@b0lly I was thinking on doing that way after the challenge to test the difference in performance, right now my mesh is not ready for that workflow, I'll need to add loops to maintain the edges. There is a video from allegorithmic that explains this workflow for the painter, you can use the theory on any texturing program. It will solve some of your doubts. To export to the engine they have a "master material" that blends the textures, but it isn't hard to do it by yourself, it's similar to blending materials for environments. The problem comes once you want to demo it, as far as I know marmoset and sketchfab doesn't allow this workflow, you'll need to use UE4 or unity and create custom materials that blend the textures as needed.
My small update on this one. Planning to do some alpha cards and a lot of baking. My low poly now is done, I'd say. My concern is the tree in the BG is flat in the concept. However, I want this model to be look at different angles as well, so I added them as the actual assets now. Any feedback on this?
I think you did very good job with loy poly, and AO really adds to the scene. Can't wait to see some texturing there! As you mentioned alphas, maybe add some of the alphas on border of terrain, just to get a little of that grassy feeling on edges on terrain?
Maybe you could break up roof on tower at least a bit, to add a bit more to silhouette ( god i hate this word XD). Like, there are 4 or 5 rows of roof tiles, maybe with some extrudion on roof geometry, you wouldn't add too many extra polies, but it might make silhouette more interesting.
Anyhow, my slow progress on the building:
I'll make slightly higher poly mesh though. UV mapping is also done,so i'm now starting with texturing. I'll farther work on geometry, once i'm done with texturing (do add some extra details based on texture) and then do some deforming when i'm done with all that, do add those curvitures from the concept.
@Zocky Thanks, definitely those roof shingles are something I can work on more. Initially I am planning to bake all, but as you pointed out the silhouette (I hate this word too, ) is not completely flat, so maybe I will add rows just like I did with the trees.
For your case, I'd suggest being mindful about the proportion and shapes. For example, your trees are too tall as of right now. And the rocks are not exactly like the concept ( I guess you just blocked them in?). And yeah, adding more curves would definitely be faithful to the concept more.
Good luck, I haven't seen a lot of participants doing this concept, so hopefully we can all nail this down
Tnx, trees and placeholders are just placeholders for now, i'm focusing on just building right now....will post some progress on textures on it soon, hopefully.
And yeah, same, really cool concept, so really looking foward to what you peeps come up with!
Thanks William, and as it happens, after a break for the holiday, I picked up Quixel Suite.
I've been banging through sorting out the pipeline for it and have run into some really weird problems that I can not seem to sort out how to fix. I think I've reached the point, that after three days of trying different thing, I'll just remodel the damaged mesh parts but this is what's happening.
I'm getting polys that will simply not shade. I've tried checking the normals, I've tried altering the color ID map, I've tried messing with the occlusion map, I've tried resetting x-form, and I'm at the point that I'm just going to destroy the meshes and rebuild them. I can't find any acceptable answers online.
I'm also running into issues getting acceptable translucency out of Quixel's 3DO. I can get transparency but can't get it to accept my transparency map which should be somewhat translucent plastic. I'll get it sorted but I must say, I'm looking forward to wrapping this up.
@TheOubliette I was getting the same issues when I was texturing a wooden floor. Did the same thing you did, went through it all, but ended up redoing the geo. Would also really like to know what that was about.
@TheOubliette Oh, waaaait! I think I actually did figure it out. Was a couple of weeks ago, but I think it might have been flipped UWs. Might be wrong, but check it out.
For all the softwares quick fix which will still hold UV information, I believe try exporting selected and re-importing as an OBJ.
Another way would be to add an Edit Normals modifier in Max if you are using. I heard you bring up reset XForm. Select all normals and click Unify. Collapse modifier stack. Or add an edit poly modifier if you want to hold that Edit Normals Modifier information in your stack. I wouldn't need it so I would collapse.
Here's an update with my progress this weekend,Almost finished the sculpts/meshwork, just need to do the top part of the tower and then I can bake some of it down. The roof tiles will probably be redone, it was a bit of a nightmare figuring out how to make them without using too many polys, I think making a tilable tile texture to apply to the ones which dont effect the silhouette and then some unique ones to add around the edges may work, It would take way too long to sculpt and texture them individually, but it also means that I cant bake down AO ontop them. thankfully they are on the roof so are going to be fully lit usually. As for the stones I took the usual approach of trimming the edges and adding some surface variation but it didnt really fit the look, so I redid them where I smoothed the edges and then polished the faces so they look like chamferboxes, they dont have as much detail but fit the theme more I think.
