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Sandi: Phase 1 of the competition is underway.
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Last week, the judges selected four teams to move on.
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This week, more teams advance and more teams are cut on The Next Great Starship.
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Hey, everyone. Welcome to episode 6 of The Next Great Starship.
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We're here in Austin with all of our favorite judges.
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Mark: Mark Skelton, art director here in Austin, Texas.
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Dave: Dave Hobbins, a concept designer in Santa Monica's studio.
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Chris R: Chris Roberts, project director of Star Citizen, head of Cloud Imperium Games.
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Chris O: Chris Olivia, Chief Visual Officer for Cloud Imperium Games in Austin, Texas.
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Chris R: Well, you're Chief Visual Officer, not just in Austin, Texas, but you are in Austin, Texas.
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Chris O: Yay. Really? Alright. I didn't know that.
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Chris S: Chris Smith, lead vehicle modeler for Cloud Imperium Games.
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Dave: Pretty good. Yeah. Chris S: There you go...
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Chris R: It's pretty awesome,
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because we're finally getting to see the teams actually work on the spaceships,
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and the concept phase is always the most interesting part of it.
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We're also seeing these designs for the first time during the show.
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In the past when we went through all the submissions,
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we of course had to look at all the submissions, so we already gave our thoughts,
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so we'd seen them, and now we discover the concept work as we're watching it.
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And that's actually pretty interesting.
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So yeah, it's fun and I'm looking forward to seeing what we see in this episode.
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Chris O: It's a lot more exciting now that we're seeing the whole ship instead of just a weapon.
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It's a whole new ball of wax.
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Chris S: There's a lot of promise so far, too.
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Sandi: Alright, guys. So, we're going to see five teams today.
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Three of the teams are going to go through, and two of the teams are going to go into the Save Pool.
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And they all got the mercenary gunship specs. Let's check those out.
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Alright, guys. A lot's at stake. Are we ready, excited?
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Chris S: Let's do this. I'm ready. Chris O: Ready and excited.
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Sandi: Okay. Let's roll the first video.
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Shimapan: When we first received our design brief for the competition,
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the first thing I thought about immediately was the Mi-24 Hind,
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because of its very similar role in history.
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So, we started off with that and then we branched off.
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We want to give the turrets as wide of a firing arc as possible,
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so I tried to put them in a location on the ship where they had almost full hemispherical views -
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from the ship partition. We thought also that it would be cool to have a drop pod that could detach -
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and basically allow the ship to drop off the drop pod without slowing down.
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Into the workflow, I did some ink sketches initially, then I did some drawing to Photoshop,
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then I passed it back and forth between my team and I,
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and after that I did a detailed paint over it trying to figure out what the final shape layout is going to be.
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But we still had some issues with the shape,
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and we had some design things that we weren't really happy about.
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So, I think it wasn't until the concept art when we finally figured out -
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what kind of engine configuration we wanted. So that was one thing.
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We put together our final issue on iteration 1 of our concepts.
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I really enjoyed the judges' feedback from last week. I just thought I'd let you know that.
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And we hope to see you in the next part of the competition.
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Chris S: There was a little...
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Chris O: I don't have anything to curl. Chris R: That's not working. You can't do it...
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Chris O: What do you want me to curl?
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Sandi: Look, he doesn't need to curl.
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Chris R: He doesn't curl water bottles.
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Mark: Those are for wussies...
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Sandi: Chris Smith, what did you think?
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Chris S: So, I thought this was actually really good.
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The design of the ship was cool. I thought everything - it seemed it was laid out pretty cool.
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They had the two turrets; it looked like they have thruster placement in the right spots.
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There was a diagram with a lot of little detail bits, which I wasn't able to read at this point...
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It looked like it was very well thought out, and I thought the design was pretty cool.
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Chris O: The only negative - it's a little bit, I think, over exaggerated in some places.
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I think they can just tone it down as far as the boldness of some of it,
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but overall it's just beautiful presentation and really nice design.
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Chris R: I'm actually super impressed.
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That's my favorite one to date, so far, of the concepts that we've had.
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I'm impressed. They've only had, I think, 19 days from when we told them what the specs to do that.
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I sort of like the feel of it. The rendering style was really nice.
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I'd like to study some of this stuff a bit more, because I didn't see the front thrusters so much.
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So I could see the back end, just how they would articulate...
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Chris S: There was one on the nose, like, on the top.
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Chris S: But yeah, I agree. Chris R: Yeah. So, I'd have to look to see if that was in there.
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There was... The two manned turrets, although the one on the bottom was sort of flushed in there.
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Pretty damn impressive. They get my vote so far.
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Sandi: Alright. Thumbs up from the "Chris couch". What did you think?
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Dave: I liked it a lot, too. I thought it was a kind of a daring design.
