WIP: NOD light Infantry, Thrice revamped

DarthRevanII

I think maybe a few over the passed 5 or 6 years have probably seen one of my GDI or NOD models, and I think it's safe to say this is a complete upgrade from the past two. Right now I finally got photoshop working (got a laptop) and im trying to texture it. Now, I have a flatscreen, LCD true-life screen, and apparently the texture was a LOT darker on my computer than it appeared as i was making it on my laptop, so ive had issues but im pretty sure i got an accurate working version now. I'd appreciate ALL critiques as much as possible, seeing as this is definitly going to be a portfolio piece. I've already got one critique that i should shrink the head a bit
Anyway, enough talk, hopefully enjoy

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/1-7.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/2-7.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/3-6.jpg


And heres the texture file
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/Helm22teeest-2.jpg
As you can see the texture image is REALLY dark. Should I turn off the lighting in max and brighten the image up? Those first two renders are with the max lighting on, however, if I were leave it on and brighten the image, it loses its dark color armored look and the faceplate turns a bright yellow instead of a fire orange

I think im going to add a few paint dents to the helmet, nothing too major. I've also had a considerable frustrating time working on that "rounded" appearance at the lip of the helmet. Any help would be awesome

--Edit

---

Figured I'd post these...as I mentioned, I've made this guy twice before...just look at the difference and improvement I've made. The one of the left I probably made about 5-6 years ago...the one in the middle i made about 3-4 years ago...and the one on the right, dur, current
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/6-2.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/5-2.jpg

DarthRevanII

I hate bumping my own thread, but C&C is welcome, and wanted

Vailias

The overall look of the character is great.
Now as far as the texturing goes, what is your end target for this guy?
Are you putting him into a game or just going to get screengrabs from max?

If its the former, then do a test now and see how it looks in the engine, then adjust your texture, and or max's lighting to get what you want.
If you are just going through max then keep it dark.

DarthRevanII

Thanks Vailias, appreciate that...that's a good idea about getting it in the engine and looking at it

Working on unwrapping the body, renders within the next 4-5 hours hopefully

Josh_Singh

Looks good. I like him. I would work the helmet (lol) a bit more you are relying too much on that overlay. Push a bit more color into the shadows and recesses. and go ahead and paint in a bit more light.
I like the metal scratches, it reads as scratched metal, but again a bit more color in the dark areas. KEEP IT UP! HE'LL BE COOL!

DarthRevanII

hah...Josh, reminds me of Spaceballs actually :P
"your helmet...it's so,...big"
Definitely a great idea about more color...I'm always thinking about just using dodge and burn and color overlays to get what I'm looking for rather than other actual shades of color...could be good to add some grunge and dirt too, thanks!


Not really much of an update...I'm taking way too long to work on this , but the chest, some chest pieces, and the arms are unwrapped, with just a texture laid over on it with some color. Also added in that famous Soviet collar type thing around his neck before I unwrapped the chest...figured he kinda needed it, since they do have a soviet background
****pictures below*****

DarthRevanII

alrighty, the whole body is UVWmapped except the backpack and extra bags...I'll start working on a skin after I get off work tonight, and I'll try and post something before I go to bed

I'll go ahead and post the texture maps, I'd like to know if I've made fairly good use of the space or not
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/Body.jpg

Also, is anyone familiar with Battlefield 2142? Because I've kind of ran into a problem. I have one texture map for the head(512x512), one for the body(1024x1024), and I still have un-unwrapped stuff. I was thinking about making another for the backpack and bags as the "kit" texture (probably 512x512, or possibly a 256x256 if it would work, but probably not).

Does anyone know if 2142 also uses a third texture map for the kit? seeing as they are replaceable in the game? Because If I shrink the current UVW's on the BODY, it'll make the texture detail a lot more pixelated.

Any information or advice on what I should do would be GREATLY appreciated

**Edit******
After looking over the texture map again I think when I get home I'm going to try and move things around a bit and try and tighten it up a bit

still need advice about a third texture map being a smart or bad idea

The Umbrella Man

For the unwrap I would say a-lot of those details like each pad, could be mirrored to save space for important things, because right now it looks like you have given everything it's own texture space, which isn't necessary unless each individual part is going to have it's own unique details.

culturedbum

Looking good.

