Tank WIP - Questions for Creative people and Pov-ray experts

[Singular Quartet]

Alright, so for the last few weeks (closing in on a month, now) I've been working on a tank in Pov-ray. It's been coming along nicely, but there's still a few things left to do.

First off, a random crappy shot of it:



Secondly, my first question: What I should do about the end of the barrel. I've decieded that the main turret is a railgun that fires (probably) depleted uranium discs coated in probably either copper or tungstun, I haven't decieded which. Any suggestions as to what the actual end of the barrel should look like?



Third and finally, I have an actual problem. This tank is most certainly not going to be a hovertank. That would be far to easy, and besides, I'm insane. As such, it needs treads:



Wheels and axles won't be to much trouble (Cylinders, cones, discs, washers, etc. etc.) but it's the treads themselves that are bothering me, which is why I wanted to bug some of the people that know more about Pov-ray than me. I'm thinking of using a Christie suspension (Soviet tanks use it, and I'm using alot of pics of the T-34 for reference, but I've yet to come across a good diagram/explanation of how it works) but it's how to actually build them so that they would go across the wheels. I'm open to bigging thoughts on the matter so that I can begin to take ideas into consideration while actually building the wheels.

So yeah. Any suggestions/ideas/comments are welcome.

[Beowulf]

Actually, you probably want to be firing a saboted DU penetrator, so the cross-section of the barrel will have a square shape. Ask Shep or Vympel about the treads.

[Singular Quartet]

Dammit, that means I got's to redesign the entire barrel. Ah, well...

[Antares]

Alright, so for the last few weeks (closing in on a month, now) I've been working on a tank in Pov-ray. It's been coming along nicely, but there's still a few things left to do.

First off, a random crappy shot of it:

*snip*

it takes weeks to do something like that in pov ray? i suggest switching to anther render suite.

Secondly, my first question: What I should do about the end of the barrel. I've decieded that the main turret is a railgun that fires (probably) depleted uranium discs coated in probably either copper or tungstun, I haven't decieded which. Any suggestions as to what the actual end of the barrel should look like?

if it should be a railgun you first have to know how it works:

(taken from phd josef kruse / rheinmetall / germany)

now lets think about some relevant details.

some might be armored coils with fentilation slot for cooling.
other would be fentilation slots for high power condensators.
add structure improving stuff like thin exalations on the outer side. think about what stress a rail gun had to absorb. construct it, that it can recoil. otherwise it might break apart.
and please make the muzzle round. rectangular muzzles are nonsense

most important add a texture, that provides some std camouflage.

for the other things i cannot help you since i only know blender
sorry

[salm]

.) but it's the treads themselves that are bothering me, which is why I wanted to bug some of the people that know more about Pov-ray than me

here´s a tutorial. it´s for max, but i guess you can use the same principle in pov ray.

Tutorial

p.s.: save a while and buy max.

[Warspite]

There is also Blender, which is free, and can provide whatever other high-end (read, expensive) programs can.

About the tank, could you get some wider shots? just so we can get a better perspective of the general dimensions? I think it should be longer, in the current dimensions it looks a little unbalanced.

[Singular Quartet]

Wow, this is unexpected. Guess I'll take this in turn....

Antares:

It took a few weeks because I wasn't really working on it until recently, and I had to rip apart the barrel a few times (I've rebuilt it a few times, and I also built PDLs (which have since been deemed unusable) and the physical tank itself)


If you read up, I had originally assumed that it would be firing discs. I've since changed that opinion, however it still isn't a perfectly rounded hole:



The boxish extensions are going to be for what's likely just either a cunductor for the current to move between the rails. The sabot itself is either DU or if it uses a really high current a high-density ceramic composite.


I had a second design for the muzzle here but latter considerations of em fields figured otherwise (righthand rule is for railguns, I realize, and I wasn't using it properly.)

Right now, there will be some form of high-power elector magnets sitting in the left and right side of the barrel (likely to be solenoids connected by iron bars to carry the field) with a pair of metals rails (random magic alloy that conducts and has a high heat tolerance) at the top and bottom. Field and current are perpendicular, generating force.

Oh, and texturing comes later.


Salm: That's a tire tread. I'm looking for a tank tread.

As to Max, no. I've tried several other modellers, and have found them to suck rabid monkey balls due to lack of an intuitive interface.

Warspite: Tried Blender, hated it. I'll post some more pics in a few minutes.

