Model & Presentation Critique [Sci-Fi Revolver]
polycounter lvl 9
Some folks may recognize the model, but I went back and retextured this last weekend and am hoping to get some solid crit on the model and my presentation. If all goes well, it'll become a template I carry over to future assets.
Material render:
Asset breakdown
Mesh phases
Thanks guys!
Material render:
Asset breakdown
Mesh phases
Thanks guys!
Replies
I really like how you combine the style of todays weapons with a futuristic approach! It's kinda refreshing compared to traditional sci-fi weapons who mostly look blocky and unhandy.
Keep up the good work!
But you're asking about the presentation. I think it could be improved.
I'm not getting the reason for the "gears" background design. Doesn't fit the theme of the model itself. My first impression was smoke coming out of the barrel. Then I thought maybe it was the revolver cartridge. But it isn't. It's kind of distracting IMHO.
I would think about losing the dropshadow, as it's muddying up the silhouette, which is an important part of this model. It works ok when the model is light-colored, like the highpoly in the bottom shot, but not so much when it's textured.
"1k maps" doesn't say much. How many? What kind? Looks like you're using alpha channels for stuff too, would be great to label what for, since you put that work into it. I want to learn about your skill, so show me!
Asset breakdown shot... I'd love to see those flats at 100% scale. It's OK if you want to do the triangle cutaways, but full unobstructed size is always better. Please label the maps. What are you using the grayscale curvature map for? Is that a final texture being used in the shader? Or was that simply used in creating the diffuse (in which case it shouldn't be shown independently)? Would love more wireframe views, not another glory shot, from the same angle as before. Also the text is reversed on the wireframe shot. I guess that means it's reversed in the textured model too.
Mesh phases shot... you should label each of the three. Final. High Poly. Normal Map. Or something similar. The orange text doesn't make sense in this context, as you're not showing occlusion and convexity. Lighting is kind of pink on the untextured models, would be nice to have a more neutral fill light. Also a more angled blue fill light would help the forms pop more, be less flattened.
Overall though the model is great. Show all that work off!
I agree with this, I also first thought it was smoke. I would recommend something more plain for a background and let your work do the talking.
On the mesh phases, I swapped out my high poly so it read a bit better as a "high poly".
And on the topic of the gears, my hope is that I can use the gears for all future renderings as a sort of "branding" technique. I have it applied very subtlety to the back of my resume as well. So I dimmed the gears a good bit to be a lot less distracting. Anyways, here are the new renders:
Material render:
Asset breakdown:
Mesh phases:
Regarding the confusion on my maps, I've only ever seen gloss maps applied to the alpha of specular, and height maps applied to the alpha of normal. So I guess I assumed they didn't need labeling, but it sounds like perhaps I was wrong? I attached four iterations of texture flats but it seems that the more aesthetically pleasing they are, the less easy they are to read. Are any of these acceptable?
@Eric, I'm not sure I know what you mean by the "curvature map"? And yes, the text is reversed because I layed out the UVs to be optimal if the gun was sitting pretty in the bottom right corner of a computer screen; which makes me hesitant to show the model from many angles.
And regarding the mesh breakdowns, I'm not sure we are on the same page? Above where I have typed "normal, occlusion and convexity maps" is the low poly model with baked out normal, occlusion and convexity maps applied; which came from the high poly on the right and micro-details were made with nDo2.
EDIT: Oh my gosh... Thanks for that Kroma. Big ol' typo staring me in the face. Glad you're around
The tiny nicks and cross scratches along the barrel area of the gun seem a little too uniform (being only at two angles). If you can find some photos to overlay for some more randomness in scratches that might help, or you could try hand painting some (The current ones look like they were done in dDo?)
The last three flats layouts are too confusing and hide too much of your work. The first of those four is the best layout. You could use that last 1/4 of the image to add something, maybe a shot of the shader, or another wireframe.
Doesn't make sense to include the height map in the normal map alpha, unless you're actually using it in your shader. If it isn't in your shader network, then it doesn't really belong here. Why is it there? Sometimes AO can be stored in the nm alpha instead, and it is used in the shader to occlude ambient lighting, so that would make sense to have in your alpha.
"Diffuse" is misspelled in your flat.
Gloss in the alpha of spec is good.
