Any artists in the crowd?

[Vanguard3000]

So, I originally intended to make a 3D model of a ship to add to a game I'm currently playing (X3: Terran Conflict).  But I hit a snag, and ended up adding more and more to it, until it's a desktop background-worthy scene.  Funny how things work out sometimes, eh?

Sorry for the shameless plug, but I'm damned proud of this thing.  Please let me know what you think (including if I should still add it to X3!)

http://vanguard3000.deviantart.com/art/Rescue-at-Orinackra-158137692

And, to make this topic less selfish, I'd like to know if anyone here has some artwork of their own they'd like to share here, whether it's graphic, photography, music, etc?

[exatreide]

Sorry cant help you with that stuff...

Not really much of an Artist, most of my creativity is reserved for guitar and writing these days... I do like this random picture I took in the courtyard of the Indiana Military Academy of a random piece of trash in the grass.  The fact that it was trash and had this on it...

[Vanguard3000]

Garbage that reminds you it'll have a lasting effect on our planet... that's surprisingly deep, Ex.  ;)

[Rene]

Nice work, looks neat!

I'm not an artist, but I modeled a chess set some time ago for the game I was building.

[D2k Sardaukar]

I made this once with blender and luxrender.

if it does not show up: http://www.luxrender.net/forum/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=3508

[Rene]

This thread has me digging through my files, It's always fun to see some of that old stuff back. So, here's some more of my dreaded 'Programmer Art'  :D

This is a space fighter I made to run some tests on in my engine:

[Khan]

Out of interest are you guys doing this with anything professional in mind or is it just a hobby?

[D2k Sardaukar]

I made some time ago these for on the frontpage, do they also count?  :)

Out of interest are you guys doing this with anything professional in mind or is it just a hobby?

I'm doing this as hobby, but the stuff I learn can be used later in life also (perhaps 'half' professional).  :)

[Vanguard3000]

Rene, are you making that ship for a game?  And if so, tell me more!  ;)

Personally, I'm doing it for hobby purposes, but I'd like to do it professionally.  So, technically, 'm building a portfolio to get into a game design course in college.

[Rene]

Rene, are you making that ship for a game?  And if so, tell me more!  ;)

At first not. I made it to test the model loader of the game engine I'm creating. Testing with cubes gets boring after a while, so I usually make some models to use. However I like this model so I think I'll use it for a game I'm planning to make in the near future, one year or something like that. Don't want to make any promises about that though.

[That Guy]

I consider myself an artist, specifically a manga artist.

From what I've seen in this topic, there are quite a few 3D modelers, and as I am starting to play around with 3D modeling, would anyone have any suggestions for a good 3D modeling program (Blender seems rather good, but I may be wrong)?

[D2k Sardaukar]

The new blender 2.5 (is still beta but works great) is a nice free 3d app. I think if you want to do 3D for personal use it is perfect. Some quick tips. F12 is render and keep one hand on the mouse and the other on the keyboard. so you can (with spacebar for example) enter commands. g is move, r is rotate etc. Just try it, it's free to download.  ;)

middle mouse button is rotate in 3d view. tab is going to edit mode (edit vertex's etc)

[That Guy]

Thanks, judging from the picture of a wheel, you certainly know what you're doing.

[D2k Sardaukar]

for the wheel I used a rim/wheel tutorial and an external renderer (to make image of 3d model). it is called luxrender. it programmed to make a render with realistic lighting. so it takes long to render, because it does things as real light does.  :) you could try it, but perhaps too difficult in beginning. trying to model correctly is more important. just try some blender tutorial I suggest

[That Guy]

I assume Blender comes with a renderer as well, I also assume it's much easier to use than luxrender, so I guess I'll just use that. ='D

[Dante]

I like the opening image, though the wee blue things at the back... not sure about them. I mean they look good and all, but a bit too solid. Like they're objects rather than expulsions, which I assume is what they are. Oh, and I noticed something else (which I feel bad for mentioning because I really like the image): the black parts on the ship, I think those are meant to be windows? Whether they are or not, is there a reason that the ones on the side closest to us don't match up with the single panel on the top front? That triangular spur between the black bits looks a bit unusual.

But hey, maybe it's an unusual ship. And I like it. Reminds me just a bit of KotoR, which can only be a good thing.

As for me, I don't consider myself an artist by any means. The closest I get is being a writer of sorts. But I do meddle with photoshop on occasion. Emphasis on meddle, I'm learning more advanced techniques but I have no training in design or balance or perspective or... well anything past the art classes I took in secondary school. Still, as long as the topic is up I thought I might as well contribute.

I used this technique once before to great success, less so in this image. Hopefully I'll be able to post the better version in a few days, but... well I have reasons not to do so right now.

As you can see, I'm not trying to make art, I'm trying to make interesting pictures. I understand that there's a difference at least, which is more than some artists I've met.

I'm also taking some careful steps into animation. At the moment it's nothing special to look at, mostly involving test of concept images like the one below. I was considering how I might go about making a semi-realistic moving electric effect (speed, degree of crackling, position etc) and knocked that together to see if it was an idea worth pursuing.

I also made the map of Fed2k for Warlords 2, which can be found at the bottom of the thread's first post [/shameless promotion] or here. It was reduced quite a lot by the host, annoyingly. Don't try to make sense of it, it won't unless you've read the original Warlords thread.

I also made Dragoon Knight's sig image. I do have more tricks than the lightning effect, it just so happens that a lot of the stuff I've been doing lately relates to that. I also have a sketchbook, which I may post some images from if I don't suddenly come to my senses and realise what a stupid idea it is.

One final note. Older members around here may remember a time, long ago, when I shared some doodles of mine from history class. I did that because they were Fed2k-related, not because they had any hint of artistic merit. I got the impression since then that some people actually thought I was proud of them and wanted to show them off. That is not the case. I'm pleased with the work in this post, but only as works in progress. I'm not proud of them exactly. The doodles from before (which have been archived by Gob and are thankfully no longer online) were just that. Doodles. Not even worthy of being called sketches.

That's been weighing on my mind for a while, I'll stop talking now.

[Vanguard3000]

KGA:  You could try Gmax... It's an older, free-er version of 3DS max.

Dante:  Yeah, I tried a bunch of glow effects, but wasn't sufficiently happy with any of them.  I may try making the engine glow a bit more transparent next time.

Yes, the black parts are windows, and it is indeed an unusual ship.  It's the Moldy Crow, Kyle Katarn's ship from Star Wars: Dark Forces (which may be why it reminds you of KotOR).  You can see a reference shot here.  I've always loved the design, and have thought of it as being similar to the Millennium Falcon - a sort of "lucky" ship, passed from one person to the next, like the One Ring, or Mahdi's mum.

(oh, snap)

And I really like your "burning dude" picture.  Very badass.  What's he holding, though?

[Dunenewt]

I do remember Dante's sketches, with me in my little turret with the flag over the top.