DSG 1134: Sci-Fi: FLYING MICRO BOT THAT RESEMBLES INSECT IS NEAR EVERYDAY OBJECT

[William b. Hand]

[ Hm... ]

[ I think that this one is fairly self-explanatory. ]

[ Make this a close-up. ]

[ It should be apparent that this is a mechanical thing, not just something that looks like an actual bug. ]

[ Oh, and the "common object" is for a measure of scale and also to bind the imaginary with the everyday. ]

[ Hop to it. ]

Sci-Fi: FLYING MICRO BOT THAT RESEMBLES INSECT IS NEAR EVERYDAY OBJECT
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[dakobah20]

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/1394/microbot2qg3.jpg

[sarillion]

large-scale prototype of a sterilization robot whose final models would appear innocuously as regular sugar ants. these robots would have flight capability (doh! forgot to sketch wings before i scanned it in) and be able to work in masses to remove unwanted debris and clean surfaces with a high-powered sanitation solution.

and yeah, im still learning how to color digitally

oh-- crits and suggestions as always are welcome

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/nlistrom/personal_or_previous/bug

[Skolld]

The latest in jet propelled insectoid microbots. Gauranteed to rid your home of all pests and unwanted guests. Just release the microbots into your home using the easy to operate microbot base station.
includes station, charger and easy ot follow intructions.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k102/skolld/DSG1134forweb.jpg

2 hrs in PS


www.borgdot.com

[burrito]

http://www.entervault.net/an8forum/npb_dsg_1134.jpg

[ramonsk8]

ahha yeah this one's mine!

[Waffle_King]

In 2054 The X-Acto corporation revolutionized the home-office supply market with the 'Bug-Bot', a modular design that was available outfitted as a pencil sharpener (shown here), an x-acto blade reservoir, a tape dispenser, or a stapler/staple remover. The small semi-intelligent robots would stay localized on a table top or within a one foot square radius, whichever was smaller- and would provide both functionality and amusement to their owners. Several competitors launched their own lines of semi-intelligent office supplies with mixed success, but the trend of AI outfitted tools continued to grow- making it as far as kitchen appliances-- namely the infamous Kenmore "Bake 4 You" oven.

The "Bake 4 You" had a tragic engineering flaw- the routine usage of the oven would, over time, expose the AI construct within to excessive amounts of ambient heat- resulting in highly erratic, and given the nature of the oven, dangerous behavior. Several cases of the oven belching jets of flame at home-owners or flooding a home with carbon-monoxide served to galvanize a movement against all AI-driven appliances. The scandal that ensued after the "Bake 4 You" and many other similar appliances eventually led to the passing of the 2073 Domestic Artificial-Intelligence Control act (the DAIC act), which banned AI constructs from domestic usage save for assisted living and the physically, psychologically, or mentally handicapped.

http://artkid.us/DSG/DSG_1134.jpg

Just a quicky tonight. About an hour and a half in PS CS. Was going to be much more ambitious (with pencils for scale and everything) but I'm freakin tired... I also just noticed mine doesn't fly. Shoot. Sorry guys.

dakobah20: I like the unusual placing of the viewer- very ambitious. However, I think you need to clarify both what your bug is supposed to do (maybe a spy bug, going off the eye?) and perhaps how it does it. Even though I am a fan of the challenge you've given yourself with that camera angle, I think your illustration suffers because of it- perhaps a more conventional angle would help you tell a better story. Either way, nice idea! Keep at it and I hope to see you post again soon! Keep drawing- we're all in this together, one sketch at a time! :yayca:

sarillion: nice idea! I like the simplicity of your design. I think you pulled it off well- I'm working on the whole digital thing as well, and color's got me scared. Monochromatic is hard enough, lol. Maybe next time try puttting your critter in an environment, try to give it some context... have it tell some sort of story, you know- have the viewer get interested and ask him/herself questions. Your call.

Skolld: LOL! I like this idea- especially the bit about unwanted guests. I know the image you're trying to portray is a difficult one, but I think there's got to be a better way of composing this image and get the idea across all the same- at the moment it's kind of a slow read: "I see robot wasp. then I see the giant red orb and blue things? Ah-- ok. The robo wasp is on top of a bug of some sort." lol. I'm not sure how else you could show this though... maybe have an upshot of the fly and then have your robo-wasp swooping in from the fore-ground to make the kill- like a dog-fight... but more like a bug fight, I guess. Either way, good idea. Keep it up!

burrito: Quality as usual, burrito. I like that you stayed away from the heavy outline this time- Also, the atmoshpheric perspective, with the BG in soft-focus is really working good. My only crit is the rendering- just a tad sloppy looking- the soda can looks like an aluminum sausage, lol. Also, what is that little bugger doing? ...STEALING MAH SODA POP?! *grabs fly swatter* ... nice work, keep it up!

