IWI Tavor SAR [Weapon/WIP]

Basajaun

Hi,

Time to start with a new project, this time around I'm going for an IWI Tavor SAR. The design is quite cool and you don't see many of these out there so I though I might just give it a try. Here is the high poly-version:



An this is the low-poly model:



Unfortunately, now comes my least favourite part: UV unwrapping... :-S

Polygoblin

I'm seeing a lot of ngons in your lowpoly model. Some of the stuff you have modeled could be baked but not much. Clean up the topology and do a pass on your hp to soften it up a bit and no doubt the bakes will come out excellent.

Basajaun

I usually triangulate the low-poly model when I export it to FBX so that should not be a problem. Not sure what you mean by 'soften' the high-poly model though.

Polygoblin

Choosing to auto-triangulate a mesh full of ngons can give you unpredictable results, both causing random instances of faces overlapping. At the very least, its a lazy and inefficient way of optimizing your lowpoly model. It's going to only take you a few moments to draw in edges, best to actually control optimization and display that you have a good sense for conserving engine resources. 

As for smoothing the model, sorry, I meant widening edge widths so you have more falloff baked into your normal map edges. Common issue, reads better in-game, especially from a distance. 

Basajaun

The triangulation is not totally random, in 3ds Max it is posible to edit the hidden edges. Usually when I model I like to have a clean mesh which mainly shows the edges that define the shape of the mesh, and then edit the hidden edges to get a proper topology.

Ok, now I see what you meant about the high-poly mesh. I'll look into it.

Polygoblin

what you're calling a clean mesh is not a clean mesh. it's not doing you any favors at all. If correct optimized topology is there, show it in your presentation 

Basajaun

I'm not entirely convinced of that, it seems to me more a matter of opinion than an actual fact. The reason why I say that is because of this. It makes quite a lot of sense what is said in that forum.In any case, I appreciate your feedback

Polygoblin

The guy claims using ngons saves on your tri count when everything gets tessellated anyways. but do whatever you want, just trying to help. 

you seem to be working very hard to justify not taking a few minutes to connect edges on your mesh in an optimized way. A low-to-high workflow relies on keeping the ngons intact, understood. Still not a good argument for leaving ngons in the lowpoly you present/submit. 

Basajaun

I'm not trying to justify anything, I'm just looking at the two sides of the argument to decide whether there is something fundamentally wrong with my workflow. There is no harm in having a discussion that leads to a better understanding on why things need to be done one way or the other, it has nothing to do with spending x amount of time connecting edges or whatever. Again, I appreciate your feedback and I'm grateful for taking the time to help me.

Polygoblin

okay, no problem. I'm familiar with his argument. My argument is it really doesn't take that long to connect edges, and doing so helps you recognize/solve a lot of problems in your mesh pre-unwrap. Ngons don't save you tris either. That's nonsense.

I'll agree that this method can work if you already have a high knowledge of topology and an employer that doesn't mind if you work this way. IT's still bad general advice for personal work, introducing a ton of potential issues in the quest to save a few measly minutes.

edit- last time I'll harp on it I promise, but look at it this way: how can anyone here crit your topology without seeing it? That should be reason enough imo. it's nice work, looking forward to the bakes!

Basajaun

I'm finally done with the unwrapping. I've been doing some baking tests and after fixing a few issues here and there, it looks like everything is looking fine now. Even though this weapon looks fairly symmetrical, I was unable to mirror all that many UVs, which forced me to pack them real close to maximize the usage of the texture space. I've noticed some tiny seams in some parts that I believe could be happening as a result, so I will have to look into that. I've also laid down some quick materials to see how it all looks.

Basajaun

I have made some more porgress with the textures and even made a couple of test renders in Marmoset:



I can't decide on which color to go with though...

Polygoblin

I like the OD Green more. Bake came out nice too. The dirt and wear looks a little too even, something I'm sure you're working on atm. More contrast in those passes with a little emphasis on detail frequency would have this thing looking awesome.

Basajaun

Agreed, the green one looks better. I've been doing some more polishing work on the textures and I'm ready to call this thing done. If there are any further tips or suggestions there's still time until I start with my next project.

Basajaun

I made an alternate version just for fun

Polygoblin

The drips under those extrusions are way too long. Less is more. Other wise this came out excellent. Great work 

Amsterdam Hilton Hotel

pretty nice materials, i like the green / camo plastics a lot. the metals could maybe use some more gloss variation (oils etc.) rather than normal mapped impact damage

Basajaun

Thank you for the feedback guys. It is much appreciated!