nx9420

[ghanima]

May I present my HP Compaq nx9420 notebook.

If anyone recalls i started a ship project sometime ago, that came close to completion, but overall i was only moderately impressed with the directio i was going with it, PLUS my modelling skills left a lot to be desired. So after several months away from hardcore computer usage [it was summer after all], and now that we are fast approaching winter i figured i would sit down and develop some skill with modelling... I figured i would start with my notebook as a lesson in simple poly modelling and basic textures.

This would be considered my first ever finished project and I do realize there are some meshing errors so play nice please.

Cheers!

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[ghanima]

some more:

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[ghanima]

and FINALLY:

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[spudmonkey]

Looks nicely modeled, though the renders look a little flat compared to how something like this would normally be presented. You could jazz it up by making the power and HD lights a little brighter with a slight glow for example, and don't be afraid to over-light it to make it shine

[Yaric]

Aye, nice model, how long did it take to make?

Renders could use work to maybe make them look like a promotional ad

[ghanima]

@spudmonkey - the images do look flat don't they? you have no idea how long and how many attempts i made to make that thing look photo-realistic to no avail. i think my patience peaked when it was taking about 2 minutes to render one frame. i eventually settled on the grounds of "this is an excersice in modelling and texturing. Not absolute realism" - yah i know its a bit of a cop-out. But ill make every effort to work on that on forthcoming projects. If you know of any tips though, PLEASE let me know!!

I also tried to do the 'haloish' effect with the LED's IN MAX... but that's something i have no idea how to do yet... I tried the old omni/fog trick, but couldn't get the right look for it. I know how to do this in Photoshop but i wanted to avoid Post work on it and do it like the masters. I looked at the actual lights on the notebook and they don't emit much of a glow anyways so again, i settled on this. Again if you have any suggestions to try, im totally open to it. Thanks for the comments though!!

@Yaric - Thank you! It took about 3 weeks on and off approx. 150 hours total - mainly because of screw up and plus i had to make all the logos, letters, symbols, and signage in Illustrator from scratch.

[spudmonkey]

I'll try to remember to post something for you tomorrow, but for now I am suffering from beer. You can use a glow or a localised lens flare to do it, but the subtle part is the bit that can be tricky.

[al3d]

unfortunaly it screams CG, you can see to much segmentation on the keypads, and not edge present on the top of each key.

[ghanima]

@al3d - yah the overall comp is pretty much flat as discussed earlier. The segmentation on the keypads is a big oops actually. i forgot to add a smoothing modifier to it. thanks for pointing that out!

[D.M.J.]

It looks good, apart from the small errors you've already highlighted. The white on the lettering looks a little too bright to me - but maybe the one I spend all day hammering at at work has just faded a little!

Some minor imperfections wouldn't go amiss to help sell it as realistic. Even a brand new one isn't perfectly clean and unmarked, and after a bit of use they can look quite ragged. The "home row keys" normally get worn down a little so their top surfaces can look shinier than the others, and the little ridges around the keyboard accumulate tiny specks of dirt and dust even after they've been cleaned carefully. But apart from that, I have nothing to suggest