Si-MOCs

Absolutely fantastic. The photography and presentation is great! The black and white set is definitely my favorite, the camera angles and lighting is perfect!

Sorry Mike, I was going to try to start the WIP thread sooner, but I didn't want to single someone else out for the first post, so I was going to wait till I did a build... but I haven't built anything so I grabbed this off my shelf Well the idea was to do some sort of ship with a shell... but I just don't like it... it has some decent parts to it, but over all I found it unappealing. Dispute it's round edges, I find the whole thing really boxy still. The wings were added a bit to try to correct this, but they still feel tacked on and not well integrated. And I think there's far too much greeble for the size of this build...

LEGO Sci-Fi universal WIP feedback thread. Do you have a Work In Progress (WIP) build that isn't working ? Do you have a problem that you can't just figure out how to get the look that you want? Did you create something but not sure how to use it? Do you want to help out a fellow builders? Then this this thread is for you! During the great EB oppsies of 2012, one of the discussions had off forums was the creation for a universal WIP thread that everyone could post what they were working on, this helps clean up the forums a bit, as well as provide a proper and centralized location where people could get some help on what they were working on. So EVERYONE post away! Throw in things you're working on and our esteemed Sci-Fi members will chime in and help you the best we can. I'll start! This was an attempt at a micro-ship / drone.... WIP micro ship drone thingy by Si-MOCs, on Flickr I've had this thing sitting on my desk for awhile, it had promise, but I just couldn't really get it to a point where I liked it. The idea was almost a bio-ship that felt a bit like armadillo armouring, with some asymmetrical striping. But it's kinda just a blob... Anyone got any ideas? or just scrap it? ...

The one on the left has even smaller feet The tallness doesn't really concern me, it looks okay, but it's not nearly as beefy as the one on the right, the right one looks way meaner and could stand up in the fight (literally with it's big feet). Though I do like the cockpit section better on the left. The right almost feels like at a transformable mech that's also some sort of craft (which would be pretty cool)

I love shoulder area and gun! Though the feet look a little tiny.... I'm not sure how well this would stand up in real brick.

Much better! I like the little binoculars and the side cannons you added (now that I can see them!) and the offset plates in the nose. I know it's a WIP, but still not a big fan of the rainbow background Unfortunately images on Eurobricks should be 800x600 pixels or less - so it makes it easy to load. Yours are slightly larger... check out the member guidelines for more info! Please edit them down.

OMG this is the greatest mech ever. .... I want it so badly... but I already have all my CfC money allocated

Really nice! Good to see some 'real life'-ish sci-fi builds But what is on the solar panels? are those dark blue 'gold' bars!? I can't figure it out.

Just wanted to show you the fruits of ToroLUG's labour: We raised a good chunk of change for charity, and had a great time

The design of the ship isn't bad, the black ontop of the blue at a different angles makes for a cool paint job But it's a bit hard to see the ship. If you notice your ship isn't actually in focus You're actually focusing on the rubble under your landing platform, or the AC box Probably the easiest way to get it better in focus is to step BACK, and take a picture from further away, and just crop the picture - give it a try!

Joseph, of the Blue Knights, welcome to our guild! Come have a seat and tell us more about you, your knights and the port you came from! -- Kayne That's a sigh of relief, I couldn't imagine what you were going through. SkaForHire Fantastic news! We should have a big wedding here for Dugal ! Kai Nice garden! the round roof is particularly nice, good to see our little university is starting to get flushed out

NO! The deadline is before Dec 1st.! So you can get TWO in Lovely garden... it will be nice to stroll and a nap in. But what's that ominous cloud? dun dun dun

The action is fantastic. The explosion an action is probably one of the best I've seen in awhile. And the Mecha is awesome too. Love the big gun. Too bad you ran out of yellow

Very very impressive first build. The pneumatic landing gear is fantastically cool feature. I also love the wing shaping - really great job! So.... what's next? Are you keeping this together? Do tell!

