I have to crit the way you put those floating details,you should add a little "border" to them,to get that nice specular/transition between the flat piece & the hole,as the image below,anyway,nice piece
You modeled those indents on the bottom. Those are very wasteful and the triangles could be spent elsewhere. I also would model your side panels into the main part of the base. Will save you quite a bit of texture space and help with some in game AA among other things. I would recommend cleaning that up a bit before you get too far along. High poly has a nice amount of detail.
I'd take another pass at your low poly and really just try and clean all of that up. It's way too messy and could cause some lighting issues. But your highpoly is looking really neat!
Thank you Marcus, Quack, and Grag for the advice! I have changed the low poly mesh to be less wasteful and have done a quick bake that turned out well except for the sides. I will also change my high poly model to be like Marcus suggested.
Also, Quack, I'm not sure what you meant by " I also would model your side panels into the main part of the base."
Also, I rarely like to work on something not science fiction related. Don't tell anyone.
If you cut this piece into the side it is resting on you will free up quite a bit of texture space that will be hidden below it if you leave it floating as it is. It will also make expanding your cage easier, reduce in game Aliasing and creating a seamless area there which will make it easier to paint grime on.
Thank you. It's both actually. I'm in the process of making low poly geometry and generating normal maps so I can see what these would look like in a game environment.
It's not that it's bad, you clearly understand the relationships between different types of materials and how to make them work together. What IS missing however is context in what you're trying to make; or rather, you're not attempting to tell a story with your textures aside from "Hey! This is some dirty metal!".
But, it's no problem, that's what this forum is here for; and you've definitely got the fundamentals down. The next step is looking for some context to tell in your textures.
BEGIN LESSON:
Lets start here: http://orbart.free.fr/index.php?Gallery=105 - Now, Orb is "famous" on Polycount for his amazing work, but it's not just modeling and sculpting which has made his reputation so high, it is rather that he knows how to tell a good story with every piece of art and each asset he makes.
-After all, a "scene" is made of up of "parts" and inconsistency in the parts will ruin the scene.
Environmental, and yes, even props, have a very specific purpose and point, and that is to lend credibility and context to an overarching story. Our goal is not to tell an entire story with an environment (or prop). Rather, our goal is to give context to a situation.
Look at how Orb has made all of his textures and props to tell a story. Even the bricks and tiled textures he's placed on the ground. They're great because of the style, but made believable by the context provided by the little details and stories he tells within each texture and prop. His ground tiles have pebbles, dirt, foot marks and scuffs. His props have dents which believable context which tells a story.
While your textures are a good start, it is important that you find a story to tell with them. That is where the mediocre is turned into the astounding, and is always our goal as artists.
So, next time you make a prop tell me a story with it. I want to see duct-tape that some engineer crudly used to repair damage to a duct. I want to see worn paint (where it makes sense). I want to see carved initials in trees and rocks where some teenager romantically professed love for another.
You get it? Textures aren't about just saying "This is metal, this is plastic" they're about getting people to think, they're about getting people to believe what they are seeing.
So, keep it up! Keep what I just wrote in mind and you'll do just fine.
Replies
You modeled those indents on the bottom. Those are very wasteful and the triangles could be spent elsewhere. I also would model your side panels into the main part of the base. Will save you quite a bit of texture space and help with some in game AA among other things. I would recommend cleaning that up a bit before you get too far along. High poly has a nice amount of detail.
Keep on trucking!
Also, Quack, I'm not sure what you meant by " I also would model your side panels into the main part of the base."
Also, I rarely like to work on something not science fiction related. Don't tell anyone.
If you cut this piece into the side it is resting on you will free up quite a bit of texture space that will be hidden below it if you leave it floating as it is. It will also make expanding your cage easier, reduce in game Aliasing and creating a seamless area there which will make it easier to paint grime on.
Either way, nice work.
Here is a tutorial I just made on using Booleans:
Also good job on lowering the polycount ony our game mesh, very cool!
It's not that it's bad, you clearly understand the relationships between different types of materials and how to make them work together. What IS missing however is context in what you're trying to make; or rather, you're not attempting to tell a story with your textures aside from "Hey! This is some dirty metal!".
But, it's no problem, that's what this forum is here for; and you've definitely got the fundamentals down. The next step is looking for some context to tell in your textures.
BEGIN LESSON:
Lets start here: http://orbart.free.fr/index.php?Gallery=105 - Now, Orb is "famous" on Polycount for his amazing work, but it's not just modeling and sculpting which has made his reputation so high, it is rather that he knows how to tell a good story with every piece of art and each asset he makes.
-After all, a "scene" is made of up of "parts" and inconsistency in the parts will ruin the scene.
Environmental, and yes, even props, have a very specific purpose and point, and that is to lend credibility and context to an overarching story. Our goal is not to tell an entire story with an environment (or prop). Rather, our goal is to give context to a situation.
Look at how Orb has made all of his textures and props to tell a story. Even the bricks and tiled textures he's placed on the ground. They're great because of the style, but made believable by the context provided by the little details and stories he tells within each texture and prop. His ground tiles have pebbles, dirt, foot marks and scuffs. His props have dents which believable context which tells a story.
While your textures are a good start, it is important that you find a story to tell with them. That is where the mediocre is turned into the astounding, and is always our goal as artists.
So, next time you make a prop tell me a story with it. I want to see duct-tape that some engineer crudly used to repair damage to a duct. I want to see worn paint (where it makes sense). I want to see carved initials in trees and rocks where some teenager romantically professed love for another.
You get it? Textures aren't about just saying "This is metal, this is plastic" they're about getting people to think, they're about getting people to believe what they are seeing.
So, keep it up! Keep what I just wrote in mind and you'll do just fine.
In the meantime, here's a high poly rifle with no textures.