If you want a wow style weapon look, you need to focus more on big shapes/silluette and one/two focal points. This small scratches should be a lot bigger. If you reduce text size to feg. 128x256 you wont see them. 1054 tris for a wow weapon is way to much i think
Some of the new props/weapons in wow are up around the 1000 tri mark so its not too unrealistic, in saying that I agree with riceart, for the model, you need to first and foremost look at silhouette, big chunky shapes.
For the painting a couple of pointers I would say would be you need to establish a light direction for your texture, at the moment its all evenly lit which makes it look flat, this will really help you define the materials when you paint them.
The other big stand out for me is its quite monochromatic, don't be scared to inject some color into the steel, avoid large areas of just grey or yellow, add some subtle color hues into your highlights and shadowed areas. You could also think about adding some grime/dirt/rust in the recesses or less touched areas, think about how it may have been used.
Amazing feedback. I'll really push those colors in the steel as I see they kind of washed out in the render because they were too subtle. Also really define those scratches more.
I was going to keep the maps at 512 for final render, is that what i should be aiming at, or is it 128x256?
Make it as high as it needs to be to look good. Dont trade quality for numbers, especially if you dont even write the numbers. 1000 tris for Wow weapons, on the one hand, a AAA game does this, on the other hand, we are 2013 and that AAA game is now 7 years old, and you should always work for the future, not for the past. But only 1-2 studios get that, so do how you see fit. Just never forget, you need to impress.
One small thing, if you have edges in your shape, don't necessarily paint them again in your diffuse . If you have smoothing groups, and the form is intended to be round, you can paint it round. (top blade, bright steel > darker steel transistion)
If its intended to be edgy, exagerate it, put some harsh scratchy lines in, and give the other face another lighness value per example ; )
Also backgrounds matter! (complementary ftw)
Edit, i made it too subtle on the right one, just imagine every surface of the blade having another lightness value, that really sells materials, this is very exxagerated on cristals and such per example
Be more harsh with your scratches and edge highlights / drybrushing, I think the skull and the grip are the weakest parts however, but thats by design not by texturing or modeling knowledge
I really dig the design man, but as the paintover shows, your weapon will be much better with the right attention on the shading, overall shape and details.
If you did not already, you should download Vertex (www.artbypapercut.com) and check the tutorial of Hai Phan page 118, it really helps to understand how to make that WoW style.
I want to thank all you guys for the feedback. I think it has helped a lot. I went and pushed some of the polys to give it a more wicked shape, but I didn't want to mess around with the UVs so its nothing too major. I think I'm finished with this model and want to move on to the next with the knowledge I have gained!
Suba, awesome link for Vertex that mag is pretty dope and Riceart thanks for the paintover, I kind of pushed the shape in that direction.
I'll post the next one I do here and hopefully there will be improvement.
Replies
regards
ps. design is great
For the painting a couple of pointers I would say would be you need to establish a light direction for your texture, at the moment its all evenly lit which makes it look flat, this will really help you define the materials when you paint them.
The other big stand out for me is its quite monochromatic, don't be scared to inject some color into the steel, avoid large areas of just grey or yellow, add some subtle color hues into your highlights and shadowed areas. You could also think about adding some grime/dirt/rust in the recesses or less touched areas, think about how it may have been used.
I was going to keep the maps at 512 for final render, is that what i should be aiming at, or is it 128x256?
One small thing, if you have edges in your shape, don't necessarily paint them again in your diffuse . If you have smoothing groups, and the form is intended to be round, you can paint it round. (top blade, bright steel > darker steel transistion)
If its intended to be edgy, exagerate it, put some harsh scratchy lines in, and give the other face another lighness value per example ; )
Also backgrounds matter! (complementary ftw)
Edit, i made it too subtle on the right one, just imagine every surface of the blade having another lightness value, that really sells materials, this is very exxagerated on cristals and such per example
Be more harsh with your scratches and edge highlights / drybrushing, I think the skull and the grip are the weakest parts however, but thats by design not by texturing or modeling knowledge
If you did not already, you should download Vertex (www.artbypapercut.com) and check the tutorial of Hai Phan page 118, it really helps to understand how to make that WoW style.
Suba, awesome link for Vertex that mag is pretty dope and Riceart thanks for the paintover, I kind of pushed the shape in that direction.
I'll post the next one I do here and hopefully there will be improvement.