I’m embarking on a project to build a set of keyboards, eventually to tie up with a video project that has been going on for far to long.
Here is a picture, this is rendered in BI, and there should be more soon.
More info when I get back from the pub:D
Good start! Are you planing to fill in entire room? Then it’ll be musician dream ;).
P.S. I assume all those controls are modeled. not textured only?
The synths in the picture are based on real originals - the one on the right is a modern derivative of the original Moog modular synth used by Walter Carlos in 1969 on the “Switched on Bach” album. To my eyes, it is the coolest synth ever built! The synth on the left is a Juno 60 which we had in our band for many, many years and managed to sell for more than we paid for it, but now sometimes we wish we still had the thing. They will be joined over the next few weeks by a Roland Jupiter 8, Roland W30, Mellotron, maybe a Hammond organ of some description and a Korg Triton Extreme. The interesting thing is that the last synth will be real, as it will be inserted via green screen (it’s the only one we’ve actually still got!) My idea in the long run is to build an entire stage and then add the musicians using green screen, with which I have had some success recently and has encouraged me on to greater heights. In the meantime I’ll just keep building synthesisers. And you’re right, the controls were modelled - this isn’t a super duper bump map.
This is the mighty Roland Jupiter 8, I couldn’t afford it when it was new, and rarity has made it even more valuable.
Quite an ambitious project, but it is really looking beautiful. I can’t imagine cutting out all those holes!
Actually |I have to admit the vents are bump mapped, as are the slots for the sliders (sometimes photoshop is quicker) , added to which I am trying to keep the polys down, as I hope to use these in an animation in combination with green screen.
Below is the latest picture, I have added a keyboard stand, and also flightcased the modular synth. The metal texture on the flightcase was originally downloaded from the Blender material repositery, but has been extensivelly tweaked, and I am very pleased with the result. This is rendered using blender internal and the render time on this scene using a intel i5 2500k without overclock at full hd is 43.12 seconds.
For those who might be interested, I am working towards a music video, when I am not playing with Blender this is what I do.
http://www.colinmasson.co.uk
Just to add, this is a preview I did a while ago for the same project on deviantart. The quality is not great, (the finished version is going to be 720p hd), and a lot of stuff has changed since I did this, including the music. But I have put nearlly 2 years of work into this, so I am bloody well going to have to finish it![video]http://careldewinter.deviantart.com/art/Southern-Cross-Movie-Preview-330656094[/video]
Here is a small update. I have added a couple of cables, as proof of concept, they are created by adding a curve deform modifier to a long cylinder, as explained by this tutorial.
http://www.sovietunit.net/2012/10/21/using-the-curve-modifier-in-blender-a-small-tutorial/
I am not yet convinced that these are optimal, I had to add a subsurf modifier, as without it they looked too angular and they were quite awkward to place. As things stand these two lowly cables added over 2 seconds to the render time. for the time being I will probably remove them, and only experiment further, when most of the other elements are in place. The next thing on the to do list, is a powered wedge monitor.
It looks like the red wire has a sharp kink underneath the keyboards. If it is still a curve (you haven’t converted to mesh) you can select the two handles on either side of the kink and select auto… it may smooth it out.
I would imagine you will want to model some RCA jacks to put at the end of the wires. As you mentioned, it probably makes sense to get your other objects placed in the scene and then position the wires accordingly.
I might have to do the jacks as seperate objects, as they get affected by the curve modifier (I did try). But for now I’ve removed them,
in their place, here are some stage monitors, not completely finished, but coming along nicely.
Lovin’ the stage set up… I forget what they call the metal trusses, but they really add to the scene… now you know since your making such a cool stage, you going to have to fill it up with some other instruments 
Absolutely right! So here is the first addition, this drumkit took about 12 hours, 25,000 vertices, so here is a closeup and also a revised picture of the stage. Next up will be the bass amplification, I might go for Trace Elliot, alternatively I might design my own rig, where all the knobs go up to 11! :evilgrin:
I’m really liking all the little details your adding… like the mikes for the drums, the clamps that are holding the equipment to the rig (probably using the wrong terminology ), the individual spotlights ect… This all adds such realism. In some ways I do wish you were doing this in cycles, but you could never get the volumetrics with the lighting, without a bunch of composting tricks.
For all the work you put in the drum set, you should probably think about doing a few different camera angle renders.
Render time is also an issue I have with cycles, I am intending to use this in combination with greenscreen, as part of a video, so I am trying to keep my rendering time to a minimum. The angles at which things can be seen are going to depend on the live action footage that I manage to produce, this is fairly uncharted territory for me, and I only have a limited amount of space to work in (ie a very small living room). The video itself is partly being done for the hell of it, but also to promote a track off a new album. There is something of a story attached to this, which I might recount when I have a little more time. At the moment I am trying to batten down the hatches as I will be going on holiday fairly soon. I will be doing some extra angles as the stage begins to fill up with gear. Also I intend to spend a lot more time on the lights, as I hope to make them quite dynamic.
Latest update, I went for Trace Elliot amplification in the end. The arrangement you see here is typical of a live band, as the Bassist and drummer like to work closely together. I have also added some lights under the drum riser (currently switched off), and improved the cymbal texture, adding some ridges using a heightmap.
Very impressive. How many instruments are you going for in the end?
The amps look great … Are you going to add a PA system too? … oh yea… don’t forget about the video screen once you get all your instruments done
Mick and Keith are looking forward to performing here once your done… but Mick insists on having one of those crane things that lets him fly in the air over the audience.
After this there will be two guitar rigs, the rest will be lights and peripherals.
Video screen is sort of taken care of, as you will presently find out, PA may appear at the end, I don’t want to give too much away.:eyebrowlift:
There will be a hjatus of a few weeks as I’ve some other things coming up that I have to deal with.
PS. Are you sure Mick didn’t want a stairlift? (and she’s buying the stairlift to Heaven) Ooops wrong band:eek: