Hey guys... it's been a while since I've posted any topics. I've been working a lot lately on my 3D Modeling. As some of you know I just started getting into this since I took a class on it last semester and this semester. I've got a variety of stuff, most of it isn't incredibly realistic, but I'll see if I can get the pictures in somewhat chronological order.

I encourage anyone to make any comments on them. The purpose of this thread is so I can start getting some feedback on my work and get more of a grasp on what I should focus on improving.



This was the first model I made. I followed a tutorial my teacher created and then went into detail on my own, adding things like lights to the base and lattice on the fan blades.


My girlfriend asked me to do a model of a Celtic cross because she's very Irish and never lets me forget it...



This was a project where I had to take an object in my house and model it... any guesses?




(Render quality really bad on this one)My final project in 3D Modeling was to make a transformer... hahaha, I know I know... the transformer version looks absurd, but I had pulled an all-nighter finishing the box modelling on the car and just took it apart and rearranged the pieces like 20 mins before class the next morning


These are models I made to act as scenary for a class project in Animation... I don't quite have a grasp on skys and environments yet, thats why the lighting is so weird here.


This one I made following a tutorial on V-Ray rendering. It is an expensive rendering engine used to get a realistic look.... as you can see. The modeling was very simple for this, but I still need a lot of practice getting the settings customized in other scenes for realistic V-Ray renders.



Ok so that's it so far... still learning. I modelled a really cool looking wheel for a car lastnight, but forgot to save only to have my laptop crash. Gahh, I'll remake it and put it up here sometime soon...

Constructive criticism and ideas for future models/scenes are strongly welcomed!

Doh!! How could I forget to include the one I was working on today???!!!


This is my latest one... I took a tutorial on making smoke and went on to model a scene out of it...

oo thats really good which program did you use?

the cup one is the nicest

I use 3D Studio Max 8 and 9 depending on if I'm at school or not.

And I agree, the cup definitely is the nicest so far... If I could figure out the correct render settings, I can make this wheel look really nice once I finish redoing it.

Great models, crtbud!!!

If I was to critique anything - and it's a very minor point probably limited by the software you use - it's the opacity is not quite 'real world'.

The V-Ray cup of coffee model is probably the best example of opacity although in the last one you did the section of the martini glass obscuring the liquid is very good!

You have got wonderful talent, wish you all the best if this is what you intend as a career!!!

WOW!!! is all I can really say, as you have mentioned you are just learning this stuff. You're really very good I admit I do not know much about 3d art, but I love the art and I must say yours looks very good for starters. I especially love your coffee cup, and hence, stole your pic for my desktop, as I am a coffee freak and there really aren't any nice coffee pics. Yours is the best I have ever seen, and I have a few 3d coffee pics I hope you don't mind I stole it....

Really good Crtbud!

My favourites are the cup and the glass and cigarette!

I love your work Crtbud.

The coffee cup is amazing, and I love how you can see the bulbs through the light shades on the fan.

Great detail!!!

Thanks guys!!

Leo- Yes, the opacity is quite a bit off still. The coffee cup one I set up the lighting and materials following a tutorial and using the V-Ray rendering engine which is much more powerful than anything included in the original program. I really just started focusing more on the use of lights, materials, and render settings to achieve a more realistic image. The Martini picture was my first attempt at trying to get materials that look good, although I'm self-teaching most of it so I am having a hard time figuring out what settings will do what. It's a slow learning process, but with practice the results can be fantastic.


Rassy- I really appreciate the kind words and you are more than welcome to use that picture... it is quite an honor to be told you created the best coffee pic someone has ever seen.... as weird as that sounds I'm serious Feel free to make requests if you would like a coffee cup in a different setting or just something else altogether I'll do my best to make it.


Lotus- You see what was on my mind yesterday? The martini not the cigarette (172 days w00t)


Inner- I'm so glad you noticed the details. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to most things and detail is something I really focus on so it's very rewarding to have it pointed out. I was thinking about going back and trying to set up the fan with V-Ray rendering to get a more realistic look.


Thank you all for your encouragement and critique... I'll be back with something new soon... I won't be able to crank pictures out like a machine, but if you have any requests for any objects you'd like to see I'll do my best working on that. Like my teacher says; "you won't be in the field choosing what you're going to model, you'll have projects assigned to you and that is what you'll HAVE to make." So variety =

yeah the cup one and the glass and cigarete, they are cool.

Crtbud, would you be able to do some sort of ghostly apparition type thing, or would that not be possible?

It would be apt for this Site, seeing as to how it it unexplained mysteries

Ooooh what an awesome idea! Ill work on trying something like this later tonight... I'm really not sure how to approach it, but I guess there's quite a bit of room for artistic improvisation Thanks for the suggestion lotus

Hey, you're welcome!!

