a few steampunk-y animated objects

Hi anyone, i thought i’d post some steampunk themed animated objects i did for some friends a while ago, nothing special but posting them here is a great way to get feedback and suggestions for improvement.

The objects are meant to be used in a video game level so i have not spent much time on the materials or in making a proper background. i also tried to contain polycount, hopefully after they’re textured they will be more interesting. My focus in this phase is mostly on the shape and the animations

So here they are, show no mercy :-)!!! any flaw you find or any improvement you think can be made is very welcome

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EDIT June, 7th 2017: Redone one animation using Eevee (Blender 2.80 preview), hope you like it!!!

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All of these are certainly well done – although my mind could not quite reconcile the peculiar movement of the two ship’s wheels on the vertical column in the second video. (I just couldn’t quite understand why they started and stopped, especially since they did not seem to be synchronized with one another, nor with other nearby movements.)

The “opening dome” sequence in the final video is definitely very creative: I did not at all expect what you came up with. :yes:

What I’d suggest that you do next, after quite-properly patting yourself on the back for having accomplished these renders, is to give some serious thought to dramatic, theatrical, lighting. Also, consider the most-dramatic placement of the camera and carefully consider framing (cropping). To me, “steampunk” as a genre is all about drama. Bold, primary colors … abrupt (even, exaggerated) contrasts … and eventually, steam, which by-the-way can be composited-in very nicely.

Get your very best Def Leppard records … and play 'em real loud for inspiration.

I’d make very aggressive use of OpenGL Preview renders as you explore possibilities for these things.

exactly, i was looking for something strange :-). but i thought of it as steam rising through the pipe in intervals, as if building pressure and releasing, so the lowest wheel starts to spin and a moment later the second one follows, as steam flows through. in real life that would be way faster but i made it slow for visual appeal.

thanks, i also like how the dome turned out. and actually yes, as soon as i can i think i’ll experiment with a proper setup, these videos are just as demonstration, plus my friends are going to import the objects in unreal engine so all i focused on was the models.

thanks for all the input!!! and by the way, Nashville :-). isn’t that where Gibson guitars are made?

update, i’ve redone one of the animations, using only Eevee from the Blender 2.80 preview… for me it was mostly an experiment, and the results really surprised me, the quality is very good already!!!

best thing is that the whole animation, 300 frames, took just about 10 minutes on my 12 years old computer… cycles still has better quality but eevee is really super fast… hope you like it, and feedback is very welcome!

Your 12 year old computer supports Eevee?
No open GL issues?

I feel like there would be open GL issues if my 5 year old computer has open GL issues.

you are right!
i had the feeling it was 12 years but after reading your post i checked wikipedia and it says my cpu was released in 2009, so it’s actually a bit younger than i thought :-)…

about opengl, my desktop has a GTX260 which is opengl 3.3, and eevee supports it… if you have a desktop, changing GPU will allow eevee, and also cycles gpu rendering if you get at least a GTX4xx (or amd equivalent, but better check with other users before getting an amd card if you want it to work in blender)…
and on ebay there are some good used cards every once in a while…

Well, my PC was not so old. It bit the dust because I didn’t mount the motherboard correctly. So now I use a laptop that plagues me with “depreciated open GL warnings” when I open blender.
I know how to turn them off, but I like to remind myself that I’m an idiot.

And this laptop is about 5 years old, with intel mobile blah blah blah cheap video card. Had I the money for a new system I would buy one. HOWEVER, I am thinking about that “desktop GPU adapter for laptops”…

nice work and style, would really like to see these in an environment where they are not the focus.

Such a great and creative work the clock animation and opening door animation are best

I’ve heard about it too, and another alternative could be a used laptop on ebay… there are many used workstations there, quite resilient machines, it’s possible to find some with a good GPU… i bought two hp convertible laptops a few years ago and they both work perfectly… but i agree there’s some luck involved, every once in a while people buy laptops that work for just a few months and then die…

Thank you, yes i think i’ll try… right now i have started another test project but when it’s over i’d like to improve these ones

Thank you very much, glad you like them :-)…