Walkthroughs: space scenes and ships

sparky

It seems like people are always asking for tutorials on this stuff, so I thought maybe I would start making some. This is my first time trying to make tutorials (I guess theyre more like walkthroughs, but whatever), so tell me what needs clarifying and what else you want to see. Any other graphics people who feel like adding to this, feel free. (If you dont have image hosting go to www.photobucket.com - its free)
I did all the painting in Photoshop, and so I will refer to tools in Photoshop.
Anyway, Here we go!
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Texturing
Right now Im just going to do simple, tech style, top down texture painting. Ill get in to organic and elements of texturing beyond color and bump another time.
I almost always use textures that are at least 1000 x 1000 px for small to medium ships that will be seen at medium to fairly close. The images linked here are not the real size.
1. First I take a screenshot of the ship from above.
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...sparky/tex1.jpg (176 kb)

2. I then decide what I want the base color to be. I also add large blocks of color where I want panels.
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...sparky/tex2.jpg (120 kb)

3. I add other lines and strokes (Edit -> Stroke) around the panels and in between the panels. For the color map I keep these fairly faint, but they will be important when it comes to bump mapping.
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...sparky/tex3.jpg (136 kb)

4. I paint in a lot of scratchy browns and stuff that will become dirt. I usually do a lot more than I intend to keep, because erasing it out gives you another level of control and random-ness.
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...sparky/tex4.jpg (156 kb)

And then I erase out most of it.
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...sparky/tex5.jpg (148 kb)

5. I do this over and over for different parts. I use a lot of different colors and blend modes. I also change the opacities of the different layers. I find that playing with different methods can sometimes result in the most interesting dirt. This is basically the final color map.
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...sparky/tex6.jpg (180 kb)

6. This is the bump map part. I lower all the dirt layers to almost nothing, and raise up the opacities on those panel lines. Remember that the darker something is, the more it will appear to sink down in the render, the higher something is, the higher it will appear.
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...sparky/tex7.jpg (128 kb)

And here is the ship rendered with those textures:
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...gameshipiso.jpg (36 kb)

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Lighting

I dont claim to be any sort of master on this, so this is some general steps I take to getting started when I light a scene.

1. Here is the default lighting, with the default antialiasing. Ick. Its too bright because of all the ambient light, and the light direction of the main light doesnt compliment the ship. There are also jagged edges from the lack of antialiasing.
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...arky/light1.jpg (76 kb)

2. First, turn on antialiasing. I cant tell you how specifically, because every program is different. It will get rid of those jagged edges.
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...arky/light2.jpg (28 kb)

3. Turn off ambient light. It doesnt help because it just increases the surface luminosity of everything by a set amount. Ambient light will always flatten the image. Also, move the main light to a position where it lights part of the ship in an interesting way. I tend to light stuff from the left, and I dont know why. If you have a sun in your scene the main light should come from that, unless there is a much stronger light source that is apparent in the scene. This light is the key light.
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...arky/light3.jpg (64 kb)

4. Next add a much dimmer light that lights the opposite side from the main light. This is the fill light.
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...arky/light4.jpg (68 kb)

5. Now, sometimes the ship needs a little extra punch from the back. This is the rim light. I dont really think that this ship necessarily needed it, but I did it anyway for the purpose of demonstration. Usually if you have some curves toward the back that need to be set off a bit, and the fill and main lights dont do it, adding a rim light will help. As the name suggests, it should just light the rim of the ship.
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...arky/light5.jpg (68 kb)

This is the set up of lights that I used:
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th.../lightsetup.jpg

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Composition

Last one for today. Composing a shot can be very difficult. You want to showcase your ships, and have it be interesting to look at. Im just going to give three examples using basically the same scene in front of a kind of strange nebula. These ships are not particularly high quality, but they work for this.
http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...parky/comp1.jpg (124 kb)
This shot isnt all that interesting. The ships are kind of distant, and they arent in a very interesting situation.

http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...parky/comp2.jpg (124 kb)
This is a little better, the ships are closer, and they look more like theyre moving. But if you switch the view around, and have the ships going away, its much more interesting:

http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v83/th...parky/comp3.jpg (124 kb)
I also changed the key light to match the color of the nebula. That usually helps sell the reality of the shot.

Obviously, thats not to say that you should always have your ships running away. Just keep moving the ships around, finding different angles and such. One problem that reoccurs constantly is that people get stuck in one plane. In space, the ships can be going any direction. Play with that. It can be very helpful to do low quality renders that dont take long to just keep seeing how different angles look.

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Well, thats all for now. I hope it helps. Im going to do some more. Topics Im thinking about are making brushes for Photoshop, Modelling, other aspects of texturing (spec, diffuse, luminosity, etc.)

Like I said before, Id love to get feedback on this so I can make better walkthrough things. And of course, please add your own if you want.

