Best Of

Happy Monday

Cool to see some binoculars. Looking at the concept, I find it a bit hard to tell what materials are used, so I'm curious to see peoples' interpretations.

Those are very nice lamp photos :-B

Nice Progress on the lamp @Hymil, don't have anything to critique really  I find with such hard surface props it's key to find the right bevel widths for the edges, so they show nicely in the normal map at the intended texture resolution and viewing distance. I find this image is a good illustration of the matter. 

Great to see all this feedback Will investigate the web build issue and likely make a windows build at the end, too. Agree about the fog, have reduced it a bit since and will most likely have to dial it in more.

Some status update since last WIP - feel like threw a lot of stuff in, that I now have to balance/ refine:

• modified environment - layout, skybox, lighting, fog (still to dense, I think), ...
  
  
• exported the level-layout blocked out with primitives from Unity and built a level mesh with some vertex painting for texture blending
  
  
• added tree canopy modules
  
  
• added more building blocks. With some blocks, I made use of generative modifiers. Here is the setup for a cylindrical shape:
  
  Couldn't get the UVs right with modifiers, so I ended up applying all and UV manually. But I think it's still useful to iterate on patterns/shapes. On other shapes, made use of the displacement modifiers to add irregularities.
  
• added moss and long-stem plant. I use a vertex color mask for blending colors and a simple wind/vertex offset. 
  
  For the plants, deform leaf instances along splines:
  
  
• added large robot remnants
  
  
• ...

Until now, avoided any object specific texture maps, if any put masks into vertex color instead. Through lightmaps, hard edges get a softened. Set seams in strategic places and mostly align the UV borders with pixel raster to minimize steps at seams.

https://www.artstation.com/gruno_kromer_ii - Artstation 1
https://www.artstation.com/gruno_kromer - Artstation 2

I don't know what I'm doing, I'm just drawing. They don’t take me to any game studio, there are no orders, I don’t know what to do, so I do what I can, what I like and what doesn’t bother me.
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Я не знаю что я делаю, просто рисую. Ни в одну игровую студию не берут, заказов нет, фиг знает чем заниматься, поэтому делаю что умею, то что нравится и не напрягает.

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@grunokromer-handpaint

Progress on the hard surface prop, starting with a sub-d high poly model, which I'll then take into ZBrush for a damage pass. Creating a low-poly from the high-poly shouldn't require too much work with just deleting support loops and other similar decisions. 

Though my high poly isn't quite to a point I'm satisfied with, I've taken some liberties with the reference like adding a cushion under the handle, car battery on the interior, etc. Though I have a nemesis with the handle... It doesn't look comfortable to hold with the sharp edges that the reference shows, and the cushion I added only serves to weaken the wielders grip. So, I plan to rework that area with help from the references @Eric Chadwick shared (thanks again).

It felt like such a waste to not do an interior for the flashlight, which is why instead I decided to do a mini car battery inside. It's still in the works, but I'm liking how it is shaping up.

Fabi_G said:

Looks like a good start @Hymil. What's your plan for the edge-treatment? Will you bake from a highpoly or something else? Are you going for some stylization or realistic texturing? Keep it up!

Thanks @Fabi_G! Atm my plan for the bake is to make a high-poly subd/remesh model which Ill then bring into ZBrush to do damage on. Onto a currently non-existent low poly. for the texturing I'm learning towards realism, but I'm not completely sold on that approach yet. 

I explored your environment on Itch, love the way you chose to present the scene and the foliage so far. Though did have some issues with the cursor snapping wildly in different directions, though that might just be my computer. With the screenshots you provided in-engine it seems the fog is washing out a lot of the colours in the scene. It could be worth pushing back the fog distance from the camera.

ATaylor96 said:

Here's the blockout so far (with a bevel modifier enabled so I can better visualise the end results). Still plenty of work left to do but I'm taking my time with this and trying to make sure the proportions look great and things match up to the concept art as best as I can.

Great stuff so far @ATaylor96 , how are you planning to connect that back handle piece to the main handle segment and handle the underside of handle?

EtotheRic said:

Good starts! I started on the binoculars in zbrush/zmodeler. For fun I tried skewing them to add some forced perspective. I don't think I'll use that for the finished item as it may look kind of googlie-eyed. Sculpting pass next. 

The exaggerated look is kinda fun looking though! The buckle looks super clean @EtotheRic .

Eric Chadwick said:

I recognize that hard surface prop, since I have an actual one just like it! 

I took a few photos, in case it helps : https://photos.app.goo.gl/PChZHYfXMfBJDiyX9

Let me know if you need closeups or anything.

Instantly adding this to my ref board... thank you so much @Eric Chadwick!  Do you happen to know the name of the torch model / design to find more / similar things online as well?

Bullyzhd2205 said:
Hey Guys, Recent graduate from AIE sydney, Was wondering if I could get some feedback on my pre much finished blockout, was going to noodle around some of the Leather strap shapes then hoping to take it into Z brush for a little sculpting work. Gave it some colours to better visualize what it will look like. 
.
Would appreciate any critique.

Kind Regards

@Bullyzhd2205 Solid start so far on the block out! The colours are a great boon for helping visualise the asset. I've done a cheeky paint over for you, though feel free to discard any suggestions, they are just my opinions after all.

Main things to improve with the block out are pushing the shapes more to exaggerate and put emphasis on the stylisation. Then also adding more geometry to the cylinders since the faceting is quite obvious, though that's a stylistic choice, might be significantly less noticeable depending how you texture it. 

One thing I missed in the paint over is the gap between the focus gear teeth being larger than the reference. It might be nicer to try and fit more/closer together.

Another thought to ask yourself is how you plan on presenting your prop in the final render. Do you plan to have it float in the air? What about resting it another prop table with some small bits and bobs to sell the prop more? This will also change how the strap rests, which is why some foresight might be needed.

Hey Guys, Recent graduate from AIE sydney, Was wondering if I could get some feedback on my pre much finished blockout, was going to noodle around some of the Leather strap shapes then hoping to take it into Z brush for a little sculpting work. Gave it some colours to better visualize what it will look like.
.
Would appreciate any critique.

Kind Regards

Good starts! I started on the binoculars in zbrush/zmodeler. For fun I tried skewing them to add some forced perspective. I don't think I'll use that for the finished item as it may look kind of googlie-eyed. Sculpting pass next. 

I recognize that hard surface prop, since I have an actual one just like it! 

@Vertz Cool to see this concept being picked up I'm curious to see how you will tackle the fishes. To me, your blockout geometry seems to match the concept quite well, looking forward to see it implemented in engine.

"Feel free to change up your chosen concept a bit if you want! Interpret these concepts to your liking, especially if your aim is to add storytelling elements." So, no Personally, I would care more that the mood of the concept/design was captured instead of it being an exact 1:1. If the environment proves too big for the time available, I think it's even fair to break out a chunk/modules/props. 

Keep it up!