Some of my work in LightWave

TowerFan

TowerFan

Senior Member
Hey all,

I'm going to post some of my work (by request from another thread I accidentally almost hi-jacked, Sorry Anhar!!). Been working with LightWave for about a year and a half or so. Just a hobby to begin with but in the meantime I started a part-time videography business (which brought me to DVXUser) so I mostly use it for flying logos and such. Kinda boring but I'll post my fun stuff. Probably span it out over a few days as I don't have a whole lot to show.

First is the McLaren. I followed a tutorial available at SimplyLightWave.com. Best modeling tute I've ever seen. Improved my skills ten-fold.

McLaren_final1.jpg
 
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Reply to zack from other thread... Yes, it is fully animatable. LightWave has a layer system that allows multiple layers within one object to be animated seperatly. If the part to be animated doesn't require deformation, such as a character's arm or leg, then the model doesn't need to be rigged. I've only worked in LW so I don't know how animation is done in other 3D packages.

McLaren_final2.jpg
 
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Wow, nice I just opened up lightwave for the first time yesterday I have it at work. Just messsing around I couldnt do a whole lot lol. I need some good tutorials I will check that out. What tools did you use to teach your self?
 
Thanks for the comments! I used mostly DVD tutorials and a couple of books. Check out 3D Garage by Dan Ablan. He has great beginner DVD tutorials I used to get started. His books are top-notch as well. Once I got some of the basics down, I started getting specific content tutes from SimplyLightwave.com and KurvStudios (can't remember their url, Google it). Really great stuff.

Here's some more McLaren renders.

McLaren_final3.jpg


McLaren_final6.jpg
 
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hey! thats really good! I dig the black colour model it looks pro level.

Tutorials are the way to go, its really the one way to learn 3d, by doing it.

I really enjoy other peoples work, it gives me lots of inspiration, so please keep postin' :)
 
Great work Towerfan. Nice to see another LW user here. We are a dying breed.

It's not often people post anything close to believable photorealism from LW, and you have done just that.


My only suggestion would be to break up the spec and possibly the reflection with high con textures as alphas, but with very little impact on the respective surfaces. Nothing is quite that perfect, and breaking up your spec map can bring in a lot of extra believability and realism.

But your modeling is very good, and your rendering (which looks like GI) is fab. If it is GI, nice work avoiding the usual artifacts. Personally, spline modeling is something I've never quite been able to get my head around.

Also, put a little refraction on the glass covering the headlights. Just gives a little more realism.

But as far as modeling and rendering, those kick major ass, and far surpass my own capabilites. Any chance we can see a small animation?

Lastly how did you texture/model the tires? Those are usually the hardest to sell in photrealism, and yours came out nicely, from the angles we see them. Also, there is an expression out there specifically for tire rotation in relation to body movement. Might be worth looking up, if you plan to animate.


Great work. And thanks for breathing some killer LW into this section.

:beer: :beer:
 
Anhar - Thanks for the feedback. I'll keep posting my stuff but the archives will run out quick!

Matt - Thanks for your comments as well. I appreciate your feedback on the texturing. I'm the first to admit my weakest skill in LW is texturing. Don't have the patience, or Photoshop skills, to really get good textures. Funny thing about the tires, just got lucky there. I wanted a new yet not shiny rubber surface. I layered a few different bump micro-textures to break up the light and messed around with spec and glossiness. They have bump-mapped tread but it's kinda hard to see.

I've always wanted to animate a drive-by but never got around to it. I'll probably revisit this project in the unknown future. Each of those images cooked in Fprime for about two hours (not the wires but the radiosities). By the time I got to the render stage I was kinda tired of it and wanted to move on to somthing fresh.

Here's the wires and the rim/brakes again.

McLaren_Wire_1.jpg


McLaren_Wire_2.jpg


McLaren_Wire_3.jpg


McLaren_Wire_4.jpg


Wheel_3.jpg



 
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Now that would be a serious project. The way the model is now it would be dificult, many mods needed for a crash anmation.

Besides, who would want to destroy a $1,000,000 McLaren? LOL!
 
