Sci-Fi Handgun - C&C Much Appreciated

StarWyvern

Hello!

I just finished modeling a game ready Sci-Fi handgun/rifle. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/kDDkQ6

Tri Count: 19,642
Vertices: 16,156
1 4K Texture

Concept by Eddie Mendoza https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Z5adbm

I would love some feedback on it, especially on the texturing and presentation.

Thanks!





Texture Breakdown: Normal, Roughness, Albedo, Metallic



Low Poly Wireframe - Marmoset Toolbag 3


High Poly - Marmoset Toolbag 3

BohSheh

Hey there!! Overall a great model , here is some feedback that hope it can help you improve on .

1) Asymmetry if possible , especially area near the cross section . The sides can leave it as it since it wont be that noticeable .

2)Use metal cautiously . Metal are a very active surface ( reflective ) , which focus attention . Make sure that it wont destroy the balance as a whole . In this model I just felt it was out of place .

Good luck on your next project!

Deforges

Great job! I agree with BohSheh's points and I would add that you could push presentation a lot more. The background and gun are very similar in color and value. In my opinion, the gun itself it's over contrasted and oversharpened. If you added some more colored lighting it would give a more interesting result. You can also desaturate some parts to add color variation.

lluc21

I really like the shapes of it. My only critique would be to have more color and roughness variation between shapes. At the moment it looks like every little piece in the front are all the same exact material and have received the same treatment and abuse. You could try giving separate pieces different materials with very slight color variation, as if they were meant to be the same color from the factory but due to the different ways of ageing of different materials (i.e metal vs plastic) they ended looking different. I.e rough plastic tends to get shinier with use and glossy paint tends to get more matte. Also different bevels for different materials, to further accentuate the difference.

StarWyvern

Thank you all for your feedback!

Bohkeh:

1) The asymmetry where you pointed out is the result of mirrored UVs. I noticed the roughness variation stood out quite a bit, along with a long scratch, so I painted those areas out to reduce the repeating/asymmetry.

2) For the metal, that is a really good point. I noticed that those upper metal pieces are darker in the concept, so I ended up darkening both of them, but made sure they weren't the exact same value for variation. That should help the metal to not stand out too much.

3) The concept showed the green lights a bit brighter, so I also made the green areas emissive. Should I tone those down so they aren't standing out too much?

Deforges:

1) I ended up changing the lighting to go with a more warm vs cool look. The backdrop is a plane originally set to a pure black value (set to Lit in UE4 instead of Unlit) and I changed it to be a dark grey value. I feel those changes help to separate the gun from the backdrop. Also added a vignette and another fill light to brighten up the bottom gun on the two gun view. Let me know what you think!

lluc21:

1) I broke up the lighter blue pieces with different values, some different colors (like the piece where the bullets/energy rounds would exit are more of a reddish tint), and also slightly changed the overall roughness to the pieces to vary them up a little bit. I then went and added some edge wear along panel lines and spots that probably get more wear on them like corners and occasional light scuffs on some areas. Mainly in areas where there was just flat space to try to make it a little bit more interesting, like towards the front of the gun. My big issue doing this is to get the right degree of subtlety. Do I need to work on some areas more or not?

I'll update the Marmoset Viewer scene on my Artstation so the different maps can be dissected better. Updated images posted below:



Thanks!

teodar23

I dont know if this was mentioned before but there's a design principle saying "form follows function". I think it should definetly apply to a gun even if it is a sci fi one. In that spirit, i feel that there are some cuts and shapes in your model that dont make sense (see below in red).
Also, you have 3 distinct styles in the same model. Usually, you want to have a uniform style overall and have "patterns" that repeat themselves here and there to sort of say: this part is the same as that part and they all are part of this ansamble. Below you can see what i see as separate styles.

Just something to think about...

BohSheh

@StarWyvern
Hey! Pardon me for late reply .

1)Yes , assymetry can't  done now unless you have extra Uv spaces . Just keep in mind that in mind in the future .

2)A concept just serve as a base . If something doesn't look right , we as an ARTIST has the responsibility to change it . Since the metal piece aren't supposed to be your main focus here , just group them up as one piece of bigger shapes .

3) I wouldn't notice it if you had not mentioned it .... Yea try to brighten it up a little bit! But I felt that green light just doesn't harmonised with the design . Maybe try yellow/orange light instead? 

Btw, I just realized the green part has some weird normal curvatures . Since they are different distinct part , they are supposed to be separated by creases . Well just some minor stuff , since it won't be noticeable at far.