AK-74M and adventures in dynamesh

The Lone Penguin

I wanted to do some experimenting with getting zbrush more integrated with my current pipeline of hard surface assets. To ease into it I chose a relatively simple gun with a few intricate details to use in zbrush. Ended up with the AK-74M. Began the whole process the usual way by blocking it out in Maya. Block-in took roughly 3 (work) days. Once block-in was complete I started on the high poly with doing the more basic details in Maya the usual way then sent some of the more complex details into zbrush to use dynamesh subtract/add. High poly took about a day and a half.

Some negatives to this pipeline are that it can be super destructive if you're not being careful. It was also a bit a tricky to think in terms of subtraction on some of the parts at first, took a little coming around to.

Also a few of the parts ended up with much tighter edges then I wanted after sending to zbrush. A super easy fix I just wasn't paying close enough attention at the time, will need to go back and smooth them out a bit. All in all was pretty happy with the results of the high poly within the time frame. Still to come is low poly, baking, texturing. 100% accuracy was not the goal, just a usable, convincing high poly for baking a game ready mesh from, however crit is much welcomed! Especially if you see something that's glaringly not part of the 74M or is in fact missing.




Update 10-31-2014

Abidus

Nice work so far. Workflow reminds me of the recent Zbrush Summit presentation by Red Storm. You might be interested in checking that out if you haven't already:

http://youtu.be/gd3-6t59uU0?t=13m31s

Sammy101

Okay this is exactly what I want to do in zBrush. It looks like you got the edges to perfection basically for baking into normals, which many of zBrush Hard Surface creators cannot seem to do. I can box model great, I know everything there is to make decent game models. However I wish to be able to do the entire thing in zBrush. How much would you say the block in saved you on time, and if you would be able to get the same amount of detail if you had done it entirely in zBrush?

The Lone Penguin

@Adibus: Thanks, Yeah it's very much inspired by that video.

@Sammy: I'd say some of the edges are still too tight for my liking and want to thicken them still. The same amount of detail could have been achieved had it been done entirely in zbrush. The purpose of the block in mesh was to have a simple mesh to iterate on as I try to nail down proportion and shape and to have a solid mesh to start my low poly from so I'd say it saves time in the end, I guess it depends on what your daily workflow is like and which program you're more comfortable with too.

josh_lynch

This is great! I am doing a similar project in terms of workflow with Dynamesh so this is exciting to see.

Some feedback about geo and look, not about weapon authenticity. I dont know what reference you are looking either .

The Lone Penguin

Thanks for the feedback Josh! The grip is definitely gonna get that diamond pattern grip but was likely going to save that for nDo (or I hear knald is pretty sweet, might give that a try). The stock is made from a molded plastic and is fairly rounded, but I exaggerated the edges a bit just to get some better reads for baking. however, could probably nudge that back plate in a little bit where it meets the stock, thanks again!

josh_lynch

Knald is pretty sweet and very powerful, I use it on a lot of projects, though its not as interactive and malable as nDo. Still check it out!

Look forward to more updates!

BLACKMETAL

Holy shit man, thats nice model with good proportions! Could you show your zbrush maya workflow on that thing, maybe a small tutorial?
I've got only small crits that i get on first look:

The Lone Penguin

Hey thanks man, nice ref. Yeah when I wrap this up I'll show a quick overview of the maya-zbrush workflow, it's super easy! I don't want to have too much unnecessary unique UV space (as it is I'm probably doing more than I should). So anything that's unique to the right side of the barrel I just left alone, also just mirrored the little hole on the muzzle brake to get some more detail on the player size despite being shown on the opposite side. But I addressed the bigger inconsistencies you pointed out to get it more in line with the 74M. Here's some updated shots!

Borod

Good.

BLACKMETAL

Nice edits. Btw how do you export hipoly in maya? Are you retopo hipoly in zbrush?

The Lone Penguin

Are you asking how to bring the high poly into maya? It was just run through decimation master so it wouldn't kill maya performance then imported it as an .obj into the scene.
Got some bakes, pretty happy with how the dynamesh stuff baked.

Fridock

uvs pleaaaaseeeee?

Envart

This looks great, nice job!

