Tools
 

Well, I've finally booted Lightwave again after around 4 months of inactivity...

Decided I'd get myself back into it gently so I've started modelling a few odds and ends from my toolchest.

Here's a first quick test render of a Stanley screwdriver (still a little work to be done on it yet)...

hey, thats a good looking screw driver, but the tip should get some more AA on it, and the ridges pn the handle shoudnt b so deep or so sharp, as it would b hard 2 grip and you would cut yourself on it :)

Bit of a weird angle to render at but from this view, its looking pretty good.

The handle looks fine to me. If anything the tip suffers a bit. Before I read the post I was thinking that sword has a pretty wild colored hilt.

But overall, not too shabby. How bouts another angle?

OK, here it is from another, more normal angle. There's still plenty of work needs to be done on it - I'm not at all happy with the blade shape - it needs to take more of a chiselled look, the surfacing needs plenty of work at the moment the handle looks far too much like some form of glazed ceramic rather than the rather more matte finish platic that it is. The ridges in the handle need opening out more since they're not quite this square on the real thing, plus there's a bunch of stencilling I need to do in there to add the Stanley logo and nicks, scratches, etc...

I'll try and post another wip tonight after I get home...

Forgot the damn image...

pretty neat my dear beer monster :)

Thanks all... another test render. This time with some slight changes to the lighting (now 3 point) and with some minor changes to the handle shape and texturing...

And another one - I've changed the handle texture now so it looks less ceramic like and more like the cheap plastic it really is...

what kind of attributes get that plastic look on models, never could figure it out

OK, the settings for the yellow are as follows:


Colour: 244, 240, 012 (RGB)
Lum: -.0%
Diff: 84.0%
Spec: 15.0%
Glos: 70.5%
Ref: 2.0%
Trans: 0.0%
Refract: 1.0
Transl: 0.0%
Bump: 100%
Smooth: True
Smooth thresh: 60.0 Deg
Dbl Side: False
Reflect ope: Ray Trace + Spherical
Refl Map: Building_Probe.pic
Refl Blur: 15.0%


Black is the same, except the colour which is: 42, 40, 03

The lettering is a simple image map with the same colours as the base.

Essentialy, you want to increase the Glossiness (to tighten the hotspot) and lower the specularity (to widen the specular area) to add to that plastic look.

Dropping the reflectivity to a minimal value also helps...

thanx

OK, another bunch of updates now to the screwdriver, and I suppose it's almost finished. So far I've tweaked the handle shape (again) and the handle texture (again) to make it look more like its real world counterpart. I've also completely remodelled the blade as well to give it the correct chiselled look.

Still to do: Add dirt/scratches to the handle to make it look more used, and muck about with the shaft/blade texturing - those however can wait for another day...

Handle detail...

Blade detail...

Been a while since I poked my head in here - this looks like its coming on a treat though. I don't think your tabletop is doing your model justice at the moment, but the details that you are adding to the screwdriver itself look great. Is it only me that thinks the screwdriver appears to be floating slightly above the table?

Yup I know what you mean - it does look as though it's levitating slightly.

I think that this is purely a function of the rough and ready lighting rig I used since the positioning of the screwdriver is the same as in the first (darker) images - and in those its certainly stuck down nice and firmly to the table top (and in the orthogonal views in Modeller too :) )

I know what you mean about the table top looking a little poor. It's simply the stock table top that ships with Lightwave - only really in there as a proxy object.

There's going to be a bunch more stuff getting modelled shortly - some more screwdrivers, spanners, a tape measure, toolbox, soldering iron, etc. Plus I'll drop in some little bits of hardware / electronics / etc and shove them on a proper workbench before the year is out :)

... oh and I'll be uploading all the models as they get completed too.

OK, since the screwdriver is near enough done, on to a new tool - the tape measure. This is a very quick test render of an early mesh. Much more to do on this yet...

Free models! That would be superb, Mark. Ya know a cluttered workbench or toolbox scene does actually sound quite an interesting one - something where you keep picking up details the more you look at it. Good start on the measuring tape as well.

*Edit* - Did you scan your own tape measure to get the textures for this one?

Fallenswordsman: Yep the decal on the tape is a scan as is the lettering on the handle of the screwdriver - it's amazing what you can do with a regular flatbed scanner and a large sheet of velvet ... even managed to scan a telephone once (one of the old bulky sort of 1960's phone !) :D