Hi all,
As the board's a little quiet, I thought I'd put up a recent job. Not the most exciting job I've ever done, but there were some 'interesting' aspects...
Here's the finish:
A higher res version here:
http://www.vantagegraphics.co.uk/Posted ... 1600px.jpg
The product is a 7.5 meter long concrete slab - a modern replacement for sleepers and stone ballast typically used on railways tracks. The primary use of the rendering was for a 2.5 meter display illustration on a trade stand, as well as the usual marketing print collateral. The final render was 10,000 pixels wide.
The 3D model was built in FormZ and was textured and rendered in Cinema 4D. Post work / ghosting in Photoshop.
The key thing to illustrate here was the jointing system between adjoining blocks - an interlocking section, and two curved internal channels, through which flexible bolts are threaded and tensioned.
In other words:
we want you to illustrate a 7.5 meter long grey concrete slab with holes in it - and make it look exciting 
The main thing that caught me out on this was that the client initially showed me some drawings that looked like finished engineering drawings - but when I started building it I found that these were rather more 'conceptual' than finished. So I ended up having to do quite a bit of 'layman's product design' - estimating some dimensions and working out others to build it and make everything fit. Much more work than initially estimated.
The other issue was the best way to illustrate the the internal channels and ducts - an important part of the product. This proved quite tricky too. I ended up with this 'pseudo glass' and concrete approach. That enabled me to add a bit of colour, and show the key external features (the interlocking block at the end) as well as the internal ducts.
The job is now finished, and the client's happy; but I'm always interested in getting a critique and suggestions for improvement, so feel free to fire away with any comments.