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A little bit of Bird of Prey with the forward swept wings extending from the rear -
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and the main fuselage, coming forward.
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It's a bit of an ugly duckling in a way, but I like that about that,
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because some of these things aren't attractive from the get-go...
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They're very purpose built and things are added on and compartmentalized, and I like that.
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It gave it a robust sort of feel. There are a lot of WW2 aircraft that aren't the sexiest things,
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or the most streamlined, but they look like they can take care of the business.
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Chris S: They grow on to you.
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Dave: Yeah, exactly. They have a character of their own, and they become cool.
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And I feel that this really has that potential.
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I liked a lot of the surfacing, though I felt that there was almost too much,
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and it felt a few pieces needed to be unified to move the eye around.
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But other than that I thought fantastic job.
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Maybe just refine a few of the motifs and the exhaust, and intakes, and other things like that...
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Chris R: And I think of those...
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I'd like to see maybe a little more insight or detail on how some of the pieces work.
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I was mentioning the turrets - they look kind of flush.
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How can I get a field of fire? Are they going to get in the way of other things?
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Where are the landing gear? How does that deploy when you land?
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Just that kind of stuff.
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Chris S: Perhaps, once they do a pre-viz on the 3D,
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they could do a little block-out animation that could be fleshed out a little bit.
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Chris R: Yeah, but it's sort of super cool for me.
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Dave: The turret behind the rear cockpit -
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it seems like some of the muzzle flash would be right over your head,
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so some little shielding there that maybe... The other rear guy doesn't need as much observability, but...
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Mark: I like the broken neck. Like you're saying, it's kind of the ugly duckling,
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but that makes me want to love it more.
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Dave: Yeah.
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Mark: You know. And I like the big engines.
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They look like if you were standing in front of those things, you'd get sucked right in them and tore up.
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Like, those things are huge. The paint job was really nice, too.
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Chris S: Yeah. It had some good variation options.
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Mark: Yeah. I liked the variation in it.
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Yeah - it was weighted really nice, and it feels like in the back it's a nice chunk of ship.
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And then you've got the neck that comes down, which just had a nice flow to it.
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The detachable thing in the back, I haven't really seen that before.
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Chris S: Yeah, it's kind of split up in the middle.
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Mark: That's very interesting. I'd like to see more, maybe a block-out of that... How it would animate.
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Like, click, click, things popping off and then it detaching.
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Chris O: It seems like that's a sort of general theme of what we'd like to see more of. Stuff like that.
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Chris R: Yeah, we want to see more on the concept stage,
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where we understand how the functionality works.
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Because I definitely even know on our internal development...
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Our first stuff, we were designing it and going "oh yeah, that's cool," and then we get it in to the game,
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and we're like "alright, how do you get in the ship?"
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Or how do you see in the cockpit, or how the thrusters work.
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So now we're very focused on not just the form of it, but the function of it.
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It's different than games I've done in the past, where you could sort of cheat it.
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In this one we sort of have to do the industrial design up front as well as the actual beauty design,
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so to speak.
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Mark: Yeah. I thought it was one of my favorites so far, for sure.
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Sandi: Well, a lot of positive comments for this one, but the competition is tough.
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Let's roll the next one.
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Tallon: My first ideas was that it was going to have to be grounded in some kind of reality,
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because the parameters were such that the dropship had to go through deeper atmosphere,
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and land, obviously. So I thought it's going to have to conform to some kind of aerodynamics,
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and dependent on what kind of planet it's going to be landing on.
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The idea that I came up with in the end was a vehicle that drops from the underside of a mothership,
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and then falls in free-form mode in a kind of blind state,
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with a front heat shield over the main visor that's covered,
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and then as it comes through the atmosphere, it then deploys its cannon arms.
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It's called the Shadow Mantis ship. That was the name I eventually settled on,
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and the reason why is because it has these praying mantis style arms that unfold from the side,
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with cannons on.
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One of the ideas that I had just randomly was this B.A.T unit.
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Instead of having the troops be dropped into a combat zone from the ground,
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they're actually dropped in from the air. So that means that you can potentially have more troops.
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I hope you enjoy the concept art I came up with.
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Sandi: David Hobbins, you want to kick that one off?
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Dave: Sure. I thought the sketches were really fun,
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and obviously pieced on a lot of thought into the utility and various aspects of it,
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and even with the single person flight gear. I thought that was cool.
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The design is interesting.
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I feel like there needs to be a refinement on... Between the big shapes and the smaller shapes.
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It was feeling almost handheld or toylike. That said, I think it's a pretty cool direction.
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I just think it needs a little more refinement.
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Sandi: Mark?
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Mark: Yeah, I like it. It feels like a submersible to me. It has a very aquatic feel, which is interesting.
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It looks like if you were to put some heavy fire on it that,
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because of its shape, the shielding would glance off of it.
