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G56 concept assault rifle + accompanying video series

insane polycounter
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Amsterdam Hilton Hotel insane polycounter
Hey everyone. I'm doing a side project right now based on a wonderful gun concept done by Alex Jessup:

HK+G56.jpg

It seemed like a great opportunity for making a video series showing off my process for making an FPS gun, so I've been recording as I go. It's sort of like a tutorial, but a little more high level. I don't explain specific actions so much as the overall thought process that goes into making something like this.

I just finished the first video in the series, which covers the initial blockout.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbpplPXgA74"]Weapon Creation Demo: G56 - 01 - Blockout - YouTube[/ame]

gWe3z2E.jpg

More on the way over the next few days :) All feedback is appreciated.

Check out more of Alex's stuff on his blog here: http://alexjessup.blogspot.com/

Replies

  • Drew++
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    Drew++ polycounter lvl 14
    This is screaming a HK design in a lot of ways! Can't wait to see more! :D
  • tynew
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    tynew polycounter lvl 9
    Sick! That's quite a bit of detail for a blockout then I usually see. I'm looking forward to this, your work is awesome. Hopefully you finish this video series :) The volume of your voice in the video was also a bit low.

    The one thing I noticed is that the receiver section where the switch is, is that it is actually protruded more then the body part in between the reciever and the magazine holder. The section in the concept shows the opposite :) Not a big deal though.

    Do you plan on making the modular pieces?
  • Chase
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    Chase polycounter lvl 9
    Looks great! Thanks for the video series as well
  • Bek
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    Bek interpolator
    !

    I'm proclaiming myself as your most devout fan so obviously this has me excited :poly124:

    (I was actually looking at your portfolio just before; wondering about some modeling and texture stuff re: the AKM, so it'll be interesting to see how you approach this model. Texturing is definitely something I'm looking to improve upon so I will be following this closely. I have no idea why this is in brackets.)

    Now that I've watched the video; some thoughts:

    Good explanations; it was interesting to hear why you chose to deviate from the concept slightly in some parts, and how you consider first-person view and animations when blocking out.

    Having a detailed blockout as a sort of mid-poly is interesting, I've thought about that process before (rather than going from high to low) and I might try it sometime soon. It requires a bit more initial planning I think but the time saved later on make it worth trying.

    You mention that the rails will be floated to save geo; that's certainly true but there are some reasons against doing so. Good to consider anyway on a case-by-case basis.

    Oh and for the rails; what I would do in modo is model one of the repeating parts and then instance it along the model, so if I ever have to go back and adjust it, I only need to tweak the one part. Then it can be collapsed/verts merged for the high/low.
  • Stromberg90
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    Stromberg90 polycounter lvl 11
    This is (gun)na be awesome :)

    Going to try taking the idea of doing a more detailed blockout myself next time, cause it does make sense.
  • J0NNYquid
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    J0NNYquid polycounter lvl 5
    Awesome! Will be following the video series for sure.
  • JacqueChoi
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    JacqueChoi polycounter
    Awesome video!
  • neilberard
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    neilberard polycounter lvl 17
    Thnx for posting! I totally appreciate you taking the time to share. Great video, btw.
  • DanRileyCG
    Fantastic video man, thanks for the upload. :D
  • Amsterdam Hilton Hotel
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    Amsterdam Hilton Hotel insane polycounter
    Thanks for the feedback everyone. It puts smiles on my face. Part two is up, covering most of the highpoly conversion!

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oon_2Op2Tc"]Weapon Creation Demo: G56 - 02 - Highpoly - YouTube[/ame]

    zY1O2sM.jpg

    tynew wrote: »
    Sick! That's quite a bit of detail for a blockout then I usually see. I'm looking forward to this, your work is awesome. Hopefully you finish this video series :) The volume of your voice in the video was also a bit low.

    The one thing I noticed is that the receiver section where the switch is, is that it is actually protruded more then the body part in between the reciever and the magazine holder. The section in the concept shows the opposite :) Not a big deal though.

    Do you plan on making the modular pieces?

    I'll be making the modular pieces as long as I don't run out of energy. I'm going to be focusing on the core gun at first, but I'll be unwrapping the lowpoly to a few sheets so that later on we can swap out parts.

