Snes controller progress:

creaothceann · Post by **creaothceann** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 8:39 pm

Btw. here's a picture of the Ascii Pad - might help a bit with the height of the buttons etc.

Post by **odditude** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:47 pm

creaothceann wrote:Btw. here's a picture of the Ascii Pad - might help a bit with the height of the buttons etc.

have to be a little careful here - the asciiPad isn't quite the same size (nor obviously shape) of the official controller. there might be similar differences in button height (i'd need to dig out my pads to check once i got home from work).

Panzer88 · Post by **Panzer88** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 10:02 pm

An angled shot

Another

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 10:07 pm

Another big update, and my apologies for the large image size, but I wanted to show the bump-mapping work on the plastic.

I've made a bunch of fixes:

1. Nailed the font down to exactly matching the real thing (hand-rendered).
2. Adjusted the crosspad and middle button plastic to be flat instead of glossy.
3. Lots of plastic bump-mapping work.
4. Reshaped the shoulder buttons.
5. Added a backside case (out of view but will be useful for angle shots)

I've still got plenty of things I still want to improve. Right now I need tips on the hue and lightness I need to be using for the crosspad and buttons. The current version I'm sure is probably not accurate.

Panzer88 · Post by **Panzer88** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 10:53 pm

looks great, I know you're still working just thought I'd point out the only 2 minor things I see.

1. D-pad looks like it could be floating over the controller, maybe just adjusting lighting/the black shadow around it.

2. start/select still don't look rubber, they probably just need a slight color adjust/shading/lighting.

I'm sure you already knew that.

looking good.

Post by **grinvader** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 10:54 pm

FirebrandX wrote:I've still got plenty of things I still want to improve. Right now I need tips on the hue and lightness I need to be using for the crosspad and buttons. The current version I'm sure is probably not accurate.

From my own european pad, the little sphere-ish groove in the middle of the dpad doesn't have the same surface roughness as the cross itself (the patterns are much tighter inside) and has a much lower reflective property, PLUS the triangles themselves are -completely- smooth (as in, flat) and their reflective property is roughly halfway between the cross and the groove.

L and R are pretty much spot on.

'START' and 'SELECT' aren't exactly using that font, but it's probably too demanding. The buttons aren't as "dark" as currently, they are smoother (surface is almost flat) and their rubbery nature makes them pretty dull. Convexity seems accurate.
X, A, B and Y are actually shinier than that.

If we accept the shadows cast by X Y B A as correct, the dpad's and start/select's aren't good. Start and select are 'taller' and cast a longer shadow. The dpad's height from the pad surface increases from the middle to the outer edge (and then recedes with a radius of about 1mm). Such a shape doesn't cast the current shadow under any lighting.

Nice effort, btw.

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:04 pm

Thanks for the tips, Grin! I need to point out the select and start buttons are actually sticking out even higher than the XYBA buttons, but dont seem to cast as much of a shadow. I'll be working on getting this more accurate as I go along. I knew the crosspad actually concaves a bit toward the center, and that's another step I will be working on as well. I'll make sure to remove the bump mapping on the arrow slots too.

I'm considering seeing if I can obtain a euro-snes controller so I can study it closer myself.

Post by **grinvader** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:29 pm

I'm gonna grab some shots of it next time my grubby little paws can gather a digital camera and one of my pads together for some wild action.

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:03 am

SEXY!

byuu · Post by **byuu** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:17 am

Just a few words:

1) I love what you have so far and will be happy to use it + give full credit. I do need unrevokable permission to use it as I need of course, please :/
Don't mind compensating you for all your hard work, of course.
2) Don't worry about getting it 100% perfect. As you said, you'll never please everyone. I'm happy to use it as-is, but if you want to improve it further that's also cool.
3) You're awesome. Seriously.

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:36 am

byuu, of course you can use it for whatever means you like. If you don't mind, you should wait until I render it using a soft white backdrop first. I will switch from scanline rendering to "mental ray" which allows for more realistic lighting that actually bounces off the nooks & crannies.