Good work all! I can't wait to see what else y'all come up with. Good drawing mates-- one sketch at a time! :yayca:

-Andrew

[dan liimatta]

The A4-C99 "Chrome Devil" is used to sample our everyday environment. It is a surveillance tool and is there to see what you and me consume during the day, to help us eat and drink right, and avoid nasty microbes.

You never notice the A4-C99 CD due to it's speed, and it was original for espionage; at one point most people in the western world had the military version around themselves at all times without their knowledge. We found out of course and people cried out against the government body for this breach of integrity, but as time goes by we found our own use for the little spy.

Nowadays there are just as common as the original spy and the older horsefly in the western homes; keeping track of calories and vitamins instead of thoughts.
http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/9286/microbotnf3.jpg
2½ Hours I think & my first chrome action / PS CS2
EDIT: fixed the fuzzy stuff ;)

Waffle_King I like the bug, but I don't like the composition and the eye catching really square window. Again nice that you put in a story to the image, I planned not to, but how could I skip it now? tbh My first thought when I saw it was "only one ball huh?" and the second was a realization that I'm damaged goods ;)

sarillion I like the form and design for the bot, and the added story & I can see how new you are to digital colouring, but picking up the basis should be easy given how well you seem to handle the pen.

burrito I like the propeller solution given the wings present so far, but it seems to lack some of the flash you usually put in. It feels fairly crude, for example you didn't bother to keep the can a cylinder. Still i like the concept.

dakobah20 I spotted yours when I read about the topic, and couldn't drop coffee cups out of my head and I damn you for it. As for your creation I would like to see more of the bot, and not have the absolute top down perspective.

Skolld Good to see an other description, and nice bug killing concept. As for the negative you should look at how you shade, you seem to use a soft brush and it gets fairly boring and flat in my opinion, and still you managed fairly well.

[Skolld]

dan liimatta- Thanks for the crit, I understand what you mean about the flatness, I just got my Intuos 3 about two months ago so I'm still trying to unlock all of its secrets.
Really like the backstory on your 'Chrome Devil', The chrome is also rendered very nicely. I'm not sure what the pink fuzzy stuff is supposed to be though.

Waffleking-Great story, The 'Bake 4 You', that's just good stuff. The perspective line for the table seems a bit too high though, and I almost want to see more of the bells and whistles that are in the description to be be more apparent in the critter.
Thanks for the crit as well, I could definitely see a 'bug-fight' happening.

burrito-I like the idea of the propeller but it seems a little stuck-on, almost like one of those exotic drink umbrellas. The slirpy straw in the soda can is a nice touch.

sarillion-Nice sketch, digital coloring I can't help too much with, as I'm still getting used to it myself but you seem to be on the right track.

dakobah20- I like the idea but I really want to see more of that critter

[goran]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v17/smogyboy/CA%20sketchbook/genetic-material-sampler-co.jpg
Genetic Material Sampler

[Waffle_King]

Thanks for the feed-back, guys-

Skolld: yeah, I actually didn't want to add too many bells and whistle because of two main reasons- one, I looked at my pencil sharpener and didn't see a chrome, led-bejewled, blue glowing ultra-tech device... it's just a black square, lol. Two- i was darn tired! Bad reasons, perhaps, but true.

dan liimatta: thanks for the feed-back, Dan. Yeah, I don't really like this composition either. It needs some other reference points. Maybe to be in front of some books or something. Lol, I didn't see at all what you saw... until you saw it! The shadow especially looks incriminating. Oh well. I'm sure everything will be AI-equipped in the future... as for your problem, well... plenty of poeple lead completely normal and meaningful lives, all with only one... um... fella.

Yeah, I defnitely rushed this one a bit. Also, the perspective had me guessing until the end, so that made things fairly aggravational as well. Dangit!

Oh well, there's always next time. Keep it up, fellas! :yayca:

-Andrew

EDIT:

Goran: nice work! How do you do these things you do with texture?

[goran]

@Waffle King-Thank you ,it is Open Canvas and Photoshop ,tutorial is coming soon.

[demdike]

Hi guys, did a quickie (45, min Ps), not overly inspired, just practicing painting.
They're watching over the garden, cutting off gras exceeding a certain, predefined length and occassionally hunt down varmints.

http://home.arcor.de/wildreizehn/fliflaflo/DSG/1134.jpg


crits:

dakobah20 - nice angle/point of view, could be even better slightly shifted.
sarillion - Nice bot. Some mechanics inside could add a lot to this, it appears a little empty. The coloring is not bad, only thing that bothers me are the clearly visible red/brown strokes along it's body
Skolld - Good concept, we'll sure be able to buy these some day not overly far away. For the brushwork, it's too blurry, especially in contrast to the lines. Also not sure about the background, it's very vague. WaffleKing's advice on composition is very good too.
burrito - Too funny, also like the background. The can could be straighter.
Waffle King - Great concept and story, again, I lack this important part. The perspective on the sharpener is odd, shouldn't face the viewer that directly.
dan liimatta - Great chrome and design! I also really like the fingers in the BG.
goran - Tattoobot, isn't it? No wait, just read the explanation. Excellent thinking and nicely done.

