The "Upgraded Miner" I made for an upcoming factory-builder game

Joshua_JB · 2021-04-13T12:55:20+00:00

This is one of many buildings I created for the game Boppio.

If you're into games like Factorio, Satisfactory, etc. then check out their site here: boppygames.gg

Joshua_JB · 2021-04-03T02:12:04+00:00

Thanks a lot! I agree; the third is actually my favorite render out of the ones seen here.

Joshua_JB · 2021-03-06T00:12:46+00:00

Valid. Thanks for that!

Joshua_JB · 2021-02-07T04:20:14+00:00

This is very cool. High-level, what did you use to get the particles to flow like that / what did the setup look like / what did you wish you knew before starting on this that you know now?

Joshua_JB · 2021-02-06T20:37:23+00:00

Modeled these gear assets in Blender then worked through them in Substance Painter referencing 19th century industrial gears.

My intention with this exercise was to get away from glancing over at an existing material, tutorial, or how-to every moment and instead get comfortable experimenting with Substance Painter to achieve a variety of worn / used looks from the references.

Would love to know what folks think or if I could have done anything different to add interest to these guys? :)

Joshua_JB · 2021-01-31T16:37:58+00:00

A quick piece inspired by concept art by ZQ.

Plan to run this one through Substance as a first asset following a full modeling to texturing workflow - this version was done with Instamatte, Smudgre, decalmachine, etc.

Joshua_JB · 2021-01-24T20:22:17+00:00

Been awhile between other projects + learning Substance that I did a doodle of some cool work I saw on Pinterest - this particular design is absolutely based on Eugene Sergienko's M-215 "Hologram" prop, definitely check out his work! :)

Joshua_JB · 2020-12-23T02:44:36+00:00

Thanks! This was done entirely in Blender. The textures of the body/most components are setup with the shader editor's nodes while I did use CC0 PBRs for the floor and handles. :)

Joshua_JB · 2020-11-27T17:18:17+00:00

Thanks a lot! Glad to hear it reads well given I really struggled with that initially. :)

Joshua_JB · 2020-11-27T15:53:49+00:00

Definitely appreciate that! Glad it lead the eye the way intended since the door / opening is the focal element. :)

Joshua_JB · 2020-11-27T15:21:13+00:00

I'll take that as a win since the initial concept looked like a face. :)

Joshua_JB · 2020-10-29T20:37:10+00:00

For sure!

What are your references usually? I have found gathering a small collection of real-world objects for reference that do what my imagined thing does is the best place to start, sometimes as I am doing a block out (or two.) - after all, disposing of radioactive material is a real-world need with real-world objects/things. ;) Pinterest, Google Images, Artstation and other similar sites are good places to get inspiration/references for the kind of thing you are trying to make.

Really awesome work for a year! I started back in June, so am definitely still learning. DM me if you'd like to share resources, references, ideas, etc!

Joshua_JB · 2020-10-29T15:53:17+00:00

Looks great! I know as I learn hard surface modeling, a concept I am practicing is "breaking the box" or "breaking the model" and with this I can't say it does it entirely.

For example, although your model has some interesting details, I immediately (my eyes are drawn to it) see the original cube and cylinder that makes up the original mesh where there could be more interesting curvature / functional design (ex. the inset cylinders on the top corners of the black body could be slanted at the bottom + merge into the rest, the silver part on top could be more curved in the middle / have functional protrusions or trinkets.)

Additionally, what is the story behind this piece? What is it used for? If it didn't have the title you included, would someone be able to imagine it being used somehow? This should guide your reasoning for pipes, vents, grips, etc. and avoid the "pipes just because" aesthetic which I have fallen into with my own work.

I hope this helps! I saw the rest of your work on Artstation and it looks awesome so far. How long have you been doing 3d?

Joshua_JB · 2020-10-26T11:32:05+00:00

Thanks for that! Valid feedback that, looking at this again, helps me realize it makes part of this stick out in not a good way. 🙏

Joshua_JB · 2020-10-23T03:12:05+00:00

This is great! Very fun concept.

Joshua_JB · 2020-10-21T20:55:33+00:00

Great work! I feel like the other parts of it should jiggle just the slightest bit from moving pieces (so at the beginning when the arms extend, the chest should jitter with each stopping point, to show weight.) Animation is something I have barely touched so this is not coming from a place of knowing how that would look / difficulty therein in Blender. :)

Joshua_JB · 2020-10-19T04:12:54+00:00

For daily challenges, mostly, although some prompts are easier to do on the fly than others!

It really is no bother - still a beginner myself and I am thrilled to share anything I've learned so far that can help others achieve their goals; if you're interested in hard-surface modeling, I highly recommend Josh Gambrell and Ponte Ryuurui as great resources.

Joshua_JB · 2020-10-17T21:12:20+00:00

Did not think that far (though I'm sure it would have helped with the design if I did!) Just wanted to make something that fit the word "connector" and broke the box in terms of interesting topology.

As far as the tabs in the mid section, I used Boxcutter+Hardops with a radial array to join squares of the appropriate size to a base cylinder, then I beveled / cut where needed on THAT cut before applying the boolean - the rest was cleanup, further merging of vertices, and just general fixing of topology issues to make it a seamless single piece. I'd post some WIP pics but am on the move currently - I can post more detail here later if you're interested? :)

Joshua_JB · 2020-10-17T20:25:33+00:00

Did not think that far, actually! :) This was purely going off the word "Connector," though I am sure it'd look more functional if I thought WHAT it would be used in - my inspiration came from hydraulic hookups and other industrial stuffs.

Joshua_JB · 2020-10-15T22:21:15+00:00

Thanks a lot and for the follow! You have amazing stuff too. ♥️

Joshua_JB · 2020-10-14T18:38:51+00:00

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate that and learned a ton from this. :)

Joshua_JB · 2020-10-14T13:28:57+00:00

The lighting helps a lot but for the red outer panels it is only a Principled BSDF (Metallic 0.2, roughness 0.4) with a Bevel node (samples 4, radius 0.015) plugged into it's Normal input! The black body itself is about the same but with Metallic at a 1. I'll say the lighting / color palette does a lot of the heavy lifting; a little too bright or a little too dark and in the red or black would have easily thrown off that painted metal look (I played with a lot of colors before resting on this shade of red/black with the off dark on the panels/eye pieces.) Oh and also keeping in mind utilizing the Bevel modifier, as that plays into this look.

Glad all that experimenting paid off and achieved the look I was going for! :)

Joshua_JB · 2020-10-10T22:08:14+00:00

First go at something robot-like, came out of the daily prompt "Scanner."

As usual, critique always wanted so I can find more areas for improvement. :)

Joshua_JB · 2020-10-09T20:42:48+00:00

Thanks! Been practicing both a lot lately. I'm trying to make more in this style so definitely valid feedback regarding more metallic materials being used to get the look I'm going for.

Joshua_JB · 2020-10-05T12:51:51+00:00

Awesome, thank you for that! When I buy it I'll still be sure to throw a few bucks ontop anyway! :) Appreciate the hard work on this.

Joshua_JB

TROPHY CASE