To be honest, I wasn't sure if it would be possible to do or if you would laugh at the idea

Hopefully it will be as great as all your other 3ds

Well...you made smoke look pretty good, so I'm sure you can make up a lovely apparition for us, and what a great idea!!! And inner_space was right - you pay nice attention to details, some of which some artists who are still learning wouldn't think of (imo), such as the thing with the lights. I never notice these kinds of little things, but once it was mentioned, I went back and had a look and I agree that those sorts of things really do enhance the overall atmosphere of your art. Keep up the good work

Do you find it hard or easy to work on these types of pics? And does it take you very long? Like I mentioned before, I know practically nothing about 3D rendering etc, but I do love the artwork (although I am picky). I have noticed though, with alot of 3D art I have collected (I don't have much - I'm picky LOL), they still look mostly 2D while yours definitely have more of a 3D look.

I will most definitely take you up on your coffee pic offer but I will wait for now as I'm dying to see how your apparition turns out.

The cup and saucer are my favorite, very realistic! I also like the one your working on....the table has a nice wood grain look

Laugh at the idea? No way it's a cool challenge. I tried and it came out looking like a neon green ghosty thing with red glowy eyes and a mouth the same color... it's kinda goofy lookin but just my first half-assed attempt... sadly I forgot my laptop today so I can't post it up right yet... I'll stop home for lunch later so I'll grab it then.



Rassy, you are way too kind I made an ok apparition first run, but I'm going to go back in and tweak things I think. Well It's good to hear the details play into the images so well. I'll be sure to continue nitpicking the little stuff

Now do I find it hard or easy... hmmm, well at first I found it hard because I had no clue how to find most things in the program unaided. Now that I've put enough time in I actually have enough of a grasp to look at objects and break them down to simple shapes in order to evaluate the most suited approach. Well, maybe not completely yet, but I'm getting there. It's a lot easier when you know how different tools in the program can be utilized, and it's very confusing beyond the modeling. A lot of tools that automate certain procedures use complex mathematics and you have to have a basic understanding so you can enter the correct values for the look you're pursuing. Modeling I find to be easier now, but there is still a lot that's hard for me simply because I haven't used it yet. Now lighting and rendering settings... that's a different story. Basic lighting I have a better understanding for and I think I've gotten more of a grasp on that since I last posted. (you'll see when I put up a remake of the martini picture ) It's amazing how much the mood of the shot is tweaked when you change the color of your light or have two lights of different colors. I think I put more time in setting up the materials, lights, and render settings than I do modelling anymore. The smoke in the shots is one solid blob, but the material applied calls for a fall off in the opacity that makes it disappear towards the top, as well as luminosity to cause the thicker edges to slightly glow. These things give the smoke a white appearance and cause it to thin out very quickly.

To stop rambling and simply answer your final question, it usually atleast two hours and that amount of time can increase exponentially depending on how much of a perfectionist I am that day.

I'm afraid you'll be disappointed with my apparition, but I promise I'll go back and make it better.




Thanks gizagirl! I'm glad you like it. Like I said I redid the martini picture, I think you'll like this one better. It doesn't have a wood grain table anymore however... it will get redone plenty more times though I can promise you that

Thanks for checkin them out, the feedback's very helpful.

Ahhhhh me bahamian brudda. How cin I sayz.. I be so proudin of yous. Da cup iz righteous brudda I'd be spippin' dat. Da Lurd be givin' you da talen; don waste dat ya hearin' me? Luvin yous always, yo sista, Jody♥



Okay, okay for non-Bahamian's - Cup rules. CRT is talented as all get out. Love ya!

I have to agree on that... the cup and saucer are superb!

The ashtray and martini could use less shadow on the smoke.

Yooo SISTAAA!! Glad you be staggerin ova hea in mah parts of daa tropical iiiislaaand! The gods bless yurrr heart fer yurr kind words sista, I wont be wastan anyyythinnn you believe daat. Many thanks and much love sista! You izz daa best!





Biff, Thanks for stoppin by! I'm glad you like the cup and saucer... it seems to be number one by popular opinion right now

I DEFINITELY agree the smoke needs less shadow... as I rambled to rassy about, I'm still workin with lighting and how to best position them for a good shot... I moved that damn light around so many times and never found a shadow that didn't look obnoxious. Check back this afternoon to see my update on it, I doubt the cup and saucer will hold their throne as king of my 3D images...

Iz bein watchin yous now my talented brudda. Peace (hits chest twice with fist and then raises "peace" sign with hand) ...out.

