Non-Prototype Pack Design

Equipment Proton Packs
1

Working on the pack I mentioned in my Introduction, This is the first 3d rendering I did..the big blank box on the right will feature the logo, but Blender was being a putz about putting it on there. The red light replaces the blue Light for the original due to the Dark Matter lights being the same light. The Blue light is, obviously, the Dark Matter light, and the Yellow is support to be electricity in a Plasma tube like setup but again, I’m not great with Blender. The tube to the right is obviously slime. There is an Access panel in the center for accessing things that aren’t the Cyclotron, and there will be items within that compartment that we recognize, such as clipard valves and such. Give me feedback, thats what I’m looking for. Hose is standard, Gun is a later production

2

I’m digging it, needs to be further fleshed out, but a good start bro! I’d like to see it with some of the greebles, like the clippard valve’s, and a ribbon cable maybe. keep it up!

3

Well, those are all internal to the casing. After all, when you look at your computer you don’t see stuff sticking out, so my logic is the old proton pack is there, just inside. I have an old laptop i intend to yank the MB from for the internals then add a clippard or 2 to it but all inside where they don’t break easy.

4

ok, I get ya. I’m a fan of the old " thrown together in the basement" look that the packs have, but I can appreciate the desire to see a “refined” pack. simple misunderstanding bro. looks great, keep it up!

5

Thanks! I’m just trying to get it to look like they’d have it nowdays. Ghostbusters is, after all a business…and employees are…clumsy lol, so best to have everything in a nice box.

6

Good point, after all every time you turn around in both the movies and every paranormal show since the vhosties are throwning something. Plus as Dan himself said the new script calls for newer gear.

7

I resemble that remark! :mrgreen:

8

Cool, started looking for “Parts” while I was reading these, Managed to find a way to do just about everything..Not entirely pleased with the Meson light but those 3 lights are going to have to be Larson Scanners, no way around it unfortunately. As for the base lights, I can’t figure out where I can get a circut for that

9

I’ll also note, the slime is giving me issues…it is just for visual, so I could just use Karo and large amounts of green food coloring, but still, I never thought it’d be this hard to find green clear slime

10

I think someone had a forum discussion about realistic looking slime manufacter.

11

Damn, I was just playing around with an idea similar to this last and this week. Great minds…

As for slime, I was thinking cheap hair gel and green food coloring for the display. For the thrower, have it setup for silly string.

12

Thin out some shampoo or green aloe vera.

13

@gothicGeek: Already thought of that, the thrower part thats giving me problems is the nozzle placement in the updated model, trying to get it down to a single barrel, thinking of feeding one through the other.

14

Always cool to see new pack designs :cool:

My feedback is that it lacks detail… One of the reasons the original design still holds up to me is there are so many neat internal bits like the clippard to look at. So if your going to have all that tucked away inside, then I think you need to add some surface detail to break up what you have. Rivets or machine screws are all good details to put on as well as little vent grills perhaps.

Have a look at old Ed209’s legs in terms of the machine bolt detail. or even breaking up your design by adding more panels bolted down making up the same surface, so you have tiny gaps between the panels like you see on airplanes… all adding to surface detail.

One other comment id have looking at it from afar is it looks quite bulky and square like. I have a look at other reference of machinery, but maybe trim down your design? If the technology has improved needing a new design id say that a sleeker design would probably be a likely outcome.

Also since you have alot of flat empty spaces… maybe play around with adding the ghostbusters logo and seeing how that looks?

I look forward to seeing where you go with this.

15

Or what about some clear plexi glass so you can see all the internal parts in certain places.

16

@Julz Vents are a good idea, I also intended to have the logo on it but, as stated above, Blender was being a pain in the tucas, and wouldn’t let me just slap one on there. What if I put a series of vents along the sides? Also keep in mind the 3 colored bars are all moving lights (the yellow was supposed to be a plasma tube but the smallest i can find is 4 feet long, so a little too big) As for the Bulk, wile I could possibly thin it up, I’m also taking into account the iconic look that has made their company’s equipment famous, So changing that might hurt the brand. Plus, if I can do what someone suggested above (I suddenly can’t find their post) I intend to have the slime be able to drain as it is “used”. As for the vent plates, I’ll post a new picture here in abit with the suggestion. I think I might leave those silver, just to break up the black, like you said.