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It almost feels like a special ops ship, something that would be designed for a specific type of mission.
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I agree with David, though. Some of the bigger, bulkier bits that come out,
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they seemed too big for what the size should be. Chris O: Like, where would they go?
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Mark: Yeah, and where they go. It seems like that arm that came out,
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it doesn't feel like it's flowing with the ship quite as well.
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It seems like it should be integrated in a little better. But I do like the design.
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It's very different than what we've seen so far. But yeah, I dig it.
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Sandi: Roberts?
0:12:06.929,0:12:10.592
Chris R: I feel like it's a cool design for an atmospheric dropship,
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but not particularly a great design for something that's in space.
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Also, size wise feels too small for what the spec is. It should be carrying about 15 tonnes of cargo.
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It's meant to have two manned turrets.
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Essentially on that, there was this artillery piece that could, I guess, be manned by a crew,
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and the other one was sort of an auto-turret on the side,
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and I'm assuming there'd be one on the other side.
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So, I do like that sort of shape.
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There was a couple of shots in the concept that was on the left hand side, that looked kind of cool.
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But primarily our game is going to be space, and then the ships can transition down into atmosphere...
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So it has some work for me, before I would say "okay, that would work as a gunship as we're seeing it."
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But I like the artistic style, and I like the idea of trying something that doesn't look like a...
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Say, we all think "gunship" - we all think "Hind"; we all think that kind of stuff.
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This definitely didn't have that feeling, and had some potential.
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I liked the blast shield for re-entry and stuff like that.
0:13:06.942,0:13:09.249
Chris O: That was a really bold design.
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I think they took a chance going with that simple sleek shape up front.
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But in the end, I think it needs... I think if that can be the front piece of something bigger...
0:13:20.336,0:13:23.079
Chris R: Yeah. It needs more mass. But also just the engines, also.
0:13:23.079,0:13:26.254
I'm going, "where are the thrusters and the engine?"
0:13:26.254,0:13:32.701
Yeah, I think you're totally right, if you had the front piece as something on a bigger space gunship,
0:13:32.701,0:13:34.305
that'd be pretty cool.
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Chris O: It could be cool that that maybe detaches from the rest of the ship at some point...
0:13:41.488,0:13:45.922
Overall, it had a lot of potential, and it was a really - like I said, it was a unique design.
0:13:45.922,0:13:49.051
Chris S: I agree. It seemed like it was like a half of a ship.
0:13:49.051,0:13:52.222
It was sort of the front and then it needed like a bigger back.
0:13:52.222,0:13:56.061
And yeah, it was probably too small for the specs that we have.
0:13:56.061,0:14:04.445
I did like that sleek design. It reminded of like some sort of automotive design, like, futuristic,
0:14:04.445,0:14:07.855
with that little black sleek cover that he had.
0:14:07.855,0:14:12.875
I actually do like it sort of hidden, and then the turret pops out, and then the other things pop out.
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Chris R: Yeah. I like the idea of deploying turrets from something sleek.
0:14:16.193,0:14:24.696
Chris S: Seems like it needs some more. There is a little bit that it needs to push it that extra inch.
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Sandi: Alright. So it sounds like brownie points for a bold design,
0:14:27.565,0:14:32.442
and maybe some work in creating more mass and sculpt for it.
0:14:32.442,0:14:34.231
Let's roll the next one.
0:14:34.872,0:14:37.065
Four Horsemen: Hey, everyone. This is Team Four Horsemen.
0:14:37.065,0:14:42.775
We ended up with ten thumbnails, and then we started cutting them up into pieces in Photoshop,
0:14:42.775,0:14:46.982
and basically sticking parts from one image into another.
0:14:46.982,0:14:49.122
With a basic shape for a ship in hand,
0:14:49.122,0:14:56.148
Tobias started refining the Frankenstein of thumbnails into more readable formats,
0:14:56.148,0:15:01.871
with me working the shapes, adding details, balancing out the shapes, all that stuff.
0:15:01.871,0:15:09.481
After that we made a very rough block-out to see if the shapes that we had in 2D also worked in 3D.
0:15:09.481,0:15:13.648
For the interior we wanted to have a bit more of a lived in feel,
0:15:13.648,0:15:17.858
because the crew lives there from day to day. It's their home.
0:15:17.858,0:15:23.287
So we wanted to have a small living area available to crew when they're not engaged in combat.
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Have a bench or two,
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and a table for mission briefings or just occasional poker playing between the crew, or whatever.
0:15:30.816,0:15:35.383
We also embedded a cargo crane in the back of the ship, into the tail...
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(Judges: Wow. Nice.)
0:15:37.856,0:15:43.610
Here's the more refined concept that is based on the block-out, so they actually match,
0:15:43.610,0:15:49.499
which illustrates how we want to move forward with our ship design.
