CGPersia Toolbar 0.1b

New Beta version available here.
Nothing fancy in this version, I added a few search options (it's possible to search keywords in  blog and specific forums). Menus have been reorganized.
This version is supported by Firefox 3.6.*. Next release will be available for next versions of Firefox.
Best regards.

Cylon Centurion - Final render

It's time to complete my homage to Battlestar Galactica, one of my favorite TV shows. The first model to render is the fabulous Cylon Centurion, "a fully armored, metallic automaton that functions as the basic foot-soldier of the Cylon ground forces".
I used Autodesk Maya 2011 to model and render  my centurion. The Cylon soldier has got a lot of bevelled and rounded surfaces, so I decided to use Subdivision Surfaces when possible.

Finding good photos and references was the most difficult part of this process. I found out this site and it was a good starting point for the body. Unfortunately, the head and some details are barely visible, but I found out 

two more photos for the head.

Due to the low-quality photos, the head was quite complicated but the images I found in a second moment were good and the modeling part turned into a great amusement. I used a low poly sphere to start sculpting the head. On the left there's the original model, on the right my low poly cage.

I converted the low poly cage into a subdivision surface to smooth the head. After conversion, all edges were creased: the result is very good for me.
Only the head was modeled with polygons, all other parts were approximated  using subdiv surfaces.

Once the model was finished, I had to assign good materials to subdiv surfaces. I used a metal material created by Jeff Patton, a great CG artist, for all metallic parts. I downloaded a good, free angular map to lluminate my model with measurements of real light.

Test above is really good for me but I'd like to add my centurion to a photo representing a real scenario.

With Final Gather turned on, rendering took 1 hour on my computer but I like very much the result: the centurion is hunting rebels in a Caprica's wood.
The next model to render will be my new Viper MK II.