So i finally figured out which robot i wanted to make for teh CGTalk Heavy Metal challenge, but theres only a week to go so i really have to push it.
my thread is here:
Castle in the sky.
I’m going to attempt to do it all through Box modeling and edge looping, however for the more detailed areas i will need to use the Retopology tools to get the mesh how i want. I plan on doing practically no actual sculpting to the mesh outside of a little metal wear.
My plan of attack is to model out the robot as brand new, i will then use retopology and further edgelooping to bring in the damaged parts and skin/shells. i know i could just model it that way from the start but considering the amount of time i have left this route is faster.
I’m not sure if i’m going to actually attach the fingers to the arm mesh, i’ve also made the arm spikes and have started the ball socket. i’m having some issues with the abdomen but may change how i approach that, clocks tickin though.
Here is a video of me making the arm, no fingers or spikes though:
http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y1…current=arm.flv
I’ve also just started the leg. So far still no acual zbrush sculpting, just box modeling. There are many small changes that need to happen to the arm which i don’t want to obsess about until i have more of the figure finished. I’m used to using creasing in zbrush for non-organic modeling but i don’t know if its allowed for this contest.
hey its lookin good thus far, cant wait to see it finished. Castle in the Sky is certainly one of my favorite myazaki films too!!!
Good start SpaceBoy. Have you been to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka? There’s a full size sculpt of one of these on the roof. There’s also a kick a$$ zeotrope featuring one inside.
If you can make the trip, I highly recommend visiting the museum. By your tickets in advance though, they do not sell them at the Museum.
those robots were truly great, they were the amazing lost advanced technology. the castle in the sky was essentially another version of the atlantis story, a ruined civilization… it would be so cool to see someone try to animate a 3d glider like they were using in the movie
Poda, i’m actually planning on deconstructing this version to look like the rooftop version, how i wish i could actually go there.
konjo, while searching for reference images for this robot i found a few sites where people built the Flapter , i think there are even versions for flight simulators.
Heres where i’m at right now, still all box modeling, its going to get tricky doing the face correctly, i only just started the head so it needs lots of work, overall the model needs lots of tweaking before i start to tear it apart for the museum version.
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heres the head, the modeling is done, but i need to tweak out the shapes, its almost all edge looping from box modeling, with 2 creases, mostly to cut down on poly count. i made a glaring mistake with one of the early edgeloops but i’m not sure if i’m going to go into Retop just to fix it, the model divides okay, but its messy topology.
[attach=94297]head.jpg[/attach]
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well i know i’m not going to get to do the damaged version with only a day left and a cold thats killing me. so i’m going to just try to finish it as the movie version. i started to connect some of the parts like the legs and groin to the torso, and had to fill in some areas that were left open for the damage.
i’ve also made the medal icon that is on the chest using the profile curve primative, zspheres, a sphere and a plane. 
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hehehehe now its starting to get interesting… KEEP GOIN!!
well i had to cut some corners to get this done, i’m exhausted considering i was sick for the week that i worked on this. the moss is made from a mesh extraction, the grass is a sphere, everything else is box modeling at low levels. i removed the spikes due to them not being on the robot in this scene in the movie.
hopefully more people will see that box modeling has some worth within zbrush, i personally love it. i also learned that when importing a mesh into topology that there is a poly limit, that caused some frustration until i figured out thats what it was. overall i had fun and learned some more zbrush stuff. 
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yeah.i like this one spaceboy. 
i made a quick update, i used the simple brush to paint in some clouds, which was something i was too tired to do yesterday but it obviously needed it.
also i’ve added a turntable:
http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y101/spaceboy412/?action=view¤t=ZBrushMovie-1.flv
Please finish it.
what do you mean? i thought it is finished, your suggestions are welcome.
I guess I’ve just gotten used to seeing projects that are a little more detailed. What did I expect? I thought the surface of the robot would look a little more dirty, crusty or worn in spots. Or a more gradual transition between the moss covered parts and the clean parts at least. Some shininess to the surface in places, more difference between shiny and matte materials. I also thought that when it was finished I might see some glass lenses or lights in the robot’s face, but its been a while since I’ve seen Laputa.
hey space great job you always amaze me with your work this time is no different really great to see you do all this from box modeling you did a good job interpretating Laputa.
cant wait to see your next piece
hope you get feeling better space.
Nice clean work there Spaceboy
“I guess I’ve just gotten used to seeing projects that are a little more detailed. What did I expect? I thought the surface of the robot would look a little more dirty, crusty or worn in spots. Or a more gradual transition between the moss covered parts and the clean parts at least. Some shininess to the surface in places, more difference between shiny and matte materials. I also thought that when it was finished I might see some glass lenses or lights in the robot’s face”
well honestly in the movie they didnt really dent up or get dirty much probably because of the mystical material they were made from, nor did they really have a metallic sheen, they even talk about not knowing if its metal or ceramic, and through watching you see much of its acutally flexible and organic, so i decided to go with a matte finish. i agree with you about the moss but i ran out of time for the challenge i tried to make it look like in the movie where there isnt much blending of it here or there. yes the robot had two red lights in the middle when it talked but i didnt like the look of it having them on for a still. thanks for the tips though, i had made the whole thing during a week of being ill and suicidal(i’m seeking pro help now) so had i more time it would’ve looked better, so far i’ve not gotten a single vote over there, i’m not surprised because those are some great models, maybe if the robots in laputa killed some i’d have a chance. 
i’ve yet to tap into the fanboy mindset, don’t know if i ever will.
thanks troy, love that new dog head you did btw.
thanks techno.
Yes, I remember about them being made of a kind of ceramic, but what kind of material do you think it looks like now?
Anyway, its a great piece. I like it even if the ordinary anime fanboy’s don’t. All Miyazaki’s stuff rocks, and Laputa is one of the best of a good bunch. You’ve done a very faithful reproduction here and I enjoyed seeing your workflow.