DUNE (1984) WIP's

[monsoontide]

OK, finally gonna re-start this thread...
It's been a while and I kinda lost interest when sci-fi meshes went down.
Haven't done any work on these models since then... RL has been very hectic of late. In fact I have spent the last week ripping out the dashboard in my car to replace the heater matrix. (Normally it wouldn;t take so long but it was hard to get a working replacement part)

Anyways, on to the models.
Atreides transport, Emperor's transport and "Steel Tent" and Ornithopter, plus early versions of the Harkonnen transport.

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/5062/atreidesarrival740x4805hg.th.jpg (http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=atreidesarrival740x4805hg.jpg)

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7952/atreidesstarshipstars2lx.th.jpg (http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=atreidesstarshipstars2lx.jpg)

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/7205/atreidesstarshipwide4jz.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=atreidesstarshipwide4jz.jpg)

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/8580/flagship9uv.th.jpg (http://img177.imageshack.us/my.php?image=flagship9uv.jpg)

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/4221/steeltent9ek.th.jpg (http://img194.imageshack.us/my.php?image=steeltent9ek.jpg)

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/341/harkonnenflagship6db.th.jpg (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=harkonnenflagship6db.jpg)

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/2710/atreidesthopter52tk.th.jpg (http://img154.imageshack.us/my.php?image=atreidesthopter52tk.jpg)

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8112/atreidesthopter21wx.th.jpg (http://img154.imageshack.us/my.php?image=atreidesthopter21wx.jpg)

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6875/atreidesthopter19br.th.jpg (http://img146.imageshack.us/my.php?image=atreidesthopter19br.jpg)

That's it for now. Will try and get some more done soon.

[monsoontide]

For fun, here's a shot from my redesign of the 'thopter I did a while ago... Have to rebuild the model again (It's not very detailed) but it looks really cool in motion as it "flaps" its wings!

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/5425/bigthopters9is.th.jpg (http://img209.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bigthopters9is.jpg)

btw does anyone have a decent 3D model of some sand-dunes... I made the one in the pic in about ten minutes and frankly it looks about as much like real sand dunes as something that doesn't!

[ChrisGFX]

good to see this one back. Great work!

Greets

Chris

[Larsen]

Looks great:thumb: And welcome to SFM:D

I love that redesigned thopter man... awsome:thumb: Please start a WIP on it, once you start the rebuild:thumb:

[Aresius]

^,.,^
rrrrr...
the good old one...
I love that one...
Nice models...

[Aethernaut]

Nice work. I love the modified (read:real) ornithopter!

[monsoontide]

Here's an old test I did compositing my Original 'Thopter redesign...
(The animation looks nice but is very brief - know anywhere I can upload that to?)

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/611/thopterpalacecomp9tn.th.jpg (http://img158.imageshack.us/my.php?image=thopterpalacecomp9tn.jpg)

I roto'ed out the back wall and replaced it with a sky backdrop to do a "Bespin" on this scene!

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/793/dunetesttv4xj.th.jpg (http://img156.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dunetesttv4xj.jpg)

I have since redesigned the thopter so the front more closely resembles the movie - so there would be no need for costly replacements with the new design in the many interior and exterior shots featuring the actors.

[monsoontide]

Finally got back into working on this... Work takes up far too much time at the moment! Hope to post some test renders of the Harkonnen Battle Ship WIP as soon as possible...

[monsoontide]

This is just a simple test... nothing snazzy at all... but I don't have enough detailed images of elongated rear section to finish it off... It will end up being a night shot too. Also the detailing on the surface of the ship haven't really come out in this render. Will have to set up something a bit better for you to look at.
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/4074/harkonnenflagshipun1.th.jpg (http://img291.imageshack.us/my.php?image=harkonnenflagshipun1.jpg)

There's a couple more images on my website...
Sasha Burrow Online Portfolio (http://home.comcast.net/~kristinepatrick/)

[Aresius]

well, actually this looks better than the original... ;)

Nice going...

[monsoontide]

Here is a render + mock up background that is a bit closer to the scene in the film... the shot where the Baron has been summoned by the Emperor who has srrived on Dune and while the Baron says nothing there is a voice over the intercom that says something like "It's been confirmed. The Emperor's had Rabban siezed."

http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/5347/harkonnenflagship2cy5.th.jpg (http://img378.imageshack.us/my.php?image=harkonnenflagship2cy5.jpg)

[Aethernaut]

Very nice! That Harkonnen ship looks really good.

It's a shame Lynch couldn't make the film he wanted to make. He should have split it up into two or three parts (the "Alan Smithee" edit is a trainwreck). He did however have a brilliant art department that turned out some very unique and dark designs. The only thing they totally screwed up was the ornithopter, yours are way better. And the Weirding Modules were kind of a strange addition to the universe, I would have much rather liked to have seen a film adaptation of the Weirding Way. I think it might have added a lot more interest to the story than just introducing a piece of strange hardware.

[monsoontide]

I don't blame David Lynch for taking his name of the extended edition - whoever put that together just butchered it! And from what I understand there are still deleted scenes that they didn't even use.

Considering the technology available at the time, some of the effects were great, especially the way they filmed the static models on platforms high in the air with the little cut out bits in them so the camera could see the live actors perfectly placed 100 or so meters away, so the effect was all "in-camera".
The other awesome effect was the body shields... took me a while to track down how they did that, but aparently it was a 6 month rotoscope job for some poor soul!
The worms are cool and always reminded me a bit of big whales in some of the shots.
But yeah, the Ornithopters (Both Atreides and Harkonnen) just suck. Funnily enough, even that badly acted new mini-series didn't try to do them properly either! Will have to post a screenshot of my Harkonnen Thopter redesign at some point (It's just a crappy 3D "Sketch" to see if it would work... will make it look more like the movie one so it would be easier to match to the exisiting interior and crashed exterior shots)

Would really like to do something like a DUNE "Legacy edition" - like the cool work Mike Verta is doing (for his own private satisfaction) on Star Wars...
Welcome to STAR*WARS - Legacy Edition (http://www.starwarslegacy.com/)
... but WITH new effect replacing those old ones that are just crap - but without making it look out of place. (Would really like to replace some of those funky end battle effects - like the one where the sand falls on all the soldiers but they keep running "under" it! LOL).

BTW, would anyone be interested if I made these models available for public download?

[monsoontide]

This is a quick and dirty redesign of the Harkonnen 'Thopter.
Sort of a proof of concept model before I go and model the Hi-Poly version - which will be more accurate to the film one in the front portion.

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/3800/harkonnenthopter1nj3.th.jpg (http://img63.imageshack.us/my.php?image=harkonnenthopter1nj3.jpg)

[ChrisGFX]

great work so far :thumb: can't wait to see more :)

Chris :)

[backstept]

I'm loving the 'thopters :thumb:
here's a drawing I saw of a 'thopter that I really liked:
http://www.classic-space.com/plugins/autogallery/Gallery/SmallShips/Thopter.jpg

[Aresius]

man, that Thopter's great... Both of them are damn cool...

[Furyofaseraph]

Dune was my favorite book as a kid. Whilst I am not a huge fan of either movies done, I am a bigger fan of lynch's film. The Sci-Fi Channel version may be closer to the "facts" of the book, I always felt Lynch's was closer to the "feel" of the book.
Anyways, I look forward to seeing more, especially the 'thopter. Keep up the fantastic work.

[Aethernaut]

Very nice Harkonnen 'thopter, monsoontide!

My only suggestion would be moving the wings to a point closer to the center of lift, i.e. further toward the centerline of the craft. Or... maybe add some canards toward the nose that flap like hummingbird or dragonfly wings to center the lift.

[monsoontide]

What I had thought of was having the "rocket pods" described in the book at the front of the vehicle (somwhat like harrier jumpjet vents) with the wings as they are, so the vehicle sort of flies in that Helicopter manner - nose tilted down. The idea for mounting the wings there is twofold... 1- I'm trying to keep as much to the movie deigns as possible so you wouldn't have to redo the couple of exterior shots with the actors. 2- Its unusual (And unnantural wing position, underlining the fact that this is a machine) and just a bit different from every other ornithopter drawing I've ever seen which are all a bit too much like helicopters with wings instead of rotors and just don't feel like they fit in the world of the movie.

[Aethernaut]

Sure, ornithopters are a lot more like helicopters but you're still dealing with the same principles of lift. I like the jet lift idea but that was only used as initial jump lift for the biomechanical engine (the Herbert approved Encyclopedia goes into detail about it). Of course, like most soft scifi, in the Dune universe you can fudge it since there seems to be some degree of gravity control and force fields that they don't go into in the flight details. ;)

I say: FUDGE IT! :D It certainly makes for more fun designs.

[monsoontide]

Strictly speaking, this is't 3D (So hope its OK to post here) - it's a packaging mockup I made a few years ago for a 4 Disc DVD DUNE set... It's simply made out of Printer paper so its a bit "wobbly" looking...
http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/7671/dunedvdaz1.th.jpg (http://img478.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dunedvdaz1.jpg)

The booklet was supposed to have some pop up pages showcasing who is who and what planet they come from...
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/241/dvc00139ch6.th.jpg (http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dvc00139ch6.jpg)

Disc 1 (Arrakis) Would Contain the first Part of the "Directors Cut/Special Edition/Whatever You call it These Days"

Disc 2 (Caladan) Would have 2nd part of movie

Disc 3 (Geidi Prime) Would have Documentaires Interviews etc, etc

Disc 4 (Kaitain) Would Contain a whole selection of the old Dune games - Dune (By Cryo), Dune 2 (Westwood), Dune 2000, Emperor - Battle For Dune...

