SOTW Robocop 2.0 Redesign
This weeks SOTW is a redesign of Robocop. A personal project I’ve been playing with off and on for a few months now, these are a few of the early concepts. Word on the street is that they are trying to revamp the Robocop franchise, so I wanted to give it a shot before they show anything. This way if the updated version comes out and I don’t like it I an actually say “I did something way better than that crap!”
On redesigns like this I always try to do almost a caricature of the old version. I want to change it as much as possible but still have the character be recognizable. If you can’t tell it is, then you have pretty much failed.
Anyways in the next few weeks I plan on redesigning everything from Robocop’s gun to ED-209. What you see here is just a start, and I have a lot more coming up that will be a lot more fleshed out. See ya next week.
Tron Recognizer Concept SOTW Dec 20/09
It’s about time! Finally, the final sketch for my Tron Legacy concepts. This week’s concept is the Tron Recognizer. I always hated these things on the movie and it was not because I didn’t like how they looked or they scared me a child. No, it was because the Intellivision’s “Deadly Disk of Tron” video game. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=20552 The game cheats and the booklet tells you that you can destroy the Recognizer by hitting it in the “eye”. Much like cake, the eye was a lie. Young, fat Andy wasted many days trying to beat that game and never did manage to destroy the in-game Recognizer. Not to mention, I’m pretty sure it just repeated on forever.
Anyway, I stayed close to the original version’s body shape. The original felt kind of skinny, so on this one I tried to beef it up by adding heavy shoulders and a thicker mid-section. That helped give the look more of an intimidation factor. I also tried to add some function to the look by adding some mechanical looking sections. For example, the silver-ish pieces on either side of the shoulders are rotating cannons. You can see more of that on the rough sketches.
My favorite addition is the power source in the mid-section. Imagine, if you will, a screen that starts out pitch black and the blue glow emerges out of the darkness followed by the red lines. Could totally be one of those O $#^@* moments in a movie. I also liked the addition of the blue lights coming out of the bottom. It looks like a jet stream in the sketch but really I see it as more of a spotlight or a tractor beam.
If anything color and texture has been one of my weak points, so I tried to push it a little this week. I didn’t go crazy, baby steps. I added a galvanized metal texture over the body and set the layer style to a soft light. The beams of light are a combo of gradient and some new texture brushes I found. And the chest glow is just a layer style (glow) with the noise turned up.
Well, that’s the last of the Tron series. Not sure what’s next but I’ll figure something out.
A
The Tron Light Cycle Concept Nov 21/09
As promised this week, I worked on some concept art for the Tron light-cycle. The original light-cycle has to be one of the coolest looking vehicles in movie history. In the top three at least, next to the X-wing and the dog van from Dumb and Dumber.
Anyways, I really wanted to draw the crotch rocket version of the light-cycle but the demon voices in my head kept telling me “Stop sucking and do something unique”. So then it hit me, wouldn’t it be sweet if there were a chopper version of the light cycle?
It was a little tough to keep the tech look with the chopper feel but it worked out pretty well. The hardest part was finding a place to attach the handlebars and make them look in place. Wrapping them around the wheel and connecting them in the wheel well became the best solution. I’m also a fan of the barbwire detailing on the gas tank too. That accent really seemed to combine Tron and the chopper feel.
Originally, I started with blue highlights but decided to go red to keep with the bad boy feel. Finally the fire red/orange jet stream is a nod to the Ghost Rider.
Come back next week to see my version of the Recognizers. I’ve been having a good time with the last two Tron sketches so why not go with it? See ya in a week.
A
Sketch of the Week November 13/09
So, for those of you who haven’t heard, Disney finally announced that they are coming out with Tron 2! That’s right Tron, the precursor to The Matrix. I can’t believe it took those jokers sooo flipping long. The story will probably be horrible but at least it will look pretty (see Star Wars 1-3). The teaser trailer is amazing! Is Flynn good? Is he bad? I DON’T KNOW!
The new light cycle looks sweet… from a distance. I just don’t like how the rider sits on the bike. So next week I’ll take a stab at the bikes but this week, I tweaked the tanks from Tron. Much like the storm troopers from Star Wars, the tanks looked sweet but were completely irrelevant.
I’m a bit of a purist, so I tried to keep the overall tank form the same and just updated the style. You can see a little of my thought process in the rough sketches. I tried everything form centering the gun turret, different types of tread, even a windshield. The wheels like rings on the side were added to imply wheels or tread. They don’t touch the ground at all but they help the tank look mobile unlike the original version.
The colors did need to be updated but obviously I didn’t do to much with that. The old orange was a little dull so I pushed the chrome up a little. Less is more. Finally adding all of the glowing lines. So many designs have been ruined by people overdoing the glowy lines and while glowy lines may look sweet, don’t use it as a crutch people! Just use it on the areas where you want to highlight something. Anywhere else use it sparingly.
All right, that’s all I got. Let me know what sucks in the comments. I’m looking forward to the light cycle next week.
A
Baby gotta dance!
There are several things that I didn’t realize about pregnancy. This video of my wife’s belly is one of them. I just always assumed that the little face huger would quietly sleep until the day God decided he should come out. Clearly I was wrong. Some days I swear that he is going to bust out and say O-Yea! Kool-aid baby this is for you.
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My newest design
For those of you who don’t know, my wife is pregnant. Better yet with a boy, an heir to my throne! We shelled out some big money for the video (10 bucks) but only because the “included” photo they give you with the sonogram is a 1”x 1” low res print on copy paper. With print lines going through it….But who’s complaining? You can check out the video here and here.
I know this isn’t really design related but if you think about it, it is. What better way to learn about toy design than with an actual lil man of my own? I can only see it helping me grow as a designer. Despite the eventual lack of sleep. Regardless, it’s one of the most exciting and terrifying experiences in my life. Time will tell and I am sure you’ll hear more about it in the future.
Maybe I can use him as business expense? Yea….