OK, so while I was working on the McLaren I had an idea for an animated short, about 2-3 minutes long, based on a Stephen King book. This short would be a killer project for a noob so I decided to tackle it (currently still tackling it!).

I had to learn some character modeling and animation for this short so I got the "Character Modeling and Animation" tutorial from DesktopImages.com. Is the most expensive tute I've got but it is worth three times the price.

Dude named Todd Grimes is the instructor and his technique is outstanding. Teaches the traditional way to animate using x-sheets and classic cartoon styles. The rigging section is particularly good. His rigging technique is very efficient and user friendly. Really great stuff.

The subject of the tute is an over the top, goofy type superhero. These are the only stills I have but they get the point across.

Here's a link to the finished animation.

http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i204/TowerFan/Misc%20Stuff/?action=view&current=OM_FINAL_WM.flv

OM_7.jpg


OM_8.jpg
 
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So, after completing the character training and a few busted practice models I started in on the first character I need for my short.

The short is based on Stephen King's Wolves of the Calla. The wolves are described as robotic Dr. Doom look alikes with wolf masks (sound kinda wierd/lame but it all makes sense in the book).

Here's a couple rigged beauty shots I did so I could show the model. I need to re-visit the skin texture (as previously mentioned I need to improve my texturing) but I really like this model. I need to re-visit the deformations in the shoulder area too, not quite there.

Took me about two weeks of steady work and it's my first character that I completed from my own design all the way to renders.

Wolf23_LW.jpg


Wolf24_LW.jpg


Wolf_Wire_2.jpg
 
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Here's some shots of the teeth which I free-handed using an anatomy image of dog teeth for reference. I don't care what anyone says, I'm really proud of these! (But feel free to tell me if they're lame!)

Wolf20.jpg


Wolf21.jpg
 
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Looking good, but there are some pinching areas at the shoulders (and with the superhero guy, at the elbows as well).

When you are in Layout, under your object properties, make sure you have your subdivision order set to "Last"

lw.jpg



That will dramatically help with the mesh distorting properly.


I like the glowing eyes, but would suggest you do that kind of work (if you didn't) with something like After Effects or Photoshop. You have more flexibility that way. It's as simple as having 2 versions of the model, one where all the surfaces are black except the eyes which are white and set to 100% Luminosity, with the background black too. Render out both versions, and use the one with only the white eyes showing as the layer you will turn into a glow. It's a little easier to apply the glow in LW, but if you want to change the glow, lessen it, or have it build over time, having just that area isolated allows you to to that without having to render everything again.



Great work so far. You are doing incredibaly well for someone who has only been at it for a year and a half. I can only imagine what you will be like with five or six years under your belt.

Keep up the good work.
 
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Thanks for the tips Matt. I do have the sub-d order set to last. The pinching is coming from my inferior weight-mapping. That's an art in itself. When I get back on this project I'm going to experiment with little or no weight-mapping in the torso area and see what happens.

Your tips for the glow are great! I'm not too happy with the glow in LW so I'll give it a try. I just got the Adobe Production Studio Pro a few weeks ago and I can't wait to learn After Effects. It does those finishing-touch type things a lot better, faster, and easier to experiment with.
 
This is pretty much the last model I have that's worth posting for you all to see. All my other stuff is busted experiments or amateaur at best.

This is a model of a Ruger P90 .45cal auto. Used spline modeling for the curvey overall shapes, then built in the details. I'm not quite happy yet with the texturing (of course) and the grip still needs some work. I just shooth-shifted and point-normal shifted it out of the frame. I think it should be seperated from the frame for more reality.

This is a prop for the short I described earlier. It's the gun of a 12 year-old Gunslinger apprentice named Jake.

As always comments and crits welcome. Thanks!

p90_14.jpg


p90_15.jpg


p90_16.jpg


p90_44_19.jpg


p90_Wire2.jpg
 
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cool, can we see the bone rig? please post some animations as well if you have got that far.

Character animations is a whole skill by itself, if you can pull it off then that would be just sick!
 
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