Hellfire
Widow Contest images
In April 2007, Luxology sponsored
a contest with Jason Clark and his cool community over at subdivisionmodeling.com that
challenged the artists to use modo to create this specific
species of spider.
The contest was incredibly successful,
with lots of contestants sharing their WIP's and many people
using modo for the very first time.
This page is to congratulate both
the winners and everyone who entered the contest.
We urge you to check out subdivisionmodeling.com as
they have a great community and it is a great place to
learn and share.
1st Place
Zoltan
Korcsok
My concept:
My idea was to model an anatomically
correct spider (as far as possible) and to render a photorealistic
picture from it.
My approach:
I used Glen Southern's references
and collected more pictures, anatomical descriptions about
other latrodectus spiders on Web. The base mesh was made
with box modeling, and the sculpting was made with Pixologic
ZBrush. The texturing was accomplished with Luxology modo
+ ZBrush + Adobe Photoshop. There are nine maps on the
spider mesh: diffuse, diffuse amount, specular amount,
specular color, displacement, bump, subsurface amount,
subsurface color, transparent amount. There are three
maps on the branch mesh: diffuse, diffuse amount, specular
amount. I made many test renders from different views
with more branches and leaves before I found the final
composition. The background was composited in Adobe Photoshop.
I saw several modeling topology
conception and presentation ideas in other competitor's
topics. Those helped me to develop my idea and presentation.
I learned more about lighting,
rendering, camera adjustment and the usage of the meshpaint
and UV tools in modo.
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2nd Place
Robert
Henry
The Engine:
A radial engine like a vintage
prop plane (I always wanted to model one). I wanted to
design the engine as a hybrid electric power plant that
would both provide locomotion and also be a huge electrical
power source for the plasma cannon. (I feel sure that
exterminators of an escapist retro-future would have the
forward thinking intelligence to think green.) I have
to work out some sort of PTO to drive the tether grappling
wench.
The Scene:
I wanted a tight cropped vignette
of a 1940's New York skyline with the "Hellfire Spider" perched
precariously on the side of a skyscraper, eradicating
hoards of incoming menacing drone beetles with rays of
pure energy.
Approaching the goal:
I sketched every free moment that
I could find for a solid week before the contest. I organized
those thoughts and outlined a list of milestones and an
order of priority. It was a staggering list that was originally
a half-hearted joke. It is very unlike me to actually
put anything like that stuff in writing. Looking back
on it now I see that followed it almost exactly. Now I
understand the power and importance of setting succinct
goals.
I honestly thought that I would
accomplish only a small portion of the list. I felt it
was too ambitious to model and would cause modo or my
old computer and wimpy video card to spontaneously combust.
Actually, modo held up like a champ - 203 was flawless
and I modeled everything I imagined. Everything on my
list and then some. I discovered a wealth of tools and
new workflows along the way. I used every tool imaginable.
Meshpaint became an absolute obsession - a powerful, amazingly
fast and accurate obsession. The list became a commitment
from me to the great group of people who were intently
watching on the subdmodeling forums and pushing me along.
I wanted to do it for myself and for them.
Incorporating feedback and ideas:
I tried to incorporate every suggestion
and comment made. I received a wealth of feedback each
time I posted. Most of the suggestions and critiques dove-tailed
into my work perfectly and made it stronger. So many people
invested serious time, energy and thought into my project.
It was like having this great team of people cheer you
on and freely offer advice and encouragement with every
post. Ideas from the community still keep coming and the
spider still has momentum even after the contest ended.
I have a big list of future objectives before I call it "done."
I learned so much through helping
other people. Since I had previous experience with modo,
it was my part of my goal to help ensure that new users
had a good first experience with modo. I wanted them to
discover the same zeal and passion for the tool that I
have. I don't want to sound like a total fanboy, but modo
is an absolute obsession for me - it thinks the same way
I do. I was familiar with the tool and tutorials, so it
was usually just a matter of searching and pointing to
the abundant resources. It was a fun part of the experience
and helped me to connect with a great group of people.
ALM's early post at submodeling.com
with the Meshpainted hair all over his amazingly realistic
spider was a huge catalyst. Everyone's work pushed me
along. There were so many great entries in this contest,
a wealth of inspiration. I borrowed from everyone. ;)
What did I learn:
First and foremost - the power
of a great community and what a huge thing it is to encourage
and help others and to be encouraged by them in return.
This has been one of the best experiences of my 20+ year
career. When it comes to my 3D work I am usually very
timid and reserved and afraid to put things out there.
I decided to just jump in and be myself. These people
tolerated and endured a lot ;) I discovered this hidden
power to model like a madman and be myself and write exactly
the way I think. I was amazed by the reception and what
I could accomplish. This has been a transforming experience
for me. And a tremendous catalyst for shaping my future.
Wow, I sound like a Miss America
contestant. Thanks guys for an incredible contest. I can't
wait to dive into the tutorials. I am looking foreword
to the next competition.
Sincerely,
Robert Henry
aka Voigtlander
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3rd Place
Adam
J. Raiti
WOW! I'm really flattered after seeing such great work at the subdivisionmodeling.com site. When I first read about the contest I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to spend some time learning modo, a software that I had been tracking over at the Luxology website.
My 7 yr. old daughter was reading
'Charlotte's Web' at the time and I immediately thought
how cool would it be to have the hellfire widow spell
out or in this case "draw" the modo logo. I think the
logo lent it self very easily to being created out of
spider webbing. I wanted to try to put modo through the
paces I normally use in my daily workflow, which includes
using Photoshop, Illustrator, Rhino and Carrara and see
how it would fit.
I created curves in Adobe Illustrator
and piped them in modo for the web (even used a script
from vertexmonkey to simplify the task). I brought in
an .obj file from Carrara (the tree branch) and sub-d'd
and textured it in modo. modo and Photoshop worked very
well together in painting and creating a texture map for
Mrs. Hellfire. The vertex mapping was some of the best
I've used. I have mentioned previously how impressed I
was with the subdivisionmodeling community. I found them
to be some of the most friendly, respectful, helpful and
talented people out there. Did I mention knowledgeable?
I used one member's information on creating pose-able "joints" using
action centers and proxies to help with articulation and
posing of the arachnid's many legs. Other members gave
insightful information on rendering/lighting. Everyone
gave positive feedback and encouraging words and I found
myself spending almost as much time reading over posts
as I did modeling. Overall I would have to say I am very
impressed with modo. The learning experience was invaluable.
I love the vertex map tools as well as painting and learned
a lot in those two areas. By day, I am a high school art
teacher as well as freelance designer/illustrator and
plan on incorporating modo into both jobs. I intend on
purchasing a couple licenses for the high school soon
(budget permitting), because most of all I learned how fun it
is using modo and I think my students would agree.
Thank you for the opportunity
to participate in this contest,
Adam J. Raiti
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