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The most recent work is at the top so if you want to see the progress from the beginning you will have to go to the bottom and work up.

The LightWave Tutorial BLOG

Blog 1 is  the CD series (a 3 CD set) "Introduction to LightWave" by SplineGOD (Larry Shultz)

   
March 23, 2004 Time Spent - Lost Count
I've been playing with the flames a bit but mostly have been working on animating this so there hasn't been a lot to show.  I'll be working on a personal project for the next little while but will try to do a few more updates on this soon.
   
Feb 18, 2004 Time Spent - 12 Hours
Well I think I finally have the texturing finished on the ship.  I've started doing some of the animation elements from the third CD and have also started to do some texturing of the launch pad. I've also started another blog in case you haven't noticed.  I'm working through another of Larry's packages.  This one deal with character modelling and animation and it is on a separate page.  I'm not finished with this rocket ship yet though to keep coming back from time to time to see how I'm doing.  If you click on the picture to the left it will take you to a page with larger pics taken from vaious angles.
   
Dec 15, 2003 Time Spent - 7 Hours
Between work which is crazy right now, the renovation going on in my house (which is taking all my evenings up) I haven't had much time to work further.  I spent some time last weekend on the nozzles and here is where I am.  Don't expect any more updates until the new year (possibly some between Christmas and New Years).  I've also darkened the fins and base of the fusilage where I figured that the smoke and heat from the blast of the nozzles would discolour the surface and lower the diffuse qualities considerabley. 
   
Nov 24, 2003 Time Spent - 4 Hours
Fin texturing this time. I will start the back end tomorrow along with the fuel nozzles.  I had another idea for the fins which I may try in the near future but the playing around I did tonight didn't translate to well.  I need to step back from it and then revisit the fins later.
   
Nov 21, 2003 Time Spent - 6 Hours
More surfacing.  Here I've been working on the door to the craft.  Now I'm simply using the techniques taught in the course to create the textures.  I have some ideas for the fins and fuel tanks but I need to spend some time in photoshop flushing out my ideas.  I am getting much more comfortable with photoshop 7 now and it is taking me less time to create the maps.  
   
Day 22 Nov 4, 2003 Time Spent - 11 Hours
I have been spending a lot of time in photoshop and going over some of the videos I've already seen and have completed the rest of the fusilage.  The thing that took all the time was two things, the rivets ( ohmygod there are a lot of rivets!) and getting the final images to match up with the images from the start of the fusilage and the nose.  I'll be moving on to other aspects of the surfacing such as the fins,  the fuel tanks, etc. in the next few days.  I also think I'm getting better at predicting how things in photoshop work as I do this project.  
   
Day 21 Oct 27, 2003 Time Spent - 4 Hours
I've gone back over a couple of the videos to try out different techniques but eventually went back to the original techniques taught by Larry.  The nose is done and matches up nicely with the fusilage.  The problem is that the rest of the fusilage is still not done yet so I'll be doing that over the next couple of nights.  I also want to give it a better backdrop as the red grid is starting to annoy me.  I have a plan for the background but will need to do some more modelling work.  Hopefully I should have a good part of the texturing done by the weekend.  My time has been at a premium lately so I haven't gotten done on this what I would like.  I will pick up the pace a bit if I can.
   
Day 20 Oct 21, 2003 Time Spent - 5 Hours
I've begun work on the nose cone but going is slow.  Photoshop has really sucky tools for doing any kind of vector drawing.  I've been trying to follow Larry's tutorial and trying out different techniques for creating panels, bump lines and rivets but photoshop is driving me crazy (version 7.0 by the way).  I'm new to the 7.0 interface and I'm finding myself taking extra time to figure out the changes to the interface.  Nothing drastic but it is slowing me down.  Anyways... I've been trying to use photoshop to do vector lines and squares for the bump map but just gave up and went back to the method I'm used to.  I then labored for a couple of nights to create all the panels and the rivets only to discover that the panels and rivets are too small compared to the section I've already done. This was really dumb as Larry stresses the fact that you should try out "tests" as you go to make sure that things are progressing as you would like them too.  I could let the sie difference go but it bugs me so I'll spend the next couple of nights fixing the proportions.  I'm not sure if you can see much from this pic but here it is anyways.
   