Though nowdays you could probably do some super snazzy HD-DVD/Blu-Ray DVD version...

[monsoontide]

Here is the start of the wall around the Palace in Arrakeen... It's modular so easy to quickly build up sections of wall, though I still have to do quite a bit of work on the doors, which feature a relatively intricate piece of geometric design work... The hard part will be getting the texturing to look right and building a convincing landscape...

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/1629/palacewallsak9.th.jpg (http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?image=palacewallsak9.jpg)

[monsoontide]

Small GIF animation of the original movie thopter flying over the wall.
It plays back a bit slow tho. And yes... I am aware that the far background isn't moving correctly!!! lol

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/9851/palacewallrq4.th.gif (http://img59.imageshack.us/my.php?image=palacewallrq4.gif)

[Zardoz]

Hey! You know the 'thopter of Dune game ?? It's looks much better that the original of the old movie (that sucks!). And i think that it's more near to the idea in the book.
http://ben.bacchus.com.au/vpcblog/images/dune1.JPG

[monsoontide]

While I totally agree with you that the one in the movie sucks ass, the problem with the design in the game (And a few other thopter designs I've seen) is it seats mayby between 3-6 people tops... whereas there is a need for the one in the movie to seat a whole bunch of spice miners as well as the 4 main characters.
I'm restricting my redesign to something that could be integrated into a "special edition" of the movie, so that you wouldn't have to redo all the interior shots as well.

[monsoontide]

Evil Harkonnen thopter... I've managed to find some nice reference pix of most angles, but I have no idea what the underside of this thing looks like so will just have to extrapolate from what I do have.
Currently it's mostly just the basic shape, getting all the proprtions and dimensional relationships worked out. Will start detailing it soon.

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/6666/harkonnenthopterwip1ow8.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=harkonnenthopterwip1ow8.jpg)

[Aresius]

urgs...
sry, nothing against you...
it really looks like the Harkonnen thoppy...

[monsoontide]

Busy at work at the moment, plus moving back to the US at end of August, so will probably be a while before i can get back to this project (again!!! LOL)
However, I have not been idle. I've been re-working my original "improved" designs, making them more detailed and more "realistic/functional" and more in the style of the movie.
Hope to get some more WIP pix posted before I leave

[monsoontide]

So here's the redesigned Atreides Thopter.... Usuing 75% of the original. Still have a lot more work to do on the model... not the least being some textures for it. Main thing left to be done is the landing gear, which will be kinda complicated since it needs to kinda match what was done on the movie, but be modified for the new body design/center of gravity. Anyways, here's how this one is shaping up...
http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/9278/atreidesthopterhdjd7.th.jpg (http://img487.imageshack.us/my.php?image=atreidesthopterhdjd7.jpg)

[monsoontide]

This project is once again on hold... currently moving country (again) and don't yet have a house to live in!!! I will get back to it at some point soon though.

[Aresius]

Always movin', hm?

Good luck about the house. :thumb:

[monsoontide]

OK, have the computer set up again (Had to do a clean install of Windows on it too... Ugh!) but finally managed to get some more modeling done - Worked on Castle Caladan (seen briefly in the opening montage of planet Caladan, the shot has always bothered me as it cross-dissolves from a great shot of a real storm ravaged coastline into a shop of a very fake looking model cliff then again to one of the top of the model cliff with the castle on it.)
Made a crappy cliff and rocks with ocean for it to sit on.
Will post some pictures once the rendering has finished.

[monsoontide]

OK, here's a render - bit plain and far away. I've just used proceedurals and some generic image maps on it so far, so it needs more work, but for now this is where it's at.
I have still to model the far side of the castle, but I can't find any references that show that side.
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/1773/castlecaladan236renderqr1.th.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=castlecaladan236renderqr1.jpg)

I did a bit of photoshop work on the render to get more atmosphere in there. It's a bit over dramatic though. Probably would look more at home in a Hammer Horror film! LOL
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/9190/castlecaladan236vg9.th.jpg (http://img70.imageshack.us/my.php?image=castlecaladan236vg9.jpg)

[Chanur]

Here are some pics of the old Revell model, maybe it will help you a bit:
https://spaceart.de/index.htm?/Artikel/du001.shtml

[monsoontide]

Thanks. I already have all those though.

[monsoontide]

OK.... I know I'm all over the place on this... (need to get some of these models actually finished), but here's a quick render of the start of the Emperor's Palace on Kaitain.
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/6087/imperialpalacebl4.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imperialpalacebl4.jpg)

Here's one of my reference shots to give you an idea of the whole thing.
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/5020/landsraadph4.th.jpg (http://img227.imageshack.us/my.php?image=landsraadph4.jpg)

[Aresius]

Quite matching, I'd say. :thumb:

[monsoontide]

Managed to get a few minutes to finally do some more modeling on the palace... only had enough time to make the small tower. Also sneaked in some time to do the ornate stained glass frame for the windows of Castle Caladan.
I have done the schematics for the main building of the palace but have no idea how I'm going to get part of it to work as I only have one decent reference pic of it and its got a lot of perspective in the shot. Guess I will find out when I start modeling it!
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/10/imperialpalacewipjq6.th.jpg (http://img85.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imperialpalacewipjq6.jpg)

[Glazy]

I have this picture that may help. I think it's a scene cut from the film where the Palace is attacked by giants ! :)

[monsoontide]

Thanks Glazy... but that's the very picture I am using!!! LOL
I have a couple more but this one is the best overall view.
Damn Giants are in the way of some of the detailing though! LOL

BTW, I've been inspired by the ALIENS Papercaft website (http://aliens.humlak.cz/aliens/aliens_papirove_modely_gb.htm) to make a papercraft version of the Atreides Pistol (http://www.arrakis.co.uk/jpg/dune_pa_un_04.jpg) as used worn by Paul and used by Duncan Idaho and Gurney Halleck (Just cos it's a really simple shape!!!). Almost done with it.

[monsoontide]

Have the main building complete.
Now I just have to do the "arch" that goes at the front and work on the positioning of the various towers relative to each other (I think they're a bit too close at the moment).
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1416/imperialpalacedawnjq0.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imperialpalacedawnjq0.jpg)

By the way, look like a BRAND NEW Dune movie is in the works...
see this article here (http://www.darkhorizons.com/news07/071221e.php)

[JDR]

Dune movie done properly = YAY!

Director in question and his body of work = Oh well, so much for them getting it right at last. :(

[Mauiman]

I absolutely dig this work. Me being a Dune fan absolutely does find this to be some eye candy. I also think that 4 disk mock up DVD set is a excellient idea.

[monsoontide]

Damn... where does the time go?
Real life intruded again and it's been some time since I have done ANY 3D work :(
However, came across this project over on YouTube where someone has taken all the released versions and recut them to match the original David Lynch shooting script... it's quite interesting if you are outside the U.S. (Or use an ISP blocker/changer)
DuneTheNovelCut (http://www.youtube.com/user/DuneTheNovelCut)

Going to have to get motivated to work on this again before that "new" version comes out... ugh.

Oh I did work more on the Emperor's Palace (All those little "steps" Drove Me CRAZY!) so I will post some more pix ASAP

[monsoontide]

Here's some of the stuff I was working on a while ago...

Castle Caladan Model...
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8045/castlecaladanrenderbr3.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=castlecaladanrenderbr3.jpg)

Castle Caladan Model with effects...
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/1370/castlecaladanstormpz1.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=castlecaladanstormpz1.jpg)

Castle Caladan photoshop concept using stills from movie...
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/6827/caladancastlecomicflatex7.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=caladancastlecomicflatex7.jpg)

Planet Kaitain Original
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/3140/kaitainki2.th.jpg (http://img228.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kaitainki2.jpg)

Planet Kaitain new HD version...http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/9671/kaitainhdpy6.th.jpg (http://img229.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kaitainhdpy6.jpg)

Finally some concept sketches over film stills for the sandworms internal superheated "furnace" as described in the book...
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/2311/sandwormfurnaceconceptpr4.th.jpg (http://img229.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sandwormfurnaceconceptpr4.jpg)

I did make a quick and dirty worm model but I won't post it here as it's nasty... will have to take the time to make a really good one!

[Aresius]

"Furnace"?
I really need to read the books....

It's very sweet work.
I wonder, are you trying to remaster dune, or what? ;)

[monsoontide]

I would LOVE to remaster Dune... but I don't think it's a project I could tackle alone!

Hmmmm yeah... for some reason I recall a description of the sandworms as having an internal "furnace" but I need to reread the book too! Maybe it's all in My head! LOL

[Glazy]

I would LOVE to remaster Dune... but I don't think it's a project I could tackle alone!

Hmmmm yeah... for some reason I recall a description of the sandworms as having an internal "furnace" but I need to reread the book too! Maybe it's all in My head! LOL

I don't recall anything about an internal furnace in the Sandworms in Dune, unless that's something a game has invented !!??

