Recreating a Ralph McQuarrie image

[martok2112]

Hi, folks,

At the suggestion of Dave Kerin, and due to some very favorable comparisons to the great works of concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, I tried my hand at doing at least a partial recreation of one of his concept paintings, in the 3D realm.

There are still some elements missing from this...I was pushing iClone to its limits a bit with this scene set up, but I wanted to do this shot, which I took to be the attack on the Colonial Fleet.

So, attached are the McQuarrie original painting, and my interpretation of same: Enjoy.

All models and starfield created by Martok2112

[Darrell Lawrence]

That's cool I like it when people do an homage without duplicating right down to the pixel.

[BST]

[TwoBrainedCylon]

Always great to see someone taking on the master's work!

[David Kerin]

NICE!!! What I love about McQuarrie's work is that it was the start, the initial design of what would become. His images capture a story, and a style. Love seeing this pic! I think we need more Martok ole' bud!

[martok2112]

I do have a few more images I can try to reinterpret. Thank you, guys.

[TwoBrainedCylon]

Dave,

You have a great point about McQuarrie's work. You can take any single painting of his and not know anything about the franchise and yet, each will tell its own story. His sketches were primarily hardware but the paintings were masterful stories in pictures.

All my best,


Russell

[martok2112]

Here's another recreation/reinterpretation I did.

I took a couple of liberties with it, largely, adding in the sun and lens flare. Sadly, the lens flare is a physical prop, one I created, since I clone does not have an "in camera" lens flare effect in this vein yet.

Everything on here built or rendered by yours truly: the Raiders, the planet, the sun, starfield, city glow and planetary fire effects, and lens flare. I hope you like. I realize there is one element in the lens flare prop that stands out a bit too much...I'm still trying to refine it.

The city glow and planetary fire effects are simply photographs taken from the net, and altered to appear as if live on the planet, using planetary slices to place the imagery.

I did a second take from a different angle, because I wanted to play upon the HDR effects upon the ships themselves, making them look specular, the way they might actually look in the harsh lighting of space, even just beyond a planet's atmosphere.

[David Kerin]

Cool! The ring flare looks a bit odd at first, but I like that it adds to its own style. Gives a nice pop-art kind of coloring to it. And I'm not entirely sure I'm using the term pop-art in the right context, but it sounds right.

[martok2112]

Originally Posted by David Kerin

Cool! The ring flare looks a bit odd at first, but I like that it adds to its own style. Gives a nice pop-art kind of coloring to it. And I'm not entirely sure I'm using the term pop-art in the right context, but it sounds right.

I'll take it, my friend! Thank you.

Indeed...like I admitted in the report accompanying these shots, there was one ring in the lens flare that stands out weirdly amidst the rest. In reflection, I could've just turned that one and the one following it off, since they are all individually controlled elements of the same prop.

There is another Ralph McQuarrie image I will be reinterpreting very soon.

[Darrell Lawrence]

Veddy interesting "flares". I like 'em, so long as they don't get over-used, ala a certain ST/SW director.

[martok2112]

Muchos danke, mein amigo.

Yeah, I don't wanna overuse flares either....but I thought for this shot it would be cool...and that's why I didn't use it for the alternate angle.

[Jubal]

You know where lens flares were cool? Light bouncing off classic series Cylons.

[martok2112]

What was wild about that idea, Jubal, is that they apparently had to tone down the chromium effect on the Centurions because the flare effects were too overwhelming for filming, if I remember the history correctly.

[martok2112]

Here's one more RMQ translation.

I'm sure that the idea was to represent the RTF's exodus from Caprica, or one of the other core worlds...but I decided to make this look more like a regular day of operations for the Colonial Fleet.... a couple battlestars (Galactica in the lead) and a few commercial ships. Another reason I went with this angle was because in the RmQ original, I think it took a cue based on the novelization that suggested that not all battlestars look alike, unlike what we saw in the pilot and series. Whereas the Galactica was described to look like what we know her as, a ship like the Atlantia was described more like a hulking collection of random boxes. That's what gave me the idea to go with the "business as usual" approach of some time before the holocaust. I would've loved to add a few more ships to the image, but my computer was starting to run slow.

All models, the planet, and the starfield created by yours truly.

[martok2112]

And one more....

As before, added a few touches of my own.....

Hope ya like....

All models and elements by you know who....dat's me.

[Darrell Lawrence]

Sweet. Only one gripe- That glare from the shine: if that globe thing is the sun, then it should be too far away and BEHIND the landram to affect it like that. If it was in front of it, then it's pretty small and floating not too far above the pilot's (Starbuck? Looks like it) head.

[martok2112]

Originally Posted by Darrell Lawrence

Sweet. Only one gripe- That glare from the shine: if that globe thing is the sun, then it should be too far away and BEHIND the landram to affect it like that. If it was in front of it, then it's pretty small and floating not too far above the pilot's (Starbuck? Looks like it) head.

Glad ya like it, Darrell.
Yeah, the sad thing is, iClone has not refined its HDR effects yet. I probably would've been better off using my physical lens flare prop. If you're talking about the flare coming off the landram's lights, as the effect that the sun supposedly has on it, well, again, that's a failing of their current HDR capabilities. Right now, there is no individual HDR effect, so if I turn it on, the lights of the landram get affected, as well as the sun, and any other super bright source.

[David Kerin]

I could be misunderstanding... but if the effect is a lens flare from a light source, the flare would not be behind the landram, as its an effect of the lens. it is not physically there, and would not be behind an object. Or maybe I'm missing what was meant.

Either way, love the shots! There has always been something about me that LOVES ground vehicles. The Landram, the Chariot, Landmaster (Damnation Alley), and its the one thing that made me remember the old Saturday morning show Ark II. Fantastic painting, and perfect for the Landram with Starbuck. I wish our vehicles had treads like that, but it'd be hell on the pavement.

[martok2112]

Thanks, Dave.
Yeah, I think I misunderstood what Darrell might have meant, but yeah, the HDR effect takes just about anything that is super bright, and gives it that flare effect....but it's more of (as shown) a spectral cross, or cheap lens, or a couple of other effects. (I think I went with spectral cross for this effect).

Yes, I loved all those vehicles you mentioned. And I liked how Space Academy adapted the Ark II model for its Seeker spacecraft.

I should make note that the treads on my landram were actually created by another user who made the treads part of a content package for iClone, so this made for an improvement on my landram model. The body and other elements of the landram, I built, but the treads were indeed made by a iClone developer.

[martok2112]

One more.....this one based on the Japanese poster art (which utilized McQuarrie's imagery) for Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack.

Took a liberty of adding the Pegasus coming in to close the pincers on the Cylons.

[gmd3d]

looks like a very good recreation, I remember doing my own some time ago.....

[martok2112]

Thanks, Ger.