Target!

[digiartist]

Having seen all the great King Tiger WIP threads I was inspired to do a new render of my own KT.
'Target!' depicts King Tigers and Panthers travelling along a snowy road during the Battle of the Bulge. To add a bit of story to the scene I have Tiger 324 with it's turret traversed to meet a possible threat which has just been spotted by it and the tank riders of Tiger 333.
Anyway, hope you like it and it's back to the Ar234 for me:)

[Freedom Fighter]

Awesome!! What more can I say?
5 stars:D

[pete.cook]

Absolutely stunning! It looks like a painting.

This has to be headered!

[Buelliful]

Excellent stuff as usual G, very nice indeed! :salute:

One thing though, the Sherman on the left looks remarkably "intact". I take it, it has been
knocked out to be that close?

Nice work again though mate!

[[WDP] Malach]

this image was so awesome it drew me out of lurker mode.

VERY nice work, though I lean more to the sci-fi side, but still....

VERY nice work, mate

[digiartist]

cheers guys for the positive comments! Al, the idea is the Sherman has broken down and been abandoned during the American's initial withdrawal:)

[kevjon]

Probably the coolest miltary render I've seen. 5 stars from me too.

Almost makes me feel like modelling a tank next....nah...just great work.

[Galgot]

Very impressive ! :eek: Moreover, I like that kind panoramic image format. Please, are the soldiers "painted" in Photoshop or modelled ?

[mrys]

Gareth, you are my God. Absolutly excellent! How old are you? How long I should learn to get this results?:cry:

[giant551]

what can you say ??? But go straight to the top of the class:D :D :D a true masterclass

[digiartist]

cheers guys

Galgot, everything except the trees and sky are modelled

Marek, I'm getting on a bit at the ripe old age of 33:D

[mrys]

Gareth for the King, Gareth for the King...


BTW, I'am a big fan of computer games series "Thief" (Dark Project, The Metal Age and Deadly Shadows). Main character is named Gareth (to be fair: by double r an t).
Do you know something about...?;)


Marek, I'm getting on a bit at the ripe old age of 33:D
My God, I lost five years:cry:...........

[Mirko]

:eek: :eek:

W O N D E R F U L !

[Spinner]

Digital artist indeed!
I love the understatement with the Sherman, so life like. And all the while that overcast tells its own story and the one to come.
This owns the Header.

[krazycolin]

wow. really great stuff gareth... amazing....

[bzhyoyo]

I feel cold just watching that pic :D
It's great !

[krazycolin]

i wouldn't want to BE the target.... nope not me....

[Lukem]

Hmm, I wonder if I'll be capable of anything anywhere near as great as this in 5 years time!:lol:

Fantastic Gareth - again you've upped the ante. But feel free to give me more inspiration!:D

[kiwi123]

Top notch work as always Gareth...as for that header...hmm..dunno mate... :lol:

I'll put you up there tomorrow.

[Buelliful]

cheers guys for the positive comments! Al, the idea is the Sherman has broken down and been abandoned during the American's initial withdrawal:)

AH! I see now. Ok, I'll let you off on that one then, hehe!

You did forget to put your sig on it though! (Oops!)

Love the snow falling, nice touch.:)

[cobra6]

I can really see a header here 8-)

Cobra 6

[The_onion]

sweeeeeeeeeeet!

[cobra6]

hej I remember I have a question now. concerning those soldiers. Are they models? and if so is there any place to get them...?

Also on your tiger in the front, thats aiming. At the base of the commander the observation turret part (the upper edge)blends into the background? or is it just me...

http://www.guuspeters.demon.nl/target.jpg

Cobra 6

[BAKMS]

VERY SHARP picture.
Outstanding!!

[digiartist]

cheers guys, glad you like it!

Cobra- The grenadiers and panzer crew were modelled by myself, because I used to render out at a relatively low res the characters weren't that detailed. Having switched to higher res images I've basically had to re-do them for the more recent stuff. Not much fun :(
As for the turret point, I guess you're refering to the antiaircraft machine gun mounting ring that sits on top of the cuppola. This actually had part of it cut away to allow the commander's hatch to swing open. It probably looks more pronounced as the Commander's back is almost in line with it.

[cobra6]

Thanks for the reply :)

Cobra 6

[kevjon]

I really like the figures it adds a lot to the scene and really helps tell the story. The work you've put into modelling and texturing them has been well worth it. I guess the good thing is that they are reusable for other scenes too.

Hopefully this work will inspire other tank modellers to get past the modelling stage.

[digiartist]

Kevin, doing the figures is a pain :) , but I agree it's worth it in the long run as it helps out scale and gives a bit of life to the scene. I re-did my Luftwaffe pilot last year and I'm glad I did as I dont have to worry about picking angles that'll hide him when I do new aircraft renders because he's too low poly or painted in.
I have ideas for new tank renders with different tanks and with the time invested in the grenadier and panzer crew figures I know my options for scenes are a lot more open.