Stoy79

Good model and quite accurate. Just some minor observations (although point 5 is a bit more important):

1. Should be just the last 4 digits of the serial number. Besides, there is no letter "R" in the Cyrillic alphabet.

2. Missing spot-weld marks (you have them on the left side, just need to duplicate them on the right side). There are also spot-weld marks under the selector too, which would be visible when it's on safe or single fire.

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/dr1553/100_5999.jpg


3. Missing locking lever. Probably not very important in first person, though.

4. This one is your choice, of course, but the windage drum usually sticks out quite a bit, so in first person it may look as if something's missing.

5. Just saw it's already been mentioned by BLACKMETAL, but anyway : AK74M uses a long-collar compensator - the one you've modeled looks like a short collar (used on the AK74). As the threaded part is longer on the new version, the older compensator wouldn't fit.

https://www.k-var.com/shop/skin1/pages/US/Articles/Muzzle_Brake/images/Arsenal_KVAR%20-%20Collector%27s%20Corner%20-%20AK-74%20Muzzle%20Brakes%20Final%20Version_img_12.jpg

https://www.k-var.com/shop/skin1/pages/US/Articles/Muzzle_Brake/images/Arsenal_KVAR%20-%20Collector%27s%20Corner%20-%20AK-74%20Muzzle%20Brakes%20Final%20Version_img_13.jpg

6. Normally, it's just a hole with no plug. Or, more exactly, the transversal pin is the plug.

7. Same thing as point 1. Just the last 4 digits of the s/n. Actually, the s/n on the receiver cover is more or less optional - it can be stamped, hand-written with an electric pencil (it was usually the case on AK74s) or missing altogether.

Polygoblin

Bakes and hipoly look outstanding, but good god that's a dense low poly mesh. What's the count on this bad boy?

The Lone Penguin

Great breakdown Stoy, thanks for the details. I addressed some of it, a few of the smaller things I let go simply because I'm just going for a convincing game mesh, not too worried if some of the smaller details aren't 100% accurate But fixed the serial issues, added spot welds, tried extending the neck in the compensator a bit but tried working around the uvs so I wouldn't have to fix and rebake, so it's not a perfect 1:1 of the 74M but again, should be convincing enough to the average player.

Only sitting at about 10k verts right now, which for current gen assault rifles is some what on the lower side.

Here's just a quick shot of the work in progress texture, haven't had much time to work on it but it's getting there. Also when I get a chance I'll do a short break down the zbrush workflow if anyone's interested, it's super quick and helps you get awesome high poly shapes while minimizing topology issues.

NurmanZh

Nice texture! Quixel using??

Sleuthman

Great stuff, really interested in seeing a video on how you did this. I've watched the red storm vid in its entirety but am looking for it in a bit more detail. Max just seems so old fashioned now! Bring on the zbrush!

Amsterdam Hilton Hotel

looks great :thumbup:

the metal has a lot of flashy detail and variation, i like it a lot

Fridock

Looks amazing, small thing - i think the tape on the mags should be more glossy (looks like paper atm)

CougarJo

Very nice! Looking forward for the zbrush breakdown

Odeca

Holy hell, that's sick!

The Lone Penguin

Thanks everyone! No Quixel though aside from some nDo magic for text n such.

FridockShir wrote: »

Looks amazing, small thing - i think the tape on the mags should be more glossy (looks like paper atm)

You aren't the first person to mention that. After looking at the ref more I think they used electrical tape, mine looks like dull packaging tape that should be glossier. I'll do some tweaking to it. Thanks!

BLACKMETAL

Great job on ak :thumbup:

Racer445

materials are nice and simple, very well defined. good shit!

Pedro Amorim

yeahhhhhh
looks good son!

can we get a FP shot?

The Lone Penguin

Thanks everyone. So pretty much ready to wrap this up. Took another shot at the tape to make it more like electrical tape instead of weird, dull packing tape. I'll get some texture flats up shortly.

Xoliul

Got some flats for us?

The Lone Penguin

Yup! So was attempting a practice I've used for next gen consoles by having the sights being their own 1k texture, but wasn't really thinking since I realized later the AK sights are super basic and a good distance from the camera and wouldn't really take full advantage of their own sheet. But what's done is done. So it's a 2k for the body, 1k for the sights, and the tape was a total after thought so that's just on its own sheet.