17

Updated the Image! Here the pack with its labels, and the recommended Vents, looks 100 times better.

image

And Incase anyones curious what the label says, all the labels i intend to use are located here

http://jdhancock.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/ghostbusters-labelsl.jpeg

I’d imbed that but a: the picture is large and b: best to give the owner some hits

18

Why would you put the GB logo on it? That’s one thing that always bugs me when I see other original designs. If you need to put the logo on it to let people know what you’re supposed to be, you’re doing something wrong. In this case, it’s just redundant. Why would you need the logo on the pack if you have it on your arm. Your costume should be iconic and identifiable without the logo.

And the warning logo is comedically huge. I think the main issue with this simplified/ “streamlined” version, is that it doesn’t portray the idea of “this is very complicated scientific equipment that even the person who made it couldn’t explain it to you”. That’s what made the packs look so intimidating and fit the aesthetic so well. It needs a hell of a lot more asymmetry. I suggest taking a look at the Extreme Ghostbusters packs. Take some pages out of that book (minus the whole cartridge thing). Those packs were a cool modern take on it, while still keeping some of the ramshackle confusing sciencey bits that would make viewers go “Hmmm!” without having a ton of flashy lights and tubes of slime.

I mean overall, the whole “updating and smoothing out the design to make it modern” thing is not my cup of tea. They were built that way for a reason. What you have right now is a start, but it looks more like a pack for mass toy production that anything that would be used for scientific reasons.

And I’d suggest drawing out these ideas so you can get them into a physical form quicker instead of futzing around with Blender.

Good luck.

Edit: And what’s the deal with putting all the greeblies like Clippards and tubes on the inside if it’s just gonna be closed off? Why not just make a regular pack at that point? It’s a heck of a lot more fun.

19

The GB Logo on it is primarily because a: this is a casing around the existing pack technology, and B: As a company, they would want their logo on their equipment if possible, its for advertising purposes. Warning logo isn’t comically huge, its about the same size as any other high votage sign to ward off the masses.

Though, not to be negative I have to ask, why is it the only negative comments I get are from people who don’t like the very idea of what I’m doing in the first place? If you don’t like the idea, why are you commenting? If you didn’t like what I was doing and had constructive criticism I could see, but when your whole thing is “I don’t like this because this isn’t what I think it should be” it makes no sense for you to even come in here.

As for the pack’s complex appearance, I presume you still use a phone with a wires sticking out of it? A computer with exposed circuits? No, and I presume that the Ghostbusters, after 27 years, would eventually streamline their gear. Now, While I will admit the Extreme Ghostbusters gear is a good example of modern take, it comes from a future where the Ghostbusters had, again, gone out of business. I’m looking at a concept from a future where they are a successful thriving business, as depicted in the comics and TV shows.

Also, the label is on a panel, the panel opens and inside there will be Clippard valves, a computer motherboard (Happen to have a few so it should look good in here) several hoses and wires, etc. But given how their knocked around, I think that Egon would have eventually thought “Maybe I should put a protective casing on these to lessen damage”. That is the concept. Now, I will admit the design does, in some cases, resemble the toy, but that is because I also recognize that the proton pack itself is Iconic, and as a business they would want to keep the iconic look of their equipment in order to keep in their customers minds.

Also, I had thought about taking a variation on the EGB setup, losing the proton canisters and such, and I just didn’t care for what came out of it, so I created this. This houses all the tech of from the video game version, while encasing it, and making it look less crude.

tl; dr;

If you are here with constructive crticisim for refinement of my idea I welcome you. If you don’t like the idea of modernizing the packs in the first place, ■■■■■■ off. You’re comments will not be taken into account, because there is no way I could change it, keep what I want, and still please you. Have a nice day.

20

Your design is fine aside from the previously mentioned over-simplicity. Personally, I’ve never bought into the “make it modern” thing. Things like phones and computers have made huge leaps in the past 30 years because there’s a humongous demand for better ones. Nuclear reactors of a given type and pneumatics, however, have not. This is because the demand for these things is almost infinitesimal in comparison, and that these fields have certain physical limitations that are difficult to overcome. There’s simply no way that a niche company was able to single-handedly revolutionize technology to the degree that the entire tech industry has. (Plus, greeblies just make props look more interesting. A standard computer case, for example, is realistic because it actually exists. That doesn’t make it interesting to look at though.)

This isn’t to say you can’t or shouldn’t do a modernized pack. Great modern and futuristic packs have been done here before, so you should keep at it, but replicating a computer tower, again for example, with more lights isn’t the way to go. I’m just saying that it’s not the “obvious next step for the franchise” and reflecting on how modern technology compares to prop design.

I understand if maybe you just don’t want to take criticism. But in this case, it’s good. No one is saying your design is bad, they’re trying to help you develop the best possible one. It’s like writing a book or most other creative processes. Doing multiple drafts is good.