Tried to make the door hinges, I made an alpha in photoshop which I could use on a plane in ZBrush, the only problem is that I can't find a way to mask out the area which has been raised so I can split it up and dynamesh it to seal the backside off.
@Toku , you could try using the alpha with a mask instead of with a brush, then group masked, and then you can use the inflate under deformations. now you'll have a polygroup that can help you get rid of all of the polys around the shape. coming along very nicely :]
@harry1511 Looking pretty good, yo! As for your trees, I think they'd look pretty good as 3D objects rather than flat planes. In MrRik's model, he had them as flat objects, but it's because the camera was going to be locked to that angle. Either works fine, just depends on how much control the viewer will have over the camera. (Also, I really like your rock!) @Toku Your sculpts are looking great, I love em!
@Tzur_H nice start! the top part is a little different than the concept, I would try to make it shorter on the right side to match the gap between the top and the side. I'm not doing that concept but it might solve the problem.
@Toku nice sculpts!!, I love them About the stones, I think they are better this smooth, if you want to add detail and variation you can always use textures to make them feel unique.
I also have an update, my weapon is pretty much done. Later today i'll add it to sketchfab and marmoset, I'll post the result in here also Substance Painter Viewport images
So it was with this project I cut my teeth on Quixel Suite and I must say, despite bugs that really need to be worked out or addressed, It's a miracle to work with. My desktop, while more pleasant to work with than my laptop, is less capable than my laptop and you really need a SSD as a Photoshop scratch disk and 16gigs
of ram. I squeaked by with the SSD and 8gigs on the desktop and ended up
passing some info on to Quixel for bug fixes.
I finished it up
with Toolbag 3 and that too needs some work. It currently does not
render many of the lighting effects into the "capture image" options nor
in the Marmoset Viewer file, such as bloom or soft shadows. I'm also in
contact with Marmoset about these issues, but, I got by with large
screenshots of my render window.
My artstation account
has more details and the 3D Marmoset viewer so you can have a look at
the turntable, but here's a couple of my final stills from the
challenge.
@Zocky Aaw it looks great I love your rendering! Can't wait to see the final product.
Me I'm finally done with the unwrapping for the cart but I struggle to start the textures. Since there are a lot of round objects with details I want to paint them on the model instead of starting from the UV, but Photoshop is doing some weird things: When I import multiple objects it gives me 3 different UVs despite every model having the same ID, and when I try painting on different layers it just flattens them and everything ends up on the same layer : /
So... can anyone recommend me a free simple and easy 3D paint software? Photoshop has the advantage of being easily switchable between the 3D and the "normal" texture files, but I can't find any fix.
@Lukitscherie It's not free but they have a trial for dDO and 3DO, and that is some of the best paint-on-object I've found and worth the price if you get it. It's still %40 off. Who knows when that'll end but the trial might help you.
Lukitscherie, Tnx! Well, it's not free but, 3dcoat is rather nice for painting, allows both 2d (thought not as powerfull as PS imo) and 3d painting. Might wanna look it up, http://store.steampowered.com/app/100980/ You even have demo, so you can give it a try and see if you like it.
Progress on my front is very slow, but i'm slowly getting there. I think the hardest part of the building is almost done now, so rest will hopefully go faster now. It will be tough to get it in time, but eh, i'll get there...somehow. :P
</code><pre class="CodeBlock"><code><code><span class=" post-color-gray">Here's my final. Had to rush the texturing a little, but the contest was very helpful to me as an artist.</span><br><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://skfb.ly/XNLQ" title="Link: https://skfb.ly/XNLQ"><span class=" post-color-gray">https://skfb.ly/XNLQ</span></a></code></h2><code><br><img alt="" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/b9/t47yaa89qae8.png" title="Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/b9/t47yaa89qae8.png"><img alt="" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/6f/9msb7sr6rd6p.png" title="Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/6f/9msb7sr6rd6p.png"><img alt="" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/wl/4algd38x497x.png" title="Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/wl/4algd38x497x.png"><br>
Hey guys, just found this thread. Really interesting works, I will be participating in the next one starting in January for sure.
OranButtons really love the way this turned out! I found something strange while looking at your model in sketch-fab. While in Matcap mode I found that the normals on the trigger guard seems to have baked wrong. But I really thing you did a Great job nailing the likeness of the reference.
Lukitscherie, Hey, nice start there, really liking how it's looking like right now. Yeah, finding that balance is tricky for me too. That red...carpet-like thingy on the table (sorry, bad english :P), seems to have more sharp lines on the edges where darker and stronger red colors meet. Maybe you could experiment a little bit with that transition making it sharper maybe?
