i'm getting better at box modeling...but the problem that I mainly have is just the texturing. can someone please post a tutorial on making a model through texturing it?

by the way adarias, love the new edit to your avatar. new haircut I presume?

Noiprox · **Reply #23 on:** March 06, 2007, 10:10:38 am

First of all, that is freaking awesome.

Blender is very powerful and free and awesome. It can do texturing, animation and rendering plenty well enough for the purposes of this kind of art, I would say. In fact it has a built-in 3D game engine which allows you to make very cool little games with your models, a bit like a sort of 3D version of Adobe Flash. It does have a slight learning curve, but there is excellent documentation available, including a very nice printed book (albeit about a slightly older version of Blender, but it is very cheap) if you are so inclined. The community is also very helpful.

Wings3D is excellent at what it does, which is winged-edge modeling. It does not do texturing, animation or rendering very well at all. It has basic UV texturing functionality, which would perhaps be adequate for a simple model of a hundred polygons or so, but it's quite a pain even then compared to Blender (IMHO). I would suggest to use Wings3D as a modeller for its workflow and intuitive interface, and then to export your finished model to Blender, and to texture, animate and render it there.

Milkshape3D is commercial but quite nice. It still does not match the feature set of Blender by a long shot, but it has the advantage of supporting every game file format under the Sun. It has its roots in the early modding community of Quake2 when there was no inexpensive tool available for this purpose. Although it does support UV texturing and basic bones animation, it does so in a clumsy way and does not support rendering at all. I own a copy of the full version, mainly for converting between mesh file formats.

Anim8or is surprisingly powerful for how small it is and for having only a single developer, but it lacks character animation, UV texturing, advanced rendering, sophisticated modeling tools, etc. I found it less attractive an option than the others.

If there is a lot of interest, I could see if I can find the time to throw together a visual tutorial for using Blender to make, texture and animate a simple model like this. I am not much of an artist myself, though. If someone who is would like to collaborate with me on that, perhaps by supplying a model and texture, or granting me permission to use their work in a tutorial, or something, that would be a big help for me. Any takers?

Kennethfejer · **Reply #24 on:** March 06, 2007, 02:16:32 pm

looks really cool

but like you said, the texture could be much more compact, might even be able to fit it all into a 32x32 texture.
did you unwrap it all at once or piece by piece ?

btw gmax does supports textures and animation, just think of it as a boiled down version of 3dsmax, so they have taken out all the high level stuff, you don't need when doing lowpoly, such as rendering.

it doesn't really matter what program you use though, but for anyone who wants to get into 3d, i would suggest just to go with a free one to start off with.

QuickSilva · **Reply #25 on:** March 06, 2007, 02:44:37 pm

Glad you liked it. My next attempt will include a much tighter packed texture now that I have got my head around how to do things. I actually unwrapped the model in one go and then pixlled the texture as I thought that by doing it like this would allow me to get the colouring\lighting right before I started on the details where as if you do it piece by piece you cannot really get a good look at how things will look early on. Each method has its good points and bad points I guess.

Can we look forward to future models from you?

Jason.

Kennethfejer · **Reply #26 on:** March 07, 2007, 11:59:34 am

Quote from: QuickSilva on March 06, 2007, 02:44:37 pm

Can we look forward to future models from you?

sure

i posted a wip in the OT-Creativity Thread last week, plus i have some other models im working on.

looking forward to see your next model btw

Lawrence · **Reply #27 on:** March 07, 2007, 01:18:30 pm

Quote from: Noiprox on March 06, 2007, 10:10:38 am

Anim8or is surprisingly powerful for how small it is and for having only a single developer, but it lacks character animation, UV texturing, advanced rendering, sophisticated modeling tools, etc. I found it less attractive an option than the others.

Actually Anim8or does have all of those things, in fact they're pretty hard to miss. The only truth to your description would be the slight lack of advanced rendering, since it only has ray-tracing for soft shadows but I, and many others, have managed to get photo-realistic renders out of it. Two of it's core features are character animation and UV texturing, and it's modeling tools are quite far reaching.

QuickSilva · **Reply #28 on:** March 07, 2007, 01:41:28 pm

Quote from: Kennethfejer on March 07, 2007, 11:59:34 am

sure i posted a wip in the OT-Creativity Thread last week, plus i have some other models im working on.