[Singular Quartet]

I suppose I should also mention that I've really stopped working on the barrel of the main turret. The pics I'll be posting won't have the various PDLs that the other pics have (I've removed them all for the moment) and I've mostly been working on the treads. I've been getting stuck on the PDLs, so I wanted something to get my mind off of them for a little while.

Now, as for the actual pics:

Crappy, run of the will pic from the rear:



A better pic, from the side and closer to the front.



What's likely to wind up as the texturing for the bastard:



Oh, and Warspite: As to the unbalanced bit, yes I think you might be right. At the moment, I plan on finishing this, or atleast getting on the road and drive wheels, along with finishing off the tread guards (there's still a little left to be done) before deciding whether it needs a little reworking. At present, I think you're right, it does look a little top heavy due to the size of the turret. Part of it might be the size of the barrel, but it's likely more the size of the actual turret. While that normally isn't a problem (just look at some of the larger panzers of WWII) I'll take it into consideration.

[salm]

There is also Blender, which is free, and can provide whatever other high-end (read, expensive) programs can.

blender is a very neat freeware programm but in no way can it compare with max or maya.

what it can do though is import the standard 3D formats. if you don´t want to spend money on a 3D program i´d suggest that you get gmax, which is the free max version. it doesn´t have a renderer but you can export stuff. then import it into blender and render it there.

[salm]

Salm: That's a tire tread. I'm looking for a tank tread.

you mean like this?

http://home.wanadoo.nl/svenvanzoelen/tu ... tracks.htm

[salm]

to be honest, the texturing sucks.

try this:

http://www.escrappers.com/camouflage.html

(the result that this guy gets is crap, too but the principle is good.)

[Warspite]

Salm: yeah, I know. I tried Blender a few times, and I didn't like the interface... Actually, the only one that worked for me to this day is Max (*notices LightWave users shivering from this statement* ). Mike was right in the other thread, too much of an Autocad background for me.

Anyway, I think if someone is doing 3D as a hobby, he/she should use the program he/she is more confortable with.


[quote="Singular Quartet"] Part of it might be the size of the barrel, but it's likely more the size of the actual turret.[quote]
Yeah, the turret needs some work, you also have to take into account the needed weight at the back of the turret (called the bustle) to ofset the weight of the barrel.

[Singular Quartet]

Salm: The texture, however, is meant for City cammoflauge, not forest. But yeah, it does suck. I'm probably going to be playing around with the texture's settings a little more before I decied if I want to use it. Right now I'm mostly working on the road wheels.

The tutorial, however, isn't helpful due to the vast and huge differences between a ray tracer and a modeller.

Warspite: Blender was one of the ones I tried, and I hated it the most. After that was Wings3D and a few others. I didn't like any of them.

I'll add taking the barrel weight into account to the vast list of stuff that needs doing on this machine.

[salm]

Salm: The texture, however, is meant for City cammoflauge, not forest.

well, that´s not problematic. simply use the tutorial with different colors.

The tutorial, however, isn't helpful due to the vast and huge differences between a ray tracer and a modeller.

interesting. i don´t know anything about pov ray. how do you model with it if not with boxes, splines or nurbs?
what do you mean with ray tracer? what´s the difference? all modern 3D programs have the capability to ray trace.

Warspite: Blender was one of the ones I tried, and I hated it the most. After that was Wings3D and a few others. I didn't like any of them.

*chants: gmax, gmax, gmax...*

ok, i´ll shut up now.

[SWPIGWANG]

For some reason, my first impression of the thing is.....

SHOT TRAP

nuff said

[Singular Quartet]

Salm: The texture, however, is meant for City cammoflauge, not forest.

well, that´s not problematic. simply use the tutorial with different colors.

The tutorial, however, isn't helpful due to the vast and huge differences between a ray tracer and a modeller.

interesting. i don´t know anything about pov ray. how do you model with it if not with boxes, splines or nurbs?
what do you mean with ray tracer? what´s the difference? all modern 3D programs have the capability to ray trace.

Most programs (such as, for example, Blender) are called 3d modellers because that's what you do. You create 3d models. Ray-tracers are generally called ray-tracers because that's all they can do: Trace rays. You describe what they bounce off of using SDL, scene description language. It's widely considered a good thing to have taken 3d geometery and a good bit of trig.

Warspite: Blender was one of the ones I tried, and I hated it the most. After that was Wings3D and a few others. I didn't like any of them.

*chants: gmax, gmax, gmax...*

ok, i´ll shut up now.

Very good.

SWPIGWANG: Your comment is not helpful, as there is no attached explanation. Are you saying it's a nice and happy target, ripe for the plucking, or that the model is a piece of crap (The second being true, but that's not important)