553
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Scruffy
Joined May 27, 2015
Ship part project is complete!
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(Ship part project is complete!) |
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Hello, I'm Scruffy. I've played a lot of video games and the Pikmin series has always held its place as my absolute favorite, by far. First and foremost I am a musician, and I think what really won me over with Pikmin was its expert musical composition and direction. I have studied the music for quite some time, figuring out how it adapts to what occurs in the game. And the first day I got a capable notation software I have been attempting to arrange the Pikmin soundtrack for a synthetic orchestra. | Hello, I'm Scruffy. I've played a lot of video games and the Pikmin series has always held its place as my absolute favorite, by far. First and foremost I am a musician, and I think what really won me over with Pikmin was its expert musical composition and direction. I have studied the music for quite some time, figuring out how it adapts to what occurs in the game. And the first day I got a capable notation software I have been attempting to arrange the Pikmin soundtrack for a synthetic orchestra. I hope I can convince readers to listen more closely to this amazing game. | ||
== | ==Requests== | ||
You can now post a request for musical composition or a Pikmin-related CGI user image on my talk page on here or on Pikmin Fanon ('''preferably on Pikmin Fanon, since this stuff isn't canon'''), and I will do my best to make it so! The more details you give me, the more I can make it like what's in your head. For music, I will post a YouTube link on that section of the talk page once it's finished. | |||
'''Some notes''': | |||
The [[ | *I use Blender, GIMP, Autodesk Sketchbook (the free version), and Autodesk Pixlr for all my photo composition and editing (all of those applications are free; I'd recommend them for getting ideas out of your head and onto a 2D or 3D world. | ||
*I use Sibelius, Notion, Studio One, and GarageBand for my musical compositions. These are all paid applications; I would still recommend them if you want a pretty capable music product without actually hiring people to play a piece. Sibelius (and Finale, but I prefer Sibelius) is the end-all notation program for professionals; it is insanely good and I am humbled on a daily basis by its scope. | |||
'''Some caveats''': | |||
*Nintendo doesn't want anyone to use their copyright, but they don't really enforce it. That being said, I would prefer if have your original music requests posted before your requests for arrangements of ''Pikmin'' music; I don't want to abuse their passiveness to YouTube remixes. | |||
*The more complex an image you desire, the longer it will take me. I do not yet have the tools to rip or view models from the original games, so please bear with me as I build most of my images from scratch. The ship parts were simple shapes; don't expect the full [[Valley of Repose]] the day after you request it (or the month for that matter). Here are the original models I do have access to: | |||
**[[Olimar]] and [[Louie]] from ''Pikmin 2'', and Olimar and the Pikmin from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. | |||
**The [[Beady Long Legs]], [[Raging Long Legs]], [[Segmented Crawbster]], [[Titan Dweevil]], and [[Waterwraith]] (not the original rollers). | |||
**[[Bulborb Larva]]e, the three adult Bulborbs from ''Pikmin 2'' (not the original hair on the [[Hairy Bulborb]]), all dwarf Bulborbs from ''Pikmin 2'', and [[Water Dumple]]s. | |||
**The [[Careening Dirigibug]] and [[Cloaking Burrow-nit]]. | |||
**[[Bomb rocks]], [[boulders]], and [[Glutton's Kitchen#Chiyogami|chiyogami paper]]. | |||
**The full [[Awakening Wood]], the backgrounds in [[cave]]s (although I'm not sure how well those work), and [[newtest]]. | |||
**The [[clover]]s and [[Glowstem]]s from ''Pikmin 2''. | |||
**The [[Insect Condo]]. | |||
**[[Onion]]s, [[pellet]]s, the [[Iridescent Flint Beetle]], the [[Burrowing Snagret]], the [[Hocotate ship]], the [[Swooping Snitchbug]], [[the President]], and the [[Wollywog]] trophies from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. These are (except for Onions) the original models, but they cannot be posed and some of their texture UVs need resolving. | |||
==Renders== | |||
These are some projects I've worked on to render elements of ''Pikmin'' and ''Pikmin 2'' in a style reminiscent of ''Pikmin 3'', with more realistic reflections and transparency and smoother shapes. I wasn't going for total photorealism, but rather a realistic style that you could see in a video game. The HD ship parts were definitely the longest project; I'd say the hardest one was either the [[Pilot's Seat]] (I had to place each individual stitch) or the Omega Stabilizer (that shape...). My favorite project was the [[Chronos Reactor]]. | |||
To compose each individual image, I used [https://www.blender.org/ Blender], a free, open-source software for rendering 3d models, animation, and physical simulations. It's awesome, but it takes a lot of time to learn; I'd recommend searching it on YouTube, there's an ocean of tutorials to help you. Also, the more complex the image, the longer it takes to render; each ship part probably took around 1-3 minutes to render once it was ready. | |||
To put the ship parts on one big sheet, I used [http://www.gimp.org/ GIMP], which is essentially the poor man's Photoshop. | |||
Seriously, between these two programs you could fool someone into thinking a simple 3D model sphere is a photograph. It's scary powerful. | |||
===Gatling Groink=== | |||
[[File:NewGroink.png|300px|]] | |||
A [[Gatling Groink]] in ''Pikmin 3''.The [[Orange Bulborb]] always gave me the most trouble of any enemy, but the Gatling Groink was a close second. A Groink would now have four smokestacks and a crystal on its head instead of a windshield; thus the crystal could be broken with enough [[Rock Pikmin]], but like the [[Skutterchuck]], it would be faster without a crystal in its head. The design is a mix of the classic Gatling Groink and a [[wikipedia:Celestial Eye|Celestial Eye goldfish]]. | |||
