Cerbera

Me and @VECTOR have been furiously modelling away recently inspired by a help request in the new users forum, in which someone had downloaded a hideous mesh, full of terrible triangles, so we thought it would be fun to model Vader's helmet properly out of quads. This will take an hour, we thought. 3 days later, we were still going. I had opted to do a 2-piece mask, circa Return of the Jedi, whereas Vector went full-on rage mode, doing the 3-piece prop mask, including internals, from Revenge of the Sith. Modelling-wise, it's been a challenge, and I am still not 100% about all my edge flows, even though it's 100% quads, but I am mostly happy. I have 1 complex pole remaining, but will eliminate that eventually. In the meantime, here's a couple of renders and wires from me, which we can compare and contrast with Vector's more detailed version, which'll be along this afternoon :) CBR

Is that an Arroway texture I spot on the floor there ? I do like their maps. Looks a little too perfect, if you don't mind me saying, but otherwise good job...

Maximum awsome levels of realism going on there :)

That is excellent, most especially in the careful sound design, your nice folding transitions, and your overall design sensibility and colour choices. Great stuff. CBR

Looking good so far ! I see you have the excellent HB modelling bundle, but what are the red / white icons down the left hand side ? CBR

As a legal user of this software I welcome anything that is being done to prevent people using and making money off crack copies. I'll put up with quite a lot of snooping if I know it is there for this reason.

Really, really good work. Very interested to know how you did the clouds. String sections in the soundtrack were chaotically beautiful, and suited the piece extremely well. Some great rendering in there too. Nice job. CBR

Not often you see a 70% discount ! Thanks Lubo, may well get that... have always liked xfrog's models.

You'll get extra points from me if you keep it all quads all the way through ;)

I can't approve of the massive ngons you've left there, but overall it's a good tutorial to show how to start that sort of thing. You could redeem it by fixing them in part 2 !! :)

Yep. A bit too much on all three. Otherwise very nice though... CBR

Luminetrics.net/blog hasn't been updated for a while, but there's some stuff there, and some more in my gallery here on the cafe...

This is exactly my sort of thing, and I would be happy to help. Will DM you when I am back home after xmas (tomorrow)... CBR

Ditto that. Festive Robins, everybody :)

You just missed one on cartoon child warriors, and before that there was one on Binoculars. They might not be so often, but they do happen. And you could always start one yourself ? CBR

It certainly was - it's an impressive piece ! I used to use Daz way back in my 3D days before I knew about cinema - I was still on Bryce (if you remember that !). I know that went free, but didn't know that Daz did the same, or that it was so helpful in format conversion and quick assets like this - so cheers for that and happy Christmas yourself !

Wow - you must work at hyperspeed ! How on earth did you model, texture, light and animate all that in one night !?

Yes you do - you're worth much more than that :)

Also, you would do well to learn from others' mistakes and do not take on a job that is outside your skill set. It is unfair to take on something you have no idea how to start, and then to expect members here to solve your problems on a paid job for free. I shouldn't have to mention that, but it happens alarmingly often, so I do.. No offence, but 2 months doesn't make you an expert in anything, and really, expertise is what you are selling... CBR

It would help if your profile said where you were from :) I charge £60 an hour (UK), which is about right for someone of about 10 years 3D experience.

Yeah, even without the wireframe I can see some shading errors there, indicating some modelling mistakes, but it's not too bad for a 1st attempt. Accuracy and edge flow are everything, and whilst you might not be winning either of those with this model, you are at least on a learning curve that will get you those skills eventually... CBR

You avoid the 'paying on time' problem by not releasing final resources until they have paid ! Use render watermarks in your previews. Re Scope creep: It is important to sit down with the client at the beginning of a project and speculate about the amount of hours each project, or aspect of a project is likely to take. You must explain that for each stage, you will advise when time spent is getting close to estimate, and ask if the client agrees to more time before moving on. If they say no, then you must make them choose from whatever options you have made so far in the time allotted. CBR

I take it you've all seen this one ? Oldie but goodie, with extra bonus for us lot of lovely softbody dynamics and snow collision... ...and this one in 360... CBR

Are you gonna put the icing on the cake and do stitching for gloves, vests, and arm bands ? You know, like I could be arsed to put the screw holes in my EUC ? :)

Read the first post in the thread ? :)