I think one thing that could be improved is the overall roughness value of the metal. Most examples that I found on artstation have a higher roughness value. That way the scractches that have a significantly lower roughness value pop more. Basically a higher contrast between your roughness details should improve the overall realism. In the example you can clearly see the difference in values and I think its also supported by the albedo (brighter value where the roughness is lower) to further push the effect of the scratches.
Uniformity of Wear
imo your details look too uniform. I think you have a solid base here, but to push it further you could add details that "make sense". Take parts that are commonly used on the gun like the trigger and add wear details with direction. See these examples:
Rendering
Your rendering setup really could improve the look aswell.
Some notes:
+ Higher contrast of prop and background (most examples I found use dark backgrounds)
+ Use your hdri main light to softly illuminate your prop, everything should be clearly lit without any keylights but it shouldnt be too bright.
+ Reposition and recalibrate your keylights. Id make them "softer", meaning they should effect a bigger area of the gun. Then you can slowly add the same keylight with a stronger emphasis on certain parts. (thats the way I do it sometimes) Generally, you should experiment with it and work from examples of other artists. like these:
Thank you for pointing this out! Now it looks so obvious. Ill dive into that right now and try to finetune it to make it look better. One question though:
im having some kind of texture missmatch when im importing things from substance to marmoset 4.
This is an IRAY render of the same untouched model:
Roughness looks completely different inside substance painter. Perhaps there is something like a bridge between marmoset 4 and painter? I know that you can preview your textures live from designer in marmoset 4. Is there something like this for substance painter?
I will also try from now on to work with same color mappings. I chose ACES as i have it both in marmo and painter and its also used by UE5 which is my target engine. Oh yea and ill try to import the default HDRI from painter to marmoset to match the lighting as close as possible. Are there any nuances that i need to know regarding tone mapping and hdris?
Yeah roughness value behave completely different from engine to engine... Its a shame really because it should all be physically based rendering... But it really does make a difference what engine you use. But you can always tweak it for the target engine. And since you do it for a portfolio, Id make sure you adjust the values for your final renders.
Replies
Roughness Definition
I think one thing that could be improved is the overall roughness value of the metal. Most examples that I found on artstation have a higher roughness value. That way the scractches that have a significantly lower roughness value pop more. Basically a higher contrast between your roughness details should improve the overall realism. In the example you can clearly see the difference in values and I think its also supported by the albedo (brighter value where the roughness is lower) to further push the effect of the scratches.
Uniformity of Wear
imo your details look too uniform. I think you have a solid base here, but to push it further you could add details that "make sense". Take parts that are commonly used on the gun like the trigger and add wear details with direction. See these examples:
Rendering
Your rendering setup really could improve the look aswell.
Some notes:
+ Higher contrast of prop and background (most examples I found use dark backgrounds)
+ Use your hdri main light to softly illuminate your prop, everything should be clearly lit without any keylights but it shouldnt be too bright.
+ Reposition and recalibrate your keylights. Id make them "softer", meaning they should effect a bigger area of the gun. Then you can slowly add the same keylight with a stronger emphasis on certain parts. (thats the way I do it sometimes) Generally, you should experiment with it and work from examples of other artists. like these:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/8eVgvG
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/nEbOy9
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/6aGWLn
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/2mvox
+ Light the back of the gun so the silhouette becomes more clear, like in this example:
Thank you for pointing this out! Now it looks so obvious. Ill dive into that right now and try to finetune it to make it look better. One question though:
im having some kind of texture missmatch when im importing things from substance to marmoset 4.
This is an IRAY render of the same untouched model:
Roughness looks completely different inside substance painter. Perhaps there is something like a bridge between marmoset 4 and painter? I know that you can preview your textures live from designer in marmoset 4. Is there something like this for substance painter?
I will also try from now on to work with same color mappings. I chose ACES as i have it both in marmo and painter and its also used by UE5 which is my target engine. Oh yea and ill try to import the default HDRI from painter to marmoset to match the lighting as close as possible. Are there any nuances that i need to know regarding tone mapping and hdris?
Thank you very much
Yeah roughness value behave completely different from engine to engine... Its a shame really because it should all be physically based rendering... But it really does make a difference what engine you use. But you can always tweak it for the target engine. And since you do it for a portfolio, Id make sure you adjust the values for your final renders.
Btw I found this article that might help you out:
https://80.lv/articles/sks-hard-surface-texturing-in-weapons-art/