0:15:50.715,0:15:53.594
Sandi: Chris Roberts, I heard a lot of comments from you.
0:15:53.594,0:15:59.792
Chris R: Yeah. Actually this is my new favorite. I actually really... I really liked it.
0:15:59.792,0:16:05.183
I would say that my comments would not really be so much about...
0:16:05.444,0:16:08.773
It felt like a gunship to me. It felt really nice in some of those 3D views.
0:16:08.773,0:16:14.716
My questions and comments would be more down on the engines and the thrusters;
0:16:14.716,0:16:16.139
how they're moving and how they're working.
0:16:16.139,0:16:21.519
because I like those big, I think they're the thrusters or arms, on the side.
0:16:21.519,0:16:28.151
I'd have to actually spend some time and say where are the four TR3 engines in the back,
0:16:28.151,0:16:31.474
where are the four TR2 maneuvering jets in the front,
0:16:31.474,0:16:34.107
because it sort of felt like they combined some of those things. Maybe they didn't.
0:16:34.107,0:16:38.021
Chris O: Are your thoughts on those small thrusters on the engines on the side,
0:16:38.021,0:16:42.424
would they physically work in space as far as maneuvering it properly?
0:16:42.424,0:16:45.758
Or is it an amount of cheatability? Chris R: Yeah, yeah, yeah... It's not...
0:16:45.758,0:16:48.327
It's not the look of it. The look of it is cool.
0:16:48.327,0:16:55.385
I'm just talking about literally the physical... Because we are actually simulating these ships properly.
0:16:55.385,0:17:01.878
So, the thrusters have to be placed in the appropriate positions, that the ship can actually...
0:17:01.878,0:17:03.884
Because literally we'll put it into the engine,
0:17:03.884,0:17:08.507
and if we don't have our thrusters set up correctly, the ship won't fly properly.
0:17:08.507,0:17:10.104
Sandi: New favorite for you, too, Chris?
0:17:10.104,0:17:12.467
Chris O: No. It's close, though. It's up there.
0:17:12.467,0:17:16.124
It's a perfect example of how you've got to trust the process sometimes,
0:17:16.124,0:17:21.655
and how the process of concepting stuff out works as far as the initial silhouettes and sketches,
0:17:21.655,0:17:23.808
moving into blocking it out,
0:17:23.808,0:17:30.169
and then how really putting a thought into it can lead to a successful finished design.
0:17:30.169,0:17:33.275
And that definitely showed successful design.
0:17:33.275,0:17:39.303
Chris: Really the only comment or critique I would have would be - well for one,
0:17:39.749,0:17:43.593
figuring out where exactly the thrusters might be so it flies correctly...
0:17:43.593,0:17:48.162
But those big engines on the side, while they were cool and I like them,
0:17:48.162,0:17:53.212
would maybe work on a little bit more, because they seem a little bit too blocky.
0:17:53.212,0:17:59.169
The rest of the ship was a little bit more rounded, or whatever, and it had this cool shape language,
0:17:59.169,0:18:05.534
but these big things that felt like big nose pliers to me, when it kind of went together and up,
0:18:05.534,0:18:11.919
because they're so blocky and square. Maybe you could chamfer off one edge off of it or something.
0:18:11.919,0:18:14.953
Just to make it a little bit more cohesive with the rest.
0:18:14.953,0:18:18.489
Mark: I love the call-outs that he did for the interior. That was fantastic.
0:18:18.489,0:18:21.868
As far as what room goes where and how they all fit together.
0:18:21.868,0:18:25.628
You could tell he thought out, like, "okay, right behind the pilots would be the engine room,"
0:18:25.628,0:18:29.760
"so if something crazy happens, the engine room is right there."
0:18:29.760,0:18:35.939
It feels like kind of a Gundam ship to me, a little bit. With the way that those...
0:18:35.939,0:18:36.990
Chris R: You want it to transform?
0:18:36.990,0:18:39.404
Mark: Yeah, kind of a Transformer type ship.
0:18:39.404,0:18:40.656
Chris S: Like the legs and the...?
0:18:40.656,0:18:42.165
Mark: The legs of a Gundam ship.
0:18:42.165,0:18:45.365
Which is not bad. I mean, that's pretty cool.
0:18:45.365,0:18:51.477
The only thing that's kind of weird to me is that if you just glance at the ship,
0:18:51.477,0:18:55.557
it looks like a smaller ship than what it is. You know what I mean?
0:18:55.557,0:18:59.220
If you look at the cockpit, how big it is, compared to the rest of the ship.
0:18:59.220,0:19:03.338
Chris R: I didn't feel that. I felt like you definitely got the scale.
0:19:03.338,0:19:08.671
Mark: And that's minor, because if you're walking around that thing, you're going to see it in full scale.
0:19:08.671,0:19:11.883
Chris O: So was it the big plier things that made it feel small to you?
