pod racer - extract from Wookieepedia

A podracer was a repulsorlift racing vehicle piloted duringpodraces across the galaxy, though specifically in the lawlessOuter Rim Territories. The term "podracer" was also used in reference to a being who piloted these racers.

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DesignEdit

Anakin Skywalker, famoushuman podracer.

A podracer, or "pod", was essentially a one-pilot cockpit attached to two racing engines via strong cables, such as those produced by Steelton. The special engines for these craft traditionally came in one of two varieties of mechanical action: internal combustion engine types or rocket motor types (engines using moving mechanical parts and rocket motors using no moving mechanical parts). At a distance, one could differentiate engines from motors by noting if there are rotating fan/turbines at the front of the craft (engines having large rotating fans, motors lacking them). Energy binders projected from each engine connected both turbines together, forming a loose triangular configuration with the pod itself, dragged behind the engines, at the highest point. A racer could commonly achieve speeds in excess of eight hundred kilometers per hour. Because of this, podracing required lightning-fast reflexes, and only species with a wide range of sensory organs and multiple limbs or durable bodies were known to race pods. Species such as Humans rarely took part in races, and never won—with a single exception.

Famous podracers,Ben Quadinaros,Gasgano and Clegg Holdfast.

Podracers were commonly customized by their owners, whether to achieve greater speed or agility, or simply to end up with a unique-looking racer. The infamousSebulba piloted one of the largest podracers on the Outer Rim circuits, complete with numerous hidden features and secret weaponry, while young Anakin Skywalkerbuilt a custom racer in his yard in Mos Espa. Many podracers were painted by their owners to symbolize different things or just to look good.

HistoryEdit

The podracer evolved from the animal-drawn carts used in racing sports, and later, the swoop racers commonly seen in competitions on Taris, Manaan, and Nar Shaddaa following the Great Sith War. It was a daring mechanic called Phoeboswho designed the first podracer, and a pilot named Gustab Wenbus took this machine for its first experimental flight. Since then, podracing became widely popular on the Outer Rim Territories, and though it was outlawed when the Galactic Empire came to power (although some continued it illegally), the sport enjoyed a resurgence following the Yuuzhan Vong War.

pod racing - extract from Wookieepedia

Podracing was a popular sport in the less-developed regions of the galaxy. It has been called "the ultimate test of skill and daring onTatooine," and was certainly one of the most dangerous sports ever invented, killing many racers.

Podracers were small, one-man repulsorcraft, composed of an anti-gravitypod propelled by one or more pairs of large turbine engines. The engines were not physically connected to each other, being linked instead by power couplings consisting of plasma discharges. The engines were connected to the pods themselves by means of long, Steelton cables.

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CharacterisiticsEdit

Anakin Skywalker's Podracer.

Besides housing the racer's pilot, each pod contained a repulsorlift engine that kept the craft at a specific, low-level altitude. The turbine engines were incredibly powerful, and were connected by an energy binder that kept them from flying apart. Podracing was popularized in the Outer Rim Territories during the last decades of the Galactic Republic. Its underground nature, great excitement, and almost gladiatorial propensity for carnage held immense appeal to all manner of folk living on the fringes of society.

Because of the reflexes needed to control the pod as it raced around the course at breakneck speeds, as well as the dexterity needed to control the pod racer, all pod racers (apart from Anakin Skywalker) were nonhumans. Inhuman physical attributes, as well as extra pairs of hands, came in handy when trying to control the pod at its top speed of around 900 km/h.

HistoryEdit

"Podracers. You have to wonder whether they have half a brain left because they used to race, or they used to race because they had half a brain."

―Ulda, 8 ABY^[src]

Podracing traced its roots back to the days of animal-drawn carts, from which evolved races with hanno speeders. Ultimately, this sport's development kept pace with that of galactic technology to evolve into Podracing. The concept of modern day podracing was started on Malastare by alien racer Gustab Wenbus. Wenbus had entered himself in a race with a super-fast prototype pod designed by a mechanic named Phoebos.

