52 replies to this topic

[Bishop Steiner]

the JA-KL-1532-Jackal

JACKAL LIGHT MECH: FROM CONCEPT ART TO 3D RENDER

I'm very stoked with how this project has gone, though almost all credit goes to Kiriage, for his patience as a collaborator, and his talent at 3D rendering.

I've always liked the Jackal, even though it needs a lot of tweaks, but a really fast Light Mech with an ER PPC just suits me. Like most 3055 TRO designs, the original Artwork, well, it left a lot to be desired. And while I like Matt Plog's work a lot, he had his hands tied to stick largely with the really questionable architecture of the original TRO.

So, instead of the "Death Egg" Look, I came up with this

on about my 3rd or 4th go at redesigning it. Apparently the same elements that caught my eye, also caught Kiriage's, and so he contacted me about modeling it (we had worked together before on my King Crab, and I found him very easy to work with, talented and approached it as a consummate professional.

So basic sketches, renders, orthos, passed back and forth, and bit by bit we refined the idea. One of my big things is my general dislike for the made up, sci fi chicken walker form of locomotion (which is literally simply a reversed plantigrade architecture), which tends to look good, but is a mechanically awful idea (hence why it doesn't actualyl exist in nature).

So I took a page from birds, and designed a "Hidden Hip" actuator drum and system. While standing static, it appears to be a normal chicken walker design. But, once rigged and in motion, the hidden joint will be revealed, allowing for true digitigrade movement.

Kiriage did a great job translating my sloppy notes and sketches, and I am real excited to see how it animates once he is done texturing, then rigging it. The Animation he did for my King Crab was magnificently heavy and ponderous. I really wish PGI would learn a thing or two from it.
http://vid1279.photo...zpsfc3c0e6b.mp4
(I might wanna redesign the bishop hip into that KGC, truth to tell)

So without further rambling, here are some of the renders:

and as the BluePrint he made (my new Desk Top)


Thank you such much Kiriage, for being such a pleasure to work with. I will continue to post updates to this as we go.

Please leave feedback! Cheers!

*Update*

"Big Red" (looking good Kiriage!)





Eater of the Dead coming to get you

Edited by Bishop Steiner, 30 April 2017 - 09:20 PM.

[TheArisen]

Very nice indeed! I dare say this could convert me to the Jackel being the next light instead of the Javelin... Maybe, probably...

[kiriage]

This one is a lot of fun to work on! Working with Bishop is always a rewarding experience and its such a great redesign I had to have a crack at modelling it.

The AMS hat was quite challenging.

[GonaDie]

Ooh!

That is one sweet, sweet mech!

Good job guys!

[Bishop Steiner]

[Juodas Varnas]

Well, it's no Scorpion...
.
.
Nice job, though!

[Hit the Deck]

Excellent work, both of you!

Honestly, Bishop's original drawing looks better and it could show us that translating a concept art to a 3D model is not that easy.

BTW I noticed something:



Red line is where I think the 'Mech's imaginary CoG should be. It follows that the center of its feet (orange line with dot) should be in this line so that it doesn't fall over when powered off.


EDIT: now make a Hollander!

Edited by Hit the Deck, 26 March 2016 - 06:36 AM.

[Smoked]

Great looking final product. Lots of attention to detail

[Bishop Steiner]

Hit the Deck, on 26 March 2016 - 06:34 AM, said:

Excellent work, both of you!

Honestly, Bishop's original drawing looks better and it could show us that translating a concept art to a 3D model is not that easy.

BTW I noticed something:



Red line is where I think the 'Mech's imaginary CoG should be. It follows that the center of its feet (orange line with dot) should be in this line so that it doesn't fall over when powered off.


EDIT: now make a Hollander!

look at the amount of the torso forward of said line including the majority of the 7 ton gun. Also, again, the hip design which you can't see, yet, makes a difference.

Also, again, it is not yet rigged, which is when you will see the "final" posture.

Edited by Bishop Steiner, 26 March 2016 - 06:52 AM.

[GonaDie]

Bishop Steiner, on 26 March 2016 - 06:19 AM, said:

Oh hell ya!

This looks really realistic.Now give it a nice camo and it will be perfect!

[kiriage]

Hit the Deck, on 26 March 2016 - 06:34 AM, said:

Excellent work, both of you!

Honestly, Bishop's original drawing looks better and it could show us that translating a concept art to a 3D model is not that easy.

Bishops original sketch is great which is what drew me to model it (have you found the hidden jackal head in it)? Translating a perspective sketch to 3d model is tricky, at least for me..im no professional at this type of thing. Some geometry wont quite work, some has to be added in, we made some changes to the legs which flowed on to the pelvis. I work with bishop on all of it..but the best part is he allows me a degree of freedom to do what im doing. I do it for fun and part of that is i can have a small inluence in how it looks. And yeah part of it is technically i find some things difficult. If theres some aspects of the original sketch ive missed that would dramatically improve the model please detail them. Its great that people take the time to comment..good pickup on the feet too..ill have a look at that.

[Bishop Steiner]

[Bishop Steiner]

kiriage, on 26 March 2016 - 05:26 PM, said:

Bishops original sketch is great which is what drew me to model it (have you found the hidden jackal head in it)? Translating a perspective sketch to 3d model is tricky, at least for me..im no professional at this type of thing. Some geometry wont quite work, some has to be added in, we made some changes to the legs which flowed on to the pelvis. I work with bishop on all of it..but the best part is he allows me a degree of freedom to do what im doing. I do it for fun and part of that is i can have a small inluence in how it looks. And yeah part of it is technically i find some things difficult. If theres some aspects of the original sketch ive missed that would dramatically improve the model please detail them. Its great that people take the time to comment..good pickup on the feet too..ill have a look at that.

Honestly I feel most of the changes were either of functional necessity, innovation (the hidden hips) or brought it back truer to the TRO feel. Such as the bulkier feel to the torso... the original was a Death Egg. Mine was probably too svelte. (Actualyl had some comment on that aspect). I feel Kiriage improved it.

The center of gravity? Like I said, I 'm curious to see if it's an issue once it's actually rigged. If so, well, I reckon we'll figure out how to tweak it.

[Pariah Devalis]

I'd be curious to get a closer look at that hidden hip joint, personally.

[kiriage]

Pariah Devalis, on 26 March 2016 - 07:33 PM, said:

I'd be curious to get a closer look at that hidden hip joint, personally.

Classified☺
-thats why its hidden-



I will do an exploded view soon.

Edited by kiriage, 26 March 2016 - 11:34 PM.

[Bishop Steiner]

Some preliminary rigging work on the legs. I am amazed with what kiriage manages as a hobbyist... and wonder what he could do if this was his full time job?

IMO a near perfect translation of my design, with any differences being improvements.

Edited by Bishop Steiner, 27 March 2016 - 03:23 PM.

[Hitman85]

Very interesting mech, great work on the project, you both got amazing skills

[Lucian Nostra]

Bishop Steiner, on 27 March 2016 - 03:17 PM, said:

Some preliminary rigging work on the legs. I am amazed with what kiriage manages as a hobbyist... and wonder what he could do if this was his full time job?

IMO a near perfect translation of my design, with any differences being improvements.

[Bishop Steiner]

Pariah Devalis, on 26 March 2016 - 07:33 PM, said:

I'd be curious to get a closer look at that hidden hip joint, personally.

and courtesy of kiriage...declassified.

Yeah. That's attention to detail.

[kiriage]

GonaDie, on 26 March 2016 - 09:05 AM, said:

Now give it a nice camo and it will be perfect!

You have a favorite camo scheme in mind?