Home 3D Art Showcase & Critiques

Rawk - Post any rocks you make here!

1568101122

Replies

  • josh_lynch
    Offline / Send Message
    josh_lynch interpolator
    This is a great thread with a lot of inspiration material!
  • Jonas Ronnegard
    Offline / Send Message
    Jonas Ronnegard polycount sponsor
    playing with rocks again using marmoset

    p18pkuervhpjgcjs18cb60v1qe93.jpgf
  • Makkon
    Offline / Send Message
    Makkon polycounter
    Jonas! I love it! Do you have any documentation of your technique?
  • Jonas Ronnegard
    Offline / Send Message
    Jonas Ronnegard polycount sponsor
    Well it's mostly about the sculpting I guess, make 2/3 rock pieces, take those pieces into the same subtool duplicate and randomly place around pieces, get a good and random modular mesh. turn it into a dynamesh, make some seams between the meshes more normal looking fix things up and make it more random looking.

    then I have just randomly placed the same modular rock piece out in marmoset, i guess the main cliff has around 6 pieces, would be a lot more random looking if I found a way to scale meshes inside marmoset, but I was a bit lazy.

    sorry for the undetailed explanation.
  • Makkon
    Offline / Send Message
    Makkon polycounter
    Naw, that was more than enough information. Thanks man! I didn't really think to approach it that way. I want to try that out tonight.
  • steppan
    Offline / Send Message
    steppan polycounter lvl 8
    Jonas, was wondering what process you use to create such rocks? Do you start with zSphere and combine sculpting with using transpose tool to duplicate it and have it protrude through the mesh? or do you try to keep to one mesh and just push pull and sculpt?
  • Jonas Ronnegard
    Offline / Send Message
    Jonas Ronnegard polycount sponsor
    for modular rocks like this I always start from a cube using dynamesh, and using multiple meshes to get sharp edges.
  • steppan
    Offline / Send Message
    steppan polycounter lvl 8
    Thanks for getting back to me. That's basically the workflow I know of, so that's handy. May have to try my hand at bigger cliff faces.

    Edit: your portfolio is sweet as. Really inspiring stuff
  • Jonas Ronnegard
    Offline / Send Message
    Jonas Ronnegard polycount sponsor
    I guess a common mistake myself and many others do with this workflow, is that we put in too much middle sized detail in zbrush, so when using many pieces like above to create a mountain etc it usually gets too noisy, this time I tried to keep it down.

    btw thanks :)
  • Brygelsmack
    Offline / Send Message
    Brygelsmack polycounter lvl 11
    for modular rocks like this I always start from a cube using dynamesh, and using multiple meshes to get sharp edges.
    How many meshes is your rock composed of in your latest pic?
  • Jonas Ronnegard
    Offline / Send Message
    Jonas Ronnegard polycount sponsor
    I think around 6 copies of the same mesh
  • narticus
    Offline / Send Message
    narticus polycounter lvl 7
    I'd love to see a wireframe over that rendering if possible, Jonas. Really impressive, as always!
  • Autocon
    Offline / Send Message
    Autocon polycounter lvl 15
    Great looking asset Jonas. I was a bit worried with the first pick you showed as the rock compilation had no actual rock flow too it. It clearly looked like 1 style of horizontal rock rotated at angles and jammed together. They forms/cracks no longer flowed the way this type of rock would actually break making it look very artificial and fake.

    But in your latest shot things look fantastic. All the rocks are flowing in the same direction with subtle angle turns that don't give it that disjointed look of the first massing of rocks. Really dig it and looking forward to seeing more. :)
  • Greg DAlessandro
    Offline / Send Message
    Greg DAlessandro polycounter lvl 6
    First attempt at a rock:
    Rockattempt1_zps955f5358.jpg
  • Gobliness
    Offline / Send Message
    Gobliness polycounter lvl 4
    SAipCyI.jpg

    Rawks I am working on for a Sonoran Desert placed scene. Trying some new techniques. I feel like there could be some smaller deposited rocks in the cracks, but this is how it is for now.
  • Makkon
    Offline / Send Message
    Makkon polycounter
    I just want to be like Jonas...

    rocks01_all.png
  • steppan
    Offline / Send Message
    steppan polycounter lvl 8
    Jonas:
    I've started to notice this also. I've also noticed that when I started out and was duplicating the mesh around to make it larger I was also scaling up my brush which would give me larger details but lose that feeling that it is a big piece and I'd basically end up with a rock looking the same size but more dense in polies.