This post has been edited by sparky : 02 November 2004 - 02:32 PM

Jules

That is awesome sparky! Its what people around here have been looking for for ages - great work!!

I was just wondering whether you would consider letting me host these on (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/ewan/")el3(/url)? It would keep them together with other tutorials in a central source. It would also give them a place of residence once this topic drifts off the page. Just an offer, I understand that you may not want this

ewan

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'It's only when you look at an ant through a magnifying glass on a sunny day that you realise how often they burst into flames'
- Harry Hill

Septcanmat

all i want is a tutorial for mission computer.

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I would if I could, but I cant so I wont

what_is_the_matrix

Quote

Originally posted by Septcanmat:
**all i want is a tutorial for mission computer.

**

Then you're in the wrong place. The topic of this thread is only for space scenes and ships, so oddly enough, only space scenes and ships will be covered here.

Just to add to what you're saying, sparky, your composition 1, while it's the least interesting, is one of the most common.

Some things that you did, but didn't mention, having the ship flying flat will indicate stability and very little motion. Having the ship banked indicates in stability and indicates more motion. Having lots of fighters in formation flying flat (like your composition 2) doesn't indicate motion, but putting them on a bank so that more of their top side is presented to the camera, will indicate more motion with a simple change in the location of the camera.

Other things that indicate motion is to use extremes, bank the ship heavily, and put the nose or the tail right at the edge of the frame, and use the camera's natural perspective to give the ship a size change.

If I have time, I'll whip up some renders if you like, sparky.

Matrix

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"Interestingly, according to modern astronomers, space is finite. This is a very comforting thought -- particularly for people who can never remember where they have left things." - Woody Allen

(url="http://"http://htf.mondominishows.com/valentine/main.asp?seed=7375&serial;=214877")The funniest valentine I've ever gotten.(/url)

Dr. Trowel

THANK YOU SPARKY.

Very basic tutorials, which is, very basically, what I need. Someday, if I ever get back to working on them, my models will thank you.

jdh545

Good tutorial. These techniques are very close to the ones I use.
Joe

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"Life is tough, but it's even tougher when you're stupid."
-John Wayne

sparky

Thanks everyone. I'm going to do some more.

matrix: those are really good points. Now I think I'll do a thing about creating scale. Banking and not banking will be part of it.

Jules: I would love to have these hosted there (if I get credit, of course. :))

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(url="http://"http://www.adventuredog.net")Adventure Dog(/url): Everyone's favorite little black and white dog.
In a fight for peace, you must fight for equality, not revenge.
"I am against evolution being taught in schools. I am also against widespread literacy and the refrigeration of food." - The Onion

Jules

(quote)Originally posted by sparky:
**Thanks everyone. I'm going to do some more.

matrix: those are really good points. Now I think I'll do a thing about creating scale. Banking and not banking will be part of it.

Jules: I would love to have these hosted there (if I get credit, of course. ) but I suppose I could put your name on them

Im going to be doing a bit of site reorganization as Im not happy with the way the resources will be laid out with the current interface. I'll put up them up after I get that done (probably by Tuesday)

Cheers sparky!

ewan

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'It's only when you look at an ant through a magnifying glass on a sunny day that you realise how often they burst into flames'
- Harry Hill
**

Modesty Blaise

Adding panels this way can often be hard, I find it easier to use an alpha map, so that i can place the panels where I want. This might not fall under the category of basic texturing though.

This post has been edited by modesty_blaise_us : 20 April 2006 - 04:23 PM

sparky

huh. I find using alpha for panels to be a much bigger pain in the butt. Either way, you're intentionally placing panels. I find it easier to do in the color map because then I can make sure the layers of panelling interact the way I want them to.

what program do you use?

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(url="http://"http://www.adventuredog.net")Adventure Dog(/url): Everyone's favorite little black and white dog.
In a fight for peace, you must fight for equality, not revenge.
"I am against evolution being taught in schools. I am also against widespread literacy and the refrigeration of food." - The Onion

Dr. Trowel

Quote

Originally posted by sparky:
**what program do you use?

**

At least in this thread, I don't think you've said what program you use, Sparky. Maybe I missed it?

Zacha Pedro

I tend to think (but that's just my user opinion, of a 3D incapable guy) that in the composition there should be one, main ship, and the other ones of the same model should just be kept as decoration, an enhancement, and be kept in a minor role - I think the composition picture shown with the stats of the pirate valk illustrates this: one ship, that the player associates more or less with the one he may buy, the other Pirate valk being blown up. The other ships does not need to be blown up, but should be more marginalised in favor of the main one: the player is buying his ship, that he will personnalise to death, not yet another of a ship line. Understand what I mean? But that's just my user-viewpoint opinion.

Otherwise, great work - that might get me back on trying to try to try to begin to envision to very begin to make some 3D ;).

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sparky

Dr. Trowel: Heh, you're right. I use Lightwave.