Day 17 Oct 14, 2003 Time Spent - 2 Hours
I think I finally have a surface that I like.  I've added some rivets and changed the diffuse to dirty things up.  I've also added an overall bump to the texture to bang up the surface in some spots.  The tutorial goes into the nose cone texturing next so I will do that then I'll go back and put the panels and rivets all over the rest of the ship body.  I still may turn down the reflection but for now I'm happy with the surface.  On to the nose cone.
   
Day 14 - 16 Oct 6, 2003 Time Spent - 6 Hours
Been busy trying various texturing techniques for adding panels to the main fusilage surface of the ship.  Larry take you through several "tests" on a small area where you can try different things.  I'm still playing around but here is what I have so far.  the area in question is the the area between the nose of the ship and the gold band.  The area is highly reflective (which is something I may change later but it's part of the tutorial so I'm going with that) but you can see the bump of the panels, and you can also possibly see some changes to the specular and diffuse areas to "dirty things up a bit".  Once this texture is acceptable then I will continue it around the entire ship.  By the way, the checkerboard floor is there just so that we have something for the reflection channel to reflect.  That too will change in the future.
   
Day 13 - Sept 29, 2003 Time Spent - 4 1/2 Hours
There a several videos that deal with a variety of texturing concepts so I've bben going through these slowly so I don't miss anything.  There is a lot of experimenting after watching the beginning texturing videos so take your time and have fun.  I've started the texturing on the space ship but have just gotten into it so it looks a bit disjointed at the moment.  Things will come together soon, and I should have more pics to show you.
   
Day 12 - Sept 24, 2003 Time Spent - 2 Hours
I posted my problem to the forum that Larry provides for the course.  Larry responded quickly and he figured out a simple method that I hadn't thought of to fix the problem.  The fix took less than ten minutes and I discovered that I didn't need to make a higher poly model after all.  Of course I spent the rest of the evening going over the other two models we've created and inspected them carefully and fixed a few problems.  Mostly having to do with the same smoothing errors.  Some were easier to fix than others.  I've polished up the models and will be ready for the beginning of the texturing sessions next.  The pic to the left shows the fix with the portholes problem.
   
Day 11 - Sept 23, 2003 Time Spent - 2 1/2  Hours
I went through a few more videos which introduce a few more concepts in texturing such as gradients so I've been playing around with that.  I loaded up the ship to begin setting up a lighting rig and noticed some bad pinching on the sides where the portholes were so I spent most of the rest of the evening trying to fix the problem.  I tried a variety of rebuilding and boolean and/or slicing techniques, tripling and adding polys but nothing seemed to work.  So, now I'm rebuilding the ship using the same techniques as I used to originally build it but using more polys.  In just over an hour I'm almost finished rebuilding the ship.  I'll add the finishing details tomorrow.  The pic to the left shows the initial problem, pinching of the mesh around the windows.  I'll post a pic of the new model next time.
   
Day 10 - Sept 21, 2003 Time Spent - 5 1/2  Hours
  Not really any pics to show you at this point.  I've just gone through 5 videos that explore the texturing panel and its many options.  I suggest beginners do all the small exercises that Larry goes through and spend time exploring what all the options are.  This is actually a very big section so experiment.

I've also gone through 1 video where Larry walks you through the Layout interface and introduces you to the basics.  The next four videos deal with lighting basics.  I'm going to go through all these videos and do the exercises then I'll try playing around with our rocket ship model and lighting.  

   
Day 9 - Sept 17, 2003 Time Spent - 2  Hours
The last of the modelling videos gives me this.  This won't have a lot of detail as it is, according to Larry, simply a background piece that won't be viewed in any detail.

The next videos get into the basics of surfacing.  No images from these yet to show you so all you get is the transport vehicle to the left here.  There should be more by the weekend.

   
Day 8 - Sept 16, 2003 Time Spent - 2 1/2 Hours
4 More videos and we've touched on yet more modelling techniques.  I learned a new keyboard shortcut myself (Shift \ will bring back any hidden geometry and hide the current visible geometry).  Here you see the work I've done on the Transport ship[ so far.  The body was created with sub division surfaces and I've started detailing the windows into the canopy.
   
Day 7 - Sept 15, 2003 Time Spent - 2 Hours
After 14 modelling videos here is where I am at.  There are still  5 more videos to go so I figure the modelling should be complete in a couple of evenings.  I was right about the changes to the main support beam, Larry had us adjust the model so that the holes and the supports didn't overlap.  Texturing will come later so right now there is not a lot of colour or detail yet.
   