Sadly we'll never see the true full version of David Lynch's film as he said he'd never go back to it, and he even said he seen it as a mistake in one interview I read with him !!

[monsoontide]

Here's some VERY VERY VERY old tests I made... can't seem to find where I put all the new animations... (rebuilt the PC from scratch a while ago and lost all My extraneous data)

ORNITTHOPTER TESTS 2004 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqwHfkiYk9Y)

[Aresius]

that'S a sweet animation.

My best wishes that you might still find them.

[monsoontide]

So I've started reworking the opening "Secret Report Within The Guild" section...
The old one was kinda crap... the paintings look like paintings rather than actual planets... especially that zoom in to the planet Kaitain...
Here's the original line up...
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/441/dunemovieplanetsfh8.th.jpg (http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dunemovieplanetsfh8.jpg)

Then here are my new "concept" versions... these are done in photoshop and I'm currently working to try and recreate them in 3D in Lightwave to give them some much needed "depth"

Arrakis (Haven't yet finished the texture map for this one - it's based on Herbert's map in the book)
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/5238/arrakishdyf0.th.jpg (http://img230.imageshack.us/my.php?image=arrakishdyf0.jpg)

Caladan
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9901/caladanhdmk8.th.jpg (http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=caladanhdmk8.jpg)

Geidi Prime (Still wrestling with this one... not sure about the nebula. The old one looked uninhabitable.)
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/1464/geidiprimehdik8.th.jpg (http://img229.imageshack.us/my.php?image=geidiprimehdik8.jpg)

and then Kaitain which I've posted before...
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/9671/kaitainhdpy6.th.jpg (http://img229.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kaitainhdpy6.jpg)

I have the animation all set up, I just have to make the planets look good enough and make sure the animation is timed to the existing audio from the movie.
Anyone got any hints for modeling/animating/lighting/rendering planets in 3D so they look great?

[Elowan]

Planetary Rings using Hypervoxels in Lightwave 7:
Foundation 3D - Planetary Rings using Lightwave (http://www.foundation3d.com/index.php?categoryid=39&p2_articleid=44)

Making planets using procedurals:
Foundation 3D - Making Planets (using procedurals) (http://www.foundation3d.com/index.php?categoryid=39&p2_articleid=31)

[Ice-Dragon]

I really like the planets Arrakis and Geidi Prime, I think you have got the nebula just right, great job:thumb:

[Aresius]

The nebula might be right, but the planet itself does not look sinister enough... Not evil enough.

[monsoontide]

So I've been tinkering away on the planets for a while and here is a short youtube version of the animation (My apologies as the sound was all jacked up by YouTube and you can't even see the stars). Will try and post a better version asap as well as some of the high res images...
In the meanwhile, swiych your YouTube to WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY and enjoy...
A SECRET REPORT WITHIN THE GUILD (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxQo9529AZg)

[Aresius]

Nice work, only that background noice is a bit disturbing....

[monsoontide]

Yeah... gonna fix that as soon as I can!

[monsoontide]

OK, here it is again but WITH sound (instead of static!)
Don't forget to watch with the HIGH QUALITY tag on - you can actually see the stars then!
A SECRET REPORT WITHIN THE GUILD (with sound!) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC-I2ijeLlg)

[somacruz145]

Wow that looks really nice :thumb: The last shot is breathtaking :D

[Aresius]

Wonderful.
Truly amazing, I love it!

[Ice-Dragon]

WOW that was amazing:thumb:

[monsoontide]

Thanks folks!
I appreciate you keeping an eye on this (rather long running) project!
Now that I have a nice Caladan model, I think My next test animation will be the Atreides exodus from Caladan to the Guild transport... I love the sequence in the movie but its ruined by having to cut between the various shots... but then again, I might do a different part entirely... I'm working up to doing some tests with the ornithopters using some aerial desert footage from the "Planet Earth" TV series as a backdrop.

[Meph]

Good to hear that you didn't drop this worthwhile project yourself mate :thumb:

[monsoontide]

Started working on the Guild Transport ship... it looks deceptively simple - just a big long tube with a couple of indents... however there's some serious ornamentation in several places (most notably around the "doorway" into the ships interior See Here (http://www.duneinfo.com/arrakis/navigators/popup.asp?image=dv_co_doorway)). So I've downloaded a couple of greeble packs and have started away on it... am only going to model one side and one end and a bit of the far side to keep the poly count down since I'm not going to need any of the unseen data. Pics to come as soon as i have something worthwhile to show!

[Aresius]

page not loading....
Conenction reset.

[monsoontide]

Hmmmm I had trouble too.. the site must have gone down for bit. Seems to be working today though.

[monsoontide]

OK, here is a WIP pic of the Guild Heighliner (YOu can see the greebles and nurnies I've added) placed in My exodus animation (still trying to work out the best way to get hundreds of ships to all fly around with as little effort as possible, while looking as cool as possibel!)
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/7608/exodusxa8.th.jpg (http://img517.imageshack.us/my.php?image=exodusxa8.jpg)

[Aresius]

looks nice.
I'm looking forward for the animation..

[Meph]

I'm curious to see how you'll tackle that main loading gate :devil:

[monsoontide]

I'm currently breaking it down into basic shapes and then it's either model the detail or use bump+normal maps to create the detail I guess.

[monsoontide]

I've been making slow, but steady progress on the Guild Heighliner and hope to have some new images for you to check out this weekend!

[Aresius]

Darn, and I'll be off on the weekend...

Well, looking forward to monday then...

[monsoontide]

OK, teeny tiny update... here's a VERY short test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGHCzvaMAPk) I did of Atreides ships arriving on Arrakis... part of a much longer shot designed to replace the original.
Spent the weekend reworking My ornithopter engines/wings. The mechanism was sort of like an extending series of fan blades, but ultimately after a lot of work, I had to reject the design as when I attached it to the body of the ornithopter they just didn't look like they'd make it fly.
So have gone back to reworking My older design which I still like. Remodeled it and designed it to fit within the new engine casings I've designed.
Looks good. Now the wings start of resting folded over the cockpit like an umbrella, then they swing up, swivel 90 degrees and then move down to lock into place in the engines... (will post an animation on youtube so you can see what I mean!) - using Lightwave's "cyclist" feature to automate the animations.
Still working in the Guild Heighliner doorway... finally found some nice vector patterns that should look ornate enough.
ALso modeled a VERY rough Chrysknife... needs some more work and then it really needs to go into Z-brush or Mudbox for some detail (Neither program which I have or know how to use :( )
Pictures as soon as I am satisfied with the renders...

[Aresius]

looks quite nice, but the way they're comming along (amount and angle and speed and... achtually everything) makes it more look like an attack run of Harkonnen vessels.

[monsoontide]

Work has been very busy so I've not been able to update for a bit... (excuses... excuses LOL)

So here is where I'm at with the "doorway" into the guild ship. I have one "clear" reference photo that was at an angle, so I straightened it and built one good 1/4 and then used that to create the whole doorway (note the top and bottom are cut off). Still trying to decide on the patterns as they are very intricate but I can't really make out what they are from the photo, so am trying to find something that looks suitable for each section... Still not sure if I am going to try and model it all or just the main parts and bump/normal map the rest or what...

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/9834/guilddoorwayvf2.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=guilddoorwayvf2.jpg)

[Aresius]

Looks very good. Very close to what the original is, judging fromthe reference.

I've gotta take a look at my disc, I have the rare extended version, maybe I can catch any good screenie, but I can't pormiss anything.

[monsoontide]

Spent the long Labor Day weekend trying to get the landing gear on My 'thopter working.
Problem is there are not enough CLEAR reference photos of the landing gear online or in the movie. So had to kind of make it up.
It's by no means perfect at the moment, but it's getting there... though I am totally cheating to get it to fold inside the thopter!
You can check out the animation here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o1x6LJIioA) (don't forget to click the watch in High Quality option).
I have only animated one side so far as I am still working things out. Once I get it working satisfactorily, I will work on the other side.
Also have to fix the small "wing supports" that fold down at the back - currently they aren't long enough to reach the ground!
THere are no textures on this model yet, so the wings are very plain and the Atreides decal (Black square with green & white circle) is missing from the front/side of the thopter.

[Glazy]

I'd make the wings beat a hell of a lot faster, kind of like a humming bird, so they blur like a helicopters rotor.

[monsoontide]

Probably will once I get the rig finalized... at least during take off. Once air borne I am thinking it will probably glide more like a seagull, flapping primarily to maintain altitude and for manoeuvring. But don't forget, the thopters in the book also used jets to assist take-off. I have them roughly in place, though you can't see them in this shot. Could probably use a couple more though.
I'm trying to find a way to automate the wing flapping and be able to just "dial-in" a speed for it, while still retaining the ability to go in and manually adjust things if I need to.
(Any ideas how to go about this in Lightwave?)

[Aresius]

Looks very sweet.

He's right, they should beat by far faster, otherwise this sweety will not lift a millimetre.