    Which brushes do you use? I tend to use the Trim smoothborder brush with a rough alpha to give me a less clean cut, however this brush isn't great at getting straight edges. What do you tend to use for that? one of the clay brushes? or maybe the trim smoothborder with a square alpha?

    Edit: you say you are using the same mesh 6 times. I presume you created a fully finished rock and then added them together in something like Max or Maya?

    Edit: thanks Makkon, I didn't realise I hadn't.
  • Makkon
    Offline / Send Message
    Makkon polycounter
    Steppan: You'll probably want to specify you're talking to Jonas.
  • Jonas Ronnegard
    Offline / Send Message
    Jonas Ronnegard polycount sponsor
    narticus: I think I can take a shot of that when I get back to work on monday.

    Autocon: Yeah I know exactly what you mean, that mesh was a bit harder to use as it was all most a perfect cube, and I was probably a bit too into it so didn't think it looked that weird until later on, which is kinda why I made a new one haha, happy you like the later one.

    Makkon: Nice :) you could probably make something that look all most the same with that, Is it 3 assets? also something I noticed that I do often myself is the L shapes that are clearly from the same piece, you might want to make the whole asset into a dynamesh and make them look a bit more disconnected.

    Steppan: Yeah Scale is important and hard, I thought rocks were fun because you didn't have to think that much, but I have noticed there is a lot to think about when you use multiple meshes.

    in this case I didn' use so many brushes because I was trying to stay clean,
    but my normal brushes are, TrimDynamic, TrimAdaptive, TrimSmoothBoarder, PolishHard, Morph, and actually I use square alpha for all of these brushes, as well as -90 Focal Shift, So all my brushes are very sharp, i might smooth out some parts with the TrimDynamic brush later on though.

    "edit" forgot the last question

    I think my english might have confused some :P, I use multiple rock meshes in zbrush which i use as subtools in zbrush to create one rock mesh in zbrush which can be used in every angle. I made a game ready mesh of that, and took it into marmoset where i "probably" copied it around 6 times to get that look.
  • Makkon
    Offline / Send Message
    Makkon polycounter
    Jonas: Thanks man! actually, these are the base pieces that I made, before dynameshing them together (which means I'm probably doing it wrong, doh!). I wanted to go for a much larger scale rock, but also use these individual ones for smaller outcroppings.

    Going to try that tonight, wish me luck!
  • Jonas Ronnegard
    Offline / Send Message
    Jonas Ronnegard polycount sponsor
    Makkon: No that would work better actually, was thinking it looked too perfectly boxy. other then that, using a couple of these to create a bigger piece will give you a rock with quite small sized detail, but it all depends on what scale you are thinking about using it at.
  • Makkon
    Offline / Send Message
    Makkon polycounter
    Aaaaaahhh, didn't think of that. It would have to be an enormous texture to really fit all that detail.

    I'm going to have to try this again...
  • steppan
    Offline / Send Message
    steppan polycounter lvl 8
    Jonas: Thank you so much, that was very informative. I'm just starting out in the 'rock' world, and so far I am really enjoying it but I only really know of a couple of different methods and haven't developed my skills to creating a different type of rock (such as the one you have done). I'm really interested to learn how though, so I'll be working away at that when I get home tonight.
    Actually you was quite clear, when I read back, I just got confused because I haven't got Marmoset 2, which I presume it must be the version you are using as you cannot duplicate meshes in the first one.
  • Jonas Ronnegard
    Offline / Send Message
    Jonas Ronnegard polycount sponsor
    Makkon: Well depending on in witch engine you plan to take it into you could always use a tiling normal or diffuse map to make up for the loss of resolution.

