Sunday, February 6, 2011

Cutting panels in a saucer

Quickie info on cutting panels into a mesh, this uses modo, but the technique is the same for any polygon modeler tool out there.

Create the base mesh, in our case a saucer (like the one found on the USS Enterprise from ST:TMP) with 16 divisions:

From Misc


Adjust accordingly and add subd edge loops along the corners:
From Misc


Apply subd to it (i.e. hit the TAB key in Modo)
From Misc


Freeze the subd mesh, this increases the number of polygons on the mesh and takes you out of subd mode. Alternatively you could just subdivide the mesh and smooth it. The point is that you want to greatly increase the detail in your mesh.

From Misc


Still have our 16 edges:

From Misc


Use this as a reference select the edges that we are going to apply a bevel to - this is where the panel cuts will ultimately go:
From Misc


Apply a thin bevel
From Misc


Select the faces that you now have (this is unfortunately a bit of a PITA, patience is a virtue here):
From Misc


Extrude the faces inwards, preferably along the face normal (as opposed to just extruding straight down). In modo the easiest way to do this is use the bevel tool in face selection mode.
From Misc


Increase your selection to include the newly added faces: (in modo shift + up arrow)
From Misc


Convert to edges:
From Misc


Bevel again, to round off the sharp edges:
From Misc


Repeat as needed.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Revisiting the light cycle

This just keeps gnawing at me, so in bits of spare time here and there I've been learning Moi, a great 3D Nurbs modeling tool, to redo the light cycle.
After a number of attempts, here's what I've got so far. All of this is based off of Daniel Simon's fantastic work on the light cycle design for Tron Legacy. I have veered off the trail to make things a little more interesting to suit my own tastes.
From 3D 2010-2011


From 3D 2010-2011


From 3D 2010-2011


From 3D 2010-2011


From 3D 2010-2011


quickie render (in modo):
From 3D 2010-2011