It occurred to me that for all the time I've been working in 3D, I've never done a Chess Set render. Logically the next step after the ever-popular S.O.W., I have never done one (my secret shame ),

So, anyway, I think the time has come. But at least I can be original enough to model my own chessmen (and women). I went down to the local WalMart yesterday and blew 4 bucks on a small plastic chess set and started working in Wings3d, and here is a test render with all 6 types of chess pieces, textured and rendered in Bryce5.  I think I'm going to texture it like the cheap plastic it is in the final scene which will be something similar to my Mouse Trap Game render. I mean, marble, wood, crystal, they've all been done. But cheap plastic done realistically?

Another note: I almost used a Poser horse's head for the knight, because I stink at organic modelling, but decided to try anyway. I think the result is close to the actual piece, so maybe I'm still learning.

PS: The actual render above is 800 x 600 so click on it (I hate these low res php demo pics).

wow..I've never spent money to do a render..;) great modelin'..

:) cool! looks like the set I had when I was a kid.

the pieces look really great....and you did a fantastic job on the horse.

Might be fun to do one with the standard more abstract version of the horse. (you get these with a wooden set) All I coudl think to do is make the seam that is what makes the cheap plastic look cheap.

like dann- o says, you need the seam.. roughly cut. then it will really look cheap. right now.it looks like the sets i'd get in a good toy store!
great modeling...

At least with the cheap plastic material you have the advantage of not having to stray very far from some of the Bryce basic mats presets. :)  Saves some work in that regard. looks good so far.

Also odds are good that you could probably add the seam really quick in Wings by cutting a model in half, doing a face extraction, welding the model back together (with the extraction hidden), then scaling some edges of the extraction and combining it with the originating piece. (Either that or extruding along the seam edge, whichever works better.)

I had actually thought about adding seams, but I'm planning on a render that shows the entire checkerboard, and at that distance from the camera, I don't think they would show. And I might want to use them later as wood or metal or glass.

Uh John, " I might want to use them later as wood or metal or glass" just a thought, you could save your seamed ones as a second set and still have your seamless one too :tongue1: or was just an excuse not to do the work?

Do a altitude render of your wings3d model(s), and turn that render it into a terrain. Instant seams, lol.