0:19:11.883,0:19:18.971
Mark: I think it was just the whole shape was kind of reminiscent of a fighter jet-ish, a little.
0:19:18.971,0:19:22.185
Just the hull, I'm talking about - how it kind of tapered off,
0:19:22.185,0:19:27.808
and you've got that fighter jet front that goes down into that cockpit area.
0:19:27.808,0:19:30.559
Chris S: Those big side things throw the scale off a little bit.
0:19:30.559,0:19:37.116
Because it's a big simple shape, and that kind of looks like it could be...
0:19:37.116,0:19:42.238
In manufacturing, it's hard to do big simple shapes like that without adding a lot of weight.
0:19:42.819,0:19:50.421
David:I thought it was an extremely communicative, clear, presentation. Obviously a lot of work went
0:19:50.421,0:19:56.702
into this. There was also a variety in illustration style. Some felt, even if they were digital, theey were still
0:19:56.702,0:20:03.923
cool "grey marker" artefacts and guache touches almost, at least, it evoked that for me
0:20:03.923,0:20:10.471
which was fun, it made the ovall presentation full of variety and interesting to look at.
0:20:10.471,0:20:19.352
Design-wise I thought it was pretty cool, that said, the large, what did you call them?
0:20:19.352,0:20:26.070
Chris S:Pliers. David:Pliers, whatever, garlic press, who knows what, those read as a much
0:20:26.070,0:20:35.769
smaller object than what they were, so for that I would say what you said about adding bevelled edges
0:20:35.769,0:20:39.899
add a little more sophistication, but also a secondary form...
0:20:39.899,0:20:44.039
Chris S:Break it up into smaller units.
0:20:44.039,0:20:50.136
David:Yeah, large complex things are rarely just boxes, other than skyscrapers, I can make
0:20:50.136,0:21:01.616
counter arguments, I think some, although I liked the surfacing and design, the graphic break up
0:21:01.616,0:21:09.608
of panels and thusters, it still felt slightly soft, slightly cartoonish in proportion, but I think when they
0:21:09.608,0:21:14.990
get into a more refinded modelling pass they are going to tighten up some of these edges
0:21:14.990,0:21:18.471
and it will come together great. So, really good job.
0:21:18.471,0:21:24.202
Sandi:Right, the competition seems to be getting tougher. A lot of love for this one, let's roll the next
0:21:24.202,0:21:29.557
I see the mercenary gunship as a viable, minimalistic, compact and very cost efficient ahip
0:21:29.557,0:21:34.237
As a style guide I used the already existing ships in the SC universe.
0:21:34.237,0:21:39.059
The floor of the cargo space has several purposes, it functions as the landing gear, but can also
0:21:39.059,0:21:41.503
be extended for cargo switching.
0:21:41.503,0:21:45.551
A thick main hull gives great armor for the crew and the ship systems.
0:21:45.551,0:21:51.904
The main challenge for me was to create the design only in 3D without a 2D concept in a short time.
0:21:51.904,0:21:57.940
For the gunship I decided to create a heavy hull design to ensure the ship would be able
0:21:57.940,0:22:05.131
to resist enemy gunfire. In front of the ship and at the rear there ia one manned turret seat.
0:22:05.131,0:22:10.265
When the gunship approaches for landing the wings rotate 90 degrees.
0:22:10.265,0:22:17.390
During the landing phase 4 small thrusters are placed near the cockpit for more stabilisation.
0:22:17.390,0:22:24.694
On both sides are doors, two for gargo and two for crew members.
0:22:24.694,0:22:27.009
Sandi:Chris O, what do you think?
0:22:27.009,0:22:30.660
Chris O:About what? Sandi:THAT what, Vision cut.
0:22:30.660,0:22:37.849
Chris O:It was, erm, ahh,it was kinda ugly. I'm trying to think whether it was ugly in a good way
0:22:37.849,0:22:42.496
or a bad way. Ahm, there was a lot of time spent making it all shiny with pretty lights,
0:22:42.496,0:22:45.160
not even pretty lighting but, just like, lights everywhere...
0:22:45.160,0:22:49.520
ChrisR:That last, or the second one, there's two concepts? Concept 1 and concept 2.
0:22:49.520,0:22:51.109
ChrisS:Which one do you like?
0:22:51.109,0:22:58.493
ChrisO:I liked-disliked both of them equally. I think if they think about the overall shape I think it
0:22:58.493,0:23:00.961
could be something a bit better. ChrisS:Silhouette?
0:23:00.961,0:23:06.647
ChrisO:All I see is an ugly ship, I don't like it.
0:23:06.647,0:23:09.230
Sandi:Chris Smith?
0:23:09.230,0:23:15.063
ChrisS:The first version I actually liked better than the second version, even though there was
0:23:15.063,0:23:21.750
something about it. The main thing that bothered me was that every shape in the ship was just huge.