    Right now I don't have a great microphone for recording, sorry! I'm planning to get one but for now I'm using an integrated mic in a laptop.
  • NegevPro
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    NegevPro polycounter lvl 4
    This is looking amazing so far and I really appreciate the videos. In very little time I have already picked up on a few tricks that I didn't know before, so thank you for spending the time to make them.

    As for your microphone (I think it sounds fine) you could try boosting the audio in Audacity then removing some of the static sound that will likely be created from the audio boost. I'd imagine that would improve it for others. It should only take like 5 minutes to do at the maximum if you want to give it a shot.
  • Xendance
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    Xendance polycounter lvl 7
    Heh, you should put this in ArmA 3 since it is based in the year 2035.
  • joeriv
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    joeriv polycounter lvl 7
    Looking nice.

    And love the movies, always nice to see someone else's approach/thoughts on certain things, always a lot to learn from it, hope you keep doing them for the rest of the process. :)
  • Millenia
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    Millenia polycount sponsor
    Looks crisp mr. Bolton, good workflow you've got there! My only concern, really, are those rivet floaters on the upper receiver's curved bit - you reckon those will actually bake fine?
  • igi
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    igi polycounter lvl 12
    Great stuff! These are incredibly helpful, thank you :)
  • Dethling
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    Dethling polycounter lvl 11
    Very nice videos (and model of course^^)
  • Clos323
    really good videos and good pointers good job
  • DaveW
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    DaveW polycounter lvl 14
    Interesting workflow - might try doing a blockout next time I model something. I tend to jump straight to the high poly and make the low poly from that, but I get your point that half the work is removing what you've just been doing.

    How did you set up your side ref in Max 2014? Autodesk intentionally broke the method I used to use, so I don't know a decent way to show an image plane + work in wireframe mode at the same time.
  • Pedro Amorim
    You could just use alt+x for xray mode.
    Or apply a material with 0%opacity to the model and see it in wireframe all the time.

    Or, set some keygframes and have the opacity of the material in diferent values for diferent frames.

    100%opacity at frame 1
    50%opacity at frame 2
    0% opacity at fame 3

    and cycle through the frames.
  • Amsterdam Hilton Hotel
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    Amsterdam Hilton Hotel insane polycounter
    Glad to see the positive response everyone. New video should be up tomorrow or Wednesday. Thanks for waiting :)
    DaveW wrote: »
    How did you set up your side ref in Max 2014? Autodesk intentionally broke the method I used to use, so I don't know a decent way to show an image plane + work in wireframe mode at the same time.

    Did you previously use viewport backgrounds? That was my method for years, but it's completely broken in 2014

    What I do now is put the ref plane on its own layer, set the layer's Display type to "Shaded" rather than "Viewport" (inside Layer Properties), and then set the Display Properties (inside Object Properties) to "By Layer" instead of "By Object". This way it works the way viewport backgrounds did, you can go into wireframe mode and the ref will remain shaded. You can still hide the ref by hiding the layer if needed, and you can set the layer to not be renderable if you don't want it to show up in...renders.
    Millenia wrote: »
    Looks crisp mr. Bolton, good workflow you've got there! My only concern, really, are those rivet floaters on the upper receiver's curved bit - you reckon those will actually bake fine?
    They might, I dunno. I might bend them or something still.
  • DaveW
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    DaveW polycounter lvl 14
    Did you previously use viewport backgrounds? That was my method for years, but it's completely broken in 2014

    What I do now is put the ref plane on its own layer, set the layer's Display type to "Shaded" rather than "Viewport" (inside Layer Properties), and then set the Display Properties (inside Object Properties) to "By Layer" instead of "By Object". This way it works the way viewport backgrounds did, you can go into wireframe mode and the ref will remain shaded. You can still hide the ref by hiding the layer if needed, and you can set the layer to not be renderable if you don't want it to show up in...renders.


    Yeah - that's how I've modelled in Max since R3, and for some reason they just remove that option. Video Post still exists, but their priority is to break useful features. Bah.

    I did know a workaround using Layers but I was adjusting the object I was modelling to wireframe every time I needed to do something. Your way makes a lot more sense!

    Oh, and cheers for the tutorials - I'm not used to modern workflows so it's good to get an idea of how people work.
  • s6
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    s6 polycounter lvl 10
    I'm so jealous I didn't find this concept before everyone else....

    Looking awesome man :) Can't wait to see the Rips and texturing.
  • Amsterdam Hilton Hotel
  • CyberGameArts
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    CyberGameArts polycounter lvl 7
    WOOT! awesome stuff bro!
  • kary
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    kary polycounter lvl 18
    Not all the way through yet, but that is a very well done video.

