Robotic Mech Colour Tests

This post will be a brief view at colour schemes that I  have tested and painted over on the MBT variant of the Robotic Mechs.

The process that this method took was pretty simple. First, I applied a few block materials of colour in 3DS Max, based off of the colour schemes I had tested and created previously, as well as some new reference material from the internet. I would then render the model out, and put it into Photoshop. I would then paint on any patters/additional colours through a soft light filter. With this done, I then added the company logo, signature, borders etc. and saved out the images as jpegs. 

Below shows you each colour scheme, and any source inspiration images that I used for reference.

A lot of the references used where taken from the the original colour scheme tests that I made. I didn't use all of the colour schemes, as there were a few that I didn't quite like. For the others I found general reference found on Google images, which I implemented into some of the above designs.

Original colour tests.

Abrams tank colour reference. 

Winter camo patter ref.

Leopard tank reference

Renault FT17 camo reference

General camo reference. 

With this stage done, I now have a better idea of how the textures will work together on the model. Theres a few which I don't like, mainly due to the patterning or the bland look it gives, but i'm happy with the majority, and am looking forward to implementing them onto the 3D model. 

The next update will continue to look at the unwrapping process. 

Model Unwrapping

This blog focuses on work done for the unwrapping stage of this model, hence why its been a little while since an update has been posted. The model at this point is mostly unwrapped, and i'll give a brief showing as to how I went about this.

During an event called Animex, where professionals come to give lectures and networking, I showed my work to a few of the lecturers. Overall they liked the model, but noticed some of the lower poly models I'd  made were immediately noticeable from the rest of the model. So I went through one final round of optimisations, to ensure that no future problems in the aesthetic would occur again.
To start with, I immediately knew that since I had been building the models with no particular scale in mind, it was finally time to define it.

As shown below, the green areas show finished/unaffected pieces, and the red where areas that needed further work to be done. This usually involved removing unneeded edges or separating parts and reattaching to make the topology flow better. This took a little while, but was worth the effort.

Final Optimisation stage.

With this done, I went on to dealing with scaling issues on the model. Since I want to try and render the model from within the unreal 4.6 Engine, I had to found out what the correct scaling I had to go with. So i started by looking up the unreal to max scale for a playable character model, which is 190cm (6 Foot) tall, since one cm= one unreal unit in the engine. Max's normal units setting didn't open with the centimeter scale on, so I went into the scale settings and adjusted it to the correct units.

I then created a box to match the measurements, and placed 3 on top of each other. I then also created a biped, matched the same height, and placed 3 within the scene as well. This was to ensure I had an idea of how tall a 6 foot human character would be compared to the Robotic Mech.

Human and blcok scale at a height of 190cm per  individual model.

I then scaled down the main robotic mech model and the custom parts to roughly match the height of the bipeds and box towers. I also had to reset the x-forms for each model's piece, in order to avoid any topology issues that would have affected any textures applied to the model.

Optimised model with correct scale.

Original scale compared to the correct one. 

With this done, I finally started the unwrapping phase. This has taken a fair few days so far, and has been relatively easy to do. The main time consumption is through the number of pieces the model has. It has also taught me that some pieces work better when separated into smaller chunks. One such example was the tanks hull, which originally was one piece. It is now been separated into 4 components, which has made unwrapping it a lot easier to do.

Below shows you my work process. I started by applying a checker texture to the entire model. Any pieces that I finished unwrapping are colour in silver, whilst ones that are still in progress are coloured red. Any that haven't been touched are coloured in a standard UV checker texture colour.

Red for unwrap in progress, silver for finished, and the UV checker for yet to be unwrapped

Unwrap at its current stage.

This image shows you how far I am into the basic stages of the unwrap process. As you can see, theres not an awful left to do now at this point.

The main focus isto get the unwrapping done. Additionally, testing out colour schemes on the 3D model is also important, which is why in the next blog entry I will be showing basic paint over work done on an earlier rendition of the Robotic Mech.

Military Robotic Mech Classes

As stated in the last entry, I'll be showing the three vehicle types that have been pieced together with all the pieces that I have modelled so far.

For each one, a brief description of their job roles will be provided, and I'll be showing 4 rendered angles, and one wireframe shot, to give you an indication of the amount of topology that I have been working with.

Main Battle Tank Class

Equipped with a main cannon, two smoke grenade launchers, two machine gun ports, and two Gatling gun type arm attachments, the MBT Class is designed to strike the enemy with heavy firepower, be it on wide battlefields or urban environments. Its heavily armour with thick plating and reactive armour packed on top to bolster its defenses. The 8 caterpillar track system guarantees its weight is supported, as well as provided a good amount of mobility to work with.

RENDER 1

RENDER 2

RENDER 3

RENDER 4

WIREFRAME

Missile Launcher Class

The Missile Launcher variant is designed to deliver heavy barrages of long range artillery missile fire to its designated target. Capable of delivering up to a 30 missile salvo per round, it is designed for high-impact damage. With the ability to serve as both an anti air and missile unit, it also comes equipped with two quadruple anti air guns, designed for burst fire of up to 800 rounds per minute, capable of dealing with both aerial and infantry units. Also comes the option to attach the plough to clear away any debris that may be in the area.