Zacha: I would say that it depends on what you're using the picture for. If, like you said, it's for buying a ship, I agree with you. But if you're trying to make a battle scene or something, you might want the focus on a dogfight between two fighters, or the larger fight with two or three battleships.

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(url="http://"http://www.adventuredog.net")Adventure Dog(/url): Everyone's favorite little black and white dog.
In a fight for peace, you must fight for equality, not revenge.
"I am against evolution being taught in schools. I am also against widespread literacy and the refrigeration of food." - The Onion

Modesty Blaise

Quote

Originally posted by sparky:
**huh. I find using alpha for panels to be a much bigger pain in the butt. Either way, you're intentionally placing panels. I find it easier to do in the color map because then I can make sure the layers of panelling interact the way I want them to.

what program do you use?

**

C4D

I find it easier because I can change they're position afterwards if I get it wrong. It´s a little more work..but i find it rewarding.

This post has been edited by modesty_blaise_us : 20 April 2006 - 04:24 PM

what_is_the_matrix

Quote

Originally posted by modesty_blaise_us:
**
C4D
i find it easier because i can change they´re position afterwards if i get it wrong...of course it´s a little more work..but i find it rewarding...

**

That's why I always save a .psd copy of all my textures with all the layers intact so that I can go back and make individual changes later.

Matrix

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"Interestingly, according to modern astronomers, space is finite. This is a very comforting thought -- particularly for people who can never remember where they have left things." - Woody Allen

(url="http://"http://htf.mondominishows.com/valentine/main.asp?seed=7375&serial;=214877")The funniest valentine I've ever gotten.(/url)

Zacha Pedro

Quote

Originally posted by sparky:
**Dr. Trowel: Heh, you're right. I use Lightwave.

Zacha: I would say that it depends on what you're using the picture for. If, like you said, it's for buying a ship, I agree with you. But if you're trying to make a battle scene or something, you might want the focus on a dogfight between two fighters, or the larger fight with two or three battleships.

**

Of course, my comments were for the ship buying image and not for anything else.

------------------
The (url="http://"https://secure.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/store/hazel.cgi?action=serve&item;=breakdown.html&BREAKDOWN;_SKUID=1480")Ambrosia Mac CD(/url) with other registrations - 5$. Paying for (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/")EV Nova(/url) as it's such a great game - 30$.
The (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/tshirts.html")1337 EV Nova T-shirt(/url) - 22$. The (url="http://"http://w00tware.ev-nova.net/")NovaTools(/url) by wOOtWare to tinker with your Nova - FREE!
The feeling you're a Nova geek - priceless.
There are things you can't buy or that are free, for everything else, there's indeed Eurocard Mastercard.

Modesty Blaise

Quote

Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix:
**That's why I always save a .psd copy of all my textures with all the layers intact so that I can go back and make individual changes later.

Matrix

**

You´ll have to go back in photoshop and do it. I can reposition them live in C4D.much easier to get it right then.

This post has been edited by modesty_blaise_us : 20 April 2006 - 04:25 PM

sparky

If you make your texture the right size, you shouldn't have to move it.

Anyway - sounds like you have a technique that works for you... maybe you could do a step-by-step? It would definetly be good to see.

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(url="http://"http://www.adventuredog.net")Adventure Dog(/url): Everyone's favorite little black and white dog.
In a fight for peace, you must fight for equality, not revenge.
"I am against evolution being taught in schools. I am also against widespread literacy and the refrigeration of food." - The Onion

Kame

Oooh, well done. Simple. Straight-forward. Great place for people to start. I think the texturing one is probably the most clear. The lighting one is lacking but you said yourself you were no expert. The composition one has some good points but your last example isn't the best Personally, I think that foremost ship shouldn't be so low with so much of it cut off. It pulls the viewer's eyes off the picture and is a sharp contrast to the softness of the scene and the nebula.

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((Ż'ˇ.¸(Ż'ˇ.¸Ť-KAME-ť¸.ˇ'´Ż)¸.ˇ'´Ż))
I used to jog but the ice kept falling out of my glass.
(url="http://"http://www.0three0.net/l-1551/")L 1551(/url) - The official site of RONIN and The Way and the ten thousand things

what_is_the_matrix

Yea, I like the texturing tutorial. I decided to try it out, and I noticed a major change in the quality of my images. Of course, I have my own little differences for things like bump and specular maps, but the tutorial is quite helpful nonetheless. Thanks!

Matrix

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"Interestingly, according to modern astronomers, space is finite. This is a very comforting thought -- particularly for people who can never remember where they have left things." - Woody Allen

(url="http://"http://htf.mondominishows.com/valentine/main.asp?seed=7375&serial;=214877")The funniest valentine I've ever gotten.(/url)

(This message has been edited by what_is_the_matrix (edited 02-24-2004).)

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Walkthroughs: space scenes and ships