2011 Golf GTI - Final Renders!

It's finally done!

Well, this angle was rendered in Blender's new render engine, Cycles, at 1000 samples - took just over five hours to finish.  I did have to erase a few "fireflies" (high-contrast pixels that appear with certain materials - hey, the engine's still in development, it happens) but other than that this is 100% Cycles :D

This one was rendered at 250 samples in roughly 45-50 minutes:

I'd also like to send out some thank-yous to everyone here who faved and commented on the WIP snapshots, as well as to DDD and TyrantMonkey over on BlenderArtists.org :D

...and now onto my next car model!

Latest Golf GTI updates

Getting really close to the final render! (*finally*)  Check out these latest updates, they're awesome:

Reworked and tweaked topology - big thanks to TyrantMonkey and DDD over on BlenderArtists.org for all their help with this stuff!

Within an hour of this snapshot, I'd done a complete overhaul ofthat section, so this is no longer accurate.

And, last but not least, a quick-and-crappy render of the car as a whole! :D

Like I said, quick-and-crappy.

Anyway, there's just a few finishing touches to add to this model, so afterwards I'll be moving on to developing the materials necessary in Cycles and then the final render, plus a bit of compositing (hopefully Blender 2.62 will be out by then, could use the upcoming Render Layers in this project)

I'll also be recording another video tour a bit later on, so stay tuned!

2011 VW Golf GTI - Updates 13-15

Hey,

So I've actually started working on this again...I guess buying a second monitor (Samsung 23" LED) kinda helps get the motivation going again ;)  I've actually been blending on two screens and it's seriously awesome.  I have to admit, though, I did have to prop up the 20" Acer up a bit so it would sit a bit more level with the 23" Samsung :P

Update #13 - Topology Updates

Update #14 - Cycles Test Render

Update #15 - New Topology Updates (a lot of tweaking going on)

Having a new computer certainly helps - I can now display all the layers without any problems, and the viewport remains nice and fast.  The tower I'm using (that I've actually had for over a month now, forgot to mention it before) is a Gateway DX4860 with a 3.0Ghz quad-core Intel i5-2320, 6GB of RAM, Windows 7 Home Premium (going to have to upgrade to Pro eventually) and a nVidia GeForce GT520 - not the best graphics card on the market, but over 9000 times better than the Intel 965 Chipset in my laptop...

Oh, the GT520 also has 1GB of VRAM :D  Only problem is, a CUDA-based Cycles benchmark render (Mike Pan's BMW M1) takes 5 to 10 times longer than with just the CPU... going to have to upgrade that as well, maybe get a GeForce GTX570 to run alongside the GT520, or something along those lines.

Anyway, this computer is fast.  I mean, my trusty dual-core Toshiba Satellite laptop was amazingly fast back when I first got it, but this PC blows it out of the water... I still feel attached to the Toshiba though, so I'm lucky it's still in great condition - might use it for network rendering or something.

Anyway, that's it from me for now.  See ya!

New Golf GTI snapshots!

Hey, I'm back!

So, I thought it was high time I update this here blog of mine... I tend to disappear, don't I?

Well, before I go off on tangents, like I tend to do, here are the latest snapshots of the 2011 Golf GTI!  (I'll also be fully updating the project page, so keep an eye out (though please keep your eyes in) for those sequential WIP snapshots!)

WIP Snapshot #07

WIP Snapshot #08

Starting to look like a Golf!  ...well, either a Golf or any other popular

hatchback around, to be honest - they all have similar traits, don't they?

WIP Snapshot #09

Completely reworking the front wing's topology after some Subsurf-ing tests.

WIP Snapshot #10

A new overview of the bodywork - incorporated the original

bumper-panel into the new front wing.

That's it for now!  As usual, I'm figuring this out as I go, so hopefully it won't turn out too bad...I'd like my first car model to be good, you know?

Oh, I'm also now working with Blender 2.60a - yep, it's made it's way into the 2.6x series!  Next release will be including the Camera Tracking, the Cycles renderer, Ocean Simulator, Dynamic Paint, and a few others I can't remember...ooh, it's going to be so AWESOME! :D

May the blend be with you!

Still here, the NES project survives, & the Secret Project is announced at last!

Yep, you read that right, the 3D NES project is still in progress!  I'm actually trying to finish it up so I can move on to other things, and get my mind fully concentrated on that secret project (which I'll be talking about in a minute) as well as be able to start other new projects, such as working on some car models.  A lot of cars have awesome designs - Porches, Morgan Plus 8s, and so on - and I've wanted to model cars for a while...watching the awesomeness that is the UK's Top Gear didn't help much.  ;)

Anyway, about that secret project!  I've been slowly piecing this whole thing together since January, and although it's nowhere near completion (in my opinion, anyway), I'm giving you a sneak peek!