I will be continuing to work on the model itself, and there are still plenty of things I can get more accurate like the crosspad. Eventually I hope to render the entire controller from all sides plus input socket.

kick · Post by **kick** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:40 am

I agree with everything Panzer88 and grinvader said. There's still a lot of stuff that needs tweaking/improvement.

The START/SELECT font looks really odd. You could up the bump map intensity a bit and make the grain finer. Finally,add some 'shimmering' to the dark gray bezel surrounding the color buttons.

The SUPER NINTENDO font is spot-on.Great work!

kick · Post by **kick** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:48 am

Also,the plastic area surrounding the START/SELECT buttons has a rounded / curved appearance The cut is convex,not concave.

gllt · Post by **gllt** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:54 am

So, even though you're using 64bit, this model will work in 32bit 3DS Max right?

Cause I'd love to play with it ;__;

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 1:00 am

updated the image again with just a couple minor changes based on Grins tips. I've removed the bumpmapping from the arrow pits and the middle buttons. I also toned down the gloss on the middle buttons, though I can tone it down even further if needed.

Have no fear about the start & select font. Its just a place holder as I'm currently redoing them in similar fassion to the super nintendo font. We'll soon have NOTHING to bitch about as far as the font goes.

kick · Post by **kick** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 1:08 am

The triangle arrows on the D-PAD should be larger (wider),with rounded corners.
Also less shine for START/SELECT buttons and make them a bit lighter.

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:48 am

Updated the image. Now ALL the face fonts have been redone to exactly match the real controller.

Gil_Hamilton · Post by **Gil_Hamilton** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 3:05 am

That's a beautiful render. Almost looks real now that you've got the texturing on.

Suppose doing US and J pads too is out of the question?

(J should be easy, since you just swap the SNES logo for a Super FamiCom logo. US has different buttons, though.)

creaothceann wrote:Btw. here's a picture of the Ascii Pad - might help a bit with the height of the buttons etc.

Mmmm.... I miss my Asciipad.

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 4:59 pm

I'm in agreement with byuu in that the US controller sucks ass. I like to pretend the Euro controller is the official SNES one

Anyway, I'm hoping Grin can set me up with some snapshots of his pad. I'm running out of info I can gleam from the limited angles we get from net pics. Ideally, I'd like the controller taken apart and photos taken of the cross pad part by itself from both a top and side profile. Same thing with the case halves, both separated and still screwed together.

Grrr, I'm going to fricken buy a snes again the more OCD I'm getting!

diminish · Post by **diminish** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:23 pm

Awesomeness.

Post by **odditude** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:40 pm

that's utterly fantastic.

Johan_H · Post by **Johan_H** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:47 pm

The D-pad and start/select buttons are a bit lighter on my controllers, though it could be just my monitor.

Anyway, yeah, sweetastic.

kick · Post by **kick** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 6:34 pm

No,it's not your monitor.They are indeed lighter

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 6:36 pm

I spent an hour combing through every national and worldwide ebay auction for SNES controllers. Of those, over 800 were for the crappy USA version and only about 10 were for the European version. Of those ten, I picked out the best condition and did a buyout for 10 GBP. It ended up costing me a little over $20 US bucks with shipping added, but considering how HARD it is to find one, I'm quite fine paying that much.

I had at some point considered buying the Japanese club wii Super Famicom controller, but the cheapest ones are about $65. I chose not to since The whole point was to get an actual vintage controller with the proper English logos on it. While the Japanese controller may use the exact same mold, they may use entirely different plastics by now, and it also wouldn't have the English logo on it.

Anyway, It may take a week or so for the controller to arrive, but I will pick right back up on the model work when it gets here. For the time being, I'll work on that mental ray render setting I keep putting off.

Panzer88 · Post by **Panzer88** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 7:38 pm

keep in mind guys that the dpad and start/select fade over time, he is doing a "brand new" controller, they are a bit lighter but we just have to be careful what we go off of.

edit:

looks like he already fixed it anywho