War of the Worlds - Thunder Child by czarnyrobert
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Description
War of the Worlds - Thunder Child
"The little steamer was already flapping her way eastward of the big crescent of shipping, and the low Essex coast was growing blue and hazy, when a Martian appeared, advancing along the muddy coast from the direction of Foulness.
Then, far away beyond the Crouch, came another, striding over some stunted trees, and then yet another, still farther off, wading deeply through a shiny mudflat that seemed to hang halfway up between sea and sky. They were all stalking seaward, as if to intercept the escape of the multitudinous vessels that were crowded between Foulness and the Naze. In spite of the throbbing exertions of the engines of the little paddle-boat, and the pouring foam that her wheels flung behind her, she receded with terrifying slowness from this ominous advance.
A vast iron bulk like the blade of a plough tore through the water, tossing it on either side in huge
waves of foam leaped towards the steamer. Big iron upperworks rose out of this headlong structure, and from that twin funnels projected and spat a smoking blast shot with fire. It was the torpedo ram, "Thunder Child", steaming headlong, coming to the rescue of the threatened shipping. The "Thunder Child" fired no gun, but simply drove full speed towards them. It was probably her not firing that enabled her to get so near the enemy as she did. Martians did not know what to make of her. One shell, and they would have sent her to the bottom forthwith with the Heat-Ray.
Suddenly the foremost Martian lowered his tube and discharged a canister of the black gas at the ironclad. It hit her larboard side and glanced off in an inky jet that rolled away to seaward, an unfolding torrent of Black Smoke, from which the ironclad drove clear.
Another Martian raised the camera-like generator of the Heat-Ray. He held it pointing obliquely downward, and a bank of steam sprang from the water at its touch. It must have driven through the iron of the ship's side like a white-hot iron rod through paper.
A flicker of flame went up through the rising steam, and then the Martian reeled and staggered. In another moment he was cut down, and a great body of water and steam shot high in the air. The guns of the "Thunder Child" sounded through the reek, going off one after the other...."
H.G Wells (1898)
About the scene :
I modeled Martians and Thunder Child in Cinema 4D. Scene was assembled in Vue 5 Infinite. Sky is a bitmap made from several photos, water is a procedural terrain with "open ocean" function applied, smoke was made using numerous spheres with fuzzy material. Distant paddle boat is from 500 3D Objets Encyclopedia by De Espona/Taschen. Radiosity lighting was used in this scene.
My apologies to all my supporters for not posting scenes since march! Modeling of Martian War Machines and ship took quite a long time. But now I can use my own Martian Walkers for new War of the Worlds scenes - if you like this series!
Take care & be prepared! They are coming!
With compliments to British Royal Navy!
Comments (190)
JOELGLAINE
You captured the drama and technical aspects perfectly. H.G.Wells description matches your War Machines PERFECTLY. Everyon forgets the Martians held the Heat ray in the tripod's tentacles. Absolutely mind-blowing and accurate depiction of one of the scenes out of WotW! I wait in breathless anticipation of more scenes!!!
Elminster_ZK
Another incredible image, czarnyrobert. The ship and martians are impossibly detailed! Great Incredible Awsome Excellent job!
Darthmagus
Impressive work! Bravo!
graphicguru
Ditto to all the cudus! I am really impressed by this image. it grabbed me, it provoked me, it scared me. It really convinced me, keep it up. But I have a question. are you one of the artists who worked on the movie 'War of the Worlds'? if so, how does one get a foot in the door doing art for movies?
kilal
Fantastic!Incredible!
adamantine
I absolutely love the textures on the Martian Walkers. The texturing on Thunderchild is also impressive. I am trying to remember that section of War of the Worlds, and not succeeding too well. I think the paddle boat in the book was of a different composition. The Mississippi river boats would be too flat bottomed for successful sea travel. As always, a superb piece of work!
Othosmops
Stunning! The water, the flags, the movement on deck of the ships, the 1890's architecture, marsians... splendid!
marcoantonio
Awesome like your past renders! By the way, thanks for your comments in your silent spring render, I don't like to start another wave of opinions, but it make me think how I could improve my work!"V"
czarnyrobert
Rendering of fuzzy spheres was quite swift - just disable "cast shadow" & "receive shadow". Fuzzy materials are much quicker to render than volumetric ones, and usually results are great. First I think about adding smoke in postwork, but when I made several experiments with fuzzy materials, I decided to do it in Vue - when I have one stream of smoke, I duplicated it for 3 remaining stacks, then I moved slightly spheres to make it look different. All secret lies in precise positioning of "fuzzines", transparency and scale of material. Larger Tripods? I tried to be as close to original as possible - so my Tripods are roughly 100 feet high - I could not make them bigger - they must fit to other scenes I plan. Please notice that their legs are quite long - here they are half under water. Unfortunately I was not invited for making of "War of the Worlds" movies. Still I have to learn a lot in 3D! But maybe one day... - who knows? :-))
Trouble
What a gorgeous piece of work! I am stunned into silence.
Krid
perfect scene with excellent textures and waves VOTE
linkdink
oh man, that's one of the very best things I've seen here at 'Rosity. VOTE!
niandji
Fantastic, remarkable work - V
konczj
It's giant , i think it's a more beautiful picture
LadyLisa
Excellent Render and talent!
Moebius87
Brilliant work! Absolutely, brilliant! :o) vote
Shari123
Absolutely brilliant modeling! Thunderchild is exactly how I imagined it to be. Your careful research has earned you big rewards. It is a wonderful scene! Bravo to you!
mjr
My favorite scene from the book. Holy CRAP this is wonderfully executed!! You really raise the bar!
amapitodd
Absolutely astonishing! Fantastic work. Truly a master of 3D artwork.
Qualien
Maybe after seeing this they WILL invite you in for the sequel, WOTW2. Really, it's great to see stuff here that's as good as or better than anything I've seen lately on CGTAlk. VOTE!!!
Rochr
Superb models, a beautiful sky, and as usual, the scene is top notch! I think this was time well spent. Naturally a vote. :)
gerberc
Impressive image, both artistically and technically! You put a lot of effort into your scenes and it really pays off! Big vote, of course!!
addiek
Terrific image! I must read the book AND see the movie!
gracia
Excellent, tr bon rendu et superbe composition Robert. Bravo.
TallPockets
Just BRILLIANT work!!
pmermino
Vote .. this is just fantastic... the water is incredible and the lighting .... my god ... and the models ... wow ... this is a real masterpiece ... Bravo Robert
aaus10
fantastic modeling.
regaltwo
Beatiful work all around! I really like the ship's wake.
thefixer
Stunning imagery as usual, just brilliant! v
Panic912
Outstanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!