I've been hard at work designing the world of K'chk and I realized something... You tend to sweat the small stuff as much as you do the major pieces. I spent about 3 hours designing the model and tweaking the texture maps for this model and I'm just now at a point where I like it. Although this particular piece is just a background model, I feel that if it didn't look right it just couldn't work. Anyone else feel this obsessive? On a lighter note, I'm SOOOOO happy with the new VM tools that I could just cry! I work primarily in the VM and try for low-poly models just to save rendertime. This one is only 1200+ polys and it just screams when rendering (GI notwithstanding). Let me know what you think and if I should post as a free stuff (still have to finish the front door). Ken 

The texture is awesome. I will be the first in line if you offer this for free.

Here's a larger render on the front view... for those who may want a better look. Still have to add logos and a few other wear pieces, in addition to a front door. BTW... would people prefer this to be a C3 model only? or would you rather have the OBJs and work it from there? Ken 

Very nice work. (That texture looks just like the paint on my 92 pick-up) mdc

I would love to see the shader for that pupp. it looks like you layered MANY images together to get the various patterns of wear and corosion. Nice model too, BTW! To answer your original question, YES! I spent 5 hours (at work, :> ) today, adjusting particles for a little animation, that I'm sure no one but me will ever see! LOL! All of 4 seconds long, but with a LOT of particles! (A meteor, dropping bits of fire as it goes, crashes into the ocean, creating a HUGE splash, and an explosion.) Tonght, my work computer is rendering what I've done to see if everything is right. tomorrow I'll create and time the wave modifiers for the ocean. Wish me luck!

I like it. I have one question: how do you render with GI and still get some soft shadows and sharp lighting? GI renders always look dim to me, with low dynamic range, and I never see any clear shadows in them.

Blue, The shader for "that pupp" is all two texture maps compiled in PSP8 for two different UV maps. As you surmised it is about 7 different layers EACH of grime with masks and deleted selection. Doesn't take long to do, just need to keep adding to the "morgue" to get more dirt and grime masks (Digital cameras are godsends for this) and environment shots. That's the only trick to it. Mateo, The GI was rendered with a white background, grey backdrop, and two spots. The trick is not to overdo the lighting. GI will take the white BG and use it as the general illumination for the scene. The two spots (10% and 25% brightness) are just for clarification of the object in the frame. The soft shadows check box is used on the lights' effects tab, and that takes care of that. Angular fall-off is what gives the light the sharpness. Turn up the angle and the light becomes softer at the edges. Best bet on GI renders? Turn off ambient brightness in the scene tab. Until you are sure how the final layout of a scene will be lit, leave off using ambient light. It tends to skew the natural feel of the lighting and takes a little more render time. Play with it only when you have time to do multiple test renders for a final image. Still working on the door. I'll let y'all know when it enters eval for Free Stuff. Ken

I like it! Wear and tear is my middle name! I would be the second in line when this hits the free stuff. It would be interesting to see what others would do with an untextured version. And after texturing we could stack them and make it look like the Rotterdam Harbour in the Netherlands (which I will see for real tomorrow when I visit the city).