[monsoontide]

Ordered a new gfx card for Christmas... hopefully that will remotivate Me again to finish this project! LOL

[monsoontide]

New card still on the way, but actually started on this again.
First up, I finished working on the Thopter's landing gear animation so both sides and the front all fold up now.
Then I worked on finishing up the "landing gear" for the Atreides star-ship - including the three legs (really hard to spot the third one at the back in the photos) and the part where the passengers emerge from... its not quite finished yet as I just found a better quality reference photo when I was almost done that reveals better detail in places. Also have to do something about texture and dirt maps for the vehicles...
Anyway, check out this more recent video (the landing field and cliff need a LOT of work)
Thopter Animation Test Video Dec 2008 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUghdJfgEEk)
(Don;t forget to watch in Hi-res for better quality)
Still have to speed up the wings though.

[ernesto]

Hi monsoontide
I started also long ago a similar project. http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/general-requests/36972-dune-film.html
My current WIP is here:http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/3d-wips/54623-dune.html
Now where I see your super work, I can probably throw it into the garbage pail.

Ciao :(

[monsoontide]

Well, My models are hardly the best either... I think they hold up from a distance, but I have a LOT of work still to do to get them to match the "look" in the movie.

Am contemplating contacting Ron Miller (the production artist on the movie who's website is Black Cat Studio (http://www.black-cat-studios.com/movies.html)s to see if I can get some higher resolution versions of his concept paintings or perhaps if he could rough out a few sketches of how he envisioned some of the things I am working on but can't find enough references for - eg... the Spice Refinery - you can only see it in the one shot in the film when the Atreides ships first arrive, but I am hoping to have My ornithopter take of from the landing field, fly through the shield, over the city, past the refinery and then up over the shield wall out to the open desert!!! - essentially replacing ALL the effects shots from the film... except the shield shot since I haven't worked out how to replicate that cool distortion effect.

[monsoontide]

As I previously mentioned, I sent an email to Ron Miller, the Production Artist/Designer on DUNE to see if he would be kind enough to send Me some higher resolution versions of his paintings for Me to use as reference in constructing the models.

Here's his reply...

"You're doing something I'd always hoped someone would do: fill in some of the missing bits of Dune using digital technology.

I have copies of the original blueprints of all of the Dune space and aircraft. These are the detailed drawings that the models were made from. I can scan copies of these for you...or at least I'll to see what I can do. The drawings are fairly large---larger than my scanner bed and maybe even too large to safely scan in sections without damage. I'll look into what can be done. It may take a little time, though: we recently moved to a new home and I'll have to unpack them.

Ron"

This is REALLY exciting news to Me (Even though it will potentially mean a LOT of remodeling work).
I am currently working on creating a PROXY animatic of the Ornithopter flight sequence - all low-res simple models - just crude approximations of the final shapes - just so I can get the timings and general animation right.
I am also in the process of pulling apart the actual sequence from the movie as I will have a LOT of rotoscoping work to do!

Woo Hoo, quite jazzed really... but will have to wait to see if Ron is able to actually scan the designs in.

Oh! NEW GFX card arrived... so installed it last night and got it working... seems to be doing a much better job than My old card - just need a new computer really!!!

[ernesto]

Hi, a very interesting message. I hope you will us inform. I thought again about your ornithopter. He cannot fly. The center of gravity lies much too far away from the wings. You will not find birds or bats to look in such a way. I will also modify my thopter. Now he looks rather like an flat-iron ;-)

Ciao

[monsoontide]

I've thought about that, but the book describes them as having rocket thrusters - and though you can't see it in the animation there is one on the underside in the "dish" shaped structure that provides the necessary lift for the front of it!
(After all, they do have suspensor fields) The wings provide propulsion and manoeuvering rather than just "lift"!
(Yeah... I did put some thought into it... also if I put the wings in the middle like all the other designs I've seen, then it just looks like all the other designs I've seen and doesn't have that distinctive "DUNE the movie" look. LOL)

[ernesto]

Hi monsoontide,

perhaps you can help me. I look for pictures of Arrakeen. How do I have to imagine the city? I know only this picture with the large mountain.
http://www.space.com/images/h_dune_ships_02,0.jpg
But where is the palace, the terrace of the Alia on the pilgrims looks? In the German Wiki stands only:
"The capital of the desert planet in the old days often Arrakis City, is the main trading center and seat of the ruling family. The city is comparatively small, it is rather a big village than a real city. The city is enclosed by the Shield Wall, a mighty mountain that during the uprising of the Frem Paul Atreides partially destroyed with nuclear weapons."

Ciao

[monsoontide]

Hi Ernersto

Here you go try this image (http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/2792/arakeenlayoutip3.jpg) I put together... it's from the movie of course. The design of Arakeen is completely different in the mini-series, where a LOT more time is spent actually IN the city.
You can see some of the designs here (http://www.duneinfo.com/miniseries/design/images/arrakeen.gif) & here (http://www.duneinfo.com/miniseries/design/images/arrakeen_palace.gif)
I hope that helps.

I'm actually working on a VERY lo-res model of the area at the moment, so I can complete My Ornithopter animatic...

[ernesto]

Many thanks for your help.

Ciao ;-)

[monsoontide]

So, over the one day I had off work for Christmas, I was able to get some time for modeling & animatics (of which I now have a VERY EARLY thopter flyby/flyover of the spice refinery) and while I worked on a few things, probably the most complete new construction at this point is My Harkonnen Aerial Tram... It's about 85% done apart from textures. Also worked on an Harkonnen Oil Burner (The big face/mouth things with smoke comnig out of them). I'm not entirely happy with it at the moment - the face is not right yet, but its getting there.

62785

[Glazy]

It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.

Super work. Do you have the Cinefex for Dune as that has a picture of the Oil Burner head in that !?

[Aresius]

That is one ugly burner...
Perfect for the Harkonnen! :lol:

[monsoontide]

Glazy... no I don't unfortunately... I was/am going to send away for it but they only have photocopies of that article now... I'm using the one clear reference pic I can find over at Duneinfo.com of it in front of a blue screen.
Oil Burner Reference Photo (http://www.duneinfo.com/arrakis/filming/images/oil_burner.jpg)
Have to fix the cheeks... and the nose... and the forehead... and the eyes... and the lips... LOL
Going to have to model some sort of simple interior for the tram as the windows are transparent.

It another one of those shots I really want to redo... its not bad... its just not great - could really benefit from some perspective shift - though I do like the big "reveal" shot when the tram goes inside the buildings and there's all those green rooms right before Piter disembarks down those stairs... I bet actor Brad Douriff thought he'd trip on his long coat and fall down the damn things... they seem pretty darn steep!

[Pagrin]

I like your work to date. This was always one of my favorite movies.

[monsoontide]

OK, so I'm all over the map with the various models I am working on.
Was inspired to whip this one up tonight... you should get a good giggle out of this!

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/9527/guildnavigatorwip01vb0.jpg

Essentially its a low res poly model intended for import into z-brush/mudbox for final sculpting... there's no way I'm modeling all that facial detail in Lightwave!

Here's where the problem starts... I have neither z-brush or mudbox and have no idea how to use either... anyone know of somone/somewhere I might be able to go (obviously z-brush and mudbox user forums) who might be interested in helping create this?

[Pagrin]

There is a Z-Brush forum at Renderosity Digital Art Community | 3D Models | High Resolution Textures | Poser | Bryce | Lightwave | 3DS Max | Maya | Vue | XSI (http://www.renderosity.com) You have to register, but its free.
I haven't used the Z-Brush forum so I don't know the vib from the people who do. But the Lightwave guys are all friendly and helpful.

[monsoontide]

Started watching the DUNE - Third Stage edition fan edit and there's a couple of nice reference shots in there I haven't had access to before. Going to try and finish watching the rest of it tonight.
Have also been attempting to recreate the "shield" look as a simple texture... it sort of works but I have no idea how they did it in the first place, so getting an exact facsimile is going to be tricky - really need the help of an experienced texture artist (For the vehicles as well)!

[somacruz145]

Everything looks very good so far - I love the look of the "creatures" in the pic above :D I remember playing a Dune strategy game on PC really long time ago and it was pretty cool so I'm looking forward to seeing more ! (even though I only remember the giant sand worm :p)

[mikala]

I simply can't remember what the Guild Navigators looked like :(
Something vaguely familiar about those meshes you've made though. Like mutant baby rats!
Great project you have here.

[cavebear]

I simply can't remember what the Guild Navigators looked like :(
Something vaguely familiar about those meshes you've made though. Like mutant baby rats!
Great project you have here.

Here are a couple of pics of guild navigators. :D

[mikala]

Thank you!

[monsoontide]

The Navigator was created by Carlo Rambaldi - who is most well known for making ET.
Here's the Mesh (It's actually lo-res poly's that I've turned into "MetaNURBS" and then "frozen" back into polys)
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6227/navigatorwire02kk2.jpg
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/4839/navigatorwire01mb9.jpg
And a couple more reference images:
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/3265/navxe2.jpg
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/3779/navigdetaillr7.jpg
Plus the a link to a whole bunch of them:
Dune Info: Spacing Guild (http://www.duneinfo.com/arrakis/navigators/)
and finally...
A link to the Navigator in action over on YouTube - In German no less - HERE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g66iEr2HrvM&feature=related)

[monsoontide]

Well, looks like I'm going to be busy for a while... finally exported ALL the frames I need to rotoscope for the Thopter sequence and there's a hell of a lot of them... but it will keep Me out of mischief I guess!!!
It's a painful task doing it in photoshop... but at least it has the Animation feature now so I can see all the frames in one go rather than loading them individually.
Will post a few final still frames once I get something to show...
Original
63463
Background roto'd out to make room for new 3d model
63464

[Aresius]

Wow.
If this is only going half as good as I thought of it, then this will create a hell of remake! :eek:

Or.. upgrade.. if you.. like.. ..
What do you actually plan to do with the reworked movie after you've finished?