    Faster way to clean up booleans: http://www.shiva3d.net/?page_id=71 "Vertex Cleaner". Works a treat :)
  • s6
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    s6 polycounter lvl 10
    Looking good man.

    If you don't know of the tools, Check out dot ring and dot loop. I saw on a lot of your cylinders you loop and then deselect. Bit quicker to use the graphite modeling tools. Unless they got rid of them in 2014. Which would be a bummer.

    All in all it's really interesting to see how you go about the process. I appreciate you taking the time to make the videos :)

    Looking forward to texturing.
  • tynew
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    tynew polycounter lvl 9
    Yesssssssssss Awesome! You're a beast!
  • DaveW
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    DaveW polycounter lvl 14
    Awesome videos so far. I noticed you adjusting support edges manually in the high poly video, when you connected edges on sections that weren't straight (i.e. cheek rest, front gas ports).

    A quick way to get the supporting loop to line up with the outside shape is, with edge constraint on, move the loop against the curved surface, release, then move it back, and it will match perfectly:

    SKjtONZ.jpg

    Not all that necessary for simple shapes, but it gives a perfect result for more complex stuff.
  • Kroma!
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    Kroma! polycounter lvl 9
    Finally got around to watching these, there are some really helpful tips in there such as the detailed blockout and border select check for stray verts.

    I have a couple of questions though. When you have cut in some new edges or moved verts around manually, I'm not sure if I missed it in the video but it looks like sometimes you just do it by eye and leave it. As in you didn't align it to another vert for perfect edge loops or flat quads. Are these just examples of not being too perfect when it doesn't actually matter as you would in fact be wasting time or is it because you were recording so wanted to get through it?

    My second question is what sort of key bindings are you running? You rarely go to the side panel so I'm wondering what you have set up on your keyboard or mouse.

    Cheers, and I hope to use some of these tips soon :)
  • spectre1130
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    spectre1130 polycounter lvl 6
    I'll be watching these for sure. Thanks and the gun looks great.
  • Amsterdam Hilton Hotel
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    Amsterdam Hilton Hotel insane polycounter
    i've gotta figure out why my voice keeps getting pitched way down at a few points in these last two videos. it's very weird, and because it happens very rarely and only for a few seconds, it's tough to spot in advance without screening the entire thing before posting. hopefully not too annoying.
    kary wrote: »
    Not all the way through yet, but that is a very well done video.

    Faster way to clean up booleans: http://www.shiva3d.net/?page_id=71 "Vertex Cleaner". Works a treat :)
    thanks! someone actually recommended me that script recently. i think i've found a pretty good solution within proboolean itself, for now, which i mention at some point in the latest vid.
    s6 wrote: »
    Looking good man.

    If you don't know of the tools, Check out dot ring and dot loop. I saw on a lot of your cylinders you loop and then deselect. Bit quicker to use the graphite modeling tools. Unless they got rid of them in 2014. Which would be a bummer.

    All in all it's really interesting to see how you go about the process. I appreciate you taking the time to make the videos :)

    Looking forward to texturing.
    yeah that's a good recommendation. unfortunately i've never made the time to go through the graphite tools, because the first thing i do on a new max install is hide that giant ribbon interface. i should really go through all the functions it adds and hotkey the useful ones.
    tynew wrote: »
    Yesssssssssss Awesome! You're a beast!
    thank you :)

    DaveW wrote: »
    Awesome videos so far. I noticed you adjusting support edges manually in the high poly video, when you connected edges on sections that weren't straight (i.e. cheek rest, front gas ports).

    A quick way to get the supporting loop to line up with the outside shape is, with edge constraint on, move the loop against the curved surface, release, then move it back, and it will match perfectly:

    Not all that necessary for simple shapes, but it gives a perfect result for more complex stuff.
    good tip!
    Kroma! wrote: »
    Finally got around to watching these, there are some really helpful tips in there such as the detailed blockout and border select check for stray verts.