    Steppan: Well there is a lot of methods, and I'm pretty sure there is a lot better one's then the one i'm using, so never stop searching for other ways.
    and yes its marmoset 2, if you plan to create something more serious I would suggest you use a more complete engine like unreal 4, I was just creating something quick to try marmoset 2 out.
  • mats effect
    First post in this topic, been working with rocks a lot on my current project think I am starting to improve a bit.

    jfGUuz8.png
  • RobeOmega
    Offline / Send Message
    RobeOmega polycounter lvl 10
    My very first Rawk
    screen12_zps0cc0c1b4.png
  • leleuxart
    Offline / Send Message
    leleuxart polycounter lvl 10
    I don't know if I ever posted this, but here's one rock I did for a scene that would consist of a lot of sharp, granite-like rocks. It's been put on hold, so this is the only one for now. Utilizes an inverted Unified Detail Normal Map from the ZBrush sculpt, a tiling Normal from ZBrush, and uses PBR maps.

    brianleleux_rawks.png
  • Sebvhe
    Offline / Send Message
    Sebvhe greentooth
    Made a tiling rock texture to help my actual rock meshes to better blend with my Landscape

    FK1wYeR.jpg

    vcME8B1.jpg

    Sadly even though it's better than before the result is still way too flat, I wonder if it's possible to use the texture's Heightmap to actually displace the terrain (not by using tessellation but by modifing the Landscape heightmap when I paint this layer) ...
    Maybe in UE4 but in UE3 it seems rather difficult if not impossible ...
  • Adrian Pieroni
    Been working out some new techniques in Zbrush, think I'm onto the answer here.

    8eGRKWT.png
  • gloriousczar
    Offline / Send Message
    gloriousczar polycounter lvl 6
    My contribution

    rawk.jpg
  • Greg DAlessandro
    Offline / Send Message
    Greg DAlessandro polycounter lvl 6
    how do you brighten the edges on rocks? (is it an inverted AO?)
  • Mike8917
    Offline / Send Message
    Mike8917 polycounter lvl 10
    how do you brighten the edges on rocks? (is it an inverted AO?)

    You can use a cavity map for that, which can be quickly generated from your normal map via crazybump or ndo.

    Another technique (3DMotive FTW!) is to take the blue channel of the normal map, copy it into a new layer, invert it and select filter > find edges. Then you can simply set it to a screen layer style, play around with the opacity, and voila! :D
  • TwilightExplode
    This entire thread makes me sad about my abilities..

    1381613_626403810762085_133046839_n.png
    1526999_626403807428752_1505762616_n.png

    A rock I had to do for school.
  • Bobby J Rice 3rd
    Now this is my kind of thread. So much awesome inspiration already. Just a load of great techniques.

    Below is an experiment and a bit of a hobby I've gotten into. Using the iPhone app 123d Catch, I've been capturing real world organic shapes and surfaces for zbrush alpha use. Instead of using that old technique of zbrush displaced data from crazybump created hight info, I'm able to capture almost ANY surface with perfect 3d information.

    The results so far have been good.

    Below is a video (no sound) of a small rock formation I found off route 74 Ortega highway in SolCal.

    This asset required very minimal zbrush cleanup of excess geometry.

    Here's the app used - http://www.123dapp.com/catch


    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pLBQ6i3QBzY&feature=youtu.be
  • CDeniz
    Offline / Send Message
    CDeniz polygon
    Love this thread. I need to post some of my new rocks, but here are some old stuff in the meantime:

    29wtvdy.jpg
    eiqqsl.png
    2elqjo5.png
    2uq2o0j.png
  • Sebvhe
    Offline / Send Message
    Sebvhe greentooth
    Crazyeyes wrote: »
    Now this is my kind of thread. So much awesome inspiration already. Just a load of great techniques.

    Below is an experiment and a bit of a hobby I've gotten into. Using the iPhone app 123d Catch, I've been capturing real world organic shapes and surfaces for zbrush alpha use. Instead of using that old technique of zbrush displaced data from crazybump created hight info, I'm able to capture almost ANY surface with perfect 3d information.

