Hello world! This is my low-poly colt 1911 (3030 tris). I think it looks not pretty good at this moment and i really hope that some feedback can help me to improve my texturing skills.
Two things. Your metal is reading as metal right now, so that is step 1!
Your edges from your highpoly seem VERY tight, and they are getting lost, in general you want your edges to be loose compared to real life so that the normal map and screen resolution pick up those details.
For the texture, your wear looks haphazard. Mimic these links, they have a good used look to them:
Quack has posted some great refences, I'd recommend specifically #2 and #4. For a few reasons:
1. Dark "finish" will contrast nicer with a lighter raw metal once material is scraped away from the finish.
2. #2 has some awesome edge where. Pay specific attention to the tang of the gun and just above the end of the trigger guard. Some really great edge wear on that reference. And you can see on that reference how different the wear on the slide is compared to the frame, and other pieces. Could be because the types of impact that often happen on there, Or maybe its a harder metal for the sake of strength when under strain.
3. #2 is also a pretty good ref for value change within the same material (excluding the front portion of the barrel/slide. That looks weird :P)
4. #4 you can see a subtle rainbowing effect. Even tough its grey, there is a a variety of colors to it. #4 is also a decent ref for edge wear up towards the top of the slide. It also has some nice pitting towards the rear of the gun.
The grip pieces as well could use some darkening/dust/grim down in between the diamonds. It will help them to stand out from each other i think, as right now, they all kinda blend together .
Lots of sublet things that go into making a great metal great Keep at it!
I'll also + 1 for watching your HP edge width in the feature. The images you posted above already have some aliasing happening, So its only going to get worse as it gets smaller and smaller on the screen.
Replies
Two things. Your metal is reading as metal right now, so that is step 1!
Your edges from your highpoly seem VERY tight, and they are getting lost, in general you want your edges to be loose compared to real life so that the normal map and screen resolution pick up those details.
For the texture, your wear looks haphazard. Mimic these links, they have a good used look to them:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Flickr_-_~Steve_Z~_-_Colt_1911_Mfg._in_1917_(1).jpg
http://geoffreygoldberg.com/1911_r.jpg
http://preppernation.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/colt45pistol41.jpg
http://thespecialistsltd.com/files/Colt_1911.jpg
1. Dark "finish" will contrast nicer with a lighter raw metal once material is scraped away from the finish.
2. #2 has some awesome edge where. Pay specific attention to the tang of the gun and just above the end of the trigger guard. Some really great edge wear on that reference. And you can see on that reference how different the wear on the slide is compared to the frame, and other pieces. Could be because the types of impact that often happen on there, Or maybe its a harder metal for the sake of strength when under strain.
3. #2 is also a pretty good ref for value change within the same material (excluding the front portion of the barrel/slide. That looks weird :P)
4. #4 you can see a subtle rainbowing effect. Even tough its grey, there is a a variety of colors to it. #4 is also a decent ref for edge wear up towards the top of the slide. It also has some nice pitting towards the rear of the gun.
The grip pieces as well could use some darkening/dust/grim down in between the diamonds. It will help them to stand out from each other i think, as right now, they all kinda blend together .
Lots of sublet things that go into making a great metal great
I'll also + 1 for watching your HP edge width in the feature. The images you posted above already have some aliasing happening, So its only going to get worse as it gets smaller and smaller on the screen.
Now - step 2. Spec map has become a little bit darker in order to look more like refs. It looks better than previous image?
change the diffuse maybe