    I have a couple of questions though. When you have cut in some new edges or moved verts around manually, I'm not sure if I missed it in the video but it looks like sometimes you just do it by eye and leave it. As in you didn't align it to another vert for perfect edge loops or flat quads. Are these just examples of not being too perfect when it doesn't actually matter as you would in fact be wasting time or is it because you were recording so wanted to get through it?
    glad you're finding the videos helpful. i'm not a huge stickler about slightly imperfect edge loops, nonplanar faces, or bad geometry in general unless it actually significantly impedes the form or shading of the model from a commonly seen angle. sometimes i will do things that are technically sloppy if they're fast and won't have a negative impact in context. of course, whenever something can be done both quickly and correctly, that's my preference.
    Kroma! wrote: »
    My second question is what sort of key bindings are you running? You rarely go to the side panel so I'm wondering what you have set up on your keyboard or mouse.
    my Q-T, A-G, and Z-B keys are fully loaded up with hotkeys so that i can do as many actions as possible without moving my left hand. i have some lesser used ones on Y, H and N as well. i don't have anything to the right of those keys, which includes having remapped Delete and Remove. there are a few things i've yet to hotkey either because i can't find the exact function in the hotkey editor or because i just haven't gotten around to it yet (slice plane).

    i would highly recommend this thread for anyone interested in hotkeys: 3ds max keyboard shortcuts
    I'll be watching these for sure. Thanks and the gun looks great.
    thanks :)
  • tynew
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    tynew polycounter lvl 9
    Aside from the useful selection tools, I would highly recommend optimize. It allows you to collapse edges and target weld verts in one tool.

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwkJcnD5bAY"]3DSMax - QuickTips # 2 - Optimize vs Target Weld - YouTube[/ame]

    By the way, where the hell is the delete and remove hotkeys? Like what is the action name? I tried assigning a shortcut to the delete all actions and they didn't work.

    Anyway I'm looking forward to the rest of your vids man, they've been very helpful.
  • Amsterdam Hilton Hotel
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    Amsterdam Hilton Hotel insane polycounter
    tynew wrote: »
    By the way, where the hell is the delete and remove hotkeys? Like what is the action name? I tried assigning a shortcut to the delete all actions and they didn't work.
    the 3ds hotkey editor has some huge flaws imo (maya's as well). in max, the delete that you want to be mapping is called "Delete Objects." it deletes what you have selected. it does not delete the Object regardless of subobject selection, which is the intuitive reading.
  • spectre1130
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    spectre1130 polycounter lvl 6
    I just wish I could follow along better with these timelapsed videos. I have still never completed a HP to LP asset as this just seems to be my achilles heel. I have tried several times and failed as I just can't get proper bakes, or I don't know what to model or what not model on LP etc. I did grab a couple of tips from the HP section that I had not known, or forgotten about, as I haven't really had a class in awhile that centered around modeling.
  • Bek
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    Bek interpolator
    Cool stuff.

    Is there no way in max to select the next edge in a pattern (like select one skip one)? There is in modo and it makes reducing cylinders quite easy—having to select every second edge by hand would drive me crazy. Well, crazier.

    Also is it just habit that you fix triangulation by removing polygons and then creating new poly/welding vert to a point? Like you'll delete an n-gon then create triangles; other times you'll add an edge then join the verts. I usually remove edges then connect verts (select them and run a join command; which is bound to a mouse side button) which seems quicker?

    Pretty interesting to see how other people and other software works. Looking forward to the UV/texturing videos. Also at some points your voice gets slowed down, did you change the speed after adding the audio perhaps?
  • Kroma!
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    Kroma! polycounter lvl 9
    Bek wrote: »
    Cool stuff.

    Is there no way in max to select the next edge in a pattern (like select one skip one)? There is in modo and it makes reducing cylinders quite easy—having to select every second edge by hand would drive me crazy. Well, crazier.

    Yeah s6 mentioned above you can use dot loop and dot ring http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1963799&postcount=27

    Also thanks for answering those questions Amsterdam Hilton Hotel, I remember seeing that link a while back but never got round to trying it.

    Looking forward to the next part :)
  • Thane-
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    Thane- polycounter lvl 3
    the 3ds hotkey editor has some huge flaws imo

    Thats putting it mildly (imo). It just one of the things that alone tells me there is very little passion for 3DS Max development (as a whole) at autodesk (again, imo).

    Edit: Oh crap, i didn't realize this thread was so old or i wouldn't have replied, sorry...
  • dragoontim
    I wish there would be any possibility to download this model.. >.<
  • Codename_tpk
    How come the videos are gone? I just found out about them and they're like the holy bible of 3D modeling to me! I want to watch them so I can become REALLY good at modeling.
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