172 replies to this topic

[Greyrook]

She's lookin' mighty fine! Can't wait to see it once finished.

[TG Xarbala]

That's some great modelling work!


I just wish the TRO Madcat had arms that looked like they could actually contain myomer bundles in them. That always bugs me about some of the Clan Omnis. Even the resculpt is kind of gangly-armed.

[Ryven Kael]

I hope that this mech comes into the game eventually. It and the Ryoken were my two favorite mechs ever

[xZaOx]

Great work so far!

[MarauderDeuce]

I am green with envy and drooling with anticipation.

[William Chase Davion]

The finished arms are great. The Madcat/Timberwolf has always been one of my favorite mechs. I love the way yours looks so far, and I can't wait to see what you do with the legs.

[HanaYuriko]

Greyrook, on 22 August 2012 - 03:57 PM, said:

She's lookin' mighty fine! Can't wait to see it once finished.

You and me both!

TG Xarbala, on 22 August 2012 - 04:01 PM, said:

That's some great modelling work!


I just wish the TRO Madcat had arms that looked like they could actually contain myomer bundles in them. That always bugs me about some of the Clan Omnis. Even the resculpt is kind of gangly-armed.

Even most of the technical diagrams don't seem to show any myomer in the original Clan Omnimechs. Look at the "Visible Vulture" drawing in the first print of TRO3050. Lotsa guts, but no metal muscle!

Ryven Kael, on 22 August 2012 - 04:05 PM, said:

I hope that this mech comes into the game eventually. It and the Ryoken were my two favorite mechs ever

Come to think if it, I don't know if anyone's modeled the Ryoken/Storm Crow outside of a videogame setting.

xChaoSx, on 22 August 2012 - 04:10 PM, said:

Great work so far!

MarauderDeuce, on 23 August 2012 - 03:49 AM, said:

I am green with envy and drooling with anticipation.

William Chase Davion, on 23 August 2012 - 04:38 AM, said:

The finished arms are great. The Madcat/Timberwolf has always been one of my favorite mechs. I love the way yours looks so far, and I can't wait to see what you do with the legs.

Thanks guys!

I have an idea what I want to do with the legs. Especially how I plan to do the knee joint. The actual look on the other hand I need to work out still. But in the meantime, I made the lower torso. Or turn table? Not sure what to call this part. It's supposedly where the hip actuators and gyro are located.

Small update today. First the blocked out shape:


Then the details.

[Sean Lang]

Hana, you must realize I'm watching this thread with high interest. Obviously I know your an awesome artist, think we met on the MW:LL dev ts3 a long time ago, but I'm on the edge of my seat on this thread because the Timber Wolf is my all time fav Clan mech. As a modeler myself, I'm enjoying the detail and time your putting into this project! Keep up the great work!

[CaveMan]

The level of detail on this is just astonishing. I want to know how you're able to put so much detailing into the mesh so fast, but at the same time I don't want to spoil the magic.

[Unluccy]

CaveMan, on 24 August 2012 - 06:22 AM, said:

The level of detail on this is just astonishing. I want to know how you're able to put so much detailing into the mesh so fast, but at the same time I don't want to spoil the magic.

I too am getting more and more interested in your modeling techniques. How do you approach the detailing process and which techniques do you use?

[HanaYuriko]

The main detailing method I use is called "Three Levels of Detail." As for the modeling itself, I just use the tools that are available in the program.

This is a pretty basic bit of object manipulation. I usually start with a cube, and using the Bevel, Extrude, and Slice tools, I'll turn a cube into a nurnie (or greeble, kibble, whatever you want to call it).

As I said, I start with a Cube:


Then I round the corners. Using the Bevel tool, I set the angle to 90 degrees. That makes the bevel flush with that side of the cube. Next I use Extrude and using a negative number (-0.5), I can make an indent.


Next I selected two more sides. Using Extrude again with a positive number (0.05) I make what appears to be plates.


Repeat what I did in step 2 and 3:


Selecting that interior side. I used the slice tool. Then extrude to make this rounded plate. I just moved it up to to make it easier to work on.


Copied the first block and shrank it.


Made another cube with the dimensions 0.025, 0.2, 0.45 and copied it a number of times. Then fit those into the shrunken modified cube. This looks sort of like a vent or grill.


Glued the pieces together and copied it.


Made a cylinder (32 edges, 2x2m) and shrunk the top side to 1.5m. Then selected every-other-face. Used bevel on those faces at 45 degrees and 0.01 height.


Added the angled, ridged cylinder to the plate, shrank it, and fit the three pieces into the hole I made earlier. Then made a cylinder with 8 sides (to look like a hex nut). I also dropped the plate with rounded corners onto the top of the modified cube and added a bevel (45 deg, 0.01 height) to take off the sharp edge.


Shrank the hexagon and place it at the corner of the top plate.


Then copied the hex and placed them at opposite corners. This will give the illusion of bolts holding the plate in place.


Now the final render using basic white lighting and Ambient Occlusion for shadows.

Edited by HanaYuriko, 24 August 2012 - 01:31 PM.

[HanaYuriko]

Now this is pretty much what I do for every piece. I'll also move single edges, lines or points to get the shapes I want. For more complicated shapes, I'll use the dreaded Boolean tools (Object Weld, Subtraction, and Intersection) to make cutouts or weld parts together to make a single object. I'll also make a jig to make really tricky shapes and pieces that I can't normally do with the above techniques.

To save a lot of time, I have a collection of greebles to add to my models as surface details. I'll also reuse parts from older models to enhance newer builds.

Also, to expand on "Three Levels of Detail" It's basically layering detail on top of detail. You have a basic surface (level 1). Then you add plates, bevels, or indents (Level 2). Then on top of that, you add in another layer of detail. Pipes, bolts, hatches, vents, or whatever. But the trick is to make the parts you add look functional. As if they BELONG there. Not just slap on anything to fill space. You'll end up with a cluttered, messy look with parts that don't make sense.

Edited by HanaYuriko, 24 August 2012 - 01:54 PM.

[Unluccy]

Thank you so much for this in-depth look at your process! Nothing of that surprised me and yet that to me is the surprise: I would have approached everything about the same way, yet I never go into this much detail. You have definitely inspired me to try harder!

[tbpimaster]

This is simple amazing.
I've always loved the timber wolf/mad cat, and you've made them really clean and precise looking.
Well done!!!!

[HanaYuriko]

There was some trouble figuring out how I want to do the upper leg. So I decided to start at the bottom and work my way up. I was also super busy without access to my desktop in the past few days. As a result, all I've been able to do so far is the foot.

[CaveMan]

I'm thinking: maybe they wouldn't want to put a radiator or vent or whatever on the foot? Seems like it would be really prone to getting clogged up with mud, or having debris get lodged in there. 75 tons of 'Mech goes stomping into soft ground and I can see all kinds of muck getting gooshed up inbetween the toes.

[Nakuru]

Color me impressed. Can't wait to see the finished model.

[Legionn]

CaveMan, on 28 August 2012 - 06:36 PM, said:

I'm thinking: maybe they wouldn't want to put a radiator or vent or whatever on the foot? Seems like it would be really prone to getting clogged up with mud, or having debris get lodged in there. 75 tons of 'Mech goes stomping into soft ground and I can see all kinds of muck getting gooshed up inbetween the toes.

I was thinking the same thing but figured it wasn't my place to mention it. It looks awesome thus far.

[MarauderDeuce]

Random for giggles thought - put a Give Way sign on the bottom of each foot.

[DogKiller11]

This looks fantastic. You've really got an eye for technical detail. Did you study this stuff at university?