One of the most famous Podraces was the Boonta Eve Classic, held on Tatooine in 32 BBY. The spectacular race was especially notable for being won by a Human, nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker. This marked the first time a Human had ever won a Podrace. Other popular races at the time included the Vinta Harvest Classic on Malastare, the Ando Overland on Ando Prime^[1][2] and the Aleen Classic.

Although technically illegal (often controlled by the Hutts)^[1][2] Podracing flourished during the rule of the Galactic Republic, particularly among planets in the Outer Rim and on worlds such as Malastare and Ando Prime. The sport was also watched by citizens from the Core Worlds; large viewscreens in seedy establishments such as theOutlander Club on Coruscant relayed Podraces from all over the Rim territories. Podracing's popularity reached an all-time high following Skywalker's win, but as the political situation in the Republic deteriorated, so did the appeal of Podracing.

Many of the sport's generally-accepted criminal activities were exposed, and some of the most famous racers were arrested for a variety of crimes. Podracing was soon outlawed in the Core. Shortly before the outbreak of theClone Wars, it was reported that attendance had dropped more than fifty percent from the era of the Battle of Naboo, although betting transactions remained at an all-time high.^[2] Podracing soon gave way to swoop racingand other forms of extreme sports.

With the Declaration of the New Order and the rise of the Galactic Empire, Podracing became outlawed, and under the Empire's far more stringent standards of law enforcement, the sport fell out of popularity altogether, though by30 ABY, it was noted that the sport had been making a comeback in some systems.

A podrace was shown in the holoscreen in the cantina where Starkiller found Rahm Kota.

In 137 ABY, a podrace was shown on a holoscreen in a drinking establishment on Coruscant, suggesting that the sport continued to regain popularity.

Proof that im drawing...

Creatures...

 Pod Racers...

influences/inspiration for style of my animation

I haven't fully explained my story, but i will share some ideas of how i want my animation to look and feel. Because (and im aware this hasnt been told) my animation will be within a game sequence and then end with the camera zooming out of the tv and someone is playing the game, i want it to still be visually good, but with a slight game essence (not the best quality, bit blocky maybe) so when it zooms out of the tv and shows the player playing the game, that scene will be better quality and seem more life like.

So the main animation will be slightly pop arty with that rockstar games, GTA feel to it, i dont want the bold colours that pop art uses, but the simplicity mixed with the shadows, like in most rockstar games, texturing isn't of the highest quality, but it works, for example...

So this kind of, partially realistic effect, where i believe more focus is on lights and shadows and the animation itself. This look could be achieved with the ink n paint texture, but with a lot of tweaking and getting it accurate to the look i want to achieve. But as mentioned this style will be for the in game part of the animation, the short scene at the end will be more realistic so define the difference between game and player.

I still haven't decided on exactly how i wish to style this scene, wait for another post...

original scene - pod race

ok so the scene im doing is the star wars pod race, i thought i would upload the full scene (excluding the start which for me is important, of the pod racers warming up their engines) so here it is, keep in mind mine will be shorter, and much different.

William Basso

i was looking at monsters and creatures, and came across William Basso, an artist who does this... 

2nd term project - re - interpretation of script

I may have taken on a bit more than i can handle, but i like to set myself challenges and not do anything 'easy', so if i fail this project, at least i tried.
My idea is to re-interpret the script of the star wars pod race scene from 'Star Wars EP1 - The Phantom Menace' and make it more in the style of the fast and the furious.
As i have already created one pod racer, it wont be as difficult to get around 5 of them, but they will look more 'street' with neon's under them, stickers, chrome, and general oversized parts to look cool.
It will be set in a city on roads rather than the desert arena used in star wars, so it looks more like a street race but with pod racers. I think it will give it a twist and portray a more visually modern context... if that makes sense?

The problem with this is that the script and pod race scene is around 10 minutes long from the minute the 2 headed announcer says 'start your engines' till the end of the race when it is announced that Anakin wins.

