Gladius sword (first post)

Simple_Jack

Hello, all. I'm new the the Polycount forums. I'm fairly green still, since I'm a student of game design and haven't been at this long yet. Still, working hard to get there!

Anyways, this isn't my first model (second one done with diffuse, normal, and spec maps), though it's the first one I feel is worth posting for critique on here. Work was completed with Maya, xNormal, UVLayout, and Photoshop. The model shown is the low poly model. The things I know that need to be fixed in particular is the lighting of the render. Also, for whatever reason the spec map for the blade doesn't seem to really let it shine no matter how I adjust the lighting, which is odd since the rest of the shinier areas show specularity. Anyways, I appreciate any advice.

PS Sorry for the lack of WiPs as I did this a couple months back as part of an assignment. I will make sure to include WiPs in future posts.

skodone

very nice

i just would play with the values more
the wood seems quite saturated and the blood is too see through
more looks like red watercolor
also the engravings on the scabbard are missing normals and shadows.
they are completely flat

you may also adjust the spec and color of the blade it looks more like bone

and is this gonna be low poly? you have a lot of geometry going on here

theres also a seam visible on top of the scabbard

Simple_Jack

I was going for an old dried blood look on the weapon, though I don't think it was very successful. Thanks for input on that.

You know what's odd about the scabbard engravings is that they are normal mapped, they just show up flat on the render. In Maya Viewport 2.0 preview you can see the bump showing, but it's so shallow it's barely noticeable. I'm not sure how to make the normals more aggressive on the model, as the normal map itself looks quite aggressive on those parts of the scabbard (though you may not be able to see it on this model sheet). Any advice on fixing this is appreciated. The normal map was made with the xnormal PS plugin.

I actually asked my professor if the poly count was too high, and he advised that if it were a hero prop it wouldn't be a problem. Seemed reasonable to me, though if the consensus on here becomes that it would be too much then I could lower it.

Also, I'm not sure which seam on the scabbard you are referring to. The UV was cut along the edge, not the top.

Anyways, thanks for the advice.

DWalker

My first impression of the sword's material was of an odd marble. You need to consider how the sword was used; the gladius was a short, stabbing sword, so blood would tend to be in streaks from the tip. Dried blood tends to take on a rusty color, which is good since any blade that was left covered in blood would tend to rust very quickly.

The blade itself wouldn't be the modern stainless steel but a rather cruder metal.

You could use some more differentiation between the material of the scabbard and that of the hilt. While the hilt could be wooden, the scabbard would be either leather or metal. Yours looks to be made from the same wood as the hilt.

Consider adding some wear & tear. The blade could use some pitting, scratches, and nicks. Add some grime into recessed areas, and some general wear where the hand would grip the hilt.

The specular map for the non-metallic portions should be the inverse of the diffuse color, while the metallic bits should be (roughly) the same hue.