Reply To: Collab 2020: Modeling Heavy Equipment (Backhoe)
The Modeling Chapter of this Project is officially FINISHED!
This post is designed to bookend 7 amazing months of modeling with this crew, The DOG POUND. If you’re reading this in 2033 here’s the inside terminology decoded:
- We modeled a *CAT* 434E backhoe
- Being *our version* we called it the “DOG”
- Contributors to the project are thus part of the “DOG POUND”
- I.e. WE let the dogs out
I said this all on stream but once more I will reiterate how proud I am of the work everyone has done. Thousands – nay – HUNDREDS of thousands of people will dip their toe into the world of 3D modeling yet only a small fraction will ever build something as complex as this. I wear this as a badge of honor as I hope you do too.
Truly the quality of modeling is professional-grade. We couldn’t, or very likely wouldn’t, have done it without each other. Cheers to each of you in our collective accomplishment 🤝🍻🎉
Officially Finished but technically not…
Being “officially” finished means that there won’t be any more streams scheduled about modeling the project and no more grading. BUT technically there’s work left to do. A couple of us still have some bits to add. Also I’m committed to animating + rendering + editing a show reel for the DOG! More on that below…
Though I will be unpinning this thread today, If any DOG POUND members still have a little modeling left to do the thread will remain open for discourse or if you want to share your progress. I will be posting when I finish my bits. Again, if you’re reading this in the future and the project inspires you, feel absolutely free to build your own backhoe / heavy equipment and post your work in this thread! That would be a very rewarding after effect.
Final XP Delivered!
Yesterday I tallied and added XP totals to every contributor’s account. @adriant2301 takes home the most points with a staggering 937 total! That’s by far the largest single XP sum delivered by me. Adrian doing the work of 2, 3, and sometimes 4 people really paid off.
DOG Showreel
I’m convinced that a slick animated and rendered video is the best way to show off our amazing model! *Somehow* I’m going to find the time to animated assembly / exploded view shots of everyone’s final parts and render them into a stunning video. I admit that it’s a LOT of work and it won’t be done soon (the next few months) but surely at some point in 2021.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Understand that my goals with a showreel is as follows:
- Share / show off an incredible model. Simply put: We made a cool thing and I want to share it with the world!
- Collaboration is a primary theme. The project is meaningful *because* it was built by a team. Therefore it makes no sense to downplay this aspect. Quite the opposite actually: Contributors will be clearly credited throughout and at the end of the reel.
- Potential to use your clips in your own personal reel: The license for the final video will allow contributors to use the clips of their parts in their own individual demo reel if they wish.
- CGC Marketing. I want to use this reel to market the collaborative format we, frankly, stumbled into. Meaning sharing on social media, YouTube, CGC blogpost. Remember anywhere it’s shared credits to the DOG POUND will be imbedded in the video. The way this format fostered a deeper, more advanced learning environment AND resulted in an impressive asset – Of course CG Cookie wants make the format known abroad so more people can engage with future collaborations.
With the goals clearly stated, CGC is more than willing to heed any objections from the DOG POUND. If you’re not comfortable with a reel being used this way please contact me at kent@cgcookie.com. If you could please do so by the end of October, that’d be great. I will wait to hear by then before commencing reel work 👍
Sharing the Final Model
An unforeseen (and potentially awkward?) aspect about the DOG is “who technically owns this model?” Since it’s made by a team…you see where I’m going with this. As discussed on stream, I’d like to see the DOG available to download as a FREE CGC resource.
I don’t want to get too legalese but, legally speaking, I’m not sure we have this officially covered since this kind of project has never been done before. That said it’s safe to assume the model is akin to the resource files and source files which are licensed this way:
According to this license CGC is technically the owner BUT rest assured that CGC will never sell the DOG (or any future collaborative project) as a standalone asset (like on the Blender Market for example). Likewise no one else can sell it either, including DOG POUND members.
Again if anyone is uncomfortable sharing the final model as a FREE CGC resource under the above license, please email me: kent@cgcookie.com!
If anything is unclear don’t hesitate to ask questions in the replies!
To conclude this massive wall of text, even if a reel is protested out of existence and / or the model never loads on anyone’s computer but ours, I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve accomplished! DOG POUND FOREVAH!!