FriendorFoe Missile

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w03
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FriendorFoe Missile

Post by w03 »

Hello peoples of the galaxy.

Been here a while, first contribution whatsoever (and first serious render).

Here is a rather bland replacement for the old friend or foe image.

I would crop it myself, but I don't want to do it wrong and totally chop the image up..

Image

Constructive criticism please.
TBeholder
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Re: FriendorFoe Missile

Post by TBeholder »

w03 wrote:Constructive criticism please.
Two words: edge hardness. :)
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Re: FriendorFoe Missile

Post by Deus Siddis »

Are these an improvement? Maybe you should show them next to the original mesh for comparison.
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Re: FriendorFoe Missile

Post by pyramid »

I like the edges. Cheap manufacture design. Not all missiles do need to be round.
w03
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Re: FriendorFoe Missile

Post by w03 »

Fix

added edge hardness
more environment lighting
reflective backdrop
round tips to missiles

Image
Turbo
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Re: FriendorFoe Missile

Post by Turbo »

He brought up edge hardness because two details are very noticeably inconsistent:

* the missile bodies' specular highlights show light reflecting as if the missile bodies were round tubes
* the visible edge between the body and nose (cone in the first pic, ogive in the second) and at the aft show the missile bodies are faceted

It can't be both. A missile need not be round, it just needs to be whatever shape fits its launch mechanism, is easy to manufacture, and gets its job done. In most modern real life missile applications, a cyclinder-shaped missile body best fits those 3 criteria.

Second, for those who did not know it before, the explosion in China reminded us that polishing metal to a mirror surface is hard work and can be dangerous. So why does a mass-produced item that only gets used once (each) need a mirror finish?

But, the first thing I would change is that the missile is sitting on a blank white glossy surface. It seems to say, "I made reflections and shadows because I can." It reminds me of the mid-90s art from XCOM3. Back then CGI was such a novelty that it appealed to people, but now we expect realism. I recommend you show the missile(s) in its natural environment, either on a launcher ready to fire or in the (opened) container in which it came from the factory. Such a container would probably be covered with warning labels.

I'm not much of a modeler compared to many of the folks here, but I will use my work to illustrate this last point. Below are Black Market Organs on the left and Artificial Organs on the right (low-res versions, but they are fine for my point):
Image Image
The containers are exactly the same -- a box with systems to preserve its organic cargo. What's different is the lighting and background -- the black market product is in a dank "warehouse" kind of place, while the legitimate product is in a clean "hospital" environment. I made these images with my work computer while on a trip, so there are mistakes. For example the "black market" wall texture has the specular highlight facing down not up. But the point is that they show the product in a normal setting.
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Re: FriendorFoe Missile

Post by TBeholder »

Turbo wrote:He brought up edge hardness because two details are very noticeably inconsistent:
Yeah, visibly "a bit out".
Turbo wrote: A missile need not be round, it just needs to be whatever shape fits its launch mechanism, is easy to manufacture, and gets its job done. In most modern real life missile applications, a cyclinder-shaped missile body best fits those 3 criteria.
So true.
Turbo wrote: So why does a mass-produced item that only gets used once (each) need a mirror finish?
Actually, it makes a sense for several reasons. The main of which stems from the very definition of "mirror". :wink:
Not that with dirt-cheap electric energy it would be a problem at all. Or wrapping anything in metallized plastic, for that matter.
Turbo wrote: I'm not much of a modeler compared to many of the folks here, but I will use my work to illustrate this last point. Below are Black Market Organs on the left and Artificial Organs on the right (low-res versions, but they are fine for my point):

Code: Select all

[img]http://www.willadsenfamily.org/us/don/ttlg/models/vegastrike/bm_organs256.png[/img]
Eh, from me not only this isn't visible, there's no ping to that host. downforeveryoneorjustme.com says it looks equally dead from there.
Turbo wrote:But the point is that they show the product in a normal setting.
A good point, too.
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Re: FriendorFoe Missile

Post by Turbo »

Turbo Beholder wrote: Eh, from me not only this isn't visible, there's no ping to that host. downforeveryoneorjustme.com says it looks equally dead from there.
Odd. I literally went to my page to view the images and grab the links. I could give you the artilleryman's answer, "it looked good when it left here" or the mechanic's answer, "it works fine when I do it." But the fact is that they worked last night but are down for me too now; I'll look into it. Those images are also in the repository. I notice that only the artificial organs image is in the 0.5.1 beta release and not the black market image...presumably an oversight.

Nice link by the way, hadn't seen that service before.
Turbo

There are two speeds in combat: stopped, and as fast as you can go. Unless you run into something, going fast keeps you alive more often than stopping.
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