Republic P-47C Thunderbolt

I've been asked by a client to model a P-47 as a commission. Here are the first images of this new project :)
For now my Panzer II project will be on hold for a while!

As usual I will update these images if I make new ones.

Landing gear rig (video)
Flaps rig (video)

"Bread & Dripping" production info

My friend Christian put up a sub-page dedicated to the WWII short film we produced last year for his final project. The production process is explained and there are a lot "behind the scenes" images for you to view. Hop on over to the Bread & Dripping page

Texturing the Sd.Kfz.121. Panzer II Ausf. C

I've started texturing my Panzer II C.

Will update the renders when I make new ones.

Sd.Kfz.121. Panzer II Ausf. C

The model is now finished, next up texturing!
The Sd.Kfz.121. Panzer II was a German light tank at the outbreak of World War II. It was an effective tank, but not well armed, neither was the Panzer I. It served all the way through the war in various versions and conversions, although in the later years not in the front lines.

Early war Panzer II on the left, mid production model on the right.

The two Panzer II versions next to my Panzer IB model (white). Early war Panzer II on the left, mid production model in the middle.

Wireframes:

Revisions of old particle systems

Old versions of both of these particle systems were used in the two student shorts (film) I helped on. I have decided to update them and these are the new work in progress videos to show some of it off.

The first one is a smoke system, that will be used for things like burning vehicles and exhausts, the second is a machine gun tracer system for future use on planes, tanks etc.

The system now features:

-- Wind effects
-- Bulging effect
-- Basic fire
-- Thin grey smoke

The materials still need work as you can see, but the basis is there

The tracers now feature: 

-- Distortion emulating minute camera movement (wobbly effect).
-- Smoke trails.
-- Empty bullet casings get ejected from the ejector ports (wing).
-- Every 5th round is a tracer (visible) round, the other 4 are invisible particles.
-- Gravity affects tracer rounds more (they lose speed faster).
-- 30% bounces off the surface of impact.
-- Debris gets shot off the target mesh 60% of the time. (basic triangular meshes, can be changed into anything).
-- Muzzle flashes appear with most shots, but not all, just like in real life.
-- Smoke puffs are emitted when a barrel fires.
-- Flashes are displayed when the tracers impact 80% of the time, but only with tracer rounds.
-- Smoke flies off every time the tracers impacts.
-- Both muzzle flash and impact flash are mesh based.

This is the final version of the tracer system before I start experimenting with plugins.

Please note: I will replace these videos with newer iterations when I make them.  

Made with the standard Pflow engine in 3Dmax, no external plugins used.

Matchmoving

I've started experimenting with camera tracking since it is an area I have not worked with much before except for some manual experiments. For this experiment I am using a model I made for a friend of one of her NickyToons creations. Still some glitches here and there, but hey, you never stop learning :)

 

For more info about nickytoons visit:

http://nickytoons.deviantart.com

"Knocked Out" piece and short animation finished

My newest piece titled “Knocked Out” is now finished.
This piece depicts a Panzer I of the 4th Panzer Division that has been knocked out during Fall Weiss (The invasion of Poland) in 1939. The crew is trying to get to the farmhouse for shelter before the spare munition ignites, however the driver suffered a leg wound because of metal fragments of the impact slowing down their movement.

3D-Max 2010 was used for the modelling, Z-brush to sculpt the displacement on the ground and in the clothing of the crew and Photoshop for the compositing and matte-painting.

 

For the highres render and WIP images, please browse to it's webpage here

Also: The video for the Student Room dogfight has been finished, you can find it here