I was trying to think of something to model in MOI earlier, and I looked at the desk clock in my room which is in a gimbal mount. The gimbal mount got me to thinking of gyroscopes, so I figured 'why not?'

Here's my progress so far.



I'm trying to integrate multiples of the number 4 into the visual design elements as a subtle detail for the keen-eyed to pick up on. ;) I have integrated the numbers 24 and 20 so far, and I still need to put in 16, 12, 8, and 4.

Lotrj

This is one I played around with a couple of years ago. Probably modelled in Hexagon?/rendered in Carrara5.

If the design idea is of any help to you or anyone--I was just "imagining"!

IF ONLY I had had MoI then!

Brian

Yours looks very rustic, almost like a lamp. :)

The way I want to go with this design is kind of in between sleek-futuristic and steampunk. If you have ever seen the Spire age in Myst IV, that's the kind of look I'm going for. Not overly elaborate and impractically complex like true steampunk, but more like a futuristic antique.

Here's a quick update before I go to bed.



Notice that I have now incorporated 4 and 8 into the flywheel. I think 16 and 12 will have to be saved for the rotating hemisphere base.

Seems there are floating in the space :)

This looks great - like the idea very much.

I'll add connections and bearings so things aren't floating, Pilou. :)

Here's another update.



It's going to be a bit challenging to come up with a design for a convincing-looking bearing that's so small, but I think that I can do it. :)

Another update. Some of the rings are still floating, and I still need to add bearings for rotation. Then I just need to finish up the base and model a scene for it go in. :)

I've finished the model, now I need to give it suitable materials and a scene to go into. To give a sense of scale, the diameter of the base is 9''. I'm considering giving the edges of the rings a .003'' fillet just to give them a little highlight when rendered, but I don't know if it's worth all the extra polys.



I plan on rendering with Indigo.

PS I've successfully worked all multiples of 4 up to 28 into the design, and I think it worked out pretty well. :)

Very nice - I like it.

>> I'm considering giving the edges of the rings a .003'' fillet just to give them a little highlight
>> when rendered, but I don't know if it's worth all the extra polys.

I would try with and without. If it looks better with the fillet then yes - it's worth it :-)

I'm glad that you like the design. :) I decided to go ahead with the fillets, I think that they're going to make a difference.

I'm just having a hard time coming up with an idea for a scene now. :(

Hi LOTRJ, your final result is looking really great, looking forward to seeing a render!

> I'm considering giving the edges of the rings a .003'' fillet just to give them
> a little highlight when rendered, but I don't know if it's worth all the extra polys.

One thing you may consider for something really small like this is to put a Chamfer in there with little flat facet instead of a Fillet with a fully rounded little piece.

If that piece of the model is really very small on the final rendering, the chamfer will end up looking pretty much the same but will help to keep the poly count down.

- Michael

Yes, that's what I do with my spaceship models; I use Chamfers as much as possible to avoid all the extra geometry created with fillets but still get the desired corner highlights at render time!

-Will

I've already made the fillets and cleaned up the exported model, so I think that I'll keep them.

I'm going to make a nice scene for this and come up with nicer materials, but here is a 30 minute test render using just a matte chrome material everywhere.



To those who are not familiar with the Indigo renderer, this is only a relatively quick test render and the the image noise would have gone away eventually if I left it longer.

The scene I want to put it into is going to be heavily inspired by the Spire age in the Myst IV computer game. The gyro will be on a stone table along with hand drawn blueprints on parchment and various other antique-looking techy nick-nacks.

I've begun modeling a second device to go on the table which will be a clump of dark green crystals in a cage with some wires coming out of it. :)



The large circle in the screenshot is 9'' in diameter which is the same as the base of the gyroscope. I just added it so I could see roughly how large the new device is in comparison to the gyro.

Sounds like you are using imagination to create fresh new imagery that your earlier learning has inspired.

That I like!

Brian

I'm having fun with this!

The crystal cage device will be in two parts, namely a base for power and the detachable cage for the crystals. I plan on having the cage portion lying on its side on the table, and you will be able to see the socket part of the power base.

Top view of the current cage section.


Bottom view of cage section. This shows the electrical contacts that mate with the power base.


This is the power base so far. Hopefully the sockets for the contact pegs on the cage are obvious. ;)


Just to show what it looks like with the pegs inserted.


And finally a view of the assembled device just for fun. :)

Just for giggles, you should throw this scene at Lux render.

Some nice details forming up there on the internal structures!

Should make for a nice final render!

- Michael

Coming along nicely this - I'm looking forward to seeing the whole thing.

>Some nice details forming up there on the internal structures!
>Should make for a nice final render!

Thanks. :) It's always a balancing act for me to add enough detail to make something interesting, but not so much that it's just way too intricate and complex to be believable.