"anatomy of machinery?"

[Main Loop]

hey yall

ive always liked stuff like robots, cyborgs, machinery, etc. and drawing them out of my head is fun, but these days ive been wanting to make them more realistic.. its hard cuz i have really no point of reference other than what other people have done.. Its easy to tell when things look right when drawing a human body or something, because there's always a point of reference.. But machinery is a bit different, cuz its so varied..

My question is, are there any set rules? like are there things like joints, or rods wires etc. that correspond with function and movement? there's gotta be more to it than just making bones look metallic and making ligaments look like wires or something, right? Are there books or websites or something out there where i can find answers to these questions? Ill appreciate any help anyone can give me

[mtw]

You might want to incorporate hydraulic pistons for moving parts. Think of those construction vehicles that have one long arm and a bucket at the end, whatever they're called. Those are one way for giving movement and flexibility.

But one thing that's good about not knowing what's feasible and what's not is that you can create futuristic looking things that engineers will look to in the future as prototypes for real things. It can help you think outside the box instead of being constrained to what is only now feasible.

[Main Loop]

Originally posted by mtw
You might want to incorporate hydraulic pistons for moving parts. Think of those construction vehicles that have one long arm and a bucket at the end, whatever they're called. Those are one way for giving movement and flexibility.

But one thing that's good about not knowing what's feasible and what's not is that you can create futuristic looking things that engineers will look to in the future as prototypes for real things. It can help you think outside the box instead of being constrained to what is only now feasible.

hydraulic pistons, ok gotcha.. thanx

about your 2nd paragraph, yeah thats true, but id like at least some frame of reference into basic machinery, hydraulic pistons is a start.. its like they say, you gotta know the rules before you can break them right?

[sandman]

I would also think about size and function. ie, the feet of quadrupeds are often small, whist we humans (lacking the stability of four feet on the ground) require extended feet. A tripod is very stable on uneven ground and I imagine that size for size, a hydraulic ram could be over a hundred times stronger than the muscles in the human arm (even Arnie's).

I sometimes think of things as trees; the roots for anchorage and stability, the trunk for support and the branches to bear leaves which provide energy to the tree. If any one of these is weakened or out of proportion by size or weight, then the tree may collapse and die.

Where bio-mech is concerned, you may have to over exaggerate the size of the mechanical components just so that they look substantial enough to the viewer to be capable of supporting the structure or holding a weapon for example. In real life, those components would probably be much smaller, but may look out of balance if painted that size.

Here are a few references of cyborgs/ bio-mechs;
Southern's 004 Cyborg (http://vbulletin.newtek.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11255)
Southern's ZBorg (http://www.southerngfx.co.uk/graphics/gfx1a/gfx-robot1/gfxmainpage.htm#)
The art of H.R Giger (http://gigergallery.com/)
The Dronez (http://www.cgnetworks.com/cgfilms/cgfilm.php?story_id=1965) (a short film).

David

[Main Loop]

thanks.. all this info helps

[LEN]

looking at construction equipment is definitly helpful, once it gets warmer I think I'll be heading out to do that as well. I think I need to disagree with mtw aabout not knowing what feasable -though he definitly has a good point about thinking out side the box- sometimes knowing what is feasable inspires you to persue a creative direction you would have not gone to if you did not have your original grounding in reality, just avoid staying in reality too much. lol


here are some links to some mechanical web sites, some are kind of fun:

http://www.flying-pig.co.uk/

http://www.howstuffworks.com/top40.htm

http://www.engineersedge.com/



http://www.efunda.com/home.cfm



have fun, mechanics are a good time.