Distractions

I'm sure it's obvious, but I haven't done anything on here in a while.  I just finished my finals and I'm done with school.  I did create a website for the Prototytan Project, but before I can post it, I need to make some changes, like getting rid of things the teacher required for the website and replacing them with stuff I actually want.  And I have to find some money somewhere to pay for it.

But now that school's over, i've been thinking a lot about the Prototytan Project and where I want to go with it.  I'm looking forward to going back in Megatrons Anonymous also.  In the mean time, I ordered the RtS Legends from TFSource (and got my account info stolen, but that's getting taken care of now) and I love them!  Those things are awesome.  They've got me interested in making my own Legends figures even more and an idea struck me.  I want those little Legends to have weapons and accessories!  If I could make a rifle for Prime and a scope for Megs's alt mode, that would be great, but why stop there?  There are a ton of opportunities for the G1 Legends.

So that'll be my first step to the Prototytan Project, putting the comic, the models, and original characters on hold.  I'll be designing them soon and modeling them after that and posting pictures of all of them when I can.

Math sucks

It's not that it's hard, I don't have many troubles with math.  I do, however, how humbling math can be.  I was looking at my asset list the other day and I realized that if I were able to model one Transformer a week, it would take me almost a year to do the 15 robots for each faction. that doesn't include, of course, the other stuff I need to model, like the sets and props.  And, let's be totally honest here - there's no way that I can do one robot a week.   It's just depressing.  But I'll get it done.

Case in point, Optimus is almost presentable online. I still have a few things to add in, like smaller details on the larger surfaces.  I still have to finish the foot mechanics, but I'm close.  And he needs a head.  I'm hoping that by tomorrow night, I'll be ready to post pictures of both modes on the Transformers forums I frequent.  Hopefully, I'll get some good critiques there.

Optimal Update

Optimus seems to be coming together nicely.  I've got most of the upper body sorted out and just need to add fists, weapons, his head, and a few more details.The arms will be kinda thin, but I think it'll work once it's all done.  I haven't added any materials yet, of course, but I'm still trying to decide if I'll use cel-shading or not.  I'll try out some test renders once I get the upper body complete.

Redesigns

I mentioned in a previous post (very previous) that in addition to the new designs I came up with for the Prototytans, I will be redesigning most, if not all, the other Transformers in the story.  Some of them are necessary - I'm trying to avoid mass-shifting, so Megatron, Soundwave, and a few others will require whole new alt modes.  Others, like good ol' Op here, will just be getting a minor redesign, mostly so I don't need to worry about vehicle or cartoon accuracy, but also because I think it's a challenge to create new, and sometimes more realistic, models for these characters.  

So I started with Optimus Prime, and while his alt mode won't receive much of a change, I am altering his robot mode a bit, taking inspiration from his Powermaster incarnation.  It's not much of a change, but I'm making all these characters mine (while still property of Hasbro, of course).  Besides, the comic sure has been doing this in spades lately.