First model ever (terrible i think) (surf theme)

HardBaller

So yeah this is really really nothing special. Figured out turbosmooth and some other stuff and figured i'd try making something that i'm familiar with. Sooo it became a surfboard. Prolly very very bad lmao but heck first try ever and still wanted to post it so i (and others) can see/follow my progression as i'm learning (starting serious full time tomorrow). See it like doodling in 3d haha. Oh well i made a lot of images of it. Hmm render in 3ds max with mental ray daylight if i remember right. Also made a wireframe shot. Didn't try to texture it yet. Mudbox had issues with it and i haven't learned unwrapping uv's yet etc. It's only a board and fins atm and will try more complex models when i learn it ofcourse. This is with about 30mins going over the ui and just trying stuff out. Oh yeah it's 8752poly so i think a bit much haha

Well any critique is also welcome ofcourse. I'm here for fun and to learn ofcourse

well thnx to anyone who was crazy enough to spend time here lmao

Bek

Hey man, it's good you've posted so you'll be able to see your progress down the line. I wouldn't worry about UV's just yet, if you watch some tutorials out there this will eventually be explained. Actually one I'd really recommend is this, it goes over the whole process used from start to finish. It's split into parts so if you don't understand exactly why you're doing something or just get stuck, you at least know what you need to read up on. A lot of the stuff in there will be new to you, so don't be discouraged if you find it difficult! Personally a lot of progress comes from being able to just crush through whatever barriers you encounter with sheer determination. Program crashed and you lost an hours work? Don't ragequit, start that shit up again and keep going. Stuck? Don't start playing games, watch some tutorials and consider asking for help.

Don't be afraid to ask for help, but remember it's faster to use search tools to see if your question has been answered before. Good luck! Polycount wiki has lots of good information too if you want to learn more about specific concepts (such as UV mapping)

m1neh

Good first attempt

Be careful with turbosmooth, unless you model specifically for it, the mesh will completely deform and not give you the shape you modelled for. I know it's early days, and it's a fun button to press, but just be aware of how it works. This looks like it probably covers it: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9IrEDiyMxw"]Explaining Turbosmooth for 3Ds MAX - YouTube[/ame]

I would definitely learn unwrapping as soon as possible, especially if you're doing games modelling. Watch lots of tutorials, and actually signing up to a site like 3DMotive with tutorials is really helpful for professional, clear tutorials, and is well worth the subscription fee...

Lastly, when presenting models, don't have a black background, press 8 in Max and change the colour to a grey, know it's not a massive deal right now, but other people are just gonna tell you too anyway so may as well get it out of the way...

HardBaller

Hey guys. Wow i actually didn't expect a reaction at first but these are some great tips. I bookmarked the vids from Millenia as we speak (and going to focus of course after i've typed this). Something that fits my taste to so it's easy to keep my focus on it and i'm sure i'll learn a lot from it. Also i do hope it gets difficult at times. Those moments and especially working trough them are just great. Nothing feels more awesome then overcoming something difficult and improve because of it.

I also bookmarked the vid about ts thanks for that m1neh. I'll be careful with it. I really noticed with the fins that if you don't make more lines (hmm lets call them extra borders??) for now. at the corners etc. it really messes up your shape in the wrong way. Took a bit to figure that out but hey that's where experimenting is for. And it was my first time in the program.

You mentioned 3dmotive. So happens that i've been looking around though i picked Digital-Tutors in the end. Just the variety of chooses it offers for the price is hard to beat. I will look for more in the future but i think dt is a great place to start. I also like those quizzes etc. Help understanding the theory more when you can test yourself.

edit: ps. thanks for the background tip. I'll keep that in mind for the future when i'm showing something

HardBaller

So i watched those vids (not all of the weapon tut though. going to continue that later) and my hands started to itch. A bit inspiration lacking today (bit sick can't help it) so i just made what first came to mind (wile drinking tea. figures haha). Hope this is a bit of an improvement as a 2nd model. Still nothing more then what i saw in the weapons tut (love those graphite tools btw. didn't know about them). So anyways. here they are. Render (with grey background hehe) and a wireframe screenshot with that option in ts so it doesn't show every damned square. You'll know what i mean.

m1neh

better, you got the smoothness around the rim of the cup.

Pretty wierd cup though, by adding in those edges to smooth off the edges of the handle, and running them all the way to the rim of the glass you have lost the curvature of the cylinder somewhat, start with a cylinder with more segments, and choose a few polygons to extrude from. THen you retain the curvature and have enough polys to deal with curvature in the handle.

HardBaller

Ah yeah those 2 lines on the handle where actually a mistake i fergot to remove. Not smart but lesson learned for the next model.

I wanted to start out as low as possible (cylinder with 10 by 4 by 1) to keep the final count as low as possible. I did do what you sugjested with the handle. Took 2 faces that i extruded and had them meet in the middle after a lot of manual extruding and moving around. that's what became the handle. Wanted to do it in "one piece" instead of making it seperate from the base.

I do agree. If i started out with more segments then i wouldn't have had to use those extra lines to keep the curvature in check on the sides where the handle meets the base. Lesson learned again . Thanks m1neh.

Piotr

Heh I still remember my first model, it was an axe.

HardBaller

So i revisited the surf theme again. Made a small brand showcase like thing. Yeah i just love surfing can't help it haha. Anyways. Don't have a wireframe shot atm. Though i think it's still pretty messed up. Buttt. I think this looks a lot better. Also posted it in the waywo on topic since yeah i'm sorta proud on it haha. Anyways here it is. I think some more improvement over the past models.