My textures are very ugly up close haha. But I like how it's turning out in the full picture for now. Tried setting up lights to have a few shadows and the lantern light. I don't know if I'll have time to set it up in Unity so my final entry will just be a test I guess : p
Nice! I think it's mostly those....yellow apple like thingies that stand out a bit as in looking "low res"...maybe using hard brush to paint in some details, especially around top area, the greenish parts?
Ok, i'm calling the building itself done, at least for now; not perfect yet, i'll probably return to it at the end if there's some more time but, i'm moving to terrain tomorrow/today.
Calling it done! It's not perfect, I was struggling to make decent rendering with the brush settings I know, but I like how it turned out. When I saw the concept I wasn't sure I could manage to do everything.
I rushed a bit and it's not in engine, I'm going to be away from my computer and busy for a bit, if I have time before the end of December I'll try putting it in Unity and repost it.
I really need to learn using brushes for digital painting ;_; But I already learned a lot from it. Can't wait to see the next concepts!
Would be cool to see this scene with shadows and all that (if there is one, its not very noticable. I kinda like it that your concept seems to be a bit more colorfull than original concept!
@Zocky Thanks! Yeah if I have the time I'll try to set up lights to have shadows like the concept. Right now in 3DSMax I have a top light but the lantern light makes the roof shadow disappear...
Ok, started to work on rocks. Don't think i got the size right just yet but, i'll work on it in next 2 days hopefully, so i can finally move on to trees. I still have few more assets to make after that, and then if i have enough time, i'd like to add some stuff that isn't on the concept, but i think could improve the scene...
I do have a question though... I really loved art style from the concept, so i wanted to match it a lot to it but, i do wonder, is this too much, as in, not enough original, my own "style" to it? Is this considered problematic in that way? I do plan to add my own touch to if i get enough time but, was still wondering if i'm really doing this the right way...
@Zocky It's the first time I participate but I think everything's viable for that contest, following the concept very close or doing your own interpretation? I think the most important is to do something in limited time and with a base idea that is given to you.
That say I personally think it's always a good thing to have a few pieces in your portfolio that shows that you can follow a concept closely. Anyway if you have time and feel like it, I say go for it and add stuff not in the concept.
Yeah, i guess what you said does make sense...just wasn't sure how to approach this scene when i started, so i wasn't sure if it was ok to try to match it like this....
Well, some more progress on the scene. Had some problems with trees but, i think i'm kinda happy with them right now. I'll try to add rest of the missing assets in maybe next 2,3 days, and then see what else i can do with this...
A screengrab from the substance painter viewport I phoned in the texturing a bit due to family stuff going on over the last and next week. I'm missing some of the details from the concept but overall I'm pretty happy with how the bakes turned out.
Lowpoly - about 9500 tris
Highpoly
Lowpoly with bakes inside of Substance Painter.
I've started these challenges several times in the past and never came close to completing one, I think the new bi-monthly format works much better for me personally! Sorry I didn't post any WIP's I really didn't expect to finish haha..
@OranButtons Nice! It looks like your mesh has some extra verts that could be trimmed out to make your model more efficient, especially the extra loops around the cylindrical shapes. I think you did a great job on the handle of the gun, I like your version with the finger grooves much more than the concept!
Very nice looking gun there,kyrzon! Man, this scene is getting a little tiring, but , i do like the results slowly....tomorrow, i'll try to add few other missing things if possible, and then maybe spend another day maybe tweaking and adding some other minor things....Really need to get this one finished already XD Not sure yet how to approach river though....should i just paint it as and make it static, or dunno....that and the "glow" around the building will probably give me some problems but, i'll see what i can do...
Replies
I was thinking on doing that way after the challenge to test the difference in performance, right now my mesh is not ready for that workflow, I'll need to add loops to maintain the edges.
There is a video from allegorithmic that explains this workflow for the painter, you can use the theory on any texturing program. It will solve some of your doubts.
To export to the engine they have a "master material" that blends the textures, but it isn't hard to do it by yourself, it's similar to blending materials for environments.
The problem comes once you want to demo it, as far as I know marmoset and sketchfab doesn't allow this workflow, you'll need to use UE4 or unity and create custom materials that blend the textures as needed.
Here you have the tutorial, they call it dynamic material layering
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVXroe8e88s
Hope this helps
I think you did very good job with loy poly, and AO really adds to the scene. Can't wait to see some texturing there!
As you mentioned alphas, maybe add some of the alphas on border of terrain, just to get a little of that grassy feeling on edges on terrain?