[monsoontide]

Well, it's really a portfolio piece - I've been working in the newspaper business as a Graphic Artist (currently means I'm a file mover) for 8 years and I would LOVE to be doing something else...
Also wanted to release the models for download as well...
I'd need a lot more help to do the whole movie as a fan-edit...
The ultimate goal is of course to be able to re-do complete post production on DUNE for a Blu-Ray 25th anniversary DVD or something... but that's just a pipe dream LOL.

Reminds Me... I finished up watching the DUNE - Third Stage edition fan edit (http://fanedit.org/all-dune-fanedits/) and overall not bad... still plenty of room for improvement (They didn't trim a lot of the "extended edition" scenes they used and it shows - got tired of guards being summoned to carry dead bodies out of rooms!!! LOL)

[bagera4000]

loved the old one it was first move i sow
Patrick Stewart in

[Aresius]

Aye. :)

What help do you need? What in particular I mean.
I may have not the vast experience you have, but I tend to be a quick learner if a thing interrests me. And that is darn interresting.

[monsoontide]

Hi Aresius,

Well... I'm primarily a "hard surface" & low poly modeller... and I really haven't been keeping up on the whole normal mapping z-brush thing so organic modeling at that level of detail is one area I need help.
Another would be surfacing/texturing... I can do it ok but I hate doing it! LOL.
Trying to get things to look the way they should drives Me crazy!
Also I'm no TD (Technical Director) so rigging and animating takes Me aaaages...
And I guess the other problem is My computer is 6+ years old now and its really frustrating working with it... LOL
Still I really can do most of it Myself - just very, very slowly!

Ultimately, it's a process of looking at the movie, working out which effects NEED to be updated and then working out what assets (models, images, fx) are needed and how to approach replacing the effect in such a way as to make it still look like part of the movie.
For example, I've been playing around with the idea of making Paul's filmbook look a bit more "modern"
Original (Very washed out screen capture)
63588

Concept (This was done quickly in photoshop and the black levels don't match but I've actually modeled and successfully tested screen replacement in 3d)
63589

So I guess the idea - if you are interested - would be to take a shot from the movie that needs updating (and interests you) and see what you can do...

[Aresius]

Well, I'd need the models then...

I am currently involved in 2 major jobs (and various smaller side-jobs), with both being in the final stage and are expected to be finished withing this month.
After this, I will have more time to look into the matter and also ask (bombard) you with questions via PM.
A definite plus is that I have the Extended Edition right on my external HD. YAY. :D

[monsoontide]

Any help would be much appreciated Aresius - just give Me a yell when you are ready and I can send you what you need... anything in particular you are interested in?

[Aresius]

Preferrably space and planetary scenes.

[monsoontide]

Hi folks, here is a screen shot of My simple guild navigator model (which you can see earlier in the thread) after it has been worked on in Z-Brush by Mikala.
Personally I think he's doing a great job and I can wait to see the final product!
I will have to model a tank for the Navigator to go in!
63793

[cavebear]

That looks great:thumb: Yep, now you have to model its containment tank.

[Pagrin]

What can I say, but WOW. Well done Mikala, that's looking great.

[mikala]

Thanks people. Look forward to seeing the "Tank" that it swims in.
Wondering how you are going to tackle the spice gas?

[monsoontide]

Had a go at a quick study of the Navigator's tank tonight... Made a bunch of reference stills from the movie and downloaded some behind the scenes images but it's really difficult to work out what this thing look s like from almost any angle except the front.
I can see there is plenty of detail in the images but in most cases its too indistinct to work out what it is.
Looks like its approximate 4 meters tall, about 2 - 2.5 meters wide and anywhere between 10 to 15 meters long... and damn if I can work out where the "shield" doors go to when they open!
So here it is... not a lot of detail, just working out where everything goes and how big it is in relation to everything else. Will probably tackle it more fully later on once I finish some of the other models a bit more... have too many things half-finished!
63830

[Pagrin]

I thought the tank was just the front end of something. I might be wrong but I thought it stretched right our the doors of the scene. Almost like it was extending from outside the building.
Although I should also say, I haven't watched the movie in ten years.

[ernesto]

Super work.

Ciao ;-)

[monsoontide]

Hi Pagrin,

No, it doesn;t extend all the way into the ship... it's long but I think part of the illusion is caused by the angle it is filmed at and by the sliding "shield doors" - as far as I can see they slide straight back and sort of hang off the end.

Here's an image from a deleted scene of the tank being raised up into the cockpit of the Guild Heighliner where you can see the whole thing (With shield doors raised)
63862

[Pagrin]

Then yes your proportions look about right.
Thanks for showing the pic as well. :-)

[monsoontide]

Hi Folks,

Mikala has just sent Me an update on the Guild Navigator and it's really starting to come together now!
Will be interesting to see what he looks like with his blue within blue eyes in place!
I'm hoping to get some time to work on the project again over the weekend (Busy week at work!)

63972

[Pagrin]

If I was any greener with envy I'd be the hulk.
When organic modelling is done badly it really destroys a piece of work, but when it's done as well as this is, it puts physical models to shame.
I think if nothing else its proven to me the Z-brush wold be the way to go if I ever had to learn to do creature stuff.

[monsoontide]

I don't think there'd be any other way to recreate the Navigator's pock marked visage without Z-brush (or mudbox - or that other new one LOL)!

[cavebear]

Wow, that is one nice model! It is really starting to come alive. I really would like to see it with the eyes done, floating in a mist of spice in its transporter tank. This is great :thumb::thumb:

[mikala]

What I'm wondering is how the spice gas will be handled?
Particles or post? Or volumetrics perhaps?

[Pagrin]

As another option it could be done by added an effect to the glass surface of the tank. It would mean faster render times I woud think.

[mikala]

Well it might not look too bad as an animated procedural on a duplicate slightly sized down tank glass yes.

[monsoontide]

I've been doing some tests for the gas... tried making a slightly smaller "glass" duplicate and then attempting something like that but it has no interaction with the Navigator... will have to try particles with hypervoxels - preferable 2D sprites rather than full volumetrics - My PC just doesn't have the processing power (it's only a P4 1.3Mhz :( )

[monsoontide]

Just received 4 photos of the Atreides Starship from Ron Miller this morning... very cool... nice to see the underside (which I'd never had any references for!)
64101
Looks like I'm going to have to do some remodeling!

I sent him the latest Navigator WIP from Mikala and here's his reply:

"The navigator looks great!

My wife, Judith, by the way, made the original model for the concept used in the film.

R"

So keep up the good work!!! Can't wait to see the final thing.

[monsoontide]

Well, here is My sandworm! (Early work in progress)

65058

Working out how I am going to animate it before I stitch it together. Was thinking of using morph targets - I've modeled the mouth in this open position, with the inner mouth closed and outer mouth open and then with both mouths closed.
Want to get it all working before I texture it - no point texturing a model that doesn't work properly.
Any suggestions?
I was thinking of making a series of weight maps to control which areas get deformed.

[ernesto]

Oh, now becomes it very interesting for me. I am anxious (is that right?) on your textures.

Ciao ;)

[beigemac]

Hey Monsoontide, could you post a pic of the Guild Navigator's whole body? Only the face shows in the current one. Thanks.

[monsoontide]

Have been shipping away at various aspects of this project.
The sandworm is giving Me problems - looking at the reference photos, I noticed that the inner mouth is connected to the outer mouth, so I decided to remodel it in los-res and try to get everything to open and close properly. Every other worm model I have seen always has the mouth open. Trying to get it to close seamlessly is trying.
Also noticed that I had incorrectly textured My planet Arrakis model... The texture I had been using for half the "north" part of the globe is actually only for 0-60 degrees and there is another map for the southern polar region. The central portion is all open desert... should look more accurate now.
And since I've been working on the sandworm, thought I should start on the Spice Harvester... the couple of other models I have seen are quite inaccurate. While modeling, I noticed in the reference photos there appears to be a recessed area in the top of the harvester that the "cockpit" can retract into.
Still chipping away at the various parts.
66292

[xanthra]

And since I've been working on the sandworm, thought I should start on the Spice Harvester... the couple of other models I have seen are quite inaccurate. While modeling, I noticed in the reference photos there appears to be a recessed area in the top of the harvester that the "cockpit" can retract into.
Still chipping away at the various parts.
66292

That is awesome! I've been wanting to tackle the Harvester myself for a long time and I'm jealous of the progress you have made.

[monsoontide]

Worked a bit more on detailing the front section and have been trying to figure out the "joins" between he various sections - especially those section I don't have good references for.
There also appears to be some structural differences between the "hero" models and the smaller scale models. Then there's the wheel suspension - seems to be three arms connecting to each wheel rather than an axel like I have presently - but it is difficult to see.
I did a quick rig to see how it looks moving (Since it never really moves in the movie) and even at this early stage I think it looks cool!
66448

[Aresius]

Looks promissing.

