@Pinkfox You nailed it, the renders are looking dope and you've been crazy fast on this project !
It took me forever but I'm starting to have a decent mid/high poly, it still needs some cleaning. I wanted the handle to be big and blocky and along the process it became quite wide. It made the transition between the handle and the metal butt of the rifle look weird and I had to make two more iterations before finding something good enough. Here's how it looks right now.
@Mahelix Nice progress, that looks really clean! And yeah I chosed the "pull the lever and the shell jumps out because steampunk" approach
Recently uploaded this old fan art based on a door in the game Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch! A small animation can be found here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/zOWkzd
The finishing treatments and protective coatings for metals like
iron and steel aren't strictly limited to dielectrics like paint,
varnish, wax, epoxy, etc. Two common finishes for firearms of this
vintage are bluing and parkerizing. Under harsh lighting, a fresh
example with a good surface finish could be mistaken for some other kind
of coating.
Bluing is black iron oxide Fe₃O₄
and parkerizing is generally manganese
phosphate Mn₃(PO₄)₂, zinc phosphate H₄O₁₂P₂Zn₃ or iron phosphate FePO₄.
Both coatings can be derived from iron. Black iron oxide coatings are conductive
and phosphate coatings are non-conductive but aren't barriers to galvanic
corrosion. Color variations in the coatings can be influenced by the
conversion process, materials, contaminates, byproducts, dyes, etc.
They're
both used as protective coatings because they resist further
oxidation and hold a thin coat of oil, which helps protect the
underlying metal. The type, color and saturation of the oil can also
have an effect on the appearance of these coatings. Certain oils and oil
contaminates also have conductive properties.
The
quality of the starting surface finish also has an effect on the
appearance of the final surface finish and can influence how a coating
will behave. Fine machining and polishing will produce a smoother,
richer and uniform surface finish where rougher machining without
polishing will produce a rougher, patchier and uneven surface finish. In
more contemporary production there's also stipple patterns and micro abrasions
from shot blasting and tumbling processes that produce more surface
texture.
All of these factors can be
manipulated to produce finishes of varying quality. Everything from a
deep glossy sheen to a rough matte finish. Add the color variability
from different coating processes, material quality, machining quality,
etc. and it produces a wide range of real world examples to choose from.
Compare
WWII production from early to late and the effects of surface finish
and treatment processes becomes more apparent. Early in the war there's
more of an emphasis on quality. Late in the war there's more of an
emphasis on quantity.
It's relatively common to see late
war examples with severe surface finish problems like chatter marks from
dull tools, gouges and scratches from improper machine settings and all
kinds of other surface imperfections that no one really had the time to
care about. Over the course of the war there's also a wide swing in
finish color, quality and luster for both bluing and parkerizing.
Towards
the end of the war, if the parts passed the go / no go tests then they
were good. Almost all of the prewar cosmetic stuff was a waste of time
and effort. A good example is Singer: they tried to tool up to produce
M1911's but did such a good job with the fit and finish they were told
it was a waste of manpower and they should produce something more
complex instead.
Reference images are great but
they don't always provide these details. Older stuff is usually pretty
easy to figure out because it has patina but newer stuff or new old
stock with pristine finishes can be a bit trickier to figure out. That
said: bluing and parkerizing are still fairly common coatings.
For
that particular asset, it looks like the material values are mostly
correct, relative to the real world properties of the materials being
represented.
If an artist is following the basic guidelines and
principles of the PBR system it still leaves a to be decided by personal
taste. There's a similar discussion about the importance of PBR and
material values here:
https://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2711887/#Comment_2711887
Finally made a new topic for 2021. Last year's here.
Remember, it you would like critique or feedback, make a Topic of your own and include a link here with your latest image. Also makes it more likely we'll promote your art to the front page, or into the banners.
As always, thanks for sharing your art. Great stuff, keep 'em coming!
For games, it totally depends on how the character is being used... the type of game, type of hardware (pc or console or mobile or VR), etc.
Often artists will split a character into body vs head. With a third material for transparent parts (hair, eyelashes, etc.)
Clothes would be in the body material, unless the character has multiple clothing options.
If you're doing a portfolio piece, not for an actual game production, then don't worry too much about specs. Just make it look awesome. Optimization techniques will come later, after you've got the visual quality bar.