24 December 2007

3D Challenge #021 - Battlebot


Note: Please read the guidelines for participating in the challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to have fun and bring SketchUp users together and help each other learn and get better at using our favorite 3d modeling program. We will remove comments that are objectionable or offensive.

This week's challenge:

Battlebot

You may know the TV-show with all those robots battleling in an arena against each other. This week we are going to model a battlebot for such a contest. There are two limitations to your battlebot; With all battle weapons fully extended the bot should fit in a box with a length, width and height of 8 foot or 2,5m. Secondly, in case of a multibot (a configuration consisting of multiple independent smaller bots) you may not have more than three independent bots which should fit together in the same box of 8 foot or 2,5m. More information about battlebots can be found at the official battlebot website.

Good luck ALL!

3d Warehouse tag: 3d challenge 021

Due Date: Wed, Jan 2 (Challenge closed)

Click here to see the submitted models for this challenge.

Winner (2 Way Tie)
Unstoppable by DF Andy
&
X-Saw Bot Codename: "Lucky Johnny" by Xayzer

2 nd Place
Die-Sector by sir LOZ

3 rd Place
Skeletron by DALEXD

Congrats to All !!!!!

43 comments:

  1. General notes:

    Remember to post a link to your model in the 3D Warehouse on the blog, so everybody knows you submitted it. You can use the hyperlink code creater on the frontpage of the blog to create the code for a hyperlink in your message. Copy this code and paste it in the comment box on the place where your want the hyperlink to be. More information about participating with the challenges and uploading models to the Warehouse can be found in the "3D Challenge participation manual" in the useful links section on the frontpage of the blog.

    Challenge suggestions are welcome to be placed on the blog. Items will be noted and compiled on the moderator’s list. At that point, the initial comment for the suggestion may be deleted so as to maintain a streamline challenge thread for use of posting entries for the challenge and comments to models. Challenge suggestions have always been welcomed and taken under consideration.

    The members of the moderation team would like to wish everybody a happy christmas and a very good new year.

    Good luck with the challenge...

    ReplyDelete
  2. So we may ignore all the other battlebot regulations (weapons and so on)? Just our own rules + the model has to fit in this box?

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  3. Yes, as these bots are pure fictional they don't have to follow all the safety or mechanical rules from the real battlebot challenges. Otherwise you would need the whole week to figure out all the real regulations. The main objective of these challenges are to improve your own sketchup skills. The real battlebot regulations wouldn't add anything to this as the design itself is not really important. The point is how to realize your ideas and design in Sketchup to a good model.

    We only made a limit to the size of the bot to maintain a certain degree of realism. A bot's body is usually between 3-4 foot or 1-1,5 meter without the weapons fully extended. If you make a hammer as weapon for example, which is as long as the bot's body, then you will be at the limit of the measurements when the hammer is fully extended. Futher you can use all your creativity and imagination on your battlebot. How would it move itself, what weapons or armor would it have and how would it react on attacks from other bots? Can it flip itself back on it's wheels when it is fallen upside down or does is not have an up- and downside.

    Good luck....

    J-m@n

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  4. Final Notice

    NO BLOG ENTRY - NO VOTING POLL LISTING!!!


    Only reason they are being added for challenge 020 voting is due to newcomers to the challenge and I did not get time to send a message Via warehouse to tell them to post. The repeat offenders already know the rules and will not be included in the voting without a blog entry. This has been stated for many many weeks and it is time to enforce the rules. It is also disreceptful to those that take the time to enter on the blog, to give others the luxury of bypassing this rule.

    THATS THE FINAL WORD ON THE SUBJECT!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is sir LOZ submitting a model - sorry about not doing it other times - i forgot to read that bit!!! - LOL

    To view the model :

    http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=85a4024f9426f540166cd41152dd07b1&prevstart=0



    My blog -(with extra model info...):

    www.sirloz.blogspot.com

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  6. here's the fling & sting

    2 weapon battlebot. inside a 8' wide x 8' deep x 4' high box.

    it's low to the ground and heavy.

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  7. Hello, I'm new here.
    I've build the model for GrayMatter. The link is posted below.

    Battlebot - GrayMatter

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  8. Hello Fahzan

    Just want to welcome you to the group. Nice looking Model.

    Bluesdog
    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  9. http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=68ed5c69fe6ae0791d7e978e0d97ec92

    ReplyDelete
  10. What happens if there is a joint first place?

    Do you judge???

    ReplyDelete
  11. Can you use textures and colors from Materials in Google SketchUp?
    My model is hopefully going to be finished soon...
    ArchitectMan17

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  12. hello there, just submiting a model, so here it is:

    http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=4be359757fa8cbc63d8d1417316f6bda

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  13. @sir loz: When there's a joined first place, nothing happens. It will just be a shared victory. As there is no real prize ther's no point for picking one winner. The mod-team gave themself no voting privileges above others.