Oh yeah. it's around 1.6mil poly. Ouch that's a lot i know.

cookedpeanut

Looking good, I just had a look at your last image and I was like 'Yeah, that's not bad - pop a texture on there and away we go' and then I read "1.6mil poly" and I was like :poly122:
Try some smoothing groups to polish out the surface at lower subdivisions.
:thumbup:

RitualSynergY

Nice man, great first attempt! Practice, practice, practice! My first model ever was a derpy looking eraser so your looking good from where I'm sitting

HardBaller

Thank you guys . Yeah it was a bit high wasn't it. haha 1.6mil i myself still can't even believe it. It just looks so simple lolz. But i made a hughe mistake so the only way i know how to texture aint working right now. So i'm saving that part for next time after i've learned some more in that area.

I did want to do something soo i just made this. Couche, table scene type thingy. Only standard mats on it for color and reflections. Still can't get any shadows in the render though. idk. Must be missing something somewhere. Start lessens on Xmass so i'll know then i'm sure.

Kept the poly count a lot lower this time compared to my other models. 41+_K only. Yeah i call that only haha.

Anyway here it is. Render and wireframe (after turbosmooth).



Hmm seeing how far i've stayed from how i started this thread it might not be a bad idea to rename it. Any admin that want's to change it into something more appropriate?

Torch

Your first models are looking really great, keep going!

HardBaller

Thanks Torch. I'll keep going. Of course i will. Can only improve by going forward and learn from past mistakes .

On that note. Damn i really had no inspiration today. I'm still a bit scared to start with an actually character so i just got a simple idea for something to make. Nothing special but just to keep busy and keep working with the software and improve on some parts i already knew. I even got the shadow and lighting in the render this time . So it's just a simple "cartoony" style box of fireworks on the sidewalk. Colors are kinda like placeholders and may get textured in the future as a project to help me learn that part.



Btw. Any crits are always welcome on anything. I can only learn to improve from what others tell me .

AlexCatMasterSupreme

Just don't go and try any large projects that you are not ready for and do a bunch of small props until you have the workflow from modeling all the way to having a textured asset in engine imo. Or else you end up with someone so awful that the shame will pierce your soul. At least that's my experience. Just know what you can do and what you want to learn. There is REALLY good hard surface modeling tutorial on digital tutors for Maya, if you know 3ds well enough you can do it in 3ds. It's the Assault rifle one.

HardBaller

Hey Alex. I'll take a look at the assault rifle lesson at DT once i start my sub there (should be within 2 weeks). I do work with 3ds max atm since i got used to that ui a bit from doodling (all models shown here are just some stuff getting used to the ui and trying things out. Didn't follow any real lessons yet) so i think i'll stay with max first.

I did think about making props etc. to place in an engine but i'm having doubts as to just use udk/unity/cry 3 or do it as a mod for skyrim. Or doesn't that mater. I just want to build up. Props modelling and texturing. If that works then try my hand on characters and so forth so i'm trying to restrain myself and stay with projects that won't overwhelm. Thanks for the tips .

HardBaller

So i decided that before i where to start on making props to put into an engine i'd first see if i could get texturing to work. So on that note i've revisited the Billabong brand showcase thingy i made before and tried putting textures on it. So on the textures i've done the UV unwrap then select all squares opened the uv editor and did flatten map (or mapping not sure right now) and did render uv map on a 2048x2048 res. So you know what i worked with. Some i made myself and some a color with some twists where enough so the actual billabong logo is standard mat with color and gloss added and so is a part of the leash. Tried to give the leash a green rubber like look to it tweaking the gloss settings and i think it worked. The rest will speak to itself. Didn't know how to do bump maps etc. yet so the grip pad texture might look a bit flat because of that. Used mr. omni for light and shade and tweaked that a bit to give it a warmer feel to it instead of that bright white light.

Well any critique is very very welcome and if this is recieved well enough and you guys say ok now go do something to put in an engine i will. Just don't know if i'll pick cry, udk, unity of just a mod for skyrim yet (what do you sugjest?)

Oh and starting Digital Tutors on X-mass. Get it as a present so still have to wait a bit but it's fun figuring this all out by just doing as well .

Some of the refs i used for this:
Grip pad: http://www.howtosurf.co.uk/_images/deck_grip.jpg
Leash: http://www.tactics.com/a/35nn/9/fcs-6ft-premium-competition-surfboard-leash-black.jpg
Fin: http://shop.rhinosurf.com/ekmps/shops/rhinosurf/images/fcs-js-1-performance-core-tri-fins-medium-3461-p.jpg
Board: http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/247/fcdb68c5401a40a0f5e164b.jpg
Logo: http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/6840/billabonglogo.jpg

TorQue[MoD]

Dude you're pretty darn good for a complete noob Keep it up!

l.croxton

Hey congrats for your first models . My first model was a pig in a spaceship with a party hat on. Not sure I should post it here because nobody could take the awesomeness :P.

As a tip from someone who jumped straight in and went for it, just take your time with getting to grips with what 3DS Max or whatever you are using can do. Its all well and good being able to model everything and make it look awesome, however you will probably find out that you could have made the awesome thing in a quarter of the time. Speaking from personal experience there is nothing as soul destroying to find out you have wasted several hours doing something you could have done in a few minutes haha. I nearly spent several hours doing a brake disc, by doing every hole individually, low and behold I found out if I divided the amount of holes in a line to 360 I could make a section and rotate it to the degrees needed and magically I have saved myself hours haha.

So yeah, just try and explore what your modeling program can do, because for more complex things, odds are there is a simple tool that will do it all for you .

DAuriemma

Good lucking stuff so far!