nellen_mellen

I bought thier whole catalouge on DVD a few months ago, its an unbelieveable steal (500+ meshes) for the price (200$), and the quality of the meshes. One warning, however, I would steer clear of the .3DS format, its notoriously problematic with most new 3D applications, since its such an old format. .MAX is proabably the better alternative (and since most of you guys are interested in replacing LO models, MAX is probably the format to use, since the plugin for lomac works with 3DSMAX).

I agree. The canopy also needs a re-shaping, its a little too tall and "bulbous". The really hard thing to get right is the coloring/specular mapping on the Raptor, because its really strange. The newer Raptors look almost plasticy, I mean, they're really clean-looking and are somewhat diffuse (not much specular), so its hard to make a "realistic" looking Raptor model when the real-world raptors coming off the Lockheed assembly line look like toys. But if you look closely at any of the raptor photos on the net up close, theres all kinds of crazy detail on it (double panel lines due to the need to cover over the creases between panels and maintain stealth, recessed rivets, strange polygonal doors...etc). Getting the cockpit right it going to be next to impossible though...no really good references to look at.:doh: The original model was really bland looking, with bad phong errors, low-poly jaggies in some places, plain colored textures with only an exaggerated plain line bump map for the detailing. I should say though, that since I'm now always looking for a good steal on models, I'll let you guys know if I get my hands on something free or something that I can re-distribute and maybe we could get it into lockon.:thumbup:

thanks for the compliments guys, Unfortunately, I dont think that I will be able to release this model for Lockon, as some of you have requested. This is because I bought these model(s) from a separate creator. --This is one of the models, out of a catalouge of 500 some models from meshfactory.com on 2 DVD's. My purchase meant that I accepted a liscence agreement with Meshfactory, which says that I can use/edit these freely in whatever creative work I want to, without credit necessary to them, but I can't re-distribute the models to other people.-- I've also only rebuilt perhaps 10% of the original geometry (replaced completely the cockpit area and the missile bays and thier doors with new ones), although I've compltetely re-done all of the texturing and material mapping on this specific model (F-22A). I don't think that this minimal re-working (however much better it looks than the original) doesn't come close to qualifying as something made completely by me. I certainly hope you understand this, and I apologize for not making it clear that this was posted in response to a query about what I was up to currently. (thats why I didnt post these shots in the "3D Models" section on the forum) So, I posted these render shots of a model that Ive been playing around with, to show a visual example of what I might use in future animations/movies that I have yet to make:smilewink:. Basically, the topic started with someone nagging me about making another movie:D:P, so I thought that Id just share what Im up to currently with yall.) Lenny

Okay, here we go: I finished adding the textures/materials to this, so its the only really semi-complete model, and I think it turned out perty dern good. This is basically the kind of stuff I'm working on now...lots of touching up 3D geometry (since I basically have about 60 different military aircraft to start from) and hardcore photoshopping for the textures, bumpmapping, specular mapping, and diffusion mapping. Now I just gotta make some animations.:) EDIT: (this model originally started out at like 59,000 polys, wound up at 115,000...subdividing and replacing poorly modeled parts added up quick.)

I recently uninstalled my FS2004 in its entirety. The entire size of my FS2004 folder was 90 some Gigabytes. (Thanks Microsoft for using BMP as your only texture format!) :shocking:.

Lol, Just tell my professors to back off and I'll get crackin':thumbup:. Honestly though, in the little free time that I have right now (school started again if you hadn't guessed), Ive been working in Cinema 4d (educator discounts on software are a godsend) with some pretty impressive results. Its alot like Aftereffects in its menu-system and functionality, and it integrates fully with it, which is a HUGE plus, since I know AE pretty dern well. I bought a cheap catalouge of some 500 3d models with C4d (mostly aircraft:smilewink:), and Ive been working on detailing and texturing those. I can post some render screenies if y'all would like. Lenny

I didn't create the models of the aircraft. The F-15C was from IRIS, and the skin was by me. The SU-27B was from Alphasim, and the skin was essentially ICE's mustard yellow skin for lockon, but I 'chopped it up and re-fitted it to the Alphasim FS model. The only modeling that I had to do was of the missiles that I used for the combat sequences (since you obviously cant fire missiles in fs2004), so I modelled an Aim-7M sparrow, Aim-9M sidewinder, R-73 archer, and R-27 alamo 3d models to use for those individual sequences you see in the movie. I then had to integrate these 3d models with the footage that I had obtained from the game with fraps. This uses a technique called "matchmoving", where you take the footage and then re-create the 3d camera movement in a 3d environment to insert CG elements and have it synch up with the footage. I also used this technique to insert the massive dust clouds behind the aircraft when they were on the deck, the tracer rounds when they were dogfighting, Flares, and the massive explosion at the end. This also involved camera matchmoving, but utilized 3D particle engines.

I added the Head Up Displays afterwards in AE. The cockpits are in game, and are full 3d with 6DOF support, and look great, except FS has notoriously horrible HUDS, so I just turned those off.

