Noosence´s Improvement Thread [WIP]

noosence

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Hello all! I feel like I've been on here for a few months now and I haven't formally introduced myself. My name is Mike Hale, and I am aspiring to be an Environment/Prop Artist. I have been doing 3D modeling and design off and on for roughly 2-3 years, and have been doing traditional art all my life. Just recently in the last year I have decided to take the leap and try to become a professional. So I hope you will not take it easy on me, and critique the hell out of my work to make me a better artist. But to get this started here is the high poly of a Thompson I have been working on the last couple of days.

noosence

So here's an update on the Thompson. Just the low poly with normal bake and a temp Substance AO bake (xNormal takes forevveerrrr). Still have some issues with the grip to work out. But other than that if you see any issues let me know!

noosence

So I also toyed around with starting the wood texture for this. This is a first pass. Any crits welcome! =]

Stromberg90

Not bad, would be nice if you masked out the parts that are not wood, just for better presentation.
What I think the wood is missing right now is large scale color variation in the wood grain.

Also your image is a bit washed out, atleast for me.

So I did a little paintover where I added some more light, dark areas and color to the wood, then I did a levels adjustment in photoshop to get some more contrast in the image.

noosence

Thank you for the crit! So I've worked on my second pass today, and took this into consideration, is this more along the lines of what you were thinking?

Stromberg90

It does look better, I would find a reference of the weapon you would like to replicate.

Like these two, personally I like the first one the best.
Although the wood you got now looks more like the second one, but you can see the grain flows differently.
http://www.thespecialistsltd.com/files/Thompson-M1A1.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Campbell_Thompson.jpg

Some other artists I think have done wood really well(that I can remember right now).
ghaztehschmexeh: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=146830&page=2
At the end of page 2, also page 3 contains texture flats you can study.
Pedro Amorim: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137011


Wondering, where do you take the shots(toolbag2, 3ds max)?

noosence

Yeah, I was not really using one reference image I was just mashing together different parts of each reference that I enjoyed. But I can see the benefit of sticking to a reference to avoid the off hue over saturation I have going on. Definitely need to focus myself on the color comp and shape layouts on the wood(from reference this time =]). And I am just taking shots right out of substance designer.

Thanks again for the feedback it's super helpful!

noosence

So I scrapped what I had yesterday and decided to do the first link you sent. It has some nice values over all. The dark red wood would have flattened the values too much I think, so thanks for the suggestion Stromberg. Here is what I was able to accomplish today. I didn't match the lighting exactly, and I need to add some more scuffs and discoloration (I will probably do this in painter) but I think I got a pretty close representation.

Let me know whatcha think. =]

Stromberg90

Nice work
One thing I notice from looking at your reference pick and looking online, is that the grain on the handle by the trigger flows directionally.
Also the compression on your image is quite bad, makes it look blurry.

noosence

So I fixed the handle texture issue o.O overlooked that haha. I also started playing around with the Showcase Blueprint in UE4, this thing is AMAZING. Super easy and I've been getting some pretty good renders out of it. So this is not the final texture yet, but I just wanted to show this blueprint off.

Here's the Showcase link if you haven't seen it yet.

Stromberg90

Nice, looking forward to seeing you work more on the textures.
I will give that showcase blueprint a test, looks interesting

noosence

Thank you for the support and your time Stromberg =] I was able to put a little more time in on this tonight. I like where the wood is going, but I feel like the metal might be a little too noisy and just not the greatest fit, but I am tired and cannot stare at this anymore o.O but if you see anything crit, crit away. =] Thanks again for looking!

Stromberg90

Starting to look real good, Would like to see some more roughness variation on the wood.
But that can always wait until you are further a long with the rest and it might not fit this project either.

noosence

Alright, so I added some variation to the roughness on the wood, I think I have a metal texture I like now, and I feel like I'm getting close to finishing this piece. Tell me what do you think?

Deforges

Your scratches on the metal seem to be pretty random and overdone.



If you look at the references that have been posted, you'll see that the metal is a little bit more darker and more matte. The scratches are mostly on the receiver and are rougher than the base metal and not that apparent. Convincing metal is all in the subtleties.

noosence

Started the higho poly of another gun. This time I am doing a Bergmann Bayard model 1910. Anyone have any tips on how to make high poly renders pop? Any material that would look good?



Also I have entered the Weekly Substance Challenge - Week 1. And here is my current WIP on the theme of Concrete Tiles. I am thinking about ways I can push this farther.

noosence

Here is my second pass on the concrete tiles substance. Mainly refined edge wear and cracks, added some grass and added some variables to control tile amount crack placement and grass placement.

noosence

Here's some texture work I started on the Bayard Model 1910. As always critiques are neededd! =]

noosence

Did some more work on this over the weekend, but TBH pretty unsure about the results =\. Also how is the new setup for my presentations? Trying to spice them up a bit.

noosence

It has been a while since I've been on here, got offered a position on the ArmA 3 Imperial Assault Mod and have been pouring all of my free time into that. Here is something that I have been working on for their next release which is a Storm Trooper Pack. I had the opportunity to work on the E-11 Blaster. As usual crits are welcome (and needed) thanks =]

noosence

So here is another WIP shot and the final render for the E-11 Blaster. Hope you guys like it, feel free to drop any crits. Thanks for checking it out =]

noosence

Here's another model for the Imperial Assault mod, this time it's the SE-14r. Did these renders within Substance Painter.

noosence

A new environment I am working on. Right now I am just trying to nail down the lighting. Crits always appreciated =D