Overwatch - Soldier 76 Weapon

Dmellott

Hey folks, been working on this piece for a bit and I wanted to share and get some critique. 

This is just the high poly right now rendered in Keyshot. I've got to loosen up the edges on a few shapes yet but I'm looking to start the low and unwrap pretty soon.

I'm referencing the Character Breakdown sheet from Blizzard along with some screen caps from gameplay videos.

Please let me know if anything stands out to you, or if there is anything in particular that could use another pass. I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks for taking a look.

On a side note I might be a bit late to the party, but I'm hyped about the new website! Really digging the new layout and features.

Neox

are you using the doublesmooth workflow by any chance?
i ask because the lineweight is inconsitent on the same materials here and there

Dmellott

Hey Neox, I am using doublesmoothing workflow. Could I ask you to highlight what lineweights are inconsistent? It would help me understand the issue a bit more so I can correct it! 

Thank you for your comment.

Ged

damn these overwatch characters are the coolest looking characters Ive seen since I was about 10 years old haha. Great work on the gun so far

Neox

The problem with doublesmooh is, that you have only one way to determine the edges, by using geometry density 

i would suggest to use quadchamfer instead, it needs a tad of cleanup here and there and might be instable at times. but it gives you nice and clean supportloops, making sure all your edges on a materials are the same quality.

here is a quick picture with some notes. in general i would say your egdes are a tad to sharp and careful with the indent being 90° the normalmap will not catch these details very well.

The overwatch hardsurface style is a lot about nice bevels instead of sharp edges.



overall just make sure that the edges from the same material have the same quality and you don't need to bool/cutout every indent, you can just float these if the final asset will be lowpoly and ingame. especially the 3 holes in the front top and bottom look a bit wonky in shape and edge quality, a floater there will do wonders.

Dethling

I'm working on some Overwatch fanart at the moment, too and the style is very special.
I totally agree to Neox according to the bevels.
If you use the quad chamfer workflow I found it very helpfull to seperate the high poly into several models, one for every material.
With this you can easily create a different edge sharpnes for each material by adjust the chamfer amount (which helps in defining and seperate the different materials).

Dmellott

@Ged Dude, tell me about it!! The characters and aesthetic design in that game is incredible. I'm really in to the style Overwatch has going on.

@DETHLING Totally agree man, the style is definitely special. What are you working on from the Overwatch universe?

@NEOX Thank you for your detailed breakdown, I really appreciate you taking the time to draw that up. Quadchamfer is a really good idea to make my edges more uniform within the same shape. I'll take another pass at those edges and whip up a few floaters to make those indents and holes a bit easier to manage. Thanks again for taking the time to leave me some detailed and thoughtful critique. It makes a lot of sense, I really appreciate it man!

Dethling

I'm not working on a actual model from overwatch, but on my own design inspired by the overall style:
http://polycount.com/discussion/161098/wheeled-combat-drone#latest
The idea is that it should be one of the first Onic Combat drone, something like a "Dog Pet" for bastion.

Dmellott

@Dethling That's pretty cool dude. I like that you brought some of that Bastion essence in to the piece man.

Dropping a couple of renders of the Normal + AO. It's sitting at just under 17k tris. It needs some cleanup on a few parts of the AO but for the most part I'm happy with the bakes. Working on the texture now, glad to be back on this piece.

Dmellott

Texture update! I started detailing some of the materials, trying to really nail the aesthetic of the existing weapon. I think maybe the paint looks a little too shiny / wet in some areas, specifically towards the back of the gun. I have to refine the handle and finish that piece up, after that I'll be looking to get the decals blocked in!

Please let me know if you have any feedback in this stage, I'd appreciate it!

Dmellott

Dropping another update. Got my decal cards in and tuned up the handle and front area. I think the next step is to make the roughness of the paint appear more natural. In some areas it's super flat and in other areas it looks splotchy and stamped on.

If anyone has any critique on how I can push the texture I would really appreciate it!

Dmellott

Alrighty, putting this one on the shelf. Learned a lot from this piece. Looking forward to the next one! 
Thank you for taking a look!