Maybe you could break up roof on tower at least a bit, to add a bit more to silhouette ( god i hate this word XD). Like, there are 4 or 5 rows of roof tiles, maybe with some extrudion on roof geometry, you wouldn't add too many extra polies, but it might make silhouette more interesting.
Anyhow, my slow progress on the building:
I'll make slightly higher poly mesh though. UV mapping is also done,so i'm now starting with texturing. I'll farther work on geometry, once i'm done with texturing (do add some extra details based on texture) and then do some deforming when i'm done with all that, do add those curvitures from the concept.
For your case, I'd suggest being mindful about the proportion and shapes. For example, your trees are too tall as of right now. And the rocks are not exactly like the concept ( I guess you just blocked them in?). And yeah, adding more curves would definitely be faithful to the concept more.
Good luck, I haven't seen a lot of participants doing this concept, so hopefully we can all nail this down
And yeah, same, really cool concept, so really looking foward to what you peeps come up with!
I've been banging through sorting out the pipeline for it and have run into some really weird problems that I can not seem to sort out how to fix. I think I've reached the point, that after three days of trying different thing, I'll just remodel the damaged mesh parts but this is what's happening.
I'm getting polys that will simply not shade. I've tried checking the normals, I've tried altering the color ID map, I've tried messing with the occlusion map, I've tried resetting x-form, and I'm at the point that I'm just going to destroy the meshes and rebuild them. I can't find any acceptable answers online.
I'm also running into issues getting acceptable translucency out of Quixel's 3DO. I can get transparency but can't get it to accept my transparency map which should be somewhat translucent plastic. I'll get it sorted but I must say, I'm looking forward to wrapping this up.
I hope I can help bud.
For all the softwares quick fix which will still hold UV information, I believe try exporting selected and re-importing as an OBJ.
Another way would be to add an Edit Normals modifier in Max if you are using. I heard you bring up reset XForm. Select all normals and click Unify. Collapse modifier stack. Or add an edit poly modifier if you want to hold that Edit Normals Modifier information in your stack. I wouldn't need it so I would collapse.
Tried to make the door hinges, I made an alpha in photoshop which I could use on a plane in ZBrush, the only problem is that I can't find a way to mask out the area which has been raised so I can split it up and dynamesh it to seal the backside off.
@Toku Your sculpts are looking great, I love em!
nice start! the top part is a little different than the concept, I would try to make it shorter on the right side to match the gap between the top and the side. I'm not doing that concept but it might solve the problem.
@Toku
nice sculpts!!, I love them
About the stones, I think they are better this smooth, if you want to add detail and variation you can always use textures to make them feel unique.
I also have an update, my weapon is pretty much done.
Later today i'll add it to sketchfab and marmoset, I'll post the result in here also
Substance Painter Viewport images
Done. Done done done.
So it was with this project I cut my teeth on Quixel Suite and I must say, despite bugs that really need to be worked out or addressed, It's a miracle to work with. My desktop, while more pleasant to work with than my laptop, is less capable than my laptop and you really need a SSD as a Photoshop scratch disk and 16gigs of ram. I squeaked by with the SSD and 8gigs on the desktop and ended up passing some info on to Quixel for bug fixes.
I finished it up with Toolbag 3 and that too needs some work. It currently does not render many of the lighting effects into the "capture image" options nor in the Marmoset Viewer file, such as bloom or soft shadows. I'm also in contact with Marmoset about these issues, but, I got by with large screenshots of my render window.
My artstation account has more details and the 3D Marmoset viewer so you can have a look at the turntable, but here's a couple of my final stills from the challenge.
Me I'm finally done with the unwrapping for the cart but I struggle to start the textures. Since there are a lot of round objects with details I want to paint them on the model instead of starting from the UV, but Photoshop is doing some weird things: When I import multiple objects it gives me 3 different UVs despite every model having the same ID, and when I try painting on different layers it just flattens them and everything ends up on the same layer : /
So... can anyone recommend me a free simple and easy 3D paint software? Photoshop has the advantage of being easily switchable between the 3D and the "normal" texture files, but I can't find any fix.
It's not free but they have a trial for dDO and 3DO, and that is some of the best paint-on-object I've found and worth the price if you get it. It's still %40 off. Who knows when that'll end but the trial might help you.
Tnx! Well, it's not free but, 3dcoat is rather nice for painting, allows both 2d (thought not as powerfull as PS imo) and 3d painting. Might wanna look it up, http://store.steampowered.com/app/100980/
You even have demo, so you can give it a try and see if you like it.