0:23:21.750,0:23:28.954
There were no "big" and "small" parts to convey a sense of scale. Everything was big and it
0:23:28.954,0:23:37.714
looked cartoony. It looked like it was made for a Toy Story movie or something. ChrisO:Or Spykids
0:23:37.714,0:23:42.562
Mark:Buzz Lightyear would drive this ship.
0:23:42.562,0:23:49.223
ChrisO:If we were thinking that was his finished detail, or he was waiting to do more detailed
0:23:49.223,0:23:54.387
paintovers later. ChrisS:But even the general shapes, you want to have small and big variations.
0:23:54.387,0:23:59.796
Everything, even on the interior, he has these scurity bars that were like "THIS" thick around.
0:23:59.796,0:24:02.257
I mean, you want little detailed stuff.
0:24:02.257,0:24:07.788
ChrisR:I think on the second one it was much more guilty than the first one of scale.
0:24:07.788,0:24:12.655
ChrisS:One thing that was good about it was they thought about thrusters. The thrusters worked
0:24:12.655,0:24:17.681
that was a cool thing, they had some pre-vis animation, awsome, though I don't agree on
0:24:17.681,0:24:23.586
the first concept at least, where they had the whole ship lifting up on these little platforms.
0:24:23.586,0:24:31.377
I don't think if that is mechanically possible without huge hydraulic engines, it seemed fragile.
0:24:31.377,0:24:37.640
Some things I liked, some implementation on the technicality side of it, but overall, yeah,
0:24:37.640,0:24:46.344
the ship design was fairly ugly, the second design was very non-pleasing to the eye,
0:24:46.344,0:24:50.152
especially the silhouette with the wheels and landing gear out.
0:24:50.152,0:24:58.945
ChrisR:so, throw the second one out, but the first one I think would have some potential if it
0:24:58.945,0:25:05.885
was getting worked on. It was certainly stubby and ugly, but aggressive. It had those missiles
0:25:05.885,0:25:11.001
It had those guns, and I did like the thought put in to have the thrusters work, that's something we
0:25:11.001,0:25:18.140
need to have done. I totally agree with Chris in ters of the scale of stuff, those big thruster nozzles,
0:25:18.140,0:25:26.221
it was almost like all that was over-size, and it did feel like there was a little too much cut and paste
0:25:26.221,0:25:32.562
almost like, take constellation cockpit and add an element from another ship on the back, I feel it
0:25:32.562,0:25:39.006
would be better to have that unified, but I do not mind an ugly, functional, aggressive ship.
0:25:39.006,0:25:47.676
What they should do is take the first one, look at scaling stuff better...ChrisS:Refine some parts.
0:25:47.676,0:25:51.923
ChrisR:Everything looks blown up or over-exaggerated, but really embrace the
0:25:51.923,0:26:00.158
aggressive, stubby side, and I do agree that the whole, a cool idea, but I don't think it practical
0:26:00.158,0:26:05.832
the whole lift, with the base pushing up the ship.
0:26:05.832,0:26:12.606
ChriO:If there was more mass to those structures it might feel better, or you don't like the idea?
0:26:12.606,0:26:17.955
ChrisR:It just sort of feels...there was another element where the engines turned round
0:26:17.955,0:26:23.451
and they had skids on them, that looked like it might work. They would rotate round for VTOL
0:26:23.451,0:26:30.252
then in front you would have some similar thrusters rotating for VTOL and it would land.
0:26:30.252,0:26:34.596
That would be cool, then the base could just drop down like on the Constellation.
0:26:34.596,0:26:39.191
That would be fine, I just don't think landing on your belly then the belly pushing you up thing.
0:26:39.191,0:26:41.729
It just feels weird to me.
0:26:41.729,0:26:43.702
Sandi:David?
0:26:43.702,0:26:48.138
David:I really wish that, obviously this person is a competant modeller, has put a lot of time
0:26:48.138,0:26:53.821
into the presentation and rendering and the animation sequences, I wish I could take all that time out
0:26:53.821,0:27:03.281
and put it back into the core shapes and proportions of the design. I do think the first one id the one
0:27:03.281,0:27:10.647
to move forwards on, although I would work on the sort of F35 rear vector nozzle.
0:27:10.647,0:27:16.392
That, when animated in particular looked a little funny or odd.
0:27:16.392,0:27:20.533
ChrisR:Also probably not very efficient in how it works.
0:27:20.533,0:27:29.731
David:I mean, they do have it on a real jet, but I might consider putting a faring or sheilding piece
0:27:29.731,0:27:38.565
that articulates with those as they move to make that motion and silhouette more interesting.
0:27:38.565,0:27:40.714
Sandi:Mark Skelton?
