Need professional hard surface modelers tips... please?

delarobe

i have been studying 3d modelling for a year now, i find i advanced much faster than i expected, but i know im miles behind professionals like millenia

i know that experience is much more valuable that actual knowledge, so i must ask one of the biggest 3d modelling forums in the internet: can you share your experience with a noob?

here are some of my best works

https://sketchfab.com/models/fc5468217cc34887a0930f8bb3dfb4ad

https://sketchfab.com/models/667b672e797a49f18bd106a5a3362443

https://sketchfab.com/models/f6caedab1f8b4f8e88c523e616a8e124

https://sketchfab.com/models/23b16d5be62d4774a27181164b966623

https://sketchfab.com/models/45864495dc0c42e090445804ec8aaf25

https://sketchfab.com/models/5289b07f1dcb4325856b382eda2db151

btw, this is my first time writing to polycount, so please excuse the gorilla style post

Burpee

I'm not pro (yet!) but your stuff looks clean, you should maybe just try to be more ambitious, try the weekly hard surface challenge here at polycount ! 
Cheers!

delarobe

ambitious how? higher poly count? harder models?

Oniram

definitely try some more complex props. from what you have, its clear that you can model things that are mostly squared and cylindrical, so put that to use in something that has a more interesting shape language. 

RedRogueXIII

Models are ok, but could use more refinement - more attention to small details. The big shapes are right, but the small details are inaccurate. If you're aiming to recreate a real world object, then do more research and reference gathering. The better you understanding your subject, the more your work will benefit from it. 

• 1911A1 Refs
• M1A1 Thompson Refs
• M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle Refs

Guns have parts diagrams and from there you can look up individual parts just on Google images for more clarity.

I suggest picking a single subject then trying to do your very best on it while documenting your progress with a thread here, you'll be able to receive critique and feedback as you go.

Raane

Buff up on texturing and materialing too. Just look at how the surface response changes across a real world object and try replicate that.
A lot of your guns are look freshly made out of the box, it'd be nice to see worn varnish down to wood on the stocks, grime cutting into the specular on the main metal or slightly more polished areas which are handled frequently.
Tell a story with your texture, the object isn't just a collection of materials, it's been out of the box, it's seen use and been handled pretty roughly.

delarobe

oniram, can you give me an example of a harder model to replicate?
because usually hard surface objects are squared or cylindrical right?

redrogue, where did you find that zip full of refence images? that would have been so helpful, i struggled to find good reference images for some parts of my guns
and maybe i will create a mockumentary thread with my progress, sounds like a fun idea lol

raane, how would you do worn out varnished wood?
i understand that worn metal is mostly taking out the paint and exposing the metal, but what about wood?

Stranger

I would say, go with the SAR 21, it would provide unique and interesting shapes. and there TONS of images online about it, including breakdowns. 

Stranger

delarobe said:

raane, how would you do worn out varnished wood?
i understand that worn metal is mostly taking out the paint and exposing the metal, but what about wood?

delarobe

thank you stranger, that was very helpful

Oniram

delarobe said:

oniram, can you give me an example of a harder model to replicate?
because usually hard surface objects are squared or cylindrical right?

how about a vehicle of some sort. cars, boats, whatever. power tools tend to have some pretty obscure shapes and can be really fun to model. and of course theres always a ton of things within the realm of scifi to tackle. various props, helmets, architectural structures etc. 

delarobe

thx oniram, once i find some time i will try to do that, i actually was modelling a lav25 apc, but i gave up because i was having serious issues with the highpoly

Oniram

if ever you're having issues with modeling, this is the place to bring them up and ask for help dont give up. 

Neox

Yeah show us what you got,tell us where you struggle, nobody can help you without info

Dan Powell

When I opened your models I was expecting them to be a lot lower quality, but what you've got after only a year of 3D is pretty good - and you're certainly not "miles" behind being a pro at all in my opinion. Mainly, it's a case of just continuing to do what you do, but setting yourself more challenging objects to model. You know how to hard surface high poly model, you know how to bake, and you know how to texture; keep doing it, and naturally you'll get a better eye for things.

One thing I noticed was that I felt the textures on your two guns were a bit boring. The guns themselves (as in the reference material) may well just be boring-looking guns (many guns are!), but you can really add a lot of character to them if you put more wear and tear into them. On your M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle I thought the metal looked a bit weird, almost as if you'd done a difference cloud filter over the gloss map - which doesn't really simulate how metal would look to me, but would probably work slightly better on the stock of that gun (the solid black stock is a bit boring and I feel you could probably lighten it up a bit and add some colour variation, shown below.)



Keep up the good work, but I definitely think you're making a lot more progress than you think you are. Keep modelling, and keep setting new challenges, and naturally you will improve tonnes!

delarobe

thank you all for your help and compliments, ill have all of that in mind when modelling from now on, hope to see you guys around here in polycount