Stylised Axe - Game Asset

LaughingLad

Hey all, never really posted on Polycount before but I'm trying to get into the habit of regularly asking for feedback and critique as I try and learn some new skills. I've been a 3D modeller for quite a few years now but there are some big gaps in my skill-set that I want to fix.

One of which is sculpting as I've never really done much of it before, always been a sub-d box modeller. So now it's time to fix that! This is an asset I just finished up that was built in Modo for the base mesh, sculpted in Zbrush, retopo'd back in Modo, Substance Designer for the mats and then Marmoset for the render. It's built from a lovely concept by Harry Stringer.

Any feedback would be awesome! 

pixelpatron

Looks dope! NICE!

LaughingLad

@pixelpatron
Thanks mate! 

Here's the raw sculpt. Any critique is more than welcome. I feel that the worst part is definitely the fabric handle - I wanted it to look like it's been wrapped around the wood but I don't think it came out too great. The low poly should probably conform to the folds better too.

bipolarbear45

I am in the same boat as you.  Sculpting is a huge gap in my skills too.  I am working on my substance work first then I hope to learn some sculpting later this year.  Anyway, I love this. The only critique is that the layers of the cloth on the handle look a little too thick.  Maybe scale the underneath layer up to be a little closer to the top layer. I hope that makes sense lol.  

LaughingLad

@bipolarbear45
Thanks for the positive comments mate. Yeah that does make sense, I think the big gaps near the top and bottom of the handle make it look really thick. 

I found that sculpting in Zbrush is really easy to get started with, its quite intuitive once you learn the fairly busy UI. The hard part seems to be in defining surfaces accurately. Like it's easy to sculpt a rock but sculpting a very specific type of rock from photo reference is the really hard part. 

Take my axe head for example. It's easy to sculpt some cracks and chips into the surface but are they accurately placed? Are they the right kind of cracks? Looking at it now I feel like I've made it look more like stone than metal. I don't think metal cracks like that!

aclund3

First of all, this is a lovely stylized axe

For critiques, I think you're on it.  My first thought was that the cracks on the axe head were much too much. Metal doesn't really crack, and if it does, then a piece falls off.  Think more along the lines of dents and gouges and scrapes, and metal pushed back where its hit other metal too often.  And, the handle wrap could use a bit more love. The creases and folds don't quite seem to make realistic sense... although its a stylized prop, so it may be ok. 

LaughingLad

@aclund3

Thanks for the advice mate. Thinking about the metal being pushed around rather than split and removed is a great idea. And yeah the folds were thrown on a little haphazardly, I will think more about how they would naturally fall on the surface. Thanks!