Day 6 - Sept 12, 2003 Time Spent - 2 3/4 Hours
The work has now begun on modeling the ramp for the ship.  There are a few things I would like to change about the ramp but I'll wait to do any changes myself in case Larry has the same ideas.  (I don't like th way that the holes of the main horizontal support coincide with the rounded supports.  I may pull these down a bit but as I said I'll wait to see what the video offers.

I'm not a beginner but already I've learned a few things that I didn't know before.  For example, Larry uses the stretch tool to made a rounded surface flat.  Great little tip and so easy too!

   
Day 5 - Sept 11, 2003 Time Spent - 1 Hours
Two more videos later and I've completed two versions of the spaceship (different windows on the cockpit area). I've put both together in one layer to show you the different versions.   Again Larry discusses a variety of techniques and introduces more modelling tools.  The next videos will get into the modelling of the Transport Ramp.  Later we will be doing the texturing, lighting and animating.

Personal note: I like the video format of the tutorial.  It feels like the instructor is right there at your computer and you can actually see what is happening.  It's also easy for the instructor to show you what happens if something is done wrong and how to fix the problem.

   
Day 4 - Sept 10, 2003 Time Spent - 1 1/2 Hours
Two more videos later (that's 7 video clips for the modelling so far) and I've added some collars with rivets and some windows.  Larry goes into several ways to achieve similar functions.  Beginners will probably spend a lot more time on these than I did as Larry moves fairly quickly in his descriptions.  If this is the case for you just stop the video (I have the video running in the background and just switch between the video and LightWave - watch a bit of the video, pause it, try the technique out myself in LightWave and then back to watch more video).  Larry covers a lot of different things so beginners will want to play around a bit so they get the handle of the tools.  And there is always the online forum to ask the author or other students for help. 
   
Day 3 - Sept 9, 2003 Time Spent - 2 Hours
Quite a few concepts and tools are covered in the next 3 videos.  The model doesn't look much further along but Larry describes a variety of ways to model the various new parts and discusses the pros and cons of each way.  

I can see why Larry picked this object to model.  It will use a wide variety of techniques so the beginner LightWave artist will get a good range of tools to learn.

   
Day 2 - Sept 8, 2003 Time Spent - 1 1/2 Hours
This is what I had after doing the first 2 videos. This is what I have after doing the first 2 videos.  It doesn't look like much but Larry has gone over a lot of concepts to get to this point.  How to set up backdrop images and the importance of smoothing and the various ways to achieve it as well as the importance of beveling.

I would like to add that Larry did not point out one thing which I found to be helpful.  You can save your backdrop setup to a file by using the backdrop tab.  If you shut down LightWave all you have to do is reload this file and all your backdrop settings are brought back immediately without you having to re-input everything again.   

   
Day 1 -Sept 7, 2003 Time spent Approx. 2 hours (Beginners will spend more time but that's to be expected.)
  I've received 2 CD's.  The first CD is titled Modeling and the second is titled Texturing and Lighting.  After putting in the first CD and firing up the right files I've discovered that this course will be building, texturing, lighting and animating a rocket ship.  The main interface is easy to read and has links to several free tutorials and you may want to bookmark the support forum website as well.

    I start off with a  video (quicktime files) that go through the conventions that Larry is using throughout the learning sessions.  I quickly realize that I will have to change the screen size of my desktop.  Larry suggests a minimum of 1024 x 768 resolution but the videos are at least this size and they jump really badly for me while they play as they are framed in the web browser.  I increased the resolution to 1280 x 1024 and the videos play great now.  If you you don't like having your screen at this resolution then I suggest finding and playing the correct video directly from the CD in the quicktime player. 

    There are 4 other videos.  They are videos that reinforce some basic but very important concepts that beginners should spend some time learning.  A brief overview of the modeler interface explaining some of the basic tools, a video that explains 3D space and how it relates to modeling, a video on how to select and deselect points and polygons,1 and finally a video on the proper way to create a content directory.  If you are a total beginner you need to see these videos first and practice the basic concepts.  Intermediate users could probably skip these videos but they won't take long to view and are a good reinforcement of the basics.

Time for the these videos - Approx. 1 Hour (Beginners will spend more time but that's okay.  Spend the time to learn the concepts) but I also spent an hour or so going over the main interface and visiting some of the links and checking out the support forum.

 
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