[Pagrin]

I seem to remember the 3 connector arms. I assumed they were 3 spokes from a central axle.

[monsoontide]

The Spice Harvester is getting there with only a few sections left to detail properly... (most notably the ribbed "sides"). Have made some multijointed "arms" to attach the wheels to the body (Each wheel is attached to the main body by 3 of these arms, but the wheels are not driven by them).
So while I was unable to work on that while at work, I traced the panel pattern of the carryall in illustrator and was able to import the eps into lightwave and quickly assemble much of the main body... I don't have enough clear references of the upper structure though, so this is where it is at until I work it out.
66731

[Aresius]

wow, that's some massive structure.

[ernesto]

Hi monsoontide,

I miss your next step.

Ciao ;-)

[monsoontide]

Hello everyone

Thanks for your patience! Okay here you go... My rotoscoping isn't the best!
I wish I had the original footage with the blue screen to work with!
I am slowly working on the next couple of shots where! the thopters fly over the city and past the spice refinery where the carryall is just arriving with a harvester full of spice.
Then it'll be more rotoscoping work! Aaaaaagh. Drive Me crazy but only way to get exactly what I want. Hopefully I'll get better at it! (And this one was only 150 frames!)

Darn! I tried to upload the short video clip here but it wouldn't upload, so you'll have to pop over to YouTube and do a search for Omniviant's Thopter videos!

[Pagrin]

Looks good. I see what you mean about the hand rotoring out of stuff, but it's still a good job.

[monsoontide]

I've added more detail to the Harvester model including the doorway at the side, and remodeled the wheels to closer match the partial set that was built.
Also added some more animating parts on the 'thopter model including the large "triangle" on the top, which can now move up and down to act as a flight stabilizer. Also added the Duke's escort landing on the far side of of the harvester.
Want to add in some heat distortion between the 'thopter and the harvester and really need to get some sand interaction going somehow.
Really need to get some texture maps done for the harvester.

Damn file won't upload. Sigh.
It's on youtube anyway! "The Duke To The Rescue " Check it out if you can find it.

[liam887]

i think i found them looks good YouTube - Thopter Animatic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6GXj8cQr04)

[Dr.Sleep]

I love that harvester!

[monsoontide]

Feel sure I've uploaded this one at some point... just couldn't find it in the thread...
Anyway, it is My first real attempt to model the sandworm... don't quite have the mouth right yet.

71979

[monsoontide]

Have finally knuckled down to work on on of the most difficult parts of this project... trying to rebuild the city of Arrakeen - where much of the action in the movie takes place. While the Arrakeen palace and nearby landing field were built as series of minatures/biggatures, and partial sets, the city itself is represented only by a couple of matte paintings.

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My revised version of the Duke's 'thopter flight requires a shot following the Duke as he flies over the city past the spice refinery and up over the shield wall. (Originally it was simply two shots in the movie that feature an almost unrecognizable 'thopter sort of flying straight up - not very interesting.)
So, in order to accomplish that I have been creating an entire 3D cityscape that can be viewed from any angle.

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I admit that I couldn't be arsed modeling buildings from scratch so I downloaded a pack of 20 tatooine buildings - originally modeled in MAX and converted to Lightwave by someone. However once I opened them up, I discovered they were badly made with incredibly high poly & point counts so I ended up having to remodel every single one of them as a lo-res model - cutting the the poly count by up to 80% in some cases. I also removed the distinctive dome shapes replacing them with sort of concave roofs. I also modeled some windtraps and other buildings based on the old DUNE 2 and DUNE 2000 games as a bit of a Easter egg.

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I've added in the 20 palm trees by the palace (a show of water wealth) - featured in several photos of the original model but not in evidence in the movie.

72320
Still plenty to do - Have to work on the landing filed some more and the spice silo yards and actually do the detailing on the spice refinery.

[monsoontide]

72907
Added more detail to the Carryall model, though its quite difficult as I only have 4 solid reference photos of it and none of them show the top of it clearly or the shape of the wing tips properly, so I've had to "make up" certain details. I still need to detail the Harvester docking areas and add the strange little doohicky that goes on the lower front section. The original model was silver, but owing to the way it was shot and the orange filter that was placed over most of the special effect shots, you can't tell that in the movie.
I've included a render of the carryall landing at the spice refinery as Duke Leto flies past in the ornithopter.
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[Aresius]

Nice. Though it reminds me somewhat a bit to Mos Eisley on Tatooine, Star Wars. The buildings should look more ragged, more like they were made out of clay, almost like moisted sand, likey they have in many remote middle-east countrysides.
In the book, Duke Leto states that before 20 years ago, the people there didn't even knew how to build more than 3 floors high..

[monsoontide]

Yes... well... it IS Mos Eisley! LOL.
Kind of.
I took the Mos Eisley building collection from over on Sci-Fi 3D and then rebuilt all the buildings in lo-res so My poor PC could actually handle them and stripped off all the domes and did a little customization and made a few custom buildings based on the old Dune 2 game. Could definitely be MUCH better... I just don't have the motivation to focus on them right now.

[Sith Holocron]

Looks like the project is going along swimmingly! I've put this on my Favorites so I don;t lose this thread again. The Guild Navigator model is exceptional and I'm astonished what you've done with those Mos Eisley models.

On a unrelated note: I would love to figure out how to recreate the sound effect of the Guild Navigator's voice in the movie. (If anyone knows how to do that or could point me in the right direction, PM me)

[monsoontide]

Well... here's My first real version of the thopter's flying from the palace over the city of Arrakeen and past the spice refinery before heading up and over the shield wall...

Check it out on My Dune Special Edition Blog... its much too big to upload here.

Still plenty of room for improvement but My poor computer is crawling on this scene.
Mikala (at Foundation 3D Forums) was kind enough to render out the last 100 frames on his much faster machine. Thanks Mikala!
Hopefully as the project progresses, and I refine it, I'll really be able to make this whole scene something memorable - yet without seeming out of place in the film.

[Pagrin]

These are looking great. I'd love to see some of it edited together.

[Aresius]

Impressive work.
But I think this Carryall is not moving correctly through the smoke of the facility. Or the smoke is not perfectly binding around the Carryall...

[monsoontide]

Uh.. yeah... didn't notice that little detail until I received the render back... going to have to fix that whole animation for the carryall... kinda did it on the quick cos My machine is crawling on this scene - might bust it out from the scene animate it and then bring it back in so I can work on it more speedily. Still need to detail some parts of the model but you can't see those parts from the angle in the animation... it is coming together though.

[monsoontide]

I finally decided to get back to working on the Harkonnen frigate over the weekend.
I had started it some time ago, but really only had the basic shapes done...
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Now with the blueprints I have really been able to get into it!
I start by tracing the blueprints in Adobe Illustrator, then import the .eps into Lightwave, where I can use it to construct the model more easily. So far I have redone the main body and some gun turrets that go at the back... next it's on to redoing the "wings".
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I am going to point out that since this is the special edition, the model is also going to be for the special edition - which means it is NOT going to have the long tail section and IS going to be roughly similar in configuration to the Atreides and Emperor's frigates... My logic behind this change is that the Spacing Guild uses a standardized docking system in their Heighliners - therefore all ships are roughly the same shape (given some latitude for local deisgn preferences).
The second major change is going to be moving the unseen and unused "Thopter Launch Bays" from the tail of the frigate, to the underside of the "wings"... I think it will fit three thopters per side... but will have to wait until I get both ships to scale, as I really want to see the thopters get launched and swoop down to attack the Atreides.

Also have a couple of animations in the works... will get them uploaded as soon as they are finished rendering but here's a couple of frames...

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[monsoontide]

So I managed to get some more time this weekend to go in and really try and finish up My special edition version of the Harkonnen Frigate.
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It took quite a bit of work to get the main hull into the shape I wanted, since it was not designed to be so short and getting all the shapes to blend together was a challenge.
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I think over all that it has been fairly successful - though I have had to change many details, but will have to wait to see how it looks rendered.
There are still plenty of small details I need to add to it but wanted to show you how it is coming together.
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You can see the new orithopter launcher doors on the underside of the main "wings"... originally these were along the side of the hull - but remained mostly unseen and definitely unused in the final movie.
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[cobywan]

When you say special edition, you mean short bus special? ;) I think that frigate is supposed to be much longer. If it's the one in the film.

[Aresius]

Yes, I believe they were somewhat a bit hammer-shaped, maybe with proportions roughly matching a Mjöllnyr (a Thors-Hammer), so a rather short handle, but notable longer than that.

[monsoontide]

In an earlier post I stated I didn't want it to have the long body since it doesn't match with the other ships... My own theory being the guild has a standard docking mechanism... needs a roughly standard shaped ship... If anyone wants to do a full version I can always post the blueprints!

[xanthra]

If anyone wants to do a full version I can always post the blueprints!
Yes please : )

[monsoontide]

Will see what I can do about posting the blueprints...

Since zbrush is a program I have been needing to learn, I decided to have a crack at sculpting the 2nd Stage Navigator head:
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(Pop over to My Dune Special Edition blog for more info on him and where he is in the movie)... still learning though... have to try and create a texture for it. SO here is a look at what I've come up with so far. It's far from perfect but for a first go I think its ok... added the eye and "spice gas" very quickly in photoshop just to give an idea of how it will look...
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[Pagrin]

I think you've got something here. Texture wise I think you should look for something closer to the main Navigator rather than more human skin tones.

