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Re: How The F*#% Do I Model This? - Reply for help with specific shapes - (Post attempt before asking)

@byas There's a few different ways to approach this. One way to optimize for limited mesh density and overall sharpness is to block out the basic shapes to establish the basic topology flow. Then use a bevel / chamfer operation to add a set of consistently spaced support loops that automatically use 2 to 1 loop reduction on the sharp corners.

Here's an overview of what this process could look like. Depending on the density of the mesh and the desired width (sharpness) of the loops it may be necessary to go in and make a few manual adjustments to the corners using edge dissolve to terminate the edge loop early or scale / edge slide to adjust the width of the loop where it reduces from 2 to 1.

The edge loop topology that's used to support the major shapes is what's most important in this example. The rest of the n-gons could be left as is or quad filled as required.

Subdivision modeling is largely an approximate process so it's about choosing the right tradeoffs between modeling efficiency and shape accuracy. Increasing the number of segments in the cylinder will tend to increase the overall accuracy of the mesh but it will also tend to increase the overall complexity of the mesh which can have a negative impact on the editability.

When it comes to overall mesh density a lot depends on how wide the support loops need to be. This example is probably over sharpened but it's a decent compromise between the number of segments used and the overall definition of the shapes. Widening the support loops would tend to make things a bit more forgiving in the corners and soften the look of the subdivided mesh.

FrankPolygon

5 ·

Re: why bake with marmoset?

First and foremost, Toolbag is a fast and high quality GPU baker. Other bakers may have one or two features that you'll find in Toolbag, but overall Toolbag is most complete baking app on the market (though I am of course biased).

Here are some notable features:

Real-time 3D bake previews. As you adjust bake settings you get a preview of your bake on your model in real-time, which greatly speeds up the workflow. Small changes will only update the area you're working on, which means instant preview. With most other bakers you're "flying blind" and have to wait for the bake to finish before spotting errors, which can make the process very slow.
Skew map painting, you can paint directly on the mesh to fixed skewed detail.
Cage sculpting, you can sculpt your cage in and you with a easy to use brush to make sure the cage covers the high poly. The Estimate Offset feature can automate this process as well. Custom cages are supported too
Texture set support, bake maps to multiple texture sets (body, head, armor, etc) all at once.
Bake groups provide you a way to isolate groups of high and low meshes to prevent intersection errors. There's no longer any need to explode your meshes or bake objects individually.
AO is cast from group to group as well, so you don't need to mix in a low poly AO map bake either. This feature can be toggled off per group too, so you can turn it off for moving parts or other areas that shouldn't cast or received AO to / from other objects.
The Quick Loader uses name matching to set up bake groups, making the whole process very simple and easy.
Layered PSD support, you can export all bakes as a single PSD, with layers set up with automatic masks based on material IDs. This is really useful if you're using a PS-centric texturing workflow
Many, many map types.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_2LlmbFBbc

More info here: https://marmoset.co/posts/toolbag-baking-tutorial/

Check out some of the latest features here: https://marmoset.co/posts/free-update-toolbag-3-05/

EarthQuake

3 ·

Re: Tech Artist - What are you working on: FOREVER Edition!

Something just for fun in Maxscript (Asteroids game with sine wave based bullets):

PolyHertz

10 ·

Re: Stylized Victorian City

Thanks for the draw overs guys! I totally see where all your points are coming from. I think I'm going to keep my lighting and comp, for a few reasons;

- I feel the saturated mauve lights really tie the scene together. The saturation also pushes the stylization, giving it a dreamy, cartoonish feel.

- My intention with the character's lighting is to push a feeling of mystery and creepiness. Having him shrouded in fog and standing between the light and the shadows gave me the desired feeling of "slowly backing away into the unknown" that I was striving for. I didn't really want to make rat dude stand out and showcase his silhouette by using a back light or anything.

I'm going to call it done still, but thanks so much for the critiques, I appreciate them!

Ashervisalis

3 ·

Re: The Bi-Monthly ENVIRONMENT ART Challenge | July - August (73)

Got it into Substance Painter, wish me luck.

particleman1010

3 ·

Re: Woodworking and other real world projects

Okay so I have a few projects I've finished recently and need to take proper photos of (like the plant shelf shown in some of these shots) - here's one that I'm not completely slacking on. It's a low credenza I made for a friend who wanted a nice place for her little daughter to put some of her toys and things so they would be out of sight. In a future life it might be an entertainment center or bar cabinet.

Locally sourced black walnut, all milled from rough lumber. I did a big dumb with this one and used a new finish (Minwax oil-modified water based poly) without testing it out enough and it turned out to be a major pain to work with on a piece like this. Also, this is the first time I made doors that work and stuff, which was pretty cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3dBlcUVbKo

Misc progress shots

EarthQuake

9 ·

Re: Help in my CV

You don't need pictures, design work or any of that crap. I want to know where you studied, where you worked, what you did and when you did it. It is difficult to fill a page when you've only had one job but try to fill it with useful information, not design fluff

Contact information should be in text form - it is very unlikely I'll be visiting your website to see the CV, it'll come to me through the recruitment system as an autoconverted pdf and links won't work.
Where is your artstation link?
Add a short description of career relevant stuff you did in the job/education bits - what were your duties/responsibilities?, what projects did you work on? etc
Include the start and finish month for the work experience

I know these are common european things but..
Photos are unnecessary and actually make things awkward for the hiring manager in some ways.
Skill bars are complete bollocks - best case they are meaningless, worst case they make you look arrogant

i spent a lot longer writing this than i usually spend reading a CV

poopipe

4 ·

The Ascent - Damn, it's pretty

Congrats to Tor Frick and the rest of team. I'm about an hour in and loving it - so much to look at. Static screenshots don't do it justice.

CheeseOnToast

25 ·

Re: Help with First Job Rates

If they're a legitimate business they won't bat an eyelid at paying you 15-20 an hour

If they're not then you don't want to work for them

Long term Contract work should pay 130% of an acceptable wage for a permanent job

Short term should be at least 200%

poopipe

4 ·

Re: Stylized Victorian City

@Ashervisalis Exactly, a reduced saturation on the lighting may bring back some of the natural scene colours from the textures, it's being washed out right now imo.

I feel like

This lighting and comp feels more on the right track to me. I think the fog muddies things after this. Here you can clearly see colours and textures. Especially the wall on the left is much less washed out than the most recent version. I also really like the addition of the tree as it creates depth by having a foreground.

Jakro

3 ·