Camera looks good. Though I have to question your need to have the Human shoot the Alien. In this day an age, in equal opportunity galaxy you'd think the Queen could be the one shooting

Accidental Thief!- I have accidentally stolen LEGO at a convention when it got mixed up with my stuff. Lesson is, bring less stuff. - From the Big C.

Promising start. Few ideas - the bottom is going to be covered right? So why bother colour coding the columns? - I'm assuming you're not plannign to use blue right - why not make it all blue? you have some dark bley pieces in there that might be of use later? Also- the use of the light bley .... whatever pieces - to help fan out and support the runway - never seen it used like that before - NICE! I think you're on the right track, it's hard to comment so soon into the build.... Are you going to put some sort of elevator system between the red square and the upper deck? That might be neat. And have you thought about where to put the command deck?

I've been pretty lucky and haven't had anything substantial disappear. I am by no means a convention veteran, but I was given some sound advice: don't put pricey things within reach - and don't display things that you can't replace... Ironically, I have stolen more than I have lost/stolen from me. I have an awesome Ley satellite that he left on my space station, and at brickworld I stole darkdragon's trans clear panels cause she forgot to ask them back So you're more likely to accidentally packup someone else's stuff than out right being stolen - as long as there's someone hanging about. That usually helps stop thefts. I should know - I've been trying to steal Ricey's Firetrucks for a year now- and I've been caught every time

Attention Toronto LEGO fans!. Join ToroLUG members and the Hard Rock Cafe Toronto (Dundas Square) during their Pinktober campain for an interactive LEGO display and build from 11am - 3pm October 27, 2012. On display will be 10+ iconic album covers rendered in LEGO mosaic. ToroLUG members will be building a Hard Rock Cafe sign out of LEGO bricks on site and a 40x40 re-creation of Greybricks' mosaic of U2's POP. Also there will be play brick for kids (and AFOLS). Rumours of prize giveaways have surfaced. I heard they're raffling off a Pearl drumset so you know I'm entering that. Hope to see you there. Event Details Gallery of ALL albums