    @architectman17: Yes you may use those colors/textures from the library or textures that you import yourself. But, you should always remember that the geometry of your model is the thing that should be good. The colors and textures are nice to complete the model, but should not be more than that. In my opinion you won't learn anything if you make a box and paste a battlebot image on it. That's not what these challenges are about. Also when importing images or textures, try to make them as efficient as you can. They highly influence the filesize of your model. I personally prefer to skip textures a much as possible and use plain colors instead.

    My model for this challenge will be "The J-smasher". A low profile bot on tracks for fast attacks and high manoeuvrability. The primary weapons are two pneumatic rams on the front and a smash hammer on the top. At the back of the bot there's a flipper to tumble other bots.

    J-smasher model

    J-m@n

    ReplyDelete
  14. Here´s my model
    http://sketchup.google.com/
    3dwarehouse/details?mid=7fc6988ee
    08baf7059ec27dc250b33eb&prevstart=0

    ReplyDelete
  15. Battlebot simple machine by SketchUp Guy


    I am Being a good friend. This is
    Sketchup Guys model for the challenge. I believe he is on Vacation and could not get his blog in so I am doing it for him. Thank you.

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  16. What do you guys think about my model

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  17. I've done a model of Tazbot from the actual Battlebots tv show. I liked how Tazbot had different geometry than the majority of bots on the series. This bot proved a real challenge in the aspect that there aren't many photos out there that show it from all angles. I had to get some freeze frame snapshots from some thumbnail size videos to actually start learning what shapes to use. The angles proved very difficult to pull off because all sides had varying heights and slopes and the bot doesn't conform to the standard rectangular body.

    The texturing was no easy task itself. I found a nice sheet metal image and projected it over the model. I had to remake the logos myself in PaintShop Pro, give them transparent backgrounds then hover them 1/16 inch over the corresponding surface and get another snapshot with the projected sheet metal background to produce the final stickers applied to the bot.

    Truly a difficult yet rewarding challenge. Looks like there are already a lot of great looking bots being submitted. Keep it up everyone!

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  18. j-m@n, I was impressed with your model and enjoyed the animation. I'd never tried the animation before and spent a few hours this morning trying to figure it out.

    I had my bot divided into three parts then all grouped together. I kept rotating a copy of the turret and weapon on my model then hiding the originals but everytime I played the animation the original components and the copies would all be visible.

    I finally realized that you can't embed components if you want to animate. I had to explode the group. This put each component on tier one of the Outliner. I actually learned something new :)

    Curious though how you did the text on your battlebot. I noticed that it isn't set to cut an opening; yet, you somehow put a text component on the surface of your bot and it doesn't give that gray shimmering two overlapping surfaces effect.

    Everyone's models are looking great but the files sizes look a bit large in some cases. For some, learn to make components to repeat an object instead of just copying and pasting. For others, learn about the VCB (Value Control Box) on the lower right hand screen of Sketchup. By default, the circle tool create a circle with 24 edges and the curve tool uses 12 edges. You can reduce the number of edges by clicking the tool and typing in a new # value; for example...

    Click the circle tool

    In the VCB box type 12

    Press Enter

    Draw your circle

    Now it may not look as pretty as a circle with 24 edges but try the push/pull tool. Notice that from a side view your circle looks fairly smooth.

    Would like to see this used on models like GrayMatter's wheel bolts. GrayMatter uses the default 24 edge circle rotated along a 12 edge curved. This produced over 288 surfaces on one bolt head alone times 4 per wheel, times 4 wheels = 4608 surfaces.

    Just play around with various numbers in the VCB and try to find a balance between detail and file size.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi Josh,

    Thank you for your compliments about my model.

    For the text on my bot I used only the 3D text tool from the standard tools of sketchup 6. When you have entered a text in that tool and pressed "place", you just have to point at a surface to place it. Sketchup automatically uses a tiny gap between the text and the surface to prevent that shimmering effect (which is called Z-fighting). If you would zoom in close enough you can see that the text and the surface don't touch each other. That's the whole trick to prevent this Z-fighting from happening.

    For your Tazbot model I have a few remarks which you can use in future models (or this model if you want to adjust it before the challenge closes).

    - At some places you used textures a bit to much. At those places the textures become the model instead of an addition to the model. An example of this is the gear and chain, they are only an image. I think it's way more interesting to create those parts in sketchup yourself. That's real modeling and in my opinion the fun part...

    - You also used complete black on some parts of your model. I would advise you to avoid complete black as much as possible. Black masks shapes completely, so only use this where that's what you want. In all the other cases use a slightly lighter color black instead. I prefer Color_008 from the standard sketcup colors in those cases.

    - Try to make some shapes more 3 dimensional. For example, the triangular parts on the front of the bot have 3 dimensions in total but they are made of flat surfaces. In real life those parts will have a certain thickness, so why not give them that thickness? We are working in 3D after all. I agree that the way you made it is more geometry efficient, but with a model of this size and detail more geometry wouldn't be a real problem.

