[WIP] Aztec/Mayan Dagger

Javilq

Hi all, first post here.
I'm currently trying to work on some game art portfolio pieces and wanted to post here both as a drive to keep me motivated/working as well as to get some feedback and advice since a lot of this stuff I am very new with.
This is the first item I am working on. Based on a concept I found online from Joe Comeau (https://ljc4.artstation.com/projects/Z8XGN):

And here is a screenshot from Zbrush of my current progress: 
I am still fairly new to zbrush so it has been a lot of trial and error. In particular, I am having a lot of issues creating a "chisel" look on the side of the blade like what you would see on obsidian/jade/flint blades like the following: 

Any feedback or advice is more than welcomed. I am still slowly chipping away at the sculpt and trying to improve it so any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

HorribleJohn

Nice work! 

Alex_J

a couple things you could try for that chiseled looked --

just go in with slash brush or clay buildup and very messily cut in your peaks and valleys. Run tool>geometry>clay polish with sharpness slider set pretty high a few times. Clay polish does mask the edges it creates so you can use that mask or clear it afterwards.

In tool>masking you can mask by peaks and valleys, or by smoothness, then deform>inflate to get a little more variation. Also you can isolate the valleys and either smooth or deform>polish. Basically the idea is to mask off your crisp edges and then smooth out the parts inbetween.

Lastly, there is an obscure brush called crumple. Basically you clickhold and jiggle it and it will give nice micro-cracks. Probably not appropriate for this but maybe it could help.

One unrelated side note :

I'm no expert but I would expect that these weapon variations in which the two sides of the wood are fastened tight with lashing would be done so with sinew, which probably wouldn't be best represented as a tube.

More like a ribbon shape. You could use trim dynamic or a clay brush with brush>automask>back face culling turned off you sculpt those tubes.

There is also a brush called curve strap snap which may be useful.

Javilq

thanks @HorribleJohn !
@BIGTIMEMASTER : Thank you so much for the advice you gave, I will give those techniques a try as I am still oblivious to a lot of things in zbrush and didn't know/think about trying to make it in the way you mentioned.
As for the sinew, I originally thought the material would be just bound rope, which I agree probably wouldn't be the way it would actually be created. To this point, I haven't actually done much to those cylinders other than place them in max and smoothed them/moved them a bit in zbrush so I will think about what you suggested. Thanks so much for taking the time!

Javilq

Small update
I've tweaked and reworked the obisidian/jade blade edge a few times and I think I have some thing that finally feels ok. I think I have to polish it up a little more but with the proper material, I think it should look alright. 

I still haven't decided what to do with the fastening geometry. At the very least, I will probably make it flatter and move them around a bit as it is looking a little "loose" right now. 

Javilq

So I've made a bit of progress on this. Its the first time I work with substance Painter so I am trying to figure it out as I go. First pass of textures, still looking a little muddy so I need to work on making details in each texture stand out.

Alex_J

it's a good idea to do your look development in whatever game engine or renderer you'll use for final presentation. Substance Painter/Iray looks a bit different.

textures look pretty good to me, however the wood looks like a softwood. Def not an expert but I would expect a hardwood for this type of tool -- somethign with tighter grain and smoother surface. Just speculating about that though.

I think the obsidian will need a refractive shader or at least light translucency for the edges. Marmoset has a tutorial on their website for refractive shaders that's pretty useful if you're gonna use toolbag.

Javilq

Thanks @BIGTIMEMASTER
I agree with you on the wood, this was mostly just a default wood inside of painter to see what it would look like. My approach has been to work on each part a little bit and keep moving around to try and keep things consistent rather than work on one material for 5 hrs and have it looking perfect while the rest is still blank. Just trying to find ways to help me visualize the whole thing. I'll look into the refractive/translucency for the blade as well.

Thanks!

Javilq

Been slowly chipping away at this and got another update. I feel like its getting somewhere even thou I still have work left to do on the materials (specifically the handle wrapping and binding materials)