Anyone who visits SFM regularly will know that there is the SciFi Crate competition going on - entrance for which ends today. Thought that I’d display the original render version of my entry over here. The simple base and partially obscured contents are deliberate, as the important aspect is the crate itself.
There are other things that I’d like to have done with this, but I simply did not have time.
All Blender v2.37, internal renderer, no postwork. This image 1600x1200, submitted image 800x600.
As with many things that I’m doing nowadays, I’m in the process of turning this into an animation - though a simple on this time. Simple camera pan across the front, with the emphasis on a particle generated mist billowing out of the top of the cannister and down onto the ground.
The texture was a pain actually - while a lot of people went for the chipped-edges appearance, I kept more to the spec. of the competition in that it was meant to be a custom built (therefore new) crate.
The actual texture when seen in a normal WIP picture is actually quite good - it’s a white box with a faint dirt-map so that it looks realistic without looking too ‘used’. The problem was that as soon as the thing was placed into the lit scene (especially with the volumetric lights), the whole lot got washed out.
It was one of my major concerns throughout the WIP stage of the compeition. I was able to bring back some of the detail in the tractor units, but I think any more light on the crate proper to bring out the main texture would have destroyed the overall effect I was going for.
Thanks for all the comments guys (and the stars) - really appreciate it.
In the last couple of years, Blender has seen a huge influx on SFM - SF is a big draw for many people wanting to create their own art, and Blender is the ideal media to get their message across. Unless your going the pirate route, Blender is one the few and effective ways of doing it.
Its been nice to see newcommers appear at SFM and start becoming a BlenderHead from scratch, now seeing the excellent work that they are producing months and years later.
Congrats on winning the competition (if I understood correctly)!
Interesting design and take on the idea. I like the mechanical details and I love the glass front panel…makes me wonder whats hiding in there hehe.
As far as realism goes, it’s too mirrored between the left and right sides of the crate. They are exactly alike. Even per side you reused the same little warning texture twice. :-\
I dont know about the “traction units” either…unless they can rotate, the unit wouldnt be able to travel anywhere because they would all be pulling in opposite directions.
But when you have no time, thats ok! Nice one, again!