Cool, I love Kid Icarus. I really love your other mockup on your site too

Looking forward to seeing this one finished. Sorry I missed it before.

Jason.

Noiprox · **Reply #29 on:** March 09, 2007, 03:42:20 am

Quote from: Lawrence on March 07, 2007, 01:18:30 pm

Quote from: Noiprox on March 06, 2007, 10:10:38 am

Anim8or is surprisingly powerful for how small it is and for having only a single developer, but it lacks character animation, UV texturing, advanced rendering, sophisticated modeling tools, etc. I found it less attractive an option than the others.

Actually Anim8or does have all of those things, in fact they're pretty hard to miss. The only truth to your description would be the slight lack of advanced rendering, since it only has ray-tracing for soft shadows but I, and many others, have managed to get photo-realistic renders out of it. Two of it's core features are character animation and UV texturing, and it's modeling tools are quite far reaching.

My bad! Rather than getting embroiled in an off-topic argument, I will just concede that I overlooked the character animation and UV texturing features of Anim8or. My statements about modeling and rendering were my opinion of what it has rather than assertions about particular features it may be lacking. It is a remarkable piece of free software, just perhaps not my cup of tea. I'm sure it could serve admirably for this purpose, provided one invests the effort in becoming an expert with it.

AdamAtomic · **Reply #30 on:** March 09, 2007, 04:37:09 am

Quote from: Noiprox on March 06, 2007, 10:10:38 am

It has basic UV texturing functionality, which would perhaps be adequate for a simple model of a hundred polygons or so, but it's quite a pain even then compared to Blender (IMHO).

I find that Wings' UV mapping is remarkably fast even on very large models. They were one of the first modeling programs (and the first free modeler) to implement pelting (which is where you auto-UV your model by defining seams) and their implementation is quite good I think. If you know blenders interface I would say they are about on par, only blender has snap-to-pixel which can be very handy especially for low res stuff. If you don't know blenders interface, I think you will find Wings to be much easier!

Noiprox · **Reply #31 on:** March 09, 2007, 01:06:43 pm

Actually Wings3D just has a straightforward implementation of Least-Squares Conformal Maps for its AutoUV feature. Blender indeed supports LSCM's, but defaults to a variant of Angle-Based Flattening called ABF++, which is state-of-the-art as of 2005 (incidentally that research was done by one of my profs

). So Blender is far ahead of Wings3D in this feature set. That said, Wings3D has its virtues. It has great workflow, which may make it more efficient for tasks that do not require the full power of Blender, or for modelling and then exporting to Blender to finish the job.

Elk · **Reply #32 on:** March 14, 2007, 09:08:25 pm

quicksilver...you cant make a tutorial how to do that can you ._.? for gmax

AdamAtomic · **Reply #33 on:** March 14, 2007, 09:34:40 pm

Quote from: Noiprox on March 09, 2007, 01:06:43 pm

Actually Wings3D just has a straightforward implementation of Least-Squares Conformal Maps for its AutoUV feature. Blender indeed supports LSCM's, but defaults to a variant of Angle-Based Flattening called ABF++, which is state-of-the-art as of 2005 (incidentally that research was done by one of my profs ). So Blender is far ahead of Wings3D in this feature set. That said, Wings3D has its virtues. It has great workflow, which may make it more efficient for tasks that do not require the full power of Blender, or for modelling and then exporting to Blender to finish the job.

Ah! that's really interesting, thanks for that info man

Feron · **Reply #34 on:** March 15, 2007, 12:08:40 am

Quote from: Kennethfejer on March 07, 2007, 11:59:34 am

sure i posted a wip in the OT-Creativity Thread last week, plus i have some other models im working on.

looking forward to see your next model btw

I just saw your tank and car on your site, man there so hot!

Quiksilva - very nice piece, would quite like to see an enemy ship in this style

QuickSilva · **Reply #35 on:** March 15, 2007, 06:51:15 pm

Elk : If I get some spare time I will put together a simple tutorial although it will not be specific to one single 3D package just something general.

Feron : Thanks for the kind comments

I`m currently working on my next model but I haven`t had much time to work on it lately

I will post it up though as soon as it gets finished.

Jason.

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AuthorTopic: Kenneth Fejer Inspired 3D Pixel Ship (Read 17627 times)