Alright, I finally got it uploaded to a streaming site, Stage6. Its funny, the divx version I uploaded there is higher quality than the wmv that I first used. Heres the link

Strangely mine has dissapeared as well....hmmmm....actually sitesled kicked me off for exceeding their file limit...lol.

I'd love to be using LOMAC, or FC, or LOBS, but, I'm stuck on a computer from 2002 that simply isnt that great anymore. Oh only if I had a computer capable of running current-gen games.:cry:

Hey all, I know that this isnt LOFC or LOBS, but I just finished my second FS2004 movie "Duelality", and I thought that I might post it here since SuperFlanker was recieved well. I kindof took a nose dive into my magical bag of visual trickery on this one:smilewink: ...be forewarned though, if you have an aversion to aphex twin, or hard electronica, avoid this movie. Download Duelality Lenny

Lotus is very cool:thumbup:, if you get a chance, check out his other stuff as well, he's got some really good movies on youtube.

There's something that you're missing in criticizing the F-22 Demo. More Control. You can clearly see in all of these SU and MiG demos that the pilot either doesnt have control during the manuver (kulbit) or must spend significant time regaining control over the aircraft (cobra and others). There is a difference between taking an aircraft up and throwing it around in the sky, or taking it up and flying it at the very edge of what it is capable of doing, while maintaining control. Being out of control in a fight for any amount of time is not a good thing. While the F-22 isn't quite doing manuvers to an extreme like the russians, the manuvers that the Raptor pilot is doing are being done with complete pilot control, and can be changed or modified. This is in part because of the massive thrust that the Raptor has, and more importantly, the advanced FCS that interperets, combines, and translates pilot input across all control surfaces.

You can include 3d models in your AE project by using a plugin called Zaxwerks 3d Invigorator. Its kindof a reach to call it a real 3d plugin, because it isn't. All it does is interpret 3d information and render it as vector graphics. You can use 3ds, lwo, dxf, obj, and adobe illustrator files. It can save in these formats as well. It supports texturing, specularity, transparency, and bump mapping. Its more or less a suppliment to 2d compositioning, its not the kind of thing you would want to use to make entire scenes, as its far too slow and akward to use for large renders.

Yeah, everything in AE, I used that trapcode particular plugin for the explosion. As for the kindof awful overdone lensflare...I once heard a CGI artist ask rhetorically, "How much bad compositioning can you hide in a glow?":lol:

Its basically footage elements from FS2004 (recorded formation flying/dogfighting), integrated with some cgi elements (particle emitters and some 3d models) in AE7. So its kindof 1/3 of the way between machinima and CGI. This was more or less a proof of that concept for me.

:shocking: The full raptor demo! Wasn't expecting that till '08. Very impressive, I was expecting the manuvers to be about as tame (If you can really call them that) as they were. I wouldn't expect the USAF to be performing high-aoa manuvers like the russians have been doing, although the raptor is probably just as capable of doing them, I think its a matter of that philosophy of 'total control' and precision.

"Artificial Intelligence" on paper..."Natural Stupidity" in practice:D

I can't believe the Antonov An-26 isn't on the list.:D Mirage 2000 and F5E Tiger II definately.

BTW, if you click on my sig picture, you'll get a little sneaky peeky at something :thumbup: (advice: save it then play it)

(puts on helmet):)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Gp5gIaKCY&NR=1 Poor quality video, but, look closely at the cockpit panel of the animated F-15 when they show it... it looks like it was textured from the lockon F-15 pit.

Just wait a couple weeks.;)

Honestly, part of the reason that the Tomcat is so universally loved (besides is looks, arguably the most beautiful airframe ever... and movie appearances), is the notion that it never got much action, or was neglected/underfunded. It was the pinnacle of the "uni-role" aircraft era, where "super-planes" were being made at great expense to accomplish individual tasks. Its AWG-9 radar/AIM-54 Phoenix weapons system was unrivaled at the time. This is unfortunate, because with the preceeding years after the Tomcat entered service, the US military began to "streamline" its forces, making them far more efficient at doing the same jobs. One initial strike against the tomcat was the powerplant choice, the TF30-P-414A, which was very underpowered and tempermental. It wasnt replaced until the F-14B and D models with the F110-GE-400, similar to those in the F-15 and F-16. Part of this "streamlining" meant the introduction of "multi-role" aircraft (the F/A-18 is the prime example of this). With time, it became clear that the Tomcat was really a cost overrun, because it was a VERY high performance aircraft, that required ALOT of man hours to maintain, all for only one role. With the end of the cold war, the Tomcat's fate was basically sealed. Without the threat of long range strategic bombers, or cruise missiles, the tomcat was really out of a job. Of course, there were attempts to modernize it (the -D model), but only about 30-40 were made, because it had already been decided that smaller, less costly, more efficient, pure multi-role aircraft, like the f/a-18 and its kin would be the future of naval aviation.