[RocknOats]

Ok, here's mine. I will treat this as a WIP for now, I hope to color it when I get home from work. Too busy to finish it here! Anyhoo, this little fella can operate alone or cooperatively with other Injectbots to deliver a variety of drugs and chemicals to it's targets. Cheap to build and maintain, Clients can field up to a dozen at the same cost of one mobile injection system 5 years ago. A nimble flyer with top of the line detection and evasion systems, the Mark IV Injectbot also features a completely integrated fluid storage and delivery system. Combined with it's robust build, no one short of a tennis pro is going to take this baby down! So, "ahem!" let's say a building collapses on a Diabetic convention "ahem!" and you need a mobile deat- I mean life-SAVING delivery system, The Injectbot is the flyer for you! "buy 5 get the 6th free! Comes with free cyani- I mean Insulin!"

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n63/rocknoats/DSG1134.jpg

[Crustacean]

Bugbot assassin. Goran beat me to it. :/

http://www.j-stengade.dk/1134.jpg

I´m going to take the rocky road today, and try critting some.

dakobah20: I´d like to have been closer to the bug. Also seeing things straight from the front, the side or the top, generally makes for a less dynamic image.

Skolld: Looks like a small bug is doing a bigger bugs hair. :) You seem to be using only soft brushes, and it makes the coloring look out-of-focus. You need some edges in there.

sarrilion: Cool idea. As for the rendering, see skolld ^

burrito: Nice sketch.

Waffle King: Another brilliant idea, and a nice rendering too. The mood is spot on.

Dan: Great idea, and impressively ambitious composition and rendering. Here´s a few kicks. I´m not sure the bug should be reflecting sky blue seeing as it´s seemingly an indoor scene. I´m guessing the strong yellow on the bug is a reflection of the edge of the mug, yet it´s a lot more saturated than the edge (or at least the part of it we can see). The values in the upper half of the image are too similar, all kinda bright. Makes the planes fall together, particularly between the bug and the hand. But this is all nitpick - it´s a great sketch.

goran: I got nothin. Looking forward to that tutorial.

Demdike: Love it, design and rendering both. Super cuddly.

[cashin]

\w/
http://img277.imageshack.us/img277/1923/dragonflyux0.png

[Camara]

http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/3121/spiderjj8.jpg
Ouh,SHIT!!!!The Topic said "FLYING"!!!!!Sorry..amm...welll...ammm...that thing can...ammm...fly thanks to two micro engines under its abdomen :\

Sorry about the poor quality,i wanted to be in this topic but i don´t have time for something better.Took just 15 min in Painter.Argh....

[Hamsta]

Flying a minituare RCV auto-gyro requires extensive skill and training, and if thing handling a helicopter is difficult, try doing it be remote, with a limited, distorted view, no sound, and the occasinal pet.
painter, 30?
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/2342/1134flybotum6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[dakobah20]

whoah thanks for the replies

Waffle_King: thanks for the helpful tips... i was going for a spy camera and was going to include that in my story but i didnt post a story because i wanted the viewer to interpret it. (but didnt convey it) Also i didnt completly understand the "close up" or i interpreted it wrong. Your bug is pretty cool, like the detail like to see it with wings. Also like others said it would be nice to have an object there for scale but nice job and thanks for the encouraging words.


dan liimatta - awsome chrome effect, i have been trying to achieve the chrome on an object but cant. any tips and tricks? Also thanks for your comments, my bad about the coffee part :bashful:. As i said in my previous comment i didnt completley understand "close up" and by the time i had it done i relized it wasnt that close. Thanks for the tips and i will keep it in mind for future drawings.

Skolld - Thanks, i didnt relize i did this mistake till like an hour after i posted it, and on when you posted your pic i relize i made that mistake. Is your bot a flea thats pretty neat idea.

demdike that is pretty neat. i like the render really well and like the concept, good work. thanks for the advice i appreciate it.

goran - Bravo, that is really cool! you say you use Open Canvas, when you post your tutorial would it be possible to post the WPE? i also use Open Canvas and would like to watch the event file, if not i still look forward to your tutorial.

Crustacean - nice render of the bot, that seems pretty dangerous. be cool to see that watched rendered a lil more, but really cool still. great work.

cashin Nifty concept! a dragon fly pen with a "laser". that is really cool!

good job to everyone! really good turnout and awsome thread idea.