[monsoontide]

Since I've been playing around with My "special edition" version of the Harkonnen Frigate, I thought I would post the blueprints for the original design over on My project blog in case anyone wants to have a go at modeling the whole thing.
In the meanwhile, here is a crappy 5 minute animatic showing how I intend the newly repositioned thopter launch doors to work...
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[JWWright]

Holy cow! That frigate is friggin' awesome, great job, it's one I wanted to do... but who has the time to model all the sweet space hardware they want?

Cant wait to see more!

[Aresius]

Nice work, man! :thumb:

[monsoontide]

Small z-brush update - redid the entire head...
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Still having problems getting it to work in Lightwave though...
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Er... anyone know an effective way to create a few square kilometers of CONVINCING sand dunes?
Real sand dunes have such a distinctive shape it's hard to get them to look "right".
I'm considering multiple approaches at the moment... splines? Nurbs? Image displacement? z-brush displacement?
Any suggestions?

[monsoontide]

Sand dunes are a real pain in the ass to model convincingly... they are very distinctive looking, and quite tricky to texture... I initially just put a few bumps and dips into a subdivided plain and while it was fine for just getting an idea of scale and motion, they really doesn't look like "real" sand dunes...

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So I have tried a different approach - this time using a greyscale height map that I drew using an aerial photo of sand dune formations in the Namib Desert...

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As you can see it looks a bit more convincing (The dunes in the back are still the original "bumps") ... still not quite there and I suspect I am going to have to hand model some "Hero" dunes for close up work as these dunes do not hold up under close scrutiny.

[monsoontide]

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Wellll... I've finally got MOST of the first half of the spice mining sequence redone with new v0.1 level effects. (Still have three shots left to rotoscope though).
Starting to make progress on the 2nd more FX complex part featuring the spice harvester this year.
Owing to the large size of the animation file, I'll have to post a link here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oo5QIwNU3U).

Don't forget to check out My blog for project updates as well!

Hope you all have a great 2010

[JWWright]

Gods below, what superb work!

[monsoontide]

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Continuing on with things, here is My 1st attempt at redoing the filmbook sequence.
Watch the full animation over at youtube HERE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMAMueMDRT0)

I wasn't going to touch it until I realized that I had changed the look of the planets a bit so I had to redo those shots, and then one thing let to another and I have redone all the shots, sans the two close up text shots. I also enlarged the screen a bit on first shot where you see the film book - note - the control setup was way ahead of its time: Looks like it has 4 ipod style control wheels - Central button with outer ring.
There are still a whole host of things that need fixing and improving, but you get the idea of where I am going with this I hope!
There is also a deleted scene where Paul is sitting on a bed in a room on Arrakis (After the attempt on his life and shortly before he is drugged by Dr Yueh), where Paul is studying a filmbook. The scene starts rather abruptly and doesn't seem to quite "fit" into the other scenes, so I am considering doing a second filmbook sequence that would start that scene and impart the audience with further knowledge on the things they are about to encounter (The Fremen, the worms, desert survival etc).

[monsoontide]

OK, back to the modeling.

Was reading DUNE the other night while rendering one of those animations and noted that the description for the Emperor's "Steel Tent" included a scale and the number of levels.

"It wasn't the lighter that excited Stilgar's awe, Paul knew, but the construction for which the lighter was only the centerpost. A single metal hutment, many stories tall, reached out in a thousand meter circle from the base of the lighter - a tent composed of interlocking metal leaves - the temporary lodging place for five legions of Sardaukar and His Imperial Majesty, The Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV.
From his position squatting at Paul's left, Gurney Halleck said: "I count nine levels to it. Must be quite a few Sardaukar in there.""

And I realized that the original model I made based on the movie prop only has six levels. So since this is after all a "special edition" I decided to remodel it and add in the extra 3 levels and now the base of it is 1000 meters across (though its not square as there are 3 panels on the top level front & back and 4 panels on the top level at the sides.)
It's still much the same but I made the beams and joints a bit smaller to give a better impression of scale.

Original Version: 77346

Special Edition Version: 77347

Special Edition Composite Test: 77345

[somacruz145]

That youtube animation looked better than I expected :thumb: The last model is looking cool too. Keep it up !

[JRL3001]

Wow, your stuff is looking great. I like how the animation came out, works well :)

[Aresius]

looks impressive so far. :)

[Sith Holocron]

Monsoontide,

Even though you now have the HD-DVD version of Dune now, here's some new news . . .

Universal Studios Home Entertainment will release the theatrical cut of Frank Herbert's Dune April 27 on Blu-ray Disc, completing the film's three-year journey from HD DVD to the prevailing high definition home video format.
Dune on Blu-ray will be presented in its original 2.35:1 1080p aspect ratio with 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and D-BOX Motion Control support, the latter two exclusive to Blu-ray.

Bonus features are nearly identical to the HD DVD version with the exception of a photography gallery that appears to have been dropped.

Deleted Scenes with an Introduction by Raffaella De Laurentiis
Designing Dune
Dune FX
Dune Models & Miniatures
Dune Wardrobe Design
Dune on Blu-ray will carry an SRP of $26.98.

[monsoontide]

Hmmm finally on Blu-Ray huh?
Well will have to save up for a Blu-Ray player for the computer!!!
Would definitely be nice to have better quality video to work from!

I've been twiddling with this for a while on and off.
Have had the tram done for a while, but the city structure is new. Have to redo the baby faced "oil burner" and spend a lot of time detailing it - it's covered in scaffolds and piping. Ugh!
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I had modeled bolts on the structure but the poly count started to kill My poor old puter (It only has 512Mb RAM), so had to take them off and will have to use textures to depict them I guess. Whipped up a little render to see how it was looking. Pretty basic for now.
77717
Going to make interchangeable panels with various combinations of parts so I can quickly build the city into whatever shapes I need.
Hope to put some more time into it after I move (Yeah... moving again - to LA again!)

[monsoontide]

Since I am only working part time and there is still a week to go before I can really start packing for the move to LA, I have been spending a bit of time trying to finish up the "standard" Harkonnen ornithopter so I can "Special Editionize" it.

Here's where I left it last time...
78873
A bit crap really... had only just sort of started trying to get everything in place.

Now, using the blueprints kindly provided by Dune production artist Ron Miller, it now looks a bit better (Even though there are certain details that just don't show up clearly on the blueprints).
78874

Lots and lots of detail still to add to the main hull (Ironically you can't even see this detail in the movie - at least on the DVD version I have - it might show up on Hi-Def though)
I'm having a helluva time trying to model the large windows at the ends of the main cockpit though - that whole section is really complicated and essentially just intersecting curves in everywhich direction. (See reference pic)
78875

I am trying to spline patch that part but it just isn't working... any suggestions?

[Aresius]

nice work so far.

[monsoontide]

Thanks Aresius - glad to see you are still keeping an eye on this project :)

Found some really awesome reference pictures online on a model making forum, so using those, I have remodeled the cockpit and added a few more details here and there. Still have the underside of the main cabin to do (It's driving Me nutty - curves, curves, curves)... and maybe the interior - I am still deciding whether or not it will be worth My while to take the time to model it.
Used the "Automotive" shader on the hull - looks nice now! Probably too nice! lol

78994

[Aresius]

Heh, how could I not, Dune's a wonderful thing and your "upgrade-project" is doing it great credit.

[monsoontide]

This will probably be My last update for a while as I have to start packing everything up tomorrow ready for the move.
Worked on the wings today and started trying to sort out the underside details.


79011

[Aresius]

Good luck with the move, I know how crappy that can be.
I may be on the move within short as well for my studies. :?
Everyone's moving, I just realise.

[publiusr]

This might have been dealt with earlier, but wasn't the Baron's large ship a hammerhead design--a little like Sadors ship from Battle Beyond the Stars or the Rebel Blockade Runner?

[monsoontide]

Yep!
I thought that the hammerhead shape of the Harkonnen ship was too different from the Atreides and Emperor's ships to fit into the generic docking collars aboard the Guild transport ship, so since I am doing a "special edition" and not a remake, I decided to shorten it.

Haven't seen Battle Beyond The Stars for years - though I hear there is a new BBTS prequel comic coming out.

[publiusr]

That does make sense to shorten the design so that it mates with the Guild vessels. In the newer made for TV series, they had the vessels as tube shaped masses of ships seemingly unconnected, like the travel plate conveyences we saw the mecha use at the end of the movie A.I. That might be an interesting direction--assemblies of ships with no connectors needed. We see even Enterprise-J moving towards mastery of field manipulation with thinner nacelle supports. Still, the 1984 Dune had a better look to me--the faceted shields--the hum of the shield wall as opposed to the TV series more general force fields that seemed weaker.

[garov]

cool. How do flapping wings on that orin. Maybe make wings fold in and out during flight.

[monsoontide]

Well, I now have a slightly faster computer with considerably more RAM and Hard Drive space and a direct X 10 graphics card, so hopefully some of the more complex animation setups are now more achievable!

To begin with, I decided I really needed to go and finish up the Emperor's Palace on Kaitain, since it is really the opening FX shot of the movie (Not counting all the intro stuff and the guild's secret report).

