nice... not to be picky but.. if you want to set it up like a real one.. (at least the systems I've seen/used) the motor & drives housing is above the I-beam whith just the actually hoist/pulleys below... think safety LOLO, if a wheel brakes... you want the hoist to drop onto the I-beam... not you!! LOLOLO but don't let my picky thing bother you.. it's cool looking :)

The really huge ones are, but I'm in the corporate entertainment biz, and when we're rigging for a large show the motors we use are more like kix's. Actually, they're attached to the lighting/speaker rigs and just the chains go up to the ceiling. The one thing that I don't see, is the gate for the hook. Is it there and I just can't see it at this resolution? Without THAT, anything attached to the hook could come bouncing out and THAT could smash down on peoples heads!

hmmm are we picking it apart a little to much?? He did a great job and all we can do is pick on it LOL Hey Kixum... It looks great!!!

Sorry if my response came over that way! Kix's use of soft shadows is impecable! (sorry for the spelling!) I don't doubt that if I zoomed in at a higher resolution, that he made ALL of the links of the chains! As well as the nicely swagged power/control cables. The level of detail on the floor... dirt here... debris there... excellant as usual! I just was chiming in about the style of motor that I have used that is similar, and in my opinion correct for this usage. Nice work Kix, and I hope that you were paid hansomely for it! :>

ohh not just you... it was me too Bluetone... :)

I hear you. Point taken. We've GOT to remember the first rule of critique - Praise 1st... THEN nit-pik! ;>

Well I personally think that if an image gets nit-picked, it probably means that it's starting to look like the thing you're shooting for (within reason). I don't take any of these comments as attacks, I take them as a sign that I made something that looks like what I wanted. So here's the low down. I've never seen one. Not bad for a guess! I'm not getting paid for this one, It's for the next Renderosity magazine. They wanted an article covering lighting tips and tricks. I've rendered an image of an underground rocket base and this is the crane in the room. Last time I had an article printed for the mag, I couldn't post the results for at least three months. I'll find out if it's still the same and post when possible. If I read between the lines and across some of them, I think everybody thinks it came out cool! -Kix

it is cool.. and hey, for a guess.. It's very close!!! good job ): lol

I wouldn't have guessed that close! lol! Great job Kix!

umm I can think of one way.. not sure if it would work or not... but... couldn't you use a "invisable" rod from the center of the lift head straight down and use it fo movment control? In the real world.. what you are trying to do uses bands inside that trun a pulley at each joint.. as the arm raises, the lower part of the band gets longer and the upper part of the band gets shorter , turning the head in relation to thearm... and keeping it level ... if that makes since? Ever seen a drafting table arm?... not sure how to make it work in carrara.. haven't explored much of that area yet... That's my best answer.. not sure if it helps...

eck my spelling/typing sucks....