Low Light Photography and Practical Light Effects Advanced Photography Lesson Warning, this is not for the faint of heart, many of these results can be done by simple photoshopping, and it might be much faster. But do you get a better result? That's up to you, but I'm believe if you can do it for real, it looks that much more real (or even surreal). Much like how Lord of the Rings looks so fantastic is cause so many of the grand shots of castles and landscape were just that - actual shots of (large) miniatures and real locations, not computer generated effects. This also probably doesn't apply much to stop motion films, as the normalization process to get all your shots to be consistent may make even the most patient film maker go crazy. So to you, the comic creator (or simply photographer), I write this tutorial. How to create cool looking pictures and effects by taking a really good photo. Background/Streetcred Let me preface and admit that I am not a photographer, I have never studied photography, and while I'm somewhat familiar with the concepts and science - I am by no means an expert. What I am is lazy - I know the bare minimum to get cool pictures. I have been told I have a great 'eye' for shots, I might not know the science behind why, but I know what's cool when I see it. I also used to spend a lot of time doing night photography - I used to love wandering around with a tripod taking random pictures at night. Especially during fog: So what does that make me? I would say I have practical experience. I have a bag of tried and true tricks that have historically worked for me. The object of this tutorial is not to talk about the theory of low light LEGO photography, but to share my practical tips and a layman's how-to guide to shoot in the dark. Lighting Overview Before going in depth different ways to light (or lack thereof) your build, there are roughly 5 types of lighting strategies I will cover: Ambient light - This is the amount of light in the room anywhere from bright, to low to even none. Embedded light - lights that originate within your actual build. Directional or Spotlight - using an additional light source to provide light to a specific area of the build Special lighting - using coloured lights to change the mood of the picture. Black Lighting - special case of special lighting, with glowing results! More on these later! Your Build Wait, build? I thought we were talking about how to shoot and using fancy light? Well we are, but before you photograph your build, you have to build it! And before you build it you have to PLAN on how to build it. This is probably one of the more important keys to low-light LEGO Photography. You have to build your MOC to suit what method you may use. If you're going to use embedded lights, well you have to put them in ahead of time! Do you have small lights? or big lights? You obviously can't put a massive light into a micro, but you could put in small lights with wires hanging out (to Photoshop out later). Or if you're going to use black-lights, well you need to use one of the LEGO elements that glow! Other things to think about when you're building - which angle(s) will you be shooting from? Do you need to hide wiring? or even where the lights will be. Do you want to actually see the LED/Light bulb? or do you want it hidden/away from view? Don't forget that if you're shooting at really low light, even the weakest light will wash out all your other details - so light placement will be key. As you start off, remember: patience. This will take time for you to set up, to photograph correctly, and often rebuilding to get things 'just right'. Required items. Before you start there are few things you need to have, and know how use. Mandatory: Patience This is the most important thing to have. It takes time to set up, it takes many shoots, and it can be frustrating. So have patience and just know that it will look cool in the end. Camera! Most cameras, even the smaller pocket cameras have the ability to set the shutter speed - which is the amount of time your camera 'takes a picture'. This will become important, as the darker the room, the longer picture you need to take. Some cameras will have a "M" or Manual setting that lets you configure the shutter speed, as well as FStop (or aperture and other fun things). Alternatively you might have a "S" (Shutter priority) setting that controls just that, and the rest are automatically. Note that the FStop is also useful for certain effects (see DoF tutorial). If your camera doesn't have a "M" setting or "S" setting your best bet is "night time" or "stars" setting - that's the camera's setting for low light, not the best, but it can do in a pinch. Tripod! If you have ever tried to take a picture without a flash in a dark place, you'll know why you need a tripod. Simply put, our hands aren't steady enough to hold a camera to take shots in the dark. Even braced against something we vibrate the camera too much and it becomes blurry (unless you're into that). Any tripod will do, it doesn't have to be super fancy, or honestly you could use a stack of books, it just makes it harder to reposition and set up. But for me, I have cheap ball joint tripod that lets me quickly rotating the camera and change angles. Optional Light sources Depending on how you're going to light your build, you may need external light sources, you can use your standard lights, LED's, flashlight, laser pointers, black-lights IR from remote controls, whatever creates light that is visible to a camera. Try different things for different effects! Light Tent Ironic eh? But a light tent is still useful. The purpose of a light tent is to disburse light over your build, this rule still applies, you're just not applying AS much light. Lighting Explained I will now go through each of the different lighting techniques. Of course for maximum fun you could apply several of these techniques together to create a master piece! Ambient light This is the easiest and most important trick that you need to master. Simply put: turn down/off the light. This by itself isn't usually overly useful - if you set your camera right it is almost the same as taking a picture with the lights on. The key hear is to change the shutter speed of your camera to take a longer exposure picture. A regular picture is around 1/60 of a second. If you dim the lights, your picture might be 1 second or longer. Why this is so important is when you start using the other lighting tricks. You do this to make the OTHER lights seem brighter than they