    The results so far have been good.

    Below is a video (no sound) of a small rock formation I found off route 74 Ortega highway in SolCal.

    This asset required very minimal zbrush cleanup of excess geometry.

    Here's the app used - http://www.123dapp.com/catch


    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pLBQ6i3QBzY&feature=youtu.be

    I need to try this !!! So clever. I definitely think it can lead to the same results than a sculpt but it seems much quicker. Thanks for the tip !
  • Bobby J Rice 3rd
    Np man. It's really no different than cb. They both filter from photographs. This one just takes about 40, ha, but still worth it. I can't wait for my next Yosemite visit.
  • mttjss
    Offline / Send Message
    mttjss polycounter lvl 11
    Crazyeyes wrote: »
    Now this is my kind of thread. So much awesome inspiration already. Just a load of great techniques.

    Below is an experiment and a bit of a hobby I've gotten into. Using the iPhone app 123d Catch, I've been capturing real world organic shapes and surfaces for zbrush alpha use. Instead of using that old technique of zbrush displaced data from crazybump created hight info, I'm able to capture almost ANY surface with perfect 3d information.

    The results so far have been good.

    Below is a video (no sound) of a small rock formation I found off route 74 Ortega highway in SolCal.

    This asset required very minimal zbrush cleanup of excess geometry.

    Here's the app used - http://www.123dapp.com/catch


    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pLBQ6i3QBzY&feature=youtu.be

    Very curious about the process...Tried using 123d for a diecast car..How many images did you snap?? Thx.
    -Matt
  • Bobby J Rice 3rd
    mttjss wrote: »
    Very curious about the process...Tried using 123d for a diecast car..How many images did you snap?? Thx.
    -Matt


    Must at least be above 8. The more clear shots, the better the result.
  • Mr Significant
    Offline / Send Message
    Mr Significant polycounter lvl 11
    Some sculptin':

    qNKPulg.jpg
  • Jonas Ronnegard
    Offline / Send Message
    Jonas Ronnegard polycount sponsor
    Rock in marmoset

    jonas-ronnegard-rock06.jpg?1403751863
  • Sebvhe
    Offline / Send Message
    Sebvhe greentooth
    Those last two rocks look much more like concept art than actual 3d models, good job ! :)
  • narticus
    Offline / Send Message
    narticus polycounter lvl 7
    Yeah, very nice guys!
  • maximumsproductions
    Offline / Send Message
    maximumsproductions polycounter lvl 8
    Rock in marmoset

    I'm sure you already know but.. I'll reiterate - Sick rocks Jonas! And presentation!
  • narticus
    Offline / Send Message
    narticus polycounter lvl 7
    Is that a low poly version Jonas?
  • Jonas Ronnegard
    Offline / Send Message
    Jonas Ronnegard polycount sponsor
    thanks :)

    it's about 5k tris for each mesh, and it's about 9 instances, so well boarder line high poly hehe.
  • Mr Significant
    Offline / Send Message
    Mr Significant polycounter lvl 11
    Jonas, could you made a tutorial, how to sculpt those rocks? I mean, even without commentary. Next time, when you will be sculpting rocks, start ZBrush, and start recording. Then put 1-2 h long video on YT.

    I'd love to see this ^^ Magnificent job.
  • Gazu
    Offline / Send Message
    Gazu polycounter lvl 11
    Word @ Mr Significant :)
  • narticus
    Offline / Send Message
    narticus polycounter lvl 7
    +1 on that. Though, Mr. Significant, your rock wall is looking great!
  • Stockwell
    thanks :)

    it's about 5k tris for each mesh, and it's about 9 instances, so well boarder line high poly hehe.

    It's gorgeous, any chance we could get a breakdown on your approach, maybe even just a write up about your materials (very sexy) or some words about how you get such nice, i'll call it, "layering" when you sculpt.


    They are some very nice rocks :)
1568101122
Sign In or Register to comment.