Starting in March 2020, I began a large stream project to model a comprehensive, highly-detailed Caterpillar 434E backhoe. Please watch the first stream (first 3 minutes of abridged version at least) for an overview.
It's a straight-forward project of building a complex model over an extended period of time. The spin on the project is that I want your help to accomplish it! If I build some parts and you build some parts, we will finish this thing much quicker. Plus the contribution format will include reviews, the potential of having your piece(s) assimilated into the final model. Not to mention large quantities of XP are at stake 🤑
NOTE: This is an involved project reserved for Citizen members.
The general idea is that I kickoff stages of the project via live stream, which is typically once per month. For the time in between streams, you choose a piece of the backhoe and apply what you learned from the stream to that piece. For example, the first stream covered initial block out. So between stream 1 and stream 2, your job is to pick a piece and block it out.
This is the repeating protocol for each Assignment Period (between-streams):
I will reply to this thread after each stream with a [big] assignment post denoted by a 📣 emoji in the title. There I will clarify instructions about each Assignment Period.
We will centralize our collaborative communication between the streams and this thread. Ask any and all questions pertaining to the Backhoe project here.
dostovel If you bake your backhoe cake 🥧🚜, don't forget to post a photo of it and the recipe 😉😁!
YES! I'm so glad to read the positive reactions. Collaborative ambition, collaborative work, and collaborative excitement - doesn't get better than that.
it's your piece, so you decide ;)
spikeyxxx I was about to say "No way, it's OUR piece!" but then realized "oh wait..that is one of the pieces I modeled" lol.
Seems the majority is suggesting to leave it alone. The main reference we used in our collage shows both buckets with similar rusty/dirty.
Initially I planned to keep everything more new than old / used so I went with shinier on the digger bucket. But once I got to the loader bucket I couldn't resist going grimy. Something about the shinier digger bucket feels kinda cool but kinda unrealistic. I may do one more pass on it but am leaning toward leaving it alone.
seat was looking comfy before, now it's like a plush throne
@adrian2301 Only the best for our invisible operator!
Good assessment duerer. When I take another pass I will increase the rustiness of the digger bucket.
Simply put, me is loving dis group collaborative enterprise yo.
dostovel Yes and amen! I've said it many times but the potential of CGC collabs continues to mount imo. Just imagine what we can accomplish with a refined process 🤩
Your questions are like reading my own questions from Monday of this week haha. The main problem with rendering all as one pass is A) all the materials lean heavily on the pointiness node which only works with Cycles B) Eevee crashed when I tried to render it back in October C) the environment and the backhoe combined was snails-pace slow. As you pointed out HDRI is crucial to decent render times.
So my solution turned out like this:
What's nice about using Eevee and Cycles is that they integrate pretty seamlessly. It's not an exact much but I think with a feathered transition it's really hard to tell. Finger's crossed this stays true in motion 😬
Change nothing. I love it as it is. Ship It.
blanchsb The feedback every artist wants but never receives (unless they take FOREVER to finish) 😆
Sweet sweet, rendering the HDRI equirectangular map of the environment model was top notch thinking. I'm starting to guess it's like this in every production ever, figuring out tricks for over coming limitations and cutting corners here and there.
Seeing the GIF helped in understanding what you did with the floor, I can see it comes with the tractor cycles render with alpha on the edges. And I'm guessing everything is in the same scene, meaning blender file, for the camera work to match.
I'm thinking, how would the group workflow been achieved for shading if everyone was working on their part? it seems impossible for everyone to keep the same material being left on their own. But then again, how do they do that in a production then? I guess there are heads of shading that make all the decisions and everyone adheres to them? Well no matter, that's a job for detective pikachu.
The things I have learned from rust by growing up on a farm are:
1. Rust happens. Mainly when paint wears.
2. It's a chemical reaction and causes material to break down. So, the metal is actually withering away after the reaction. Which is why we apply paint to certain metals to slow this process down on finished parts. Paint is our feeble attempt to keep rust from happening lol.
3. Once you slam that loader bucket or digger arm into the ground, the paint comes off naturally because rocks are harder than paint. Paint exposes bare metal and it rusts fairly quick in the rain.
4. Even though rust happens. Funny enough the rust comes off the same way the paint comes off and the metal looks quite shiny again!
5. The most important point I want to make: If the digger arm just got done doing some work and the loader bucket never got used, you could totally have a scenario where one is rusty and the other is "shiny".
So back to my response. Yes you could continually tweak things BUT it is still believable in my opinion with how it looks now lol. And you already have a major hurtle to overcome doing the animation renders. I say just keep going my man. You're gut got you this far and we're all just riding in this DOG's loader bucket merrily down the road from here. I am totally ready to sit back, eat some of Omar's Doritos and enjoy this ride!
I really wish there was one more live stream to show some of how this stuff came together or maybe just a livestream where we invite the whole community to come and watch the end result. (I know I would show up haha).
Last words for the day: When this is done. I know everyone is thinking it. I'm gonna say it: This DOG deserves some screen time. And I couldn't think of a better place to show it off than at blender conference if they accept the submission. (maybe we could submit our personal real life portrait picts to the project as well, showing off the team members in all their human-y glory haha).
Wait wait wait wait wait... I just had an idea, I don’k know if it’s too late, I think we should all sign the tractor. You know like there are signatures on a steel beam on the Empire State kinda thing. We could send our signatures on a png with alpha and stick it as texture on some part. That has that easter egg vibe. Maybe? No? Is that like ohhh dammit, great, more work, when this thing was almost finished, kinda annoying?
I know we added our own symbols and logos all around, but this is OG signature, hand written real ones as if we sharpie them physically on the tractor.
I couldn't think of a better place to show it off than at blender conference if they accept the submission
Absolutely blanchsb ! Great idea. BCON2021 make room for the DOG.
dostovel I'm planning to add everyone's name / username to the final sequence in a motion-graphics-y way. Like when the camera focuses on the battery box assembly "dostovel" will be labeled so the viewer knows who made that part. Each part will be *signed* in that way. Also in the ending credits.
It's time to add ending credits to this animation! I'm planning to format the credit with at least your CGC username. If you want to be credited by another name (real name, twitter handle, instagram, artstation profile, etc) reply to this comment with up to two additional names or forever hold your peace:
az93 blanchsb dostovel duerer 
hellosudeepsingh 
jakeblended 
ketre spikeyxxxFor example a credit will at least look like this:
theluthier
but could look like this:
theluthier
Kent Trammell, @khtrammell
I too would like to see both the PotBelly Porker Username blanchsb and my birth-right name Shawn Blanch.
Yes, I choose to have both my name and username.
Omar Domenech (Dostovel)
I always have doubts that if I put my twitter handle or ArtStation page, that someone will bother to type it up on a browser and look for it. Less is more.
Agreed,
Adrian Bellworthy
@adrian2301 , @worthy3D.
Full name can be searched on all platforms Twitter, Instagram, Artstation, CGCookie to name the top four.
Just searched on Google... 4th in the results..... Backhoe Contribution CGCookie.
Hello again DOG POUND - Every night Linux Luke is churning out more final frames of the DOG. I'm about halfway done and currently sitting at 85GB in images alone! This is one big reason I haven't asked for help rendering...way too much space needed to sync through Google Drive.
In the meantime blanchsb requested a 4K render of the DOG for his desktop wallpaper and I figured I'd share it here:
I feel glorious.....glorious! (booming from the BellWorthy speakers inside our DOG)
So Kent @theluthier I have to ask: Have you tried E-Cycles yet? They are claiming extreme performance increases in render time. I want to know a professional's opinion though.
