Warhammer Warbell - WIP

aaronmwolford

Hey everyone, current project that I'm working on. A lot to do still, coming along. Right now it lacks a spec, gloss, and the environment platform. Looking for comments and critiques. Thanks!

DrunkShaman

Topology of the wheels needs to be redefined so that you can add more geometry to the bell. It looks really squared.

Can you also state how many tris you've used on the chains and the entire piece?

aaronmwolford

Sure thing the tri-count is 4369. After taking a step back and looking at this I agree the bell is lacking definition and the overall shape is weak compared to the concept. I'll go back and add a few more vertical edge loops to the bell.

Pumpkin

The chain could be done using alpha mapping,saving you tris to further define the shape of the bell.

Right now like what Nitewalkr said,its appearing kind off square-ish.

The textures looks awesome though!

aaronmwolford

I went back and added some edgeloops to the bell and it bumped the tri count up to 4500ish. I actually would like to keep the chains as geometry so they can be animated in the future. I'll post more updates soon. Glad you like the textures.

DrunkShaman

can you focus on the wheel and post it please? I am not sure how many polies a standard environment prop requires and how many are you going for but the wheels seem to have alot of polies.

snake85027

im liking what I see so far, the only problem to me is the actual bell, the bottom part of the bell should scale out some more and shorten up, also the texture on the bell should have more value contrast to make it more interesting. Also add more interesting shadows to the sides of the bell.

aaronmwolford

Okay made some major edits. I will post a close up of the tire and the wire frame soon. The wood base needs some TLC, but for now it's referencing other parts of the warbell itself.

artstream

You need to go back to nailing the warbell asset before worrying too much about the base. The warbell itself still needs more geometry: it's the main focus of the piece and it's really letting it down currently. It needs more roundness to it so that everything doesn't look so jagged. The round bell will be a nice contrast to the straight edges of the rest of the piece, so throw more geometry at it so you can add to the shape and silhouette.

aaronmwolford

artstream thanks for the comment. i added more geometry to the bell and here is a wireframe.

Jessica Dinh

Hey!:] Cool so far, but I think a lot more can be done to the metal textures - I would probably make the gray metals darker in the diffuse and brighter in the spec (right now actually it doesn't even seem like they have a spec map). The bell especially could use a lot of work because it is the focal point of the piece. Again, I would darken the diffuse color to a darker bronze-y brown color, and leave the brightness to the spec. After that I would pop some bright scratches in the spec and make sure to add some dirt/grime too to break up the shine.

You also need to shell the geo on the little bells because the other side is invisible right now. Either that, or check "two-sided" on your material.

Does this have AO yet?

aaronmwolford

Hey Jessica, Glad you like it. Yes there is an AO applied to the textured model. Maybe I should enhance it a bit? I agree with all of your comments and I'll be making the changes over the next day or two. I appreciate the comments and I'll post updates soon.

aaronmwolford

Made some edits based on recommendations from you guys and I definitely like the way this is looking now. I have some issues with Marmoset and the alphas though... For some reason when I add a point light in Marmoset it is causing issues with transparency around the alphas. Any idea as too why this is happening? Thanks and as always comments welcome.

Mark Dygert

It doesn't look like the grime in the spec is doing much to effect the level of shine over the grimmy areas?

The pieces all seem to have the same level of dirt of decay on them. The wheels would probably be a lot worse off than other parts, as would the often handled bits. Getting everything too look worn together isn't easy but its a key part of selling the final piece.

The grass tufts are a nice touch but on a few the entire card is shading oddly and should be fixed.

Justin Meisse

the bell is still too nice and clean, these are evil Rat men you're dealing with. That concept overall is too clean too, I guess it's meant to be readable as an RTS unit.

Here's a good example of what Skaven stuff should look like: link

And this is what the Screaming Bell miniature currently looks like: link

you also have some generic runes on the bell, Skaven have specific iconography they use, do a search for the runes they use.

Lavitz

Nice job, looking awesome.
Adding more grime in specific spots will definitely help, I just don't think overdoing it would be a good idea. The alpha maps are showing up on some of your grass planes and leaving an odd stroke around the others.

wolver

looking good, but im thinking your underestimating the importance of the bell a bit. its the central focus of the piece and it could do with some more love = ]

i think your missing a thing here by making the bell so angular the curves could be used as a contrast to the harsh wood.

quick paintover to kinda show what i mean

and edgelloopiness

you could bevel/add edgeloops here to improve the form of it.
also the '?' mark - you used geometry to describe metal bars on the wheels but a normal map on the bell? imo i would make the bars with geo for the bell.
also i cant tell from this screenie but how many rotational edgellops are you using for the bell? it looks like to many about 16 would be good = ]

aaronmwolford

Originally the wooden planks on the wheels were normal mapped as well, but I received recommendations to make them actual geo. Should I go back to normal maps and not make geo for the bell or geo both?

aaronmwolford

More updates. Going to go back and edit the runes. Found some nice resources of Skaven text. Thoughts?
Still not sure why there is a slight rim around the alpha planes... I've checked all of the Marmoset settings...

aaronmwolford

Made quite a bit of updates and here is where it is at the moment. I'm starting to get to the point of calling it done, but I also want it to be finished in your eyes as well. All comments welcome.

wolver

the bell looks way way better = D
its up to you to use normal map or actual geo on the bell bars, i was just thinking you could probably get away with the extra polys fine. but it looks great anyway now = ]

artstream

I think you should model the top metal ring in. Currently, the top ring looks really flat and it's a crucial piece of the bell; it breaks the silhouette.

Outside of that, your high poly doesn't really look like it's doing much for you in terms of your bakes: from what I can see, it's mostly 90 degree angles. Add a few bevels/chamfers in so you can capture the detail. This might just be something you carry on to your next project since it's close to done, just something to think about for the next piece.

aaronmwolford

I appreciate the comments everyone, I'm still on the hunt for Skaven Runes to replace the ones that this model currently has. That will be the main update that happens eventually. I thought I found some, but turns out they were dwarven runes.