The offline shots look really nice, only the scratches on the grip are odd, since they ignore curvature and thats wrong, also they look more like tiny hairs.
Just be careful with your scale and edges. That carving in the grip will maybe 5-10 pixels in your normal and is even barely readable currently. You seem to work for exactly this kind of presentation, very close up and real-life edges. If you are aware of that, and thats your intention, then its really fine, (but the scale of the scratches and the font usage show that you may lost oversight) but if you plan on a game model then you need to take a step back and look at the whole, because you cannot have both the same time, Real-life HP and AAA LP
Which render engine do you use ? Really want to see how it turns out, hp or game model ; )
You make some good points Shrike. I am modeling this as a high poly realistic weapon. The scratches are just a tiled map to break up the clean presentation. I will be painting proper natural scratch maps when the time comes.
You're right about the stippling on the handle only taking up a few pixels in the final map as they are not tapered. My process for next-gen weapons is to build a high poly gun that can be used for presentation/marketing renders and then exaggerate and address any areas that will be lost in the normals to get the best results. I believe there are more pluses to this approach.
I'm rendering in blender cycles. Thanks for the comments!
I'm not sure if it's my end, But only the Grip is showing up. I've seen the other pictures as you posted them, But now they're gone. Not sure if that's intended or not, But if it is, I'd keep them up. Until you have a shot of them compiled at least
Cheers man. I haven't thought about the optics yet. Probably go with the standard one.
Attachments will just be a strap/sling. I'll be displaying the final model in cryengine.
The fact that you're posting your wires as you go is making me extremely happy dude, also good choice! This gun is sexy, you're doing a great job so far
This is progressing nicely, I would love to see a picture of it with all the polished elements together, or are you saving that till the this stage is completed?
Amazing stuff! @Harford: As a beginner in highpoly modelling I am having some questions:
- What were the initial sides of the cylinder(if you started from that) of the muzzle? Are you going to halve that amount in your lowpoly or do you keep it?
- Do you chamfer your edges in your highpoly? If so, are you going for a straight corner in your lowpoly or are you going to keep that chamfer in your lowpoly?
Liking this project so far, especially seeing as you're using Blender, which I am picking up at the moment. I just have a couple of questions if that's ok.
I see you are using the Cycles engine to render out your images, however, do you know of any real-time viewing options? As in changing the default material and adding some lights in. I am used to Max where you can just add lights and it will automatically use them, but it seems in Blender I need to set my object to Textured with Alt+Z before the lights take effect.
What's your workflow when you approach presenting your models, or even viewing the smoothing with a high specular material?
Finally, what program will you be using to bake out your normals?
The initial sides were something like 24, but I deleted it into just 3 edges and then rotational arrayed it and mirrored it. That way I could just work on one little section and have the whole thing made at the same time. Trick is to add a cylinder or a circle shape there too to make sure its matching the whole time.
As for chamfering the high poly, yes I do. As for the low poly, it really depends on how much that area is seen. Anything FPS near the back of the gun I will chamfer but nearing the underside or the front I wont.
Kroma!
Thanks for the comments. I'm rendering in cycles but unforunately there are no real good real-time viewing options. If you set it to blender render, you have some control over the spec, gloss and diffuse but nothing like xoliul or marmoset. YET!
You're right about setting it to textured first before the lights take effect.
For viewing the smoothing, I use a combination of just looking at it with default view, using matcaps to visualise it in the viewport, and switching to blender render and just playing with the shaders.
As for baking normals, I won't be on this model. I dont' have time for a game version so this will just be a cinematic / film weapon. If I get time later I will do a game version.
Thanks for the info, model is looking really nice btw
One thing, on the image it says weight with 20 round empty magazine is 1.2 kg, however, without magazine it's 1.9 kg. So it's heavier without the magazine? Or am I just reading it wrong?
Replies
Paul - Yeah I plan on doing a low poly as well. Definitely paint some nice textures for it too.
Just be careful with your scale and edges. That carving in the grip will maybe 5-10 pixels in your normal and is even barely readable currently. You seem to work for exactly this kind of presentation, very close up and real-life edges. If you are aware of that, and thats your intention, then its really fine, (but the scale of the scratches and the font usage show that you may lost oversight) but if you plan on a game model then you need to take a step back and look at the whole, because you cannot have both the same time, Real-life HP and AAA LP
Which render engine do you use ? Really want to see how it turns out, hp or game model ; )
You make some good points Shrike. I am modeling this as a high poly realistic weapon. The scratches are just a tiled map to break up the clean presentation. I will be painting proper natural scratch maps when the time comes.
You're right about the stippling on the handle only taking up a few pixels in the final map as they are not tapered. My process for next-gen weapons is to build a high poly gun that can be used for presentation/marketing renders and then exaggerate and address any areas that will be lost in the normals to get the best results. I believe there are more pluses to this approach.
I'm rendering in blender cycles. Thanks for the comments!
Looking good btw!
S620ex1 - All the images are showing up for me. I didn't intend to take any of them down. They are all still linked.
Looking forward to seeing the finished HP. Any optics/attachments planned?
Attachments will just be a strap/sling. I'll be displaying the final model in cryengine.
Update on the muzzle !
Here's another update, Daaaamn this one was tricky
Enjoy your week off, you've certainly earned it!
Yeah, I've have to second this question.
As mentioned above, he is using Cycles, the new GPU based renderengine from Blender.
Completely missed that. Thanks.
Alright, I'm back! Let's get this finished
Small update
@Harford: As a beginner in highpoly modelling I am having some questions:
- What were the initial sides of the cylinder(if you started from that) of the muzzle? Are you going to halve that amount in your lowpoly or do you keep it?
- Do you chamfer your edges in your highpoly? If so, are you going for a straight corner in your lowpoly or are you going to keep that chamfer in your lowpoly?
I see you are using the Cycles engine to render out your images, however, do you know of any real-time viewing options? As in changing the default material and adding some lights in. I am used to Max where you can just add lights and it will automatically use them, but it seems in Blender I need to set my object to Textured with Alt+Z before the lights take effect.
What's your workflow when you approach presenting your models, or even viewing the smoothing with a high specular material?
Finally, what program will you be using to bake out your normals?
Any help would be appreciated!
The initial sides were something like 24, but I deleted it into just 3 edges and then rotational arrayed it and mirrored it. That way I could just work on one little section and have the whole thing made at the same time. Trick is to add a cylinder or a circle shape there too to make sure its matching the whole time.
As for chamfering the high poly, yes I do. As for the low poly, it really depends on how much that area is seen. Anything FPS near the back of the gun I will chamfer but nearing the underside or the front I wont.
Kroma!
Thanks for the comments. I'm rendering in cycles but unforunately there are no real good real-time viewing options. If you set it to blender render, you have some control over the spec, gloss and diffuse but nothing like xoliul or marmoset. YET!
You're right about setting it to textured first before the lights take effect.
For viewing the smoothing, I use a combination of just looking at it with default view, using matcaps to visualise it in the viewport, and switching to blender render and just playing with the shaders.
As for baking normals, I won't be on this model. I dont' have time for a game version so this will just be a cinematic / film weapon. If I get time later I will do a game version.
One thing, on the image it says weight with 20 round empty magazine is 1.2 kg, however, without magazine it's 1.9 kg. So it's heavier without the magazine? Or am I just reading it wrong?