PolyPutty

I agree with Umbrella Man, you need to figure out what stuff you can mirror. you should really do a paint over illustration of the character to get an idea of what you are going for concept wise. Then you should see what you can mirror and what needs its own space. How many maps you have right now seems wastefull to me. UV layouts require carefull planning, atleast for me anyways. I don't think a 3rd is required unless your going for customization, then I would go much smaller for that map. 2 512 maps should be more then plenty, but I might be wrong.

DarthRevanII

Umbrella and poly i totally agree with you two. However some pieces are a bit different and I'm wanting unique textured applied to them (the shoulder pads look the same, but there is a small difference in modeling, and will be a noticeable difference in texture, however they share the same bottom UV).

Turns out 2142 does use three texture maps for the shoulder. One for each head(512x256), One for each Body Character(1024x1024), and one for ALL kits (backpacks) that a user picks up. I'm not quite sure how EA planned it, but theres one texture map thats 2048x2048 and contains every backpack model and other unique character appearances on it, so I'm sticking with that

The soldier is unwrapped, (except for the pack) and I'm applying quick textures to the model, after that I'll update with a post, and get to work on texturing him up solid

DarthRevanII

alright here's what I got going so far

****pictures below*****

I started detailing the chest then changed my mine to get a layout going for the whole guy. Don't worry, I know the scratches are waaaay too bright

BTW, I tried scaling the helmet down a bit and it didnt look right at all, even a slight scale
And I'm going to go back and add more color to the helmet too, i haven't forgotten

Sean McBride

3 words man....

fi-na-ly

gogogo! Looking great.

DarthRevanII

Sean! yeaaa...I got a laptop recently and photoshop works on it, so yea, I can start TRYING to skin now...or at least the pile-o-crap i call a skin :P

Only been able to put a couple extra hours into it, not really much to update with...ill have something tonight. Hopefully the entire upper body done with texture

Sean McBride

Don't rush it. Take your time and learn some things. It looks like you're off to a great start though.

DarthRevanII

thanks... I appreciate that...I'm starting to wonder if I should have experimented with normal mapping before trying to texture it

I think I might try that after I'm done with this texture...and end up re-texturing it, or just touching up new-made areas.

So im too obsessed with pimping up...heres a small update
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/1-9.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/2-9.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/Body2.jpg
I'm also starting to regret mirroring the chest

DarthRevanII

so tired, can't look at the screen any longer...anyway heres progress
****pictures below*****
I brighteneed up untouched stuff so it can be seen better, and other details too

I'm still truck'n...determined to make this look nice

Crits are MORE than welcome

Archanex

hey that's a great looking texture so far. I dunno if you were planning to do this already, but I'd really like to see some repeated RED elements in the color scheme so that he's primarily red instead of primarily grey

ElysiumGX

Looking good so far. My advice is to not leave any area of him in greyscale. Start thinking about a color palette you want to use as a base.

DarthRevanII

appreciate it
Yes I did plan on adding red elements to the armor, however that is not going to be his primary color, just the detailing of the armor

I'm definitly thinking about the colors I'm wanting to use...I'm thinking about going with red/blue/yellow understones to add some flavor. Do you think it's a better idea to add them in as I go? or rather get the armor done in "greyscale" and add in later?

DarthRevanII

small progress update. I have tomorrow off, few things to do, but I should be able to get a lot done tomorrow

Alright, I added two color tones to the armor which I think really helped bring it out. Let me know if I did a good job with that. I have a blueish hue added in the brighter areas, with a red tone to the darker areas

Also, I realize I probably emphasized shadows too much, I'll be toning those down a bit
And I also realize that the faceplate is too bright and the red on the helmet is the wrong color, I haven't messed with the helmet texture since I started the body, I'll change it soon

PLEASE crit away



I have the curse and gift of an artist...I'm a perfectionist...After looking at other people's work, the screenshots of Halo 3, and glancing at my own texture, I'm becoming less and less proud of what I have produced. Seeing as it IS only like my fifth real texture I've done, I think it's damn good. I just expect professional quality .

So please, tell me what I can do to improve this texture, I know it needs a lot of work

DarthRevanII

Texture file

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/Body2-2.jpg

I don't want to beg :x, but I'd really like some critique on this

indian_boy

maybe reduce the amount of damage at the corners of the plates? to me they seem a bit overdone?
also, certain lines [like the one in the front of the helmet] should be straight. hope ur using paths in photoshop?

but honestly, i really like it! i dunno why ppl have to compare themselves with others and get depressed cuz of that. i've tried comparing myself to others, but i found that it just does me harm. getting inspired by others is a different thing.

try finishing the texture, and then in later 'passes' modifying certain things might make it really nice. but i honestly wanna say 'nice job.' i was actually loving the thing since the beginning!