[Martocticvs]

Stunning.

Welcome to the header!

[kevjon]

Well done on the header. Well deserved for sure.

I have had a go at doing at pilot figure for my aircraft and have come to really appreciate how much time and effort goes into character modelling. Are yours rigged as well so that you can adjust their poses ?

I made an attempt at rigging a character in max and gave up, too hard and too much work and time to learn how to do it. I figured it is not that important for pilots anyway but for tank crew would be quite useful.

[digiartist]

Thanks for the header!:)

Kevin, to keep things speedy and easy to use my characters are split into seperate objects, lower arm, upper arm, torso etc.....I just ensure their pivots are where they would be on a real human body and link them all up as a hierarchy. It does mean a bit of photoshop work sometimes to blend the joints but thats easily done and means you can set up your figures in no time.

[franken_johan]

I have said it before and I hope I will keep repeating myself:

YOU ARE THE BEST!

[Lukem]

Congrats on your second header since the crash!

What have you got planned in order to get your third?

Well done; very much deserved (again)!

[Skyraider3D]

You're not fooling me, mate. It's still ****ing hot outside! :lol:
Absolutely awesome image. My only crit... there are no planes! ;) (I know... the weather...)
I really like the low, rear view. Quite different and interesting, showing some of the most detailed parts of the tank as well as telling a story. Great stuff as always! :cool:

[Big Red 11]

It's this kind of stuff that inspires me to keep going at it.

[jiverson]

Another masterpiece! You always amaze me Gareth, you always manage to make a 3d image look like a painting. You are an inspiration for us all.
One question, how come we don't see more WIP from you? Do you just like to keep us guessing what you'll come up with next?

Also, did you much paint work after the render?

Thanks,
Jamie

[digiartist]

Thanks again guys!

franken_johan - Your cheques in the post :D

Luke - Next I've got my Ar-234 to finish, in amongst that I have another me163 render planned and I need to finish my P47 painting. After all that either an F18 Hornet or a Panther Ausf D is on the cards.

Ronnie - cheers mate! There's actually a P-51 in the distance a pixel wide...only joking:D

Big Red - thank you for your kind comments

Jamie - The modelling process is a fustrating and long slog for me, I think if I started posting up WIPs they'd either say 'started again' or be full of expletives. Luckily the likes of Ronnie and Wiek have saved quite a few of my projects from the recycle bin with their help and advice:)
Regarding your other question, I do quite a bit of post work. Most of it is effects like light bloom, colour correction, smoke, fogging but I will also add extra detail here and there if it needs it.

[Karras]

Wonderful job, :)

And welcome to the header again. And no the last ;)

[Spinner]

I like your approach to figures.
A little building to get your libary but then you're set to populate all your future scenes. I think I'll try to follow your idea.
You've certainly shown the value of the approach.
Once you've built your naval or armor model its nice to be able to play with it, like the aircraft guys do.

[Art 111]

Master!!!!!!! 5 STARS!!!

[Igitur]

Wow, I like it!!!

[snofox1]

Wow! Just a beautiful piece of work! One of the best combat scenes I've ever seen. Really enjoy looking at it. :eek:

[Lukem]

[QUOTE=digiartist]Next I've got my Ar-234 to finish, in amongst that I have another me163 render planned and I need to finish my P47 painting. After all that either an F18 Hornet or a Panther Ausf D is on the cards.

I'm looking forward to it mate!:D

[Pionier]

teach me :eek: .

5 *

[digiartist]

Thanks guys!

Pionier, Luke - its the quality and detail of your own King Tigers that made me want to do this new render! I'm looking forward to seeing those beauties all textured up:D

[jiverson]

The modelling process is a fustrating and long slog for me, I think if I started posting up WIPs they'd either say 'started again' or be full of expletives.

You're not serious. You make it look all so easy! Long slog indeed, more like "magic from your fingertips..."

At any rate, we love it! Keep 'em coming!!
-Jamie

[fighterace2688]

Dude this is fricken sweet!!!!!!!! Absolutely love it!!!!!

[Lukem]

Thanks guys!

Pionier, Luke - its the quality and detail of your own King Tigers that made me want to do this new render! I'm looking forward to seeing those beauties all textured up:D

Tee Hee! So am I! But it's you that has inspired me to do something with my KT.

Seeing a WIP thread from you would be great! But I can certainly understand your reasoning.

[digiartist]

Well maybe I'll break my non-WIP streak if I do the Panther :)

[Lukem]

Hooray!!:D

[LegalAssassin]

Absolutely fabulous! Great work!

[Nils]

Beautiful work, so lifelike and real. 5 stars....