really are. So a very dimly lit fireplace, using normal room lights is barely noticeable turn off the room lights and set the shutter for 5 seconds and it becomes a roaring fire. Knowing how to set the shutter speed is also useful for every day MOC taking pictures. Many people prefer to take the MOC's outside to shoot, the sun provides extremely bright light. But if you know how to set your shutter speed accordingly you don't need to wait for a sunny day! I routinely use long shutter speeds even when I have my large photography lights and light tent... Embedded light I hope you were paying attention to the build section. Cause if you've gotten here without adding lights inside, it maybe too late Generally there are two types of lights that can add within a build: Small LED's such as the Power Function lights or third party Lifelites. Larger less specialized lights can also be used - these are far cheaper than the above and work far better lighting up large areas - downside is you need a lot of space to hide these. An example of a build that uses a standard LEGO light brick (in the hallway): An example of a build using cheap LEDs: Of course you can start combining tricks - such as lowering the ambient light level so that we maximize the lighting effect, the same temple, with lowered ambient light: Note how changing the ambient light changes the entire image feel. In a large enough layout you could even use a combination of smaller specialize LED's and cheaper ones, like here: The inner ring of the station is lit up by LED light bars that from dollar store. The rest are light bricks, and Lifelites. The key to photographing embedded lights is to do a proper light balance - between the ambient light and the embedded light. Here is an example where the embedded light is actually TOO bright relative to the ambient condition: I turned down the embedded light (switched from wall mount to battery power): Better! Now you can see that if I retook the second picture with a longer exposure, it'd be just about right. But the first shot, if I decreased the shutter speed (faster picture) it would be too dark, and the light would still be too bright, so I would have to turn up the ambient light to compensate. Black-Light My favorite trick is probably the Black-Light, it gives such a fantastic glow to an otherwise flat picture. Though not all pieces glow - mainly the trans-neon colours. Some pieces that you wouldn't think glow, actually do, take a black-light and go over some of your pieces, you'd be surprised When you build a black-light MOC - you should think about where and how the black light will be situated and where the camera will be. Another fun trick is to build chunk of the build in a clear brick - so that the black light goes THROUGH your build (see title images), or alternatively situate the light UNDER your build: The black light is actually sitting under a glass table, and there are 8x8 grill plates under each vat and a pile of neon orange dots and pieces to create the glow. Pro Tip: Get a good black-light. Stay away from the ones that fit in the light bulbs, they're rubbish (usually), get a good old fashioned tube one, they're by far the best. Directional or Spotlight Another trick is to shine a light on specific parts of a build. This obviously should be done in conjunction with low ambient light. You can use this to flush out or highlight the subject of your build, while not not ruining the lighting effect behind it. Here, because I had the gate glowing from black light I didn't want to wreak the feel by lighting it up too much. But I wanted to make sure the ship is the subject. So I took a little LED flashlight and lit up the ship. Pro Tip: When you shine a spotlight, make sure the light doesn't hit anything else! light up and away from your build whenever possible. The other method is using harsh light in one direction to forcibly create shadows. Not overly useful, but it can create some stark pictures. This entire build is light-bley but you can clearly make out the details. Special lighting Last but not least you can use some special coloured lights - like black light, or simply coloured filtered in front of lights. In the past I have used trans coloured LEGO pieces in front of a flash light to add a glow to a build. Or you could even prop up a laser pointer to create some pew pew pew action! One of my most ambitious shoots include all of these: This shot included every trick here, except black-light. It took me several nights to get this particular picture, by the end there was a entire procedure that took 60 seconds per attempt to align all the tricks: Laser pointer (not too long otherwise it over-saturates), No ambient light - pure darkness. Spotlight - to shine the ship and highlight the space marines Special light- the background (white backdrop) was actually lit with a light trans red plates to create a sunset type feel. Pro Tip - another way to change up the feel of your picture without changing the actual light, is changing the "AWB" or Auto White Balance of your camera settings (what your camera 'thinks' is white. An incorrectly set AWB can be useful, but most of the time annoying Conclusion So there you have it. Every single one of my tricks. It's not the easiest thing to do, but it's not really that hard either. The key is patience. Take the time to experiment and try new things. Assignment Use the skills you have learned here to produce a low-light photograph of your scene. Size doesn't matter, but ambiance does. Create a new thread in the Academy titled Student Enrollment: Low Light Photography to post your work.

Nice work Legonardo! I love the guy sweeping the sand And the inset hieroglyphs is a nice touch! -- I look forward to seeing what you'll come up with Penkid!

Really nice build. I particularly like the fuselage - the snot work is great! Engines and colour blocking is also pretty fantastic. Only thing that irks me are the wings, they don't seem to be big enough to provide lift... but I'm just nit picking. Nice build

That's your FIRST moc?!?! Wow. that's ... really freak'n good. Only thing I could think of is maybe you want to build a sturdier stand? It looks like you have some problems using just the old monorail stand.

You're mean. Why would you leave such a an awesome behind.?!!? Why must you be so Anti-Android? The galaxy would be a place without you bigots. (debris should be more buried though, so it mimics the lift off dust kick up - Face is awesome though.)

The third picture of the large castle is also Ecclesiates' right?