    Don't take these remarks to hard. They are very common in sketchup models found on the warehouse. The goal of these challenges are to know about these mistakes and try to correct them in future models. The only way to do this is by trying out as much as possible yourself and by reviewing models from other people. How did J-m@n created those tracks and how would I do it? That are the questions you (and others) should ask yourself. Step by step you will improve your skills and become a real sketchup master. I started exactly the same way...

    Good luck,

    J-m@n

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  20. Hi! This is only the second challenge that I've entered... so here's my battle bot:

    death hawk

    The Death Hawk is low and flat, so its hard to flip it.it is surrounded by weapons so it is hard to get close enough to make real damage. It has air ventilation that flows in the middle of its body to cool down the motors and all the hot air gets out by the rear ventilation. The spikes on the sides prevent other bots from driving on to it. The two boxes on the top are Projectile Launchers and the thin green strip under them are the Lock-On sensers. It's two track wheels enable it to spin on a dime, and are both highly protected by the spikes that prevent anyone from getting close enough to damage them, unless they use projectile weapons too. I think one of its major dissadvantages would be against hammer like weapons that could damage the top weapons and eventually the motors, even though the Death Hawk has thin but hard armor.

    Hope you like my model!

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  21. Explod-o-Bot

    I hope the competition is either made of plastic or explosion proof... That is of course assuming that explosives are allowed...

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  22. Hello all. I have been meaning to sibmit a model for one of these. Here goes...

    I've seen the other models submitted. They look great!

    Turtle Tank

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  23. Hello, this is my first entry.
    I think this is a great competition.
    I still have to lurn a lot, with this model I had some problems with the "blades" in front because its all curved.

    Here's my battlebot:
    Jaws of Death

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  24. Dear ALL,

    Happy New Year.... and vest wishes for u and your families

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hey guys!
    Here's my second entry for this challenge:

    it's The Visketo

    I think I got a little carried away while writing the description...

    Please don't just look at the picture, download it to look at it from all angles or you'll be missing a lot!

    I wish everybody a Happy New Year, good Health to them and their families, and most important of all: Good Luck for all of your 2008 sketch up models!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hey, I have a question, when will the 19th challenge models be added to the 3d challenge collection?
    Will it be when the 20th challenge has been voted?
    And some of you talked about 'animation', what is that?

    ReplyDelete
  27. here is the link to my model. http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=b9fd0f93763fc742d0b5fe682831ba8

    ReplyDelete
  28. @Archy-Texture; I can't give you a specific time for when models will be added to the 3D challenge collection at the warhouse. This is not controlled by the moderation team but by others.

    About animation, in sketchup you are able to make scenes of certain cameraviews with specific properties for that view. These properties could be a different style, hidden or unhidden geometrie, different shadow settings, etc. When you have made a couple of these scenes, you can make sketchup automatically play them behind each other with realtime transitions between the scenes. Within the settings you can change the time it takes to make the transition between two scenes, or how long it should hold at a scene. You can find these things in the "view" menu under "animation". If you would like to see this working you can download my bot model (or any other model with scenes) and select "play" in the menu given above. You can also play a bit with the settings to see how this influences the animation. With the "export" function in the "file" menu you can turn this animation into an .avi movie.

    Good luck...

    J-m@n

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  29. Here's my entry:
    X-saw Bot. Codename: "Lucky Johnny"

    It's not one of my best models but considering the amount of detail I'm quite proud with the filesize (just 360 kb)

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  30. Howdy All, here is my bot for this challenge. As you may have noticed, I like to try and look at the challenges for a different point of view. It is part of how I see the creative process. So here is my t'ai chi Bot. If you open the file and read the explanation, I hope it will make sence.
    t'ai chi Bot

    Don

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  31. Thanks J-M@n for the info about animation! I really appreciate it ;)

    ReplyDelete
  32. http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=bfa887a231e9c15d567dd716b47482f3

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  33. Hi! I'm Adm. Kamikaze Bacon, I'm new to the challenge. I'm posting The Baconator.

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  34. Hello Admiral and any other newcomers to the challenge.

    Just want to welcome you to the challenge and look forward to your work.


    Bluesdog
    Bob

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  35. Well, seeing as i didn't have much luck with the last comp, I thought I'd try again.

    My entry is Droideka

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  36. Thought I'd make another entrant, here is my 6-Legged Robot

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  37. @Archy-Texture

    Hello. I did just receive e-mail that collections for challenge 018 and 019 have been added to the Master collection list in the warehouse.

    Bluesdog
    Bob

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  38. Just wanted to mention that there is a typo in the name of my entry in the poll. It's "X-Saw", not "X-Sax". But it doesn't really matter :-)

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  39. @Xayzer

    Sorry for the typo, but once a vote is cast, the poll can't be changed. It's a software limitation (like my typing- LOL).

    Bluesdog
    Bob

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  40. @Bluesdog

    Yeah, I know it can't be changed. Just wanted to mention it. No worries, if it were me, I would've probably made not 1, but 101 typos :-)

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