My solution is simply to cut a big chunk of the middle out, i wont need the parts where the guns are being shot at the pod racers for example, so as long as i have the warming up of the engines at the start, a bit of racing in the middle, and a finish line scene, then i believe i should get it around 3-4 minutes long.

Since it is going to be more like the fast and the furious, its obviously set at night in a city, so there will be a lot of street lights on and city signs with lights etc. But i do want it to have a more sinister feel to it, so the creatures driving could possibly be scarier, more danger in the driving (if possible).

I want 5 pod racers in the race, unlike the actual race which includes around 20 or something. I think less pods would make sense in a street race, there is less space to drive (fly) on. Also the pods would be more street compatible so not as big as the ones in star wars, after all, its not star wars entirely, its in a city.

I will need to create a lot of the city, as they will be driving through many roads, and they go through gaps and tunnel type areas in star wars, so if i was to use the score from the actual film, then it would make sense to include a couple of tunnels in the city, to match the sounds heard, and also to add a bit more depth in the scene, it would be a bit boring if it was all on the same looking road until the end.

Right now i'm working out what parts of the scene to cut down to get it down to a reasonable size to work with, im looking at the 4 minute mark, i know we have been told 3 minutes, but i dont feel that will be sufficient to get what i want into the scene, unless they drive from the start line straight to the finish line.

So yes, as you can tell, possibly taken on a bit much, but lets see how i get on... enjoy any updates on this.

back to neverland - animated by Frans Vischer - pencil test

sooooo good - bulletstorm parody of halo trailer

pod racer

I made a pod racer over the holidays, i was going to animate it, but now i have started second term, so il delay that idea... unless i decide to use it in my new project.
Don't pay attention to the ground or the environment, it was just to get accurate lighting to show my racer easily.

other things ive been up to

i also made a pod racer (star wars) and began a formula 1 track, but stopped that once i realised that making a pod racer was more exciting, i will upload images sooooon, once texturing and its environment and lighting are sorted, its just a clay looking pod racer at the moment. PEACE

i guess i should show something from this holiday...

This is just something i was practicing today, its not all ive done this holiday, but i was learning about camera mapping etc, so i basically put the head i made in z brush, plus a glass, and 2 balls, and composited them into this picture within 3DS max using a variety of shaders and mapping. so basically the head and balls and glass are 3D the rest was an image.

next term ideas

ok, as i always like to be different, im choosing my own 3 minute clip to animate for next terms project.
The project is to interpret 3 minutes of a scene from an existing film, animation style.
they have given us 3 scenes but we have the option to choose our own if its suitable, and i have a few ideas...

1 - The peeing in the bush scene from harold and kumar, but this is a problem as its only a minute long, although i can work around it including scenes before and after it, but it could be more of a side project as its short.

2 - the one shot fight scene from old boy in the corridor, i've watched this so many times and from the moment hes asking about blood type, till he's killed the people in the elevator as hes leaving, its roughly 3 minutes long, so it works as far as time, and i think animating wise it will be a test as there is a lot of fighting movement, and modeling is also going to be quite difficult, depending on what i choose is fighting, if its animals or humans, or something else, there is a lot of interaction, but apart from that its just a dreary corridor.

3 - the start of donnie darko when hes riding home, i just really like this scene, there is a lot going on.

4 - not sure what scene, but in memory of leslie nielsen, something from naked gun.

4 high res images from the animation, they are PNG so no visible background

Onus gets new shoes

here is my finished piece, judge for yourself, i already have.

My animation is finished

i have completed my final Robot animation, and im both happy and angry/upset

Im happy because its over, and i dont have to see that badly rigged robot and completely unrigged cotton man again, they were a pain to animate and im glad its finished to say the least, but im upset and angry and the outcome because i think its one of the worst animated shorts iv'e ever seen. The story is lazy and rubbish, the animating is weak.

That is all, i will post it on here, but not because i want to, but because thats what the blog is for, development, and im hoping i can get better than this because i really do hate it.