“Big Lug” Robot, textured, with a Turntable Animation

Filed under Computer Graphics, Works in Progress

Here’s the textured version of my “Big Lug” retro robot, a new character for my world of Retropolis. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s durable, but he’s not what you’d call the brightest bulb on the chain. This is the famous Mark II Big Lug, the most successful industrial robot to come off the assembly line at the Ferriss Moto-Man plant in Retropolis. You can get a Big Lug in just about any color – the default factory finish is shown here.

The picture above links to a 9 megabyte Quicktime “turntable” animation that I’ve used to see how he looks all ’round, as well as the way light plays across him. What remains to be done is to skin him to a skeleton. I’ve mentioned before that skinning makes me want to throw myself out of high windows. Really, I do mean that in the plural; I’d like to throw myself out of as many high windows as possible, by the time I’m done. But thankfully it’s much easier to skin a robot than it is to skin a human character.

“Big Lug” is now just over 211,000 triangular polygons. There’s some waste in curvy but indistinct areas like his armpits – but I’m not sure how much more optimization I’ll be doing in there.

[tags]Retropolis, retro robot, "Big Lug", science fiction, space opera, retro-futurism, 3d, character, turntable animation[/tags]

“Big Lug” Retro Robot, continued

Filed under Computer Graphics, Works in Progress

Still loads of texturing to go, though I quite like this basic steely thing he’s wearing. I’ve realized that “Ferriss Motomen” sounds like an instant noodle soup, while “Ferriss Moto-Men” is amazingly better. What a difference a hyphen makes.

New Retro Robot Character and – and last! – 64 bits

Filed under Works in Progress

I don’t have a rational reason for modelling a new robot, but I’m doing it anyway. So sue me.

I guess I do have a sort of an excuse, since I want to do some work on the new computer even though I’m not highly motivated to do any of the things I really ought to be working on. So that leaves me with my new Ferriss Motomen “Big Lug” Mark III.

I was having some fun with him until I dropped that head on him, at which point I really started having some fun. Hands, head gizmos and textures to follow.

I think it took me longer to put together this computer than it ever has before: a few case fit-up issues, unfamiliar connectors, and problems with installing some software and devices in a 64 bit OS. Or maybe I’m just getting old and slow. Anyway I’m awfully happy that I can now feed twice the amount of RAM even to 32 bit applications – the first bit of anything worklike I did was to successfully render the preview of a scene I’d been working on, which had bombed out due to insufficient memory before. The memory was there, but no one program could use it all in a 32 bit OS.

And I’m still thinking about that new desk. It could happen.

Desk of the Future that Still Might Be

Filed under Works in Progress

Okay, I pretty much never make anything for myself. But I’m about to build a new computer, and that’s got me thinking about the new desk I still haven’t made even though I’ve been in this house for two and a half years.

The workspace I’ve got is pretty functional but doesn’t fit well in its room. So while I wait for my new components to arrive I’m tinkering with a layout for the room and its potential desk – complete with a retro-futuristic self, since I don’t have a character model that looks any more like me – and, who knows? I might even build it. I’ve optimistically thrown in next year’s new monitor, but I’ve also used a scale model of my current 24″ CRT to make sure that everything fits.

I’ve placed speaker covers on the sides, which use the same perforated sheet steel I’ve used for the desktop (though under glass, there) and I think I’ve more or less puzzled out how I’d handle the pedestals with their veneer. At the rate I’m going I ought to be sitting at this desk within a decade or so. Though probably not in that outfit.

Fall 2007 Newsletter Posted at Celtic Art & Retro-Futuristic Design

Filed under Works in Progress

I’ve just posted the latest Incredibly Occasional Newsletter at Celtic Art & Retro-Futuristic Design; because of the several new ventures I’ve kicked off this year, it’s also got updates for Saga Shirts, The Retropolis Transit Authority, and even Hot Wax Tees. Because this is the time of year when you need to be jolly and generous, and when I get to try to shake all the change out of your pockets. Um… that’s YO Ho Ho, to you.

Character Skinning Drives Me Insane

Filed under Computer Graphics, Works in Progress

Always. Has. Always. Will.

Days and days and days and days of insanity lie ahead. If you see me, kill me now.

Retropolis Transit hits the back pages of Sci-Fi Magazine

Filed under Works in Progress

Hey! It’s not often that the outside world takes notice of what I’m up to in the Secret Laboratory – and honestly, that may be a good thing, given that whole Death Ray ironing board thing I was working on last week – but I’m cheered to see that the Sci Fi Channel’s magazine has a little promo for my Retropolis Transit Authority site’s retro-futuristic t-shirts. It’s in the December issue – I just got my comp copy today.

Alas for me, this section of the magazine doesn’t get reproduced on their web site. But what the heck – I’ll take it!

Celtic Knotwork Peace Sign – where the 1960’s meet the 960’s

Filed under Works in Progress

Here’s a symbol I’ve wanted to remake with Celtic knotwork for, well, a long time – a Peace sign.

And having made it, I’ve produced it for T-shirts (in both silver and gold versions), posters, cards, mugs, boxes, framed tiles, and coasters. I get that way.

Give Peace a chance, okay?

Retro futuristic dames continue their conquest of the secret laboratory

Filed under Computer Graphics, Works in Progress

It’s still all about the girls here in the Secret Laboratory. Though not the way you think, which I guess is sort of unfortunate.

Nope, I’m continuing my work on a set of characters who are all retro-futuristic and are all, not to put too fine a point on it, Babes. Dames. Skirts. Frails.

I’ve done a bit more work with Crazy Bump, the normal map maker I mentioned earlier, and I’m liking it more than ever.

Deathly silence, a space pirate, and normal maps

Filed under Computer Graphics, Works in Progress

It’s been quiet in here lately, but for good reason; I’m working on a set of characters for a project, and character work always takes a lot out of me – although this part’s fun. Just don’t ask me about rigging and skinning them. I get nightmares.

This is a space pirate and I have indeed been having a great time working on her. She just needs hair and that rigging-and-skinning process that I mentioned I have issues with.

While I was working on her ray gun I experimented with the beta version of Crazy Bump, an excellent normal map generator. Back in my game days we always used the Nvidia normal map plugin for Photoshop (there wasn’t much else to use) and I wasn’t ever exactly thrilled with what we were able to get out of it.

Crazy Bump, on the other hand, has several tools for analzying your texture maps. It can look for large 3D shapes in the image, and it can find large, medium, or fine levels of detail in it. Once it’s discovered all of those things you’re able to mix their levels together, as well as the overall strength of the normal map, to get just the shapes you’re after. You can blend images together, and you can edit existing normal maps, too. Very nice!

It’s free standing (so it works for any 3D app) and during the beta, it’s free.