RENDER 1

RENDER 2

RENDER 3

RENDER 4

WIREFRAME

Communication Class

The communication variant is designed with less armour in mind, since it stays at the back to allow for long range orders to be relayed across the battlefield. It comes with two satellite dish arms and several aerials and receivers to bolster communication. Additionally, it comes with an extendable torso unit, to allow for this Robot to gain greater heights and communicate further distances. Naturally, hydraulic stabilisers are provided to keep this unit in place and avoid any toppling scenarios.

RENDER 1

RENDER 2

RENDER 3

RENDER 4

WIREFRAME

Having seen these models rendered out, I'm really happy with how my work has progress so far, Through the optimsation process, I've realised there's still a few components that require some tweaking here and there to get the best out of the model, but these should in whole take no more than a few hours to fix.

With this the 3D modelling stage is now finished. The next stage of the project will now be focusing on texture tests, and the general unwrapping of MBT version of the high poly model.

Further updates to come soon.

Military Robotic Mech Modelling 6

In this entry I'll show you the work performed on the swap able/additional pieces that allow for the Robotic Mech to take on different job roles. Since I'm sticking more to getting the military side finished currently, Most of the pieces create have that theme in mind. As a reminder, the three vehicles types i'm focusing on are as follows:

. Main Battle Tank
. Missile Launcher Unit
. Communications Vehicle

With these three themes in mind, i'll show you what I created base off these vehicle types. Note at this point all of the pieces for the MBT were pretty much done, but since I created customisable parts, a mix and match system can be achieved similar to games like Armoured Core, which will allow for different match ups of parts to be created.

I'll split up the pieces into their main respective job roles, and into ones which are shared. Each section will come with two renders, a  blown up shot with the wireframe showing, and any major reference images used when needed.

Missile Launcher Unit

The Missile Launcher
For the ML, I knew that I wanted to make it big. As a missile unit, this variant would be tasked to rain heavy barrages of missile fire on the enemy. So I looked up reference on the internet, but couldn't find what I was looking for at first.

Then I remembered I had a certain tank image equipped with a giant missile Launcher unit when I the military references for my Image database, the TOS-1A Tank series, which had the perfect design that I wanted to reference from.

IMAGE EXAMPLE 1

IMAGE EXAMPLE 2

With this serving as a basis, I created the ML with my own design in mind, adding modular pieces previously created to speed up the modelling process. The most difficult part was making sure the hinge parts fitted onto the turret design, and didn't clash with any pieces that couldn't be swapped out.

RENDER 1 

RENDER 2

Blown up with Wireframe

In the end, I made it big and bulky, and was happy with the result.

The Anti Air guns

I also decide that I wanted to give the arm parts variations. Since this missile launcher could easily serve as an anti air unit, it would be appropriate to supply additional anti-air fire power through quadruple anti-air machine guns.

My main reference point for the machine guns was the NG7 Israel produced Heavy Machine Gun. I liked the shapes that formed its whole, so decided to use it to influence my own design. This process took a little while, especially in the turbosmoothing/hard edge editing process.

IMAGE EXAMPLE

RENDER 1

RENDER 2

Blown up with Wireframe

However once done, I replaced the Gatling gun attachment on the arm, duplicated the heavy machine gun, and attached it, as shown below.

Communications Vehicle

Extendable Torso
For a communications vehicle, I have discovered that height plays a key factor. In order to send out the radio waves required to enable communication over long distance, the higher the better. So I decided to give the communications vehicle an extendable torso, through application of a giant piston system.

This was more my own design based off of real life influences, as I couldn't really find examples of any vehicles were the cockpit extended up into the air. Cranes came close, but I did't want to implant the rigid criss-cross pattern of the metal structure.

RENDER 1

Blown up with Wireframe

This was relatively easy to do, with a lot of the shape being cylinder, which either went on to be cut up or turbosmoothed.

Satellite Arms

For the arm pieces, I wanted to create platforms that could hold small satellite dishes, to add to the idea of the communication theme. The shapes were easy enough to create, and this asset itself gave me very little trouble to do.

RENDER 1

RENDER 2

Blown Up with Wireframe

Additional Communications equipment

To further add to the communications theme, I created a few more communication pieces, to give this unit a little more variety.

RENDER 1

RENDER 2

Blown up with Wireframe

Shared

Turret Light
To replace the main turret, I decided to create a big set of lights, that could help the robotic mechs during night time scenarios. Easy enough to model, and made use of previously created modular parts.

RENDER 1

RENDER 2

Blown up with Wireframe

Hydraulic Riggers

Hydraulic riggers are used to stabalise heavy machinery, such as trucks with cranes, and hold them in place. This would be ideal for the missile and communication units, as they would need these in order to maintain their balance whilst performing their jobs. Additionally if I get the time I could also utilise it for my construction vehicle designs, which means I wouldn't need to model it again.

RENDER 1

RENDER 2

Blown up with Wireframe

Again easy to model, although difficult to find reference for at first as I didn't realise that this was their proper name.


Plough attachment

This was another shared piece that could be used for both the construction and military themes if time allows. Simple used to clear out obstacles such as debris and snow, this again made use of previously created modular parts.

RENDER 1

RENDER 2

Blown up with Wireframe

With all of these pieces created and checked through my optimisation method, I'm now ready to create the three different class types in high poly. I'll be showing these renders off in my next blog update.