===Awakening Wood=== | |||
[[File: Awakening Wood Layout.jpg|512px]] | |||
The [[Awakening Wood]] with a sun-like light source and caustics in the water. Plus a [[Red Bulborb]] in its usual spot. :) | |||
All these textures are the originals, but I moved the texture for the tree shadows. The shadows have more contrast than in the original game, and I had some issues with the tiles in the soil, so they don't show up in this render. | |||
===HD ship parts=== | |||
[[File: HD Ship Parts.png|576px]] | |||
This is my biggest Blender project so far this year: HD "''Pikmin 3''-like" remakes of all the [[ship part]]s from ''Pikmin''. I made all the models from scratch, and then updated all the materials with reflections, transparency and refraction, and some sub-surface scattering, among other effects and camera glare. I'll admit I made quite a few design changes, all of them to make the parts look more modern or to better reflect their purpose. I've listed my changes below: | |||
*[[Main Engine]]: Simplified the outer rim, and made the thrusters coming from it rustier, to show signs of heavy use. | |||
*[[Positron Generator]]: Added some active positrons (the yellow gas) in the main chamber, and made the two antennas connect an arc for science fiction's sake. | |||
*[[Eternal Fuel Dynamo]]: Rounded out the shapes, and made everything shinier. | |||
*[[Whimsical Radar]]: The original radar wouldn't be very efficient at catching waves; I made this one a bit more radar-like. | |||
*[[Extraordinary Bolt]]: I noticed the original didn't have a spiraling groove. For a bolt, that ''is'' pretty extraordinary. | |||
*[[Nova Blaster]]: I made the red design a bit more spaceship-like, and made lit up the device inside to make it look more powerful and dangerous. | |||
*[[Shock Absorber]]: The biggest change was the new rusty bolt on the top. | |||
*[[Radiation Canopy]]: Added a few scratches and (since it's a glass sphere) a little bit of refraction. | |||
*[[Geiger Counter]]: The original part didn't really have a "high" or "low" indication; I tried fixing that with a simple colored texture. | |||
*[[Sagittarius]]: Mainly I added refractions, to make it look more like a real-life precious stone. There's actually a second surface inside that stone that makes the refractions more complex. | |||
*[[Number 1 Ionium Jet|#1 Ionium Jet]]: The first thing I noticed about these "slightly odiferous" parts is that they're too clean for pipes that release exhaust. So I outfitted them with enough wear to make the S.S. Dolphin seem like an older ship. | |||
*[[Gravity Jumper]]: This part boosts the ship to "super light speed;" I thought it appropriate to add a more supernatural look to its blue hue. Hence the green/purple gloss. | |||
*[[Automatic Gear]]: I tried to show the "thin cracks" that are running through it. Or at least, more of a brushed metal texture. | |||
*[[Space Float]]: Not much was changed besides evening out the shape, since the inner tube would fill evenly with air. | |||
*[[Anti-Dioxin Filter]]: I didn't change much about these "chassis" parts; I mainly just updated the shading. | |||
*[[Libra]]: Famous for its [[Glitches in Pikmin#Libra glitch|glitch]], I gave the Libra more scratches than the Sagittarius; it is not as polished nor as refractive. | |||
*[[Analog Computer]]: Mainly, I made the screen a bit more efficient. | |||
*[[Omega Stabilizer]]: This was the hardest shape of them all to build accurately; I had to try many times. It's not quite the same shape as the original part; I'd imagine the S.S. Dolphin with these parts would have a rounder shape. | |||
*[[Guard Satellite]]: Put the inner light bulbs to use and encased them in a more realistic glass. I enjoyed adding glare to this one. | |||
*[[Repair-type Bolt]]: Another hard shape was this key; it just had a lot of polygons to keep track of as I built each side. | |||
*[[Massage Machine]]: Tried to make the cushions a little more cushy. (It the blue bit supposed to be a door, or just a switch?) | |||
*[[Interstellar Radio]]: I made it blue so that, with the Analog Computer and Guard Satellite, these three monitors' colors can suggest the three types of Pikmin. | |||
*[[Gluon Drive]]: Again, didn't change much here, besides updating the little bolts and the shading. | |||
*[[UV Lamp]]: I turned it on; I just thought that'd be more interesting. | |||
*[[Zirconium Rotor]]: I created a material with softer highlights and darker absorbance altogether; my first attempt at rendering dyed zirconium. | |||
*[[Pilot's Seat]]: This one took me the longest. The shape to begin with was difficult because of the creases (I tried to make the pillow look a little fuller). Then I cut the patches from that shape, made fabric-like materials for all of them, and meticulously placed each little stitch, trying to make it imperfect as though Olimar had stitched it. One patch I turned into a piece of duct tape, if he had been in a hurry once when it ripped. | |||
*[[Bowsprit]]: This part's antenna is broken when it's first found; I wanted to emphasize that. So I made the glass appear broken. | |||
*[[Chronos Reactor]]: My favorite part to work on. This part converts spacetime into energy. Let me repeat that. Spacetime, into energy. I tried to represent warping spacetime with this weird glassy sphere just above the part. It's totally transparent and has a refraction less than 1, making it kind of like an all-encompassing concave lens. This gives it the four-dimensional look I was going for, and I made extra glare to enhance its feeling of brightness and radiation. This is definitely the shiniest of these redone parts. | |||
*[[Number 2 Ionium Jet|#2 Ionium Jet]]: Since Olimar's description doesn't specifically mention pollution this time, this ionium jet isn't as dirty. | |||
*[[Secret Safe]]: My first attempt at rendering porcelain. This part also required the most by-hand 3d sculpting of all. | |||