JD6 - J-series Reporter Droid

My entry into this contest is JD6, a J-series reporter droid.

The Arakyd Industries J-series reporter droid is a small, hovering third-class droid designed to aid journalists, reporters, and news agencies. It was one of Arakyd’s few entries into the civilian market. The droid was not very common, but it was well-loved by those who bought one. It was capable of both assisting organic journalists and reporting autonomously. Due to the unpredictable nature of reporting the news, it could also be used as a protocol or astromech droid in a pinch.

On its head, it carried a cluster of three photoreceptors and a holoprojector, which were capable of capturing 2D or 3D footage in a wide variety of spectrums to suit the visual needs of any species wishing to use one. It also had two large antennae to broadcast over a short distance to communications ships, a multipurpose sensor disc, and an accessory mount.

On the body, it had two retractable manipulator arms, a ring of repulsorlift pads to give it unmatched stability while recording, and a replaceable equipment pallet. JD6, like most J-series, has the default pallet installed, which includes a pair of additional photoreceptors, an audio sensor, and a retractable scomp link to plug into computers to transfer files or do research.

JD6 is a J-series in service of the Rebellion. He reports on their victories, helps create recruitment messages and handles other communication needs for his rebel cell. He was originally purchased by a small news organization in the Republic, but after the company was nationalized by the Empire and absorbed into the Imperial Press Corps, most of the staff left the company to join the Rebellion, taking JD6 with them.

When I was designing JD6, I started out by brainstorming a general idea of what I wanted it to look like. After I settled on the basic shape, I realized that what I had come up with was a bit like a combination of a probe droid and an astromech droid. From there, I decided to explore the idea of a civilian version of the probe droid. What would that look like, and what would it do? With that concept in mind, I refined my sketches and came up with the idea of a reporter droid. This seemed like a great niche for a Star Wars droid that we haven’t seen before, so I went with that. I decided that it would be like a more advanced and versatile version of the Senate hovercam droid. Instead of just floating around the Senate building recording speeches, it would be out in the field with news reporters, both filming them as the cam droids do, but also assisting them in other ways like astromechs do for pilots.

With my droid’s lore nailed down, I then got to work modeling and animating it in Maya. I wanted to have it do a cheerful little greeting to show off all the moving parts I gave it. The texture you see in the animation and the project file was created in Maya’s Hypershade, but I also created a high-quality texture in Substance Painter for personal use. I used the provided Tantive IV hallway asset for the background of the animation and the Aurebesh lettering for his name on the front of the body and back of the head.

I am very happy with how JD6 turned out. Than you for this contest opportunity and for viewing my submission!