Yep, I'm working on my new website!  That's just a snapshot of the Free Downloads section (yes, you read that right as well), but there's a lot more to it.  ...at least, that's the plan.  I'm hoping to get it up and running before the end of the year (by then I should have something that's up to the level I want it...hopefully.)

Well, that's it from me for now, so see you in another six months!

...

...just kidding :D  hopefully I'll be on here to post a bit more often from now on.

Amazing BlenderCookie video - a must-see for any Blender-Head!

Seriously, if you consider yourself a Blender-head then you have to see this:

http://www.blendercookie.com/2011/05/02/feature-preview-cycles-render-engine/

...yes, I know, this is my first post in who knows how long :P  what can I say?  I've been super busy with that secret project and haven't had much to blog about...  but that secret project will soon be secret no longer :D

Skyward Sword Celebration Project - WIP 08

Don't worry, I haven't abandoned my blog, I'm still here, just much busier. ;)

So, over the weekend I finally made some real progress on the project, especially on Sunday - I listened to Sonic the Hedgehog music the entire time I was modelling, so that probably helped - you know, he's....fast.  Really fast.  "Faster than the speed of sound!"

Anyway, enough about Sonic and other random stuff, time for some WIP pictures!

A snapshot of the input panel on the back of the television.

Skyward Sword Celebration Project - WIP 06

Adding in some overlooked details to the expansion slot... :D

Still a few left in other spots (screws, insets, etc.) but I'm not sure how easy they'll be to add in.

Screws are fun to do though, I made some once for my 3D Magnemite so I'm very curious to try again with my improved modelling skills :D

Skyward Sword Celebration Project - WIP 05

some progress on the Television for the scene:

still the base mesh, but it's supposed to be a ~20 year-old 13" Emerson :)  it's picture quality is still super-good, thankfully.

Skyward Sword Celebration Project - WIP 04

New video tour of the project!


Skyward Sword Celebration Project Tour 4 - HD from MeshWeaver on Vimeo.


Also, check out the "Skyward Sword Celebration Project" page above - it's been updated!

Skyward Sword Celebration Project - WIP 03

Little update :D

SkywardSword celebration WIP 6 by ~MeshWeaver on deviantART

(not shown on the picture : all the plugs and cables for the NES.  the adapter heads are kinda tough to make, but quite fun too, since I really have to think about how I shape them, while still trying to keep the vertex count at a reasonable level.)

Skyward Sword Celebration Project - Cartridge Turntable

So as you can see, a turntable render of the NES game cartridge. Included in the video are both the default clay render turntable and a Wire version, for those of you curious about the topology :D

I also used Blender's built-in video editor for the first time to put this together :D  Went very well, and I definitely like the organization method - the various columns and things.

Anyway, here's the video.  Vimeo version is in queue for conversion - have to wait an hour before this 25-second video is converted, it's ridiculous.  Seems to me that the video conversion time should be judged by how long it is and the image quality...anyway, before I branch off again, here's the video, for real this time:

...I might have rendered it kinda fast, even though it was at 17 frames per second.  Maybe a slower animation would have been better, though the method I used doesn't really allow for much customization. I have to figure that out, there's going to be turntables of every object. :D  At least, I think...

Skyward Sword Celebration Project - WIP 02

(btw, the post is longer than this.  Click the "Read More" button to...well...read more :D)


Hmm, I've posted pictures about this on DeviantART more often than I post about it here...weird.


Anyway, I've made a lot of progress since the first post, considering it was at the beginning of July.  Lots of W.I.P pictures too, as you can see:



SkywardSword celebration WIP 3 by ~MeshWeaver on deviantART


July 25th

Skyward Sword Celebration Project - WIP 01

Hey Blenderheads, and non-Blenderheads :)

So I've started working on this project again.  I'd started it a while back (shortly after E3), but hadn't worked on it in a while.  I've made a lot of progress today though :


SkywardSword celebration WIP 1 by ~MeshWeaver on deviantART

then, the mesh for the...thing, is almost finished:


SkywardSword celebration WIP 2 by ~MeshWeaver on deviantART

...so?  :)

edit - now the "thing" is finished, btw.  had a few problems, such as the cord entrance, and then some joining issues (one of the pieces merged with another, and it wasn't supposed to, so that caused some pretty serious normals problems)...but all in all, i think it's done.  was fun :)  now I just have to make the rest of the darn thing...it's fairly complex