0:27:40.714,0:27:46.321
Mark:I think, if you put a couple of balls inside this and a big handle on back, Fisher Price
0:27:46.321,0:27:55.137
would have a sweet toy. It's really stubby, and very Fisher Price, so if they took it and slimmed it and
0:27:55.137,0:27:59.268
pulled it a little bit, that might be a start of something cool, but.....
0:27:59.268,0:28:06.580
ChrisO:It's not the stubbyness. ChrisR:I think it's the fact you don't like that everything is big features.
0:28:06.580,0:28:13.341
Mark:Everything, especially with the landing gear, the gear was right here and the ship was here, this big
0:28:13.341,0:28:20.555
so instead of having it so wide, maybe thin it up and pull it this way a little bit. Definately the first
0:28:20.555,0:28:23.104
one was more interesting to me.
0:28:23.104,0:28:30.083
David:I wouldn't want to lengthen it, I'd want to keep it short, compace, like a flattened toad,
0:28:30.083,0:28:37.089
to me that says robust and compact, and it's easily manouvrable, something that spins on a dime
0:28:37.089,0:28:43.578
If they were to make it longer then it might suggest that it's faster or...
0:28:43.578,0:28:46.269
Mark:Maybe the thickness of the walls, I guess...
0:28:46.269,0:28:50.239
ChrisR:I think the thrusters, the engines, the little details, all the stuff that moved,
0:28:50.239,0:28:54.935
they were all just too big and over-scale, so add it together it looks weird.
0:28:54.935,0:28:57.203
ChrisS:They were all the same size.
0:28:57.203,0:29:03.233
Mark:I agree. Sandi:Well, concept 1 and a few reworks for that one. Here#s the last video
0:29:39.456,0:29:44.707
our concept artist Karnac is known for increbibly detailed clean concepts,
0:29:52.759,0:30:01.251
Mark:I mean Karnac, that guy is amazing, he is legendary, everything I have seen of his
0:30:01.251,0:30:06.424
has been amazing. The initial design, I like it, he has a lot of firepower on there obviously,
0:30:06.424,0:30:14.681
it's fantastic, he's thought through a lot of the systems and how they work together, which is great
0:30:14.681,0:30:22.883
again I want to see a kind of three-quarter view, I didn't get to see that, just the top and the side,
0:30:22.883,0:30:31.473
it was cool, I can see a lot from that, but I would like to see more of the detail work that he is
0:30:31.473,0:30:33.100
thinking of.
0:30:33.100,0:30:40.492
David:I like all the thought and the layout and package architecture, and this, that and the other,
0:30:40.492,0:30:51.676
but I might try to work th profile silhouette, the cockpit fuselage area, it felt a little rectilinear,
0:30:51.676,0:31:00.223
I felt it just.....I liked that, it felt very bold and distict, but that said I felt it needed a secondary shape
0:31:00.223,0:31:09.903
in the silhouette. It had a sort of retro feel, and in a good way, sort of paid homage to Ron Cobb and
0:31:09.903,0:31:19.100
Sid Meade and film like Alien. It had sort of an "Eighties SciFi" aesthetic about it.
0:31:19.100,0:31:27.564
I happen to like that aesthetic, I would just be careful, and maybe, I know this team is fully capable of
0:31:27.564,0:31:33.867
pushing it, and I would like to see it pushed. I saw some simalarities with the shuttle that
0:31:33.867,0:31:39.685
Sigourney's character... Mark:I was gonna say, that drop ship she had at the end of Aliens.
0:31:39.685,0:31:44.151
It had that triangular.... David:Now obviously they have done some new stuff to this, and
0:31:44.151,0:31:51.004
I'm making no suggestion that they are copying, it's just these things are all in our shared language
0:31:51.004,0:31:56.491
and when I see a team with this much talent I want to push them to go further.
0:31:56.491,0:31:58.501
Sandi:The Chris couch?
0:31:58.501,0:32:04.244
ChrisR:I liked the thinking and the approach that went into this. Talking out what they were thinking about
0:32:04.244,0:32:09.980
where they would place the guns, what it's function and role was going to be, so the general
0:32:09.980,0:32:13.903
layout and design I liked. I always go on about the thrusters because we need that for flight,
0:32:13.903,0:32:17.897
and you could see on their design that they had the front thrusters, here's where they pivot,
0:32:17.897,0:32:23.511
here's the back ones, and that is actually how it should work, so all those element were great.
0:32:23.511,0:32:32.413
I'm a little disappointed that they did not take it to the next stage that the Shimanpan and
0:32:32.413,0:32:39.308
Four Horsemen did, but I think knowing what they did on the gun and the talent behind them
0:32:39.308,0:32:46.623
and the form and the basics of thinking where the reactor and all the rest where, for me it puts
0:32:46.623,0:32:53.515
them up there, but I would want to see the concept finished out for me to put them at the front of
0:32:53.515,0:33:00.942
the line,but I know they have the talent to get there, they are on the right track, I would just like to see
0:33:00.942,0:33:06.100
more of the details. Huge amount of promise.