I've finished up the landing field and I have to work out what the heck the guild lander looks like - since it is as really odd shape and I only have a few references for it.


80081

I am also playing around with time of day... all the exterior model shots seem to be set at night in the movie (Caladan Castle, Geidi Prime, Kaitain Palace), so I thought it might look better to try a few alternatives.
So for Kaitain I am trying out a sort of golden sunset kind of look - trying not to make it look too "starwarsy" though.


80080

The animation is over on youTube here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf8fyOzAXhQ) and includes the original version of the shot. (Was just over the file size limit to upload here)

P.S. - I'm urgently looking for work now that I had to move back to LA... any tips or advice on who/where to go/contact for Lightwave jobs? I know its a super duper competitive market out there right now, but any help would be really appreciated!

[monsoontide]

Well, ever since Ron Miller sent Me the blueprints and some close up shots of one of the hero flying models (NOT the giant landed model), I have been meaning to get around to fixing up My model a bit.
Started tonight by trimming of the ends of the "wings" - they don't end in a point. Still have to model the "guns" that protrude from there though.
Also worked in the upper "trench" that I had previously missed, with similar detailing going on the back side of the wing section. (It looks different to the movie but I really don;t feel like trying to model that same insanely tiny random details)
After that, I started work redoing all the beveling work, beginning with the top section of the main hull. Have to do the sides and finally found a picture that has some of the detailing for the underside. Gonna try and get this done by the end of the week.

80325
Here's a link to a WIP of the previous version in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhig5LtzCZw

[monsoontide]

Took some time out today detail up the doorway on the frigate. There seemed to be something really funky going on looking at the set photos and it took Me a while to work out that there is a sort of "inset" inside the door frame. Have to detail up that little area (the angled area on each side of the gold door area).
There is also another beam that sticks out where the handrails are that I have not yet modeled as I am not sure how that part fits together.
Also ligned the three little insets that run around the "legs" and the front just above the doorways and fixed up that area so tha panels are all connected and not just "floating"
I think this is about as far as I am going to go at the moment. (Save for some more details on the doorway)
Could of course keep going berzerk with detail but I think I am going to texture/bump/normal map some of the more ornate details.

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[Aresius]

wow, that's really good.

[monsoontide]

Managed to track down some detailed pictures of the old Revell model of the Sand Crawler vehicle briefly seen in the movie right before the sandworm attacks the spice harvester.
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I wasn't going to model it, but I really need a few vehicles to help populate the city new version of Arrakeen city and make it come to life a bit more, so I have modeled a low poly version of this and will also do the two other toy vehicles that were made from the movie at the time.
80868

[monsoontide]

Thanks Aresius!

Here is the next Lo-Res vehicle - the Sand Roller - based on one of the few toys developed from the movie:
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Again, it's not meant to be seen in close up.

81017

[Aresius]

still looks fancy.

Is it Atreides or general Arrakisian design?

[monsoontide]

Hmmmm I am guessing it is just general Arrakisian LOL
Looks a bit impractical to Me, but then I think most of the designs are!
There are still two more to make - one of which is in the film and was made into a toy that was large enough to hold the DUNE action figures.

[Aresius]

All those thingies are impractical.
But then again, we're talking about the year 10,000 here, not even Star Trek has gone that far....

[monsoontide]

Right before the scene where the Baron and Feyd (carrying the cat/rat thing) go to talk to Thufir, there are 3 "transition" shots.


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To Me the first one in particular seems like a real "nothing" shot - it does not add anything to the audiences knowledge of Geidi Prime.

Now recently I happened to have reason to look up the old Gregory Peck version of Moby Dick, and then someone sent Me a link on Facebook to a thing against Japanese whaling and I recalled that in the novel of Dune, the Harkonnens had returned to power through the adroit manipulation of the "whale fur" markets.
In the novel, the whale fur business is concentrated on the Harkonnen colony planet of Lankiveil.

However, since Lankiveil is NOT in the movie version, I had the idea to expand the Harkonnen city environment with a shot that passes through/past the gruesome whale fur factory and ends with the existing shot of the hose washing the meat off the floor.
If it doesn't end up working here, I may use it in the 2nd filmbook sequence I am developing.


81260

[Aresius]

Yuck.
Looks disgusting.
Perfect for hte Harkonnen.
Are that by any chance Atreides whales (Caladan is a water planet, so...)

[monsoontide]

Here is a comparison of the original shot vs the new whale fur factory previs animation I have done...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGn9d_MIzOY

[monsoontide]

Here is the last of the four lo-res vehicles from DUNE that I have been working on.
This is the 2nd one that is featured in the movie briefly zipping up a ramp into the spice harvester. The shot was apparently only included in the movie so they could have some marketable toys to sell.

81456

I made it by eyeballing it - I couldn't find the "plans" for it, so its definitely a bit "off".
It's not quite finished - there are a few more details to add and of course texturing, but since you won't be seeing this one up close I'm not going to put in too much more time on it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQnMGYu-p1w

[Pagrin]

I did wonder why you would put a group unit as a scout, looking for something which attacks ground units. Thanks for that little tip bit.

[Aresius]

looks cute. :P

I like it.

[JWWright]

A bit off model, maybe, but spot on for awesomeness! I must have read this book over 10 times, and the sequels/prequels many times, too, I love Dune. Looking forward to the new movie. I'm listening to the audio book as I work.

[JWWright]

I did like the factory sequence, I wonder if it would be more interesting if those whales looked more alien, with maybe narwhal like horns?

[monsoontide]

Hi Jeffery, I've been sketching a few whale designs... the model I used was just a stand in.

[monsoontide]

Here's an example showing the whales in their natural environment on the planet of Lankiveil - not trying to go too bizarre as the audience has to be able to work out what it is in the few seconds its on screen.


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[JWWright]

Awesome whales! Can't wait to see that scene rendered... what a task!

[monsoontide]

Yeah.. it's going to be a tough scene to put together and do it justice.
One step at a time though I guess...
Threw together a quick 3D model and am trying to detail it up in z-brush... Still trying to get to grips with all the features in that program. Really need to spend some time with it but I find it frustrating and unintuitive. Can't seem to smooth out the nose of the beast or fix the chunky tail.

81527

[monsoontide]

Well, I've managed to get the whale modeled in zbrush using uvmaps I made in Lightwave (So they aren't the automatic - made from billions of squares/triangles - ones made by zbrush)
Click image for larger version Name:

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So then I generate the displacement map

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And export the model as an .obj, then open it in Lightwave, turn on metanurbs and resave it as a Lightwave object

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Then in layout, I load the object and set up the zbrush displacement nodes and adjust the values so the object isn't exploding...

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and I get...

81583

And I can't for the life of Me work out where I am going wrong!
Any suggestions?

[JWWright]

That whale is great, I have got to take some time and develop some zbrush chops.

[Pagrin]

OK the thing I do when LW is driving me nuts is go back to basics.
I don't know Z brush so I can't really help there.
Firstly I guess would be to double check that each element is on. IE make sure textures are being applied to the areas etc. double check file names etc.
9 times out of 10 it turns out to be something simple like that or a plug in not installed.

[monsoontide]

As you all might have noticed, I've been pretty quiet in this forum for a while, since My new job - while fun - has plenty of long hours, so I have barely had a chance (or I must admit - the motivation) to sit down and work on the DUNE: Special Edition for a while...

That said, I AM still working on it!

Found better versions of the original concept art from 1984 a while ago and with a better understanding of what is going on in the art, I reworked My model of the Atreides Landing Field to better reflect the design... (It's still in progress so proportions and sizes are all in flux)

91503

[Aresius]

Hey, welcome back!
Nice work, though I wonder about the water-fountains. If we're on Dune, that'd be quite an odd thing, seeing so many fountains on a dry planet. I agree, whoever built them (mayhap even the predecessors of the Harkonnen) likely imported the water and put them in an enclosed water-circle, but still.

[evil_genius_180]

This is an impressive project. I just took a look through the whole thread and you're doing great work on it. I like Dune, even if it's not a very popular movie and I really like your models. :)

[SuddenFrost]

Hey, welcome back!
Nice work, though I wonder about the water-fountains. If we're on Dune, that'd be quite an odd thing, seeing so many fountains on a dry planet. I agree, whoever built them (mayhap even the predecessors of the Harkonnen) likely imported the water and put them in an enclosed water-circle, but still.
I think that's supposed to be a picture of the Atreides ships about to take off from Caladan. You can barely make out the duke's palace in the background to the upper right.

[monsoontide]

Hi Aresius.. you are too funny!

Let Me explain... the "water fountains" as you rightly pointed out would consume a lot of water... not a problem, since this scene is set on Caladan a water world as the Atreides are leaving...
However, the original version of the concept art I had was A)Tiny and B)Blurry, so I always thought those were giant crystals and as such modeled a set of them!!!!
Glad you were observant enough to spot that they are in fact fountains.
Will have to work out a way to make the fountains... the program I am using (Lightwave 10) is horribly out of date when it comes to things like fluids and physics and cloth simulations.

[Aresius]

Ah, Caladan, okay in that case...

Nice work. :)

[Pagrin]

Given the fountains are at different distances you could save yourself some render time, but only doing a water effect on the nearby ones and make the ones in the distance objects with a dynamic texture on it.

Good to see the project is still alive and well. BTW. :-)