[Pixel8]

Here's my submission: a newly created micro-robot that flies by use of a series of flagella along its side. It will be used to test and repair wiring in complex computer systems, requiring no human intrusion into the sensitive equipment.

http://www.steprock.com/illofriday/dsg1134_pixel8.jpg


Great work, guys! Crustacean, Demdike, Goran, just to name a few..

Edit: 3 sketches on paper, composited and color added in PhotoShop 6.0

[ashton]

the bug picks locks with its legs.
http://www.studiopumpernickel.com/ash/2006-dailysketch/metal_bug02.jpg

I found the perspective hard to realise.
some great images in this topic.


waffle king - I like your idea, the render has a very solid industrial design look.
You could reuse the insect in future drawings.


dan liimatta Good chrome rendering and back story. you took some artistic jumps
with the reflection which leads the eye around the drawing.

crustacean reminds me of a movie... city of the lost children, very refined colors
and scale reference

demdike I was going to do a lady beatle, you really nailed this one without even
having to paint the black dots. The best idea imo.

goran dark and moody as ever. your pictures belong on walls. does your bot have
wings ah who cares. I am not good enough to make a crit of your stuff, if anything the
light and dark values are a touch sharp but I guess I am not used to seeing your color
stuff. What does your finished work look like, no do not tell me.

[Knight Vision]

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6629/dsg1134microbotb001jx9.jpg

[demdike]

RocknOats - nice hovering system on the bot, also good concept. The hand looks off a little though and I'm not sure about the BG, maybe some scenery would work better.
Crustacean - great design, looks mean:) Thanks for the crits, I hoped the bug's cuteness would read well.
cashin - excellent concept/design, I really like the idea of everyday-object-mimicry. Nitpicking: The laser should be sharper, some glow is fine but it needs a highly focused and sharp center. BG is a bit empty.
camara - nice quickie, clearly a robot despite the spidery-design.
Hamsta - the bug looks good, nice mixture of insect/machinery. I'd love to see some parts on the bug in greater detail, the pillow/blanket make a nice BG and are fine implied that loose. Nice focus, by the way.
dakobah20 - thank you very much.
Pixel8 - It probably originates from the three different sketches, but the relation between your elements is odd. The guys face in the back being so big makes me think that even for an espresso-cup the mug is very small and the bug compared to it looks like a remarkable huge insect. Also, the liquid in the mug seems to be atop of it, that is, if it's not standing upside down. But I like the bugsketch:)
ashton - Great work! The colors are simply lovely, the design is highly nutty (which is a good thing!) and the painterly quality is awesome.
Oh, thanks for the crit:)

[guerrierhardcore]

http://guerrierhardcore.com/DSG_11_10_2006b.jpg

[Pixel8]

Well, if it's not obvious, I need to work on it! It's supposed to be an ink pen cap. Might be more apparent if I had colored the whole thing. Hopefully, that would clear up the issue of scale???

[demdike]

Pixel8 - Oops! And I wondered why the lug is bend that way:bashful: ...I'm sorry but I really didn't notice, maybe a logo on top could help?

[Van_xun]

hope i'm not too late =) , a not very mechanical bug with a not very toothbrush
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/5097/dsg1134xunfw5.jpg

[tumbra]

Some of these are pretty creative especially Crustacean's. I need to get back in the game.

[.adamb]

It's suppose to be an orange but it got messed up.

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/6558/dsg1134vo2.jpg

[PelleTM]

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/2615/flycopyve0.jpg

Cloaking-colored of course :) Elephant flies that seek out illegal music downloads.

[Hamsta]

demdike Shiny, shiny jet ladybug :)
good composition, focus, color theory implentation. I don't think it would really fly, but that's ok :teeth:

[dan liimatta]

Crustacean Lovely design and rendering of the bug & I wish I could flame you for the clock and arm, but as they simply give focus for the bug I fail. & I agree about the blue, in hindsight I didn't think about it enough when I started out and simply made a blue bug and then the rest flowed out from there. That said I'm positively surprised to see you write full crits, thanks and do keep it up :cheerleader:

goran The usual ups from me, can't wait for the tutorial & you got me to try OC again :^^:

demdike I like the colours, render & design; If anything the it feels somewhat stale as the only thing that will happen is that the bug will continue to fly in a straight path for ever ever. & thanks.

Waffle_King Actually I was thinking about what I was thinking about, for I am fully equipped ball wise (@ School I and some friends always found things phallic after the Athen OS and their phallic torch - so our lighthouse project, and most other stuff we did with things that could be considered as such was) :teeth:

dakobah20 It was my first attempt at it honestly, and I just tried to incoperate how light fell on the object and bounced out - as Crustacean pointed out I missed some parts in this, and I've found other problems myself - but moving on ;)

[Vulgar`]

Anybody remember the electronic bee from "Richie Rich"?