I just started work on Zeppelsquid, what will be the last character in my Autumn Hilltop scene…
Not much to show for it yet, but that’s not stopped me before:
Fixed tentacles a bit… added some crude fins/flaps, which I’ll probably remodel later to add hinges and detail.
cool idea 
looking forward to how this will progress.
my only crit at this point has to do with scale- the zeppel-squid looks squid sized , not zeppelin sized. proportions seem to indicate a smaller creature- for instance, the big eyes and proportion of the tentacles make it almost “cute” looking (If a squid can be cute)
but I realize it’s early on, and detail is a big factor in scale-appearance. ( and maybe it’s not supposed to be huge)
Thanks for the opinion silkdigit, I’ll have to stare at it and decide if I wanna scale some stuff around… right now the cabin does seem kinda big, but that’s the only way it’ll stand out at distance. I’ve been working a bit with the eyes, they’re more “angry” now when viewed from the side.
Anywhom, here’s another progress shot at a different angle.
Nevermind the semi-working LCD… I’ll fix that bit soon…
and same old side angle
this is the last update for a few hours… got some running around to do.
edit: I definitely see what you’re talking about with the proportions now… thanks, I’ll fiddle with it when I get back.
It looks good so far . Just wondering, what kind of texture are u going to use? Are u going for a realistic squidy skin look or do u just want it to look like a plain blimp?
heh, it’s already looking bigger now. I think you’re right about the cabin, though. I can’t wait to see it in the rest of your scene
Back from running around, and with a full stomach (thank God for the double whopper).
Silkdigit - took your advice and did some scaling. I’m pleased as it looks both more like a squid (or it will after some more tweaking…) and more like a zeppelin now. Thanks, I wouldn’t have noticed.
edit: rats, forgot about the cabin…
Cerebus - The short answer is both. The long answer is something with the look of a squid and the feel of a zeppelin. Think squid-skin painted onto canvas. The eyes however, will retain a fully slimy and squidy look.
i think could looks cool if you made some motion blur on the tenticles and have them moving like how squid swim
Hmmm… i might try that, but it’d be through a bit of post processing…
Is there a way to render only a small cutout of an image, like tell blender the dimensions of the render, then give it a second set of coordinates for what to render? That’d be the only way to do it economically, as it’s going into a rather crowded scene…
I guess I could try just doing the motion blur on a seperate layer, then fussing with it in photoshop to put it back into place… hmm…
Anywhom, I’ll worry about that later…
Right now I’m doing some incredibly tedious UV painting (drawing the seams and LCSM unwrap on this thing was a pain).
edit: the model itself isnt finished completely yet, I just like to alternate between modelling and texturing every so often.
edit2: a quicky render
Great concept and model!
I agree. Great work with that designing.
Sorry, nothing constructive here, just have to say that I love the concept. It’d be great to see it’s tentacles wrapped around a light plane or chopper.
Update… sorry it took so long, been hounded with work.
Fighting with the UV texture to get it right, some of the transitions are pretty noticible right now, but they won’t be in the scene it’s going in… depth of field should do a number on the detail level…
Added some keen exhausts and tweaked the LCD to display color textures… sort of.
Still issues with mesh collisions to resolve and a good bit of detail-modelling to go.
good work this is awsome
I agree, this is really cool. Very deserving of a good scene.
I can’t see what the sign says any more! But I like this pic!
I should be done with this… but… See the outer edge on the top front fin, and the entire top back fin? they’re uncolored. It’s like vertCol just decided to stop working. If anyone has an idea why, it’d be helpful. I’ll point out that the material uses both vertCols and Raytraced mirrors. Additionally, they’re just duplicates of the other fins which don’t suffer from the problem. I’m stumped.
When that’s solved I can fix the port windows, a couple other bits, and be done with this character…
edit: Gone to bed. work tommorow.
wow, that is really nice! to be honest, the first pic you displayed i wasn’t too impressed with, but you really pulled through on this! good job…better than what i’ve done so far
Great work!
I like the idea - a zeppelin and squid mix is really interesting.
I also really like the display. How do you do it - I presume you’re not using a different texture each time but I may be wrong.
Anyway, great work and can’t wait to see it finished!
I like the concept, and great execution! I always love the “alternate reality” type of themes.
My sugestion for your vertCol not working anymore is to import the scene into a new blend file. That has a good chance of fixing it.
About your inage, I think the sky texture and lighting should be improved. I don’t thing the dominantly purple sky fits well with the calamari’s colors. And the lighting doesn’t really seem fitting for an object in the sky.
Also, I think the windows of the cabin should get harder edges, and smaller windowframes, as right now they are a small detail that’s kinda killing the piece, IMO.
Great work though