DarthRevanII

thanks, appreciate that. And you really do have a point about comparing. I'm definitely not at a point where I should having a self "competition" with professionals and great artists

Yea, I kinda agree about the overdone wear-and-tear I've done so far, I'll try lightening it up a bit, especially on the right shoulder pad (the one that says NOD).

Also I'm not really sure what you meant by the line on the front of the helmet? and no I dont think I'm using paths?

conte

i think you should add some volume
scratches on plates corners are ok.

DarthRevanII

not to sound like an idiot, but when you say Volume, what do you mean?

conte

sorry, i meant add some more volume to texture
lighting, shading etc

DarthRevanII

Done a bit more on the armor, also took down the color a bit, and made it more dark like i originally intended (i think i have the difference in contrast between my monitors fixed )
so, pimping away


This last picture has omni's in the scene



BTW the "fabric" texture is only a stand-in at the moment...I originally wanted to use it because thats what it was like in the TS cutscenes, but I really don't see how texture worked out for a good under-lay fabric...I'll probably go more of a rubber-type material

indian_boy

im bad at paintovers [this is actually my first eva!], but i thought i'd try one out:

ur edges are too white, and there is still too much damage. Lessen the whites, give subtle highlights. I'm no pro at handpainted diffuse-only models, but.... just my thoughts. Compare my img with ur image.

DarthRevanII

mhmm, I planned on toning down the "whiteness" of the scratches. I just got the color right and was going to work on that, thanks for reminding me to do that

idk, I'm not sure what I really want to do with the dmg, because so far i have you saying theres too much, and another saying it's fine

What I might try and do this weekend is make a second skin with less dmg and compare the two


OH! and the issue you corrected on the helmet, I was experimenting about a week and a half ago or so on the scratches on the helmet "jaw line"...decided i didn't like it, and only had one side done. I guess that layer got flipped on and was in the render, I'll have to fix that

Wells

I wanted to do a paint-over, too!

here's what I would do with the scratches. It looks like you really want a base metal underneath to shin through, so I went ahead and bonded a krylar coating to the metals, which can unfortunately get chipped by bullets and wolverines and wolverine-bullets. Try and think of what took off each bit. You can't have a corner beat to hell and have the metal right next to it pristine as my real dolls. it breaks the fiction. I also added some very subtle color hues to the different panels to help break up the shapes... little orange here, little bluer down there. not every batch of krylar coating is created equal. we just haven't perfected it yet. sharpen up those details you put in there, they're making it look much lower rez then it is. a nice reflected glow from the red safety strap lock mechanisms, and my paint-over is done. I hope it was as good for you as it was for me.

DarthRevanII

:O that paintover rocks

I greatly appreciate that and it's very helpful

Unfortunately, I have a 14 hour work day tomorrow (two jobs ftw?) and I work the next morning, so I won't be able to do anything of what you suggested until tomorrow, unless I feel like staying up too late and doing it tonight

so, updates soon

Any other crits are MORE than welcome, I appreciate any and all advice

indian_boy

do it tonight!

lol, sorry. i think i should go to sleep now!

but yeah, notice the type of damage in that paintover. feels/looks much nicer than only dents and scratches. _definately_ take sectaurs' advice.

DarthRevanII

so I took some of Sectaurs advice and edited as much of my texture as i could before i really needed to head to bed. It's only the start but I think i got the hang of it and am heading in the right direction. Sect if you could reply back and give me thumbs up or down, that would rock

I'm taking way to long on finishing this texture





after still being frustrated i mirrored the chest in the middle, I took advantage of one or two small spaces left on my UVWmap, AAAND put part of the left chest on there yay for non-mirror

Wells

big thumbs up for not mirroring the chest!

you don't have to follow my scratches to the letter, but I'm glad you got the over-all gist. now go in with the one pixel brush and tighten up those edges!

