However, the Spitfires that we see flying much lower overhead needed more detail as, obviously we see them much closer to the camera.
Below is a nicely posed image of the almost finished Spitfire model. The spitfire at this stage was missing some additional textures such as identifier decals and some structural lines.
Here is a quick rendered test I did of a camera projection texture. I took a photo of a row of terraced houses and projected it onto some simple 3D geometry in Softimage. This test was for me to get an idea of how I would texture the buildings in my scene. I feel that it works ok but looks a little flat, however I this is due to the simplicity of the geometry that the texture is projected onto. With more detailed and less flat polymesh structures and a better bump map I think that this is best way to construct a photo-realistic CG street scene.
I created a quick animation test for the high level bomber flyover. I started out trying to get the movement and formation to look right but it quickly became a challenge to create the clouds. I thought I could create the clouds using a particle simulation in Softimage or using an environment simulator such as Vue, but I soon realised that I could create a nice look using just a series of layered polymesh grids in Softimage and doing most of the leg work in Photoshop creating my own textures, bump maps and masks to texture the grids with. Anyway, see what you think, I think it looks OK for a first attempt but does need some work. Still nice to know I can do a good job without spending extensive amounts of time with particle simulations, also this way is quicker to render.