[LegalAssassin]

Excellent work!

[Skyraider3D]

Well maybe I'll break my non-WIP streak if I do the Panther :)Would be good to see some WIP posts from you :D

[digiartist]

heh heh, ok, once the Ar234s finished Panther WIP it is!:)

[Gotardo]

What can i say?
Amazing work.
Thinking this was done in CG... looks very realistic.
I love it. :)

[Skyraider3D]

I wouldn't mind an Ar 234 WIP either ;)

[Lukem]

Hear, Hear!

[jiverson]

I third that. WIP - YES!

[kiwi123]

yes, wip wip wippiee !!

[digiartist]

heh heh, I want my WIP thread from the start, so thats my excuse for the Panther being the first one:p
Here's a couple of latest WIP Ar234 pics anyhoo:)

[Lukem]

You see, this is almost turning into a WIP thread!

Thansk for the update Gareth - coming along nicely.

[digiartist]

cheers Luke, you wouldnt think this thread started with a tank render:p

[kiwi123]

looking good !

[Skyraider3D]

Nice going. Nose looks nice and smooth now.
I recall the fuselage cross section on the 234 was a bit boxy (like a flattened oval), while your looks rather round. Maybe worth checking Marek's drawings to be sure. I occasionally find models catching highlights in the wrong places once I start rendering them, caused by a slightly inaccurate cross section, and then it's extremely tedious to fix that. Quite likely you got it right though and MAX's default lighting is playing tricks :)

[digiartist]

cheers Ronnie, trick of the light thankfully. I have cross sections to work to in the original drawings that replicate the boxy quality of the fuselage so I'm pretty sure it's reasonably accurate. I've been caught out that way many times before and it's at that point you end up wanting to bin the whole thing:)

[Skyraider3D]

Ah yes, very good :)

My Mustang originally had a minor hump on the rear fuselage. You couldn't even see it in the mesh - or renders. But when doing profile renders it went all tits up. It was a pain to sort it out, after everything had been textured, so I figured I better raise the topic now than later :)
Frontview looks spot on though. MAX default lighting can be dodgy...

[Nils]

I don't want to be to pretend to be much of a plane expert, but didn't the cross section of the Blitz look more the shape of an inverted egg? Or maybe the photo in the link below is taken from a bad angle.... Exiting thread anyhow.
Can't wait to see the end result.

http://www.aeronautics.ru/archive/wwii/books/germany_secret_weapons_wwii/ar_234_02.jpg

[digiartist]

You're absolutely right Nils! Mine is a bit too squared off towards the bottom. Here's an updated version, and this is my last ar-234 pic because this IS turning into an ar-234 WIP thread:D

[Lukem]

Look, stop toying with us and make an Ar234 WIP thread! You know you want to....:D

[Nils]

...and so do we ;)

[jabakerwa]

Very nice it does look like a painting. To bad we cant get poster size print of it I would love to have one on my wall.

[Skyraider3D]

Lol :)


PS. Why does this forum spelling check my LOL (in all-caps)?! LOL!

[Warloc]

Simply, FANTASTIC!

You have reallt captured the atmosphere of the moment. I love the feel of the gloomy weather , also.

Thanks for sharing this with us.

[Evan]

Almost makes me feel like modelling a tank next....nah...just great work.

:lol: Exactly what I was thinking....

Very nice work Gareth...:eek:

[digiartist]

Thanks guys, modelling tanks is a nice break from aircraft now and then. Although I find them much more time consuming (unless your Flakmonkey or Karras!) than aircraft.

[kevjon]

I can imagine they are more work than aircraft as there is so much detail to study and get right and then having to uv map it all. They also look a bit boring without some figures and there is a lot of work in character modelling too.

[Baron]

Hi Gareth! Just great, nothing more to say. 5* also from me for that stunning work.

[Pjeczi]

Undoubtly worth five stars.

[Martocticvs]

Lol :)


PS. Why does this forum spelling check my LOL (in all-caps)?! LOL!
That could be something I need to have a look at then!

[andrew march]

digiartist,

A superb render.

I'm interested in finding out a little bit about your textures for snow, things like spec, gloss, reflection settings.

Care to share some info?

[andrew march]

digiartist,

Did you get my private message?

[digiartist]

Hi Andrew, yup, you have a reply now :)

[Twitti]

[B]Hello
first excuse my shit Englich i come from Germany.
The picture Taget! is one of the best i have:eek:
ever seen !
Please make more Images of German WW2 Tanks!:D
Some greets from Twitti

[Twitti]

Its my favourite Picture!
Absolutly nice very!
Please make more from the Tigers in the Snow!

[digiartist]

Thanks Twitti, I'm looking to build a panther d in the future so maybe I'll do a render of that in the snow

[smedjeback]

Really nice!