the journey of a noob

ducckz

hey
i want to become better at environment/props in 3d,
ive only used maya this far and alittle bit of udk , but iam at stage where i feel like iam not progressing and ive noticed alot of beginners getting amazing help from this community so i thought why not give it a shot also even tho my art isnt good ( yet )
so i found a concept i like and iam going to create it but will do way more then i used to
so my goals for this :
- Make something bigger then just a prop
- Learn Zbrush ( low poly -> high poly -> low poly workflow )
- Learn to use more maps then just the diffuse
- Learn Handpainted texures
- Learn to make modular pieces
- Learn vertex painting in UDK
- Learn lightning / post processing in UDK


its alot so your guys help would be amazing ! if not il just be spamming this thread anyway

concept breakdown :

green : Stone pillars
yellow : wooden bridge
blue : Chains
red : cool thingy on the left top
white: modular snowlandscape

Ps : Sorry for my terrible english not a native speaker

CarlK3D

Alot of fun topics to learn there. look forward to updates.
If you need more learning material on UDK I did a Tutorial Series that covers Vertex painting, lightning & some post processing. Link

ducckz

awesome thanks i have it bookmarked and have a look at it when i need it

ducckz

so heres the blockout , any suggestions on what i should start with?

dvisionvoid

Good start, in my opinion the chains with the balls should show the weight of the balls. Im not good at explaining myself in english so i've made a quick paint over haha. Maybe the same with the chains holding the bridge.

ducckz

ah thanks alot il fix it!
sorry for the late reply i wasnt home this weekend

silkroadgame

Feeling good after see your concept.

ducckz

is this better?

AGarton

To get a smoother arch between those pillars you can use the bridge tool in EditMesh>Bridge. Just select the two faces the arch will connect, open the bridge tool options, choose curve from the dropdown menu and add hiwever many divisions you want. Then hit apply and it'll create a curved mesh between the two faces that you can alter manually using the curve's control points.
It's not the best description but I recommend looking up a tut as it's one of the most useful tools for building architecture. Good luck!

ducckz

something like this?

AGarton

Yeah that's looking smoother, although in the concept the pillars look closer together and the curve isn't quite as flat. It looks like an archway with the middle section cut out, whereas yours bends inwards far more.

ducckz

so i remade the archway , do you think they should end closer to eachother?

AGarton

The one on the left is yours currently (kinda), the one on the right is how it should look. If you continued the line between the two pillars it should form a circle. Personally I'd probally make a cylinder, extrude the outside to form a circle, chop away what I didn't need, put it in place and widen the base a little to fit the concept

ducckz

i used the bridge tool to form a smooth loop but i first went up first alittle and then bridge it and remove the middle part , but i see your point and il bridge from the start of the pillar too bad i have no time this weekend so update will be around monday
thanks for the help!

ducckz

ugh too busy with work but finally have some time
is the archway better ?