Dinky the Robot
Small gardening robot protecting the garden.
Dinky the Robot
Update - 31 Oct 2022
Thoughts before update
I finally got a spark of inspiration for the robot. I spent the last few days blocking out when I could. Also after watching the recorded live with Alwyn and Pablo I upgraded my references and separated the inspirations and references. Did a quick sketch, but I' very bad at drawing. Decided to update today because I just couldn't bring myself to work. I think I'm overthinking and over-complicating the design. So thought I'd do a quick update instead.
New reference board
For the robot I decided to make it chunky and clunky. The body is cube shaped and I wanted Dinky to be able to retract into the box. So the eyes and arms and some more appendages will be able to go back into the body. The legs have covers like a moped has for the tires. Because it's a gardening robot opted for including some weather measuring instruments. It's going to be pretty beat up, so the texturing will be extra important. Also wanted him to have eyebrows so he can express more emotions. Though it was an original idea until Robots came up in the google search.
Blockout
The blockout is going ok for now. Been struggling a bit, but I'm pushing through. Hoping to finish the blocking in the next week or so. Always best to have a good blockout as it's the foundation of the project. Will not be able to make the whole scene with the time I have so it will be downgrade to the robot, desert rose, foliage and ground. If I happen to have more time I'll be adding some more elements.
See you at the next update!
Update - 25 Oct 2022
Mini update
Finished the sculpt and tried baking it. The results are ok for now. Don't feel like doing the textures just yet so I will start Dinky in a few days cuz I got into my master studies. So I have some things to finish related to that. Also decided to use planes for flowers and leaves for the desert rose. That will be done when texturing the trunk.
For the sculpting I used a alpha to mask the rose then used inflate to get the patterns. Be sure to save the previous version so you can use the morph brush to adjust deformations that aren't to your liking. After that I added some more definition for the cavities and then you use hpolish/flatten orb to add final details.
Bake
Did a quick bake to see how it would look. Did a quick render using Iray for this update.
Final thoughts for this update
After an intense sculpting session, I'm absolutely drained. Glad I'll be finally starting the robot, feel like I don't have enough time left. Probably my anxiety talking. Will be asking people for feedback for the sculpt. I think that's all for today. Time for lunch/dinner.
See you guys later!
Update - 23 Oct 2022
Finally started the project and as I started I felt so uninspired and I just couldn't catch that spark for the robot. So after a few days trying to start I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Then I decided not to wait for inspiration to come to me and started working on other things in the scene that I found crucial. After doing a quick rough block-out to see where things will go in the scene and the approximated size for things in the scene I started on the flower Dinky is caring for. Went back and forth on what kind of a flower it was. Didn't want it to be too simple and as I was scrolling through reddit I found something that inspired me, a desert rose. So i started making it. Did the lowpoly and the UVs for it. Going to sculpt it tomorrow. Also decide how I'm going to do leaves and flowers. Still deciding whether or not to do planes or model them.
Rough scene block-out
The desert rose
For the base of the rose I used a sphere and the extruded the branches and roots.
The process: select a few faces, circularize them, draw a curve and the extrude. Be careful not to delete history, because it still allows you to adjust the branches using curves.
The process
Lowpoly
For the UVs I had to make them tilt to one side, cuz the alpha I'll be using for masking in Zbrush is also at an angle. Also there is not much UV optimization, not really great at that when the parts are this curved. The is a bit of deformation, nothing really big and it is kinda unavoidable. If someone knows how to get such curves with no deformation please do tell.
Conclusion for this update
It's hard being uninspired, but gotta push through and just start working. Hoping to finish the desert rose in the next few days and then start Dinky. While working on the rose I got a few ideas for the robot. I'm gonna focus on the robot, the rose and some other foliage and if I manage I will add other things to the scene. The log, tree, fence, front of the house and maybe a pond. But that's me being extremely ambitious. Master studies are going to start soon, but I hope I'll manage.
Good luck on your entries and see you next week for another update!
Update - 12 Oct 2022
Dinky the Robot
Hi everyone, I'm very excited to join my first ever challenge/contest. For this contest I have decided not to use already existing concepts. I wanted to challenge myself and come up with a design myself. Spent some time looking at references and finding inspiration and found some robots that sort of fit what I am looking for.
Inspiration
The Story
GR-2171S is a robot designed for gardening purposes. Its role is to work alongside a human and help them when needed. This story is about GR-2167S robot named Dinky. He was one of the first prototypes for the GR-2171S model.
Dinky had even worse gardening capabilities because of an advanced companionship chip he had integrated into his circuit. The manufacturing company saw the higher production cost and decided that it was better to focus completely on its gardening ability and discard the advanced companionship chip.
One of the researchers took him home out of pity and named him Dinky cause of his small size and limited abilities. Since then it has helped that researcher take care of his garden. They planted flowers and trees together. Until one day the researcher didn't come home. Dinky couldn't comprehend what happened, so he continued to do what he knew. He took care of the garden. But as time passed and his battery ran low, he knew he couldn't look after the whole garden. So he prioritized the first flower he helped the researcher plant. He continued to spend his days tending to the flower and its surroundings, waiting for the researcher to come back home.
That's it for now. Will be updating when I start blocking out Dinky after I finalize the design. Will not be posting the design cause I am not so great at drawing. I envision what elements I want him to have and then it's trial and error until I get what I want. I hope you'll have fun keeping up with my project. Stay safe you guys.
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