DarthRevanII

Done a bit more work on him...having trouble finding timee lately

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/1-18.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/2-17.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/3-10.jpg
Renders have been updated since previous post

Also just realized the red on the thigh is waaaay too saturated compared to the rest of the coloring...I'll fix it this weekend

DarthRevanII

posting an update soon :x

DarthRevanII

seriously, update coming soon. Got a new job at a bank and school just started (actually posting this in my principles of programming class). I've done some more work with the legs, and also got a decent texture for the arm, just wanting to finish that and the stomach texture before making a new post. Should be one within a couple days at worst case scenario

Laheen

I think the armor would look a tad better if you sharpened it up a little =>

zenarion

Wow, this looks good!
Thank you for showing us the evolution of the Nod Soldier.
There is a big empty space on his forehead, that can be used for something.
Also the "soft" part of the suit, the bodyglove. It has a simple pattern to it, and could use some folds in the fabric to break it up a bit.
Thumbs up!

DarthRevanII

to clarify zen, In the previously posted renders, the underlaying armor/rubber has not been textured. Working on that now

DarthRevanII

Can someone point me into the right direction for either a crease tutorial, or a good reference for a crease?

maybe I should explain better...on the arm, I'm trying to add a realistic fold/crease/"constantly-bended" area to the front of the elbow. All of my ways I've tried to get this effect look kinda silly...the one I currently have on it looks alright but def needs some work

Ruz

coming along nice, but I get the impression he is really short for some reason
Also the none armour bits are bit balcnd right now

PolyPutty

[ QUOTE ]
Can someone point me into the right direction for either a crease tutorial, or a good reference for a crease?


[/ QUOTE ]
Start With This and then I would suggest getting one of these 2 books, I personally like Dynamic Wrinkles & Drapery. Your material under the armor definitely needs more love.
Drawing the Draped Figure: The Seven Laws of Folds

Dynamic Wrinkles & Drapery

DarthRevanII

Maybe I didn't say it right...I aaaam working on the underlaying armor . Just really busy and it's taking me a lot longer to get this guy done than expected. I went ahead and made a couple renders of what I got going so far, feedback is more than welcome!
As a disclaimer though, The elbow pad is a new addition and I'm still working on blending in the texture to the rest of the armor, and the rubber texture isn't completely done yet on the arm, adding finishing touches and trying to blend it together more (especially the "sandpaper grip" on the hand

Poly: thanks so much for that link, it's pretty helpful. I'll see about checking into one of those books once I get paid
Ruz: Really? I'm really not sure what might be causing that. He looks like a perfect height to me. About 5'9-6'2. I really don't know what could be causing that appearance. If you can help me spot it I'll work on that
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/1-20.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/2-19.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/3-12.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/4-4.jpg
Here is a closer up image for the forearm texture
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/5-3.jpg

Might as well go ahead and post my texture file so far. I'm still messing around with the dirt texture on the bottom of the shin armor. I'm going to bring up the dirt a bit farther on it too. I just found a GREAT reference picture of Master Chief from Halo 3 with an exact example of dirt affect I wanted to apply to this guy, so I'll try and study that image and apply it to him. The reason I'm going with a yellowish hue dirt is because the setting for Tiberian Sun deals with mostly desertish, sandy areas, so a regular yellow hue dirt would apply nicely
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/Body2-3.jpg

Sean McBride

I'm really happy to see you sticking with it. Its looking much better than the last time i saw it thats for sure!

I think Ruz has a point in that he does look small. You're probably following some reference you have of a nod solder as i am not a CnC buff myself... However, typically a heroic character would be something like 8 to 9 heads tall... So! Making the head smaller would make him look like a larger man all together.

Just my 2 cents.

DarthRevanII

thanks Sean

hmm...you know what...I think Ruz was right now that you mention it...I'll see what I can do

dejawolf

looks very nice! chunky, and nicely detailed. keep going!

DarthRevanII

bump
I'll take off some of those previous images at the beginning of this page later


http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/2-21.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/SpartnII/3-13.jpg
***Updated renders with hopefully a better lighting scheme.
FYI, the butt plate has not been textured, ignore it's blandness


btw, do you guys think I'm posting too much? :x

DarthRevanII

ergh...I just realized how ugly the light setting I made was (on a school computer looking at it).

I'll update the post tonight with a better render

indian_boy

looking pretty darn cool!
its an amazing improvement, i kid u not.
and i'm really glad that u finally got rid of the symmetrical damage on the armour. my only complaint/crit atm is that the type of damage to the leg-armour makes it painfully obvious that it's symmetrical. and it feels _really_ weird. If u wanna save tex space by doing that, its all good, but then i'd suggest making the damage look like that which doesn't make it _obvious_ if u understand what i'm saying?