Progress on my front is very slow, but i'm slowly getting there. I think the hardest part of the building is almost done now, so rest will hopefully go faster now. It will be tough to get it in time, but eh, i'll get there...somehow. :P
</code><pre class="CodeBlock"><code><code><span class=" post-color-gray">Here's my final. Had to rush the texturing a little, but the contest was very helpful to me as an artist.</span><br><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://skfb.ly/XNLQ" title="Link: https://skfb.ly/XNLQ"><span class=" post-color-gray">https://skfb.ly/XNLQ</span></a></code></h2><code><br><img alt="" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/b9/t47yaa89qae8.png" title="Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/b9/t47yaa89qae8.png"><img alt="" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/6f/9msb7sr6rd6p.png" title="Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/6f/9msb7sr6rd6p.png"><img alt="" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/wl/4algd38x497x.png" title="Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/wl/4algd38x497x.png"><br>OranButtons really love the way this turned out! I found something strange while looking at your model in sketch-fab. While in Matcap mode I found that the normals on the trigger guard seems to have baked wrong. But I really thing you did a Great job nailing the likeness of the reference.
Still can't find the balance between muddy and too sharp in digital painting though ><
Hey, nice start there, really liking how it's looking like right now.
Yeah, finding that balance is tricky for me too. That red...carpet-like thingy on the table (sorry, bad english :P), seems to have more sharp lines on the edges where darker and stronger red colors meet. Maybe you could experiment a little bit with that transition making it sharper maybe?
Anyhow, nice progress, keep it up!
I don't know if I'll have time to set it up in Unity so my final entry will just be a test I guess : p
I think it's mostly those....yellow apple like thingies that stand out a bit as in looking "low res"...maybe using hard brush to paint in some details, especially around top area, the greenish parts?
Anyhow, nice progress, keep it up!
Just hope i have enough time to finish rest of the scene in time too...
No streaming here, didn't really cross my mind, if i'm honest.
I also imported finally this into Unity, but need to play around with lighting a bit more to get the proper feel....i'll post it sometimes later....
I rushed a bit and it's not in engine, I'm going to be away from my computer and busy for a bit, if I have time before the end of December I'll try putting it in Unity and repost it.
I really need to learn using brushes for digital painting ;_; But I already learned a lot from it. Can't wait to see the next concepts!
Would be cool to see this scene with shadows and all that (if there is one, its not very noticable. I kinda like it that your concept seems to be a bit more colorfull than original concept!
Yeah if I have the time I'll try to set up lights to have shadows like the concept. Right now in 3DSMax I have a top light but the lantern light makes the roof shadow disappear...
I still have few more assets to make after that, and then if i have enough time, i'd like to add some stuff that isn't on the concept, but i think could improve the scene...
I do have a question though...
I really loved art style from the concept, so i wanted to match it a lot to it but, i do wonder, is this too much, as in, not enough original, my own "style" to it? Is this considered problematic in that way?
I do plan to add my own touch to if i get enough time but, was still wondering if i'm really doing this the right way...
That say I personally think it's always a good thing to have a few pieces in your portfolio that shows that you can follow a concept closely. Anyway if you have time and feel like it, I say go for it and add stuff not in the concept.
Yeah, i guess what you said does make sense...just wasn't sure how to approach this scene when i started, so i wasn't sure if it was ok to try to match it like this....
Well, tnx a lot!
Only apples look maybe slightly too bright, but other than that, nice work!
Here is where I got to for this Challenge!
A screengrab from the substance painter viewport
I phoned in the texturing a bit due to family stuff going on over the last and next week.
I'm missing some of the details from the concept but overall I'm pretty happy with how the bakes turned out.
Lowpoly - about 9500 tris
Highpoly
Lowpoly with bakes inside of Substance Painter.
I've started these challenges several times in the past and never came close to completing one, I think the new bi-monthly format works much better for me personally! Sorry I didn't post any WIP's I really didn't expect to finish haha..
@Zocky Great job!
@OranButtons Nice! It looks like your mesh has some extra verts that could be trimmed out to make your model more efficient, especially the extra loops around the cylindrical shapes. I think you did a great job on the handle of the gun, I like your version with the finger grooves much more than the concept!
Looking forward to next month!
model
Use HD texture setting to see it better.
Man, this scene is getting a little tiring, but , i do like the results slowly....tomorrow, i'll try to add few other missing things if possible, and then maybe spend another day maybe tweaking and adding some other minor things....Really need to get this one finished already XD
Not sure yet how to approach river though....should i just paint it as and make it static, or dunno....that and the "glow" around the building will probably give me some problems but, i'll see what i can do...