0:33:06.100,0:33:14.950
ChrisO:Yeah, I think we all see the potential with that team, I just wish it was developed further.
0:33:14.950,0:33:23.933
As far as their basic shape for the ship? I think to get it away from the Sigourney Weaver drop-ship
0:33:23.933,0:33:30.716
ther escape shuttle, whatever, and they might end up doing this it's such an early stage that maybe
0:33:30.716,0:33:40.417
he can break apart the big shapes in general, cut it open and see some interior to break
0:33:40.417,0:33:42.486
up the shape.
0:33:42.486,0:33:50.462
ChrisS:The weapon range was cool, I like when they do that, since it is a gunship, how much range do
0:33:50.462,0:33:53.079
you have with each gun to protect your ship.
0:33:53.079,0:34:04.250
I liked the shape language they have too, I felt the neck, from the side, was sort of dinosaur-ish
0:34:04.250,0:34:12.935
the neck and little head, but overall great potential, their concept artist is amazing.
0:34:12.935,0:34:20.952
Hopefully in the next iteration they can show us a little bit more.
0:34:20.952,0:34:27.147
Sandi:Alright guys, we had 5 quality teams today, and you know what time it is, Email me
0:34:27.147,0:34:31.943
your top three teams and I will tally the votes.
0:34:33.955,0:34:38.796
(plinky-plonky twee voting music)
0:34:49.890,0:34:53.412
Sandi:OK guys, result in, and two teams got 5 votes each.
0:34:53.412,0:34:57.290
Congratulations to team Shimapan and team Troyka.
0:34:57.290,0:35:08.217
Now, Vision Cut got no votes, which leaves 4 Hourseman and Tallon Corp. David Hobbins?
0:35:08.217,0:35:19.789
David:I voted for Tallon Corp. Although I think I was hard on it during my critique, that said
0:35:19.789,0:35:29.431
I feel it is more original, and I guess I'd like to see designers take risks and do something new
0:35:29.431,0:35:37.865
but they really have to tackle the obstacle of the size of it, it seems more a hand-held object.
0:35:37.865,0:35:44.010
If they can overcome that, and their explanations of why it is shaped that way because of the
0:35:44.010,0:35:48.586
heat shield and other things, I think it could be a really unique drop-ship.
0:35:48.586,0:35:53.164
Whereas the other was more fleshed out, lots of work, this was a tough decision for me by the way,
0:35:53.164,0:35:58.359
It just felt a little "safe" and conventional.
0:35:58.359,0:36:02.595
Sandi:Well I'm sorry David, Four Horsemen are moving on.
0:36:02.595,0:36:07.305
David:That's fine, I just wanted to give them a chance.
0:36:07.305,0:36:15.865
ChrisR:I think Tallon Corp was good too, I just, for me, Four Horsemen was more realised and
0:36:15.865,0:36:23.722
fitted the bill much better, so for me it would be Four Horsemen every day, though that's not
0:36:23.722,0:36:30.874
to say that Tallon could not turn around and change things with another pass at the design, which
0:36:30.874,0:36:35.348
I think the will have a chance to do in the save pool.
0:36:35.348,0:36:40.597
Sandi:The community gets involved once again at the end of phase 1, you guys will get to vote back in
0:36:40.597,0:36:42.499
two teams.
0:36:42.499,0:36:46.609
All the teams will get the judges feedback they will do another pass and put out their new video
0:36:46.609,0:36:50.032
and you guys get to vote two teams back in.
0:36:50.032,0:36:53.648
Alright guys, we have one more week, 5 more teams to look at...
0:36:53.648,0:36:57.967
All:WooHoo! Whoah! (laughs) More excitement!
0:36:57.967,0:37:04.678
ChrisR:This week was great, I thought the standard of competition was extremely high.
0:37:04.678,0:37:11.673
Super impressed. Last week was good, but I feel this week is ahead of what last week.
0:37:11.673,0:37:17.425
Really looking forwards to seeing next weeks, and then looking forward to seeing what everyone
0:37:17.425,0:37:25.302
does in response to our feedback, that's a really great test of a concept artist's skill
0:37:25.302,0:37:31.019
It's not just coming up with a design in abstraction, you come up with a design to fit some parameters
0:37:31.019,0:37:37.849
and whether it's a game or a movie or something like that, generally there is other creative feedback
0:37:37.849,0:37:41.934
and you have to respond and integrate that, and if you do a good job and do it well, that
0:37:41.934,0:37:44.961
is the sign of a really great concept artist.
0:37:44.961,0:37:53.214
Sandi:Alright, on that, next week it's the final round of the concept art phase, see you next Friday.