Ok guys, as promised:


Here's the apparition, nothing great... I'm not really too proud of it, I'm going to have to experiment more with the settings.


And the animated GIF version...


My Martini and Cigarette remake... minus the smoke. I decided to modify the lighting on this to play with the mood of the shot a little. I'll add updates regularly because I'm determined to make this picture worthwhile and it's far from finished.

LOL - pretty cool - I dig it!

Hey! Excellent!

Regarding the cigarette one, that is superb!

Do another!!

Ohh I love the animated gif one. If you look at it a long time it almost looks shexy... or is that just me?

The martini and ciggy are 150% better... smoke needed though.

I'm so proud of you!!!! Looks great hun Jody

Eeek!! I see what you mean with your apparition. It didn't quite turn out as you expected to? Ahhh, but you are learning and I'm sure people agree when I say there is loads of potential in your pics - you have a very unique way with the detailing of your pics, which is definitely enhancing the overall mood, or atmosphere. I really like what you've done with your martini glass pic - the way the cigarette glows in the ashtray is really eyecatching! Alas, the glow of the smoke is unfortunately missing from that one, but that doesn't seem to detract from the overall essence of the pic much. Do you have a problem with smoke or misty substances? Because your apparition is not quite what is expected, yet you've managed to colour it nicely, whilst it's definitely a misty substance. That pic is why I am so sure you have great potential - even though you seem disappointed with your endeavour, your talent for detail, colour, shading, consistency etc defnitely stands out there.

As I mentioned before, I know absolutely nothing about the creation of pics such as yours. But on the chance that you may be having problems with the consistency of smoke.... Do you have layers in your art program? Cause if you do, you might want to try to do misty/smokey stuff on a separate layer, and, once you're satisfied with that bit, you can mess with the transparency of that layer - and that doesn't affect any other parts of your overall work. Transparency will fade colour and intensity, but it will still be there, if subtley, and subtlety (sp?) is a great form of detail, too

May I PM you and see if you have some time to make a coffee cup picture for me, still? I would love that I could tell you my favourite colours and some details I'd like to see, but I don't know abt the colours - your coffee cup pic is all white, yet you've done such a great job with detail and texture, etc, that it looks awesome and I would think that having colour in that type of pic would detract from it. Isn't that some kind of art no-no to use too much of one colour in an entire pic? Well, I guess you proved that particular theory wrong! See? You have loads of talent for art!!

Rassy, let me start off by saying your enthusiasm towards my work is very encouraging and very much appreciated. And yes, I have been having a little bit of trouble with the smoke in the new image. I need to use a different type of material from the first one in order for it to render correctly, and haven't been satisfied with anything I've come up with yet. Sorry the apparition turned out so bad, it's ok, you can admit it. The program uses geometry that I model and then apply materials to in order to get the transparency. However in the type of material I need to use, there is no adjustment labelled "Transparency" to make it nice and simple for me Thus, I must fool around with settings to get it to work. I've had family visiting for the past few days so I haven't been working on anything new, but I'm gonna get back to it.

And yes, feel free to PM a cup you would like me to make, any details let me know and I'll do my best to get them to work. As for the coloring, I'm by no means an artist by the traditional definition. Definitely shoot me a PM and I'll do my best to make you a nice new coffee cup

For now, I must run.

CLICK HERE
nice pic or should i call it graphic art
i made some too
the link is above
by the way you should make few picture lighter because its too dark which the model is hard to describe.

Well my graphic art is in lower pixel/inch because they were 20 mb each with max pixel/inch so
i have to convert it and plus they were big 5000 x 5000
anyway keep up with the good work

we can share idea's so we can make lots of models

i got 2 models to make

plus i need a render a better one.......

Sweet dude!! I like your work, especially that skull with the knife through the head. It looks very cool. I'd definitely like to exchange ideas/techniques... Thanks for stoppin by bro

i also made 3 or 4 more photoshop pic
as soon i figure out how to get it out of the ipod

Cool, can't wait to see those...

I'm just posting to say that, sadly, I might not be making too many more images this year... I've got to finish my cousin's wedding video before I see them for Christmas so my spare time is going to be thuroughly invested into that.

Be sure to keep me posted (no pun intended ) on your progress, however.

you are very talented.

Thank you Sarah

A quick close up render of the latest project I'm working on using V-Ray:

And V-Ray again, further away. I followed a tutorial for the modeling technique.

A free rim model I downloaded, then scaled the tires to fit. Default scanline renderer


Next, I'm building my own wheel to replace the free one and adding brand stamps to the material on the side of the tires. My brother is working on the car they will all be attached to.

progress.... slow but steady... kinda