Oops, I meant convexity map. Why is it in the mesh shot? Usually, the convexity map is used to make your diffuse, but not shown otherwise.
Would be nice to label the meshes. Put a label below the middle one like "lowpoly with normal map", and a label below the right one "highpoly". Would be nice to show the two with the same lighting, so we can compare how well it baked, and see what you added in PS/nDo.
Doesn't make sense to add the "occlusion and convexity" labels. It's nice sometimes to see AO on the highpoly, if that's all you're showing.
But personally I don't like AO on the lowpoly. The point of having the non-diffuse nm'd lowpoly model is I want to see how well the nm works on the lowpoly, without the diffuse and spec maps in the way. AO and convexity shadings kind of get in the way of that.
Ah, then it's a FPS 1st-person model? You should show it from that angle then, so we can see how it works at that angle.
If that's the only place it's going to be seen in-game, then the reversed DiamondBack logo probably shouldn't be in the texture sheet. I know it's too late now to change it, but looking at that flat, that wnet through my mind... why did he make a unique UV for other side of the top part of the barrel, but not the bottom part too?
All minor crits though. The model looks great in the end.
I *did also use my height map for parallax in the shader, which is why it was baked, used and displayed. AO and convexity were applied to diffuse and specular.
The point of my mesh shot is to show textured model, the high poly , and the information that was baked from the high poly to the low poly conveniently on one page, and displayed in a "transitional" sort of phase. Baked out was the AO, convexity, normal and height (height overlooked in the mesh phases shot). I'm not sure I agree that the AO gets in the way of checking the low poly's normals, when my point was to off the bake; not just the normals. But I absolutely agree that specular gets in the way.
And the top part of the weapon, with the reversed diamondback logo, is uniquely mapped because if it were mirrored it would have a terrible seam in most game engines.I think Marmoset overlooks the seams? Could be wrong. Either way, the seam is so terrible.
That said, I think you made a great call with displaying it in first person.
@Tiger, I see your point. The gun rotates along the vertical pivot you showed. I'll include a show showing that off while I include Eric's suggestions.
Thanks a lot guys
Yeah I personally would prefer to see flats. I've reviewed many portfolios in the hiring process, and it always helps to see the flats. I see things there that I don't always see in the beauty shots. What maps did the artist use? Do they understand normal and spec maps? Is there a lot of photo source? What did they mirror or not? How nice is the UV pack?
Since you used it for parallax, it would help to label it as such. The map doesn't look good for parallax though, as gray seems to be your zero-height value. I didn't see "Mustang Arms" in the parallax map either.
Would be lovely to have an rollover of with vs. without parallax, to gauge the effect. For example, this is an awesome way to show before/after type stuff: http://www.cybergooch.com/tutorials/pages/lighting_rfom2.htm
I don't think you need to go that far just for showing off the parallax, but imho it doesn't make sense for a 1st person weapon to use parallax unless it's really a big difference.
Why does the "High Ex/Incendiary" not have a right-side reversal in the UV, but the other text does? Most engines these days can handle normal map mirroring. Especially an engine that can handle a gorgeous high-res 1p weapon like this.
Edit... this is all just my thoughts, feel free to ignore it. I'm just writing my thoughts down as I have them. Maybe it will help, maybe not. In the end it's up to you.
haha yeah i can spot a dDo texture a mile away the most noticeable things is the scratches,edge and surface chips
material render
breakdown render
mesh phases
Also , ditch the background in the images and the outline, seriously whats wrong with a simple dark grey background ??
I also ditched the background stamp and went with a simple background, but I'm not sure I'm feeling it as much.
Regarding my original choice of backgrounds, I think it comes down to design principals. The radial gradient is partly for visual interest but also partly for focusing the eye; it's the same principal as a vignette and is compositionally pleasing. Also, because the model has both light and dark extremes, the subtle outer glow helps any part of the model from getting lost against any background. And the gears are partly for visual interest but mostly act as a watermark. Assuming I gain notoriety, somebody can crop my name out but the gears in the background are very easily recognized as one of my pieces, even though only the background gradient is watermarked. So to answer your question of, "what's wrong with a simple dark grey background," nothing is wrong with it, but if a little presentation TLC can enhance a composition (and by extension, an artist's artwork) then I'm all for a little flair. Provided it doesn't become distracting of course.