High everybody,
This is a work in progress blog and critique of a handgun prop I'm making. The concept is a Mauser C96 merged with a Magnum Revolver with a few more gun pieces that add interesting shapes. On top of that I came up with the idea while following Giant Bomb's E3
#content. So this weapon is dressed up with references to give it a little more life than just another weapon prop.
I've been following
Pavlo Lisunov's Red 9 Tutorial while making this as I've switched over from Maya to Max for this project.
On this I'm through a boolean workflow, that I'll be cleaning up in ZBrush next.
Any thought's welcome. Especially for the handle which I'm not sure of. Also why Maya built mesh (all the grey) would have such strange normals when directly imported into Max? Thanks!
7/16 - Updated with sculpting. I'm not sure how far to take the damaging on this prop. I want it to be weathered, but am afraid that banging up metal like this is going to come off as a post-apocalyptic item. The handle will be wood, the rest metals.
Replies
7/30 - I overhauled the lowpoly, cutting the triangle count in half and expanding the resolution of the UVs.
On this project I've really stressed making good UV unwraps and layouts, after several iterations this is the version I'm most okay with. These forums, Lvl 80, and the Gears of War art book were really helpful - so thanks to all of yous!
I also have the prop all rigged up, including IK driving the ornament. The ornament was weighted using the plane copy trick that saved a lot of hand painting headache! The ornament can be swapped and the bullets can be detached from the cylinder parent.
There is a slight elasticity to the parts despite them being metal, I feel it improves the animation by having this minute exaggeration. In this example there is 90/10 vertex weight on the swing arm elbow when it slides.
Mock Ups in the Destiny 2 weapon menus!
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/mauser-revolver-gb45-special-bede0945248549048384025c9a3e1be6
Lastly here is a mock up of game play in the unreal engine. Learned a lot making this prop. My previous experience with game development made the final phase quick and easy. Being able to focus on a single prop really helped up the quality of the art and efficiency.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjU-EeNepKA
I've been doing revisions of my fan art project to turn it into a real piece. I then did a quick try on LOD generation in Maya.
Final renders from Marmoset. I wanted to try and match different genres with the textures but keep the same mesh. This ones all done. Bye.
In my research I found this revolver actually made by Mauser, with its unique "zig-zag" cylinder. I wish to incorporate into the design to push the eclectic hybrid of pistols.