WIP - Warhammer axe

mike9019

hi every one long time watcher first time posting.

I'm doing an axe from this Warhammer concept.


Base mesh was done in 3ds max 9 and retopo in zbrush (had bad geometry and was sub-dividing wrong) before I unwrap it and take it back into Zbrush for detailing I'd love some crits from the community.

current poly count is 1722



Let me know If I need to up load anymore pics. Right now the Asset is symmetrical on both sides. Please, I would like to push my modeling, detailing, and texturing to the next level so all advice is welcomed. Currently right now I am looking for advice on poly count and over all geometry, or anything else dealing with just the base mesh. Thank you in Advance.

cholden

If it's a basemesh for zbrush it should be ok, but as far as a working model this is way to high polygon. Still, if you're planning to make a high poly to bake down to low, you may be better off accurately modeling the concept in high poly and use a sculpting too (zbrush) for a few small details. But that's just my workflow on small props.

Indecom

Make sure you pan note to the fact that there is a skull motif on that axe blade

http://mythicmktg.fileburst.com/war/us/home/images/conceptart/CncArt0907_37.jpg

that piece of metal isnt just there to hold it together, its there to say that it belongs to an orc. Just keep that in mine when you sculpt that part of it.

David-J

Its looking good. BUt it is very high poly. You have a lot of polys that are not adding anything to the silhouette.

Cheers!

mike9019

Thank you ever one for the crits and yes I agree and also I thought it was way to high poly. So this morning I went through and correct the base mesh to remove polys that weren't adding to the silhouette like David said. I also wanted to get more accurate design of the blade like choulden said, even though he recommended me to just high poly it in max, I'd prefer to do the sculpt in ZB for practice reasons. Also thank you Indecom for pointing out the motif and I will defiantly have that in mind as I detail. Well anyhow I got it down to 592 polys... Here is the new base mesh...I will begin to sculpt out details like the rivets, the strap for the handle, and all the little cracks tomorrow unless you folks feel I need to rework something. Also the reason it is 3 colors, it is currently 3 pieces. I will be attaching them together before I texture them.


This is a top view of the Axe? Currently right now it is solid and from the material that the concept conveys I seems as if it should be hollowed out. Should I pop out the holes prior to detailing it or after or should I just fake it with an opacity map? Sorry if this seems like a dumb question I know I should just make the decision but would prefer the advice from someone more experienced, so I can develop a better work flow.

Thank you all in advance and I will take everything into account and begin sculpting tomorrow.

ricolas71

Hey man, your silhouette is good but you still haven't clearly understood how to create a neat topology. Even if you reduced the number of poly, you shouldn't have all these wreid looking quads. It's hard to explain withs words but try to keep your quads square and try to make nices curves to keep a good flow. Also avoid 5 edged polys. look at other meshes, you will see what I mean. Keep everything simple and add extra details once your base model is ok.

mike9019

Hey every one sorry for the long delay had RL issues that came up. So after everyones crit and reading and viewing a few post and some of the advice on poopinmymouth. I redid the base once again and believe it has a better topology. I'm showing both that I have done due to one has beveled edges (advised for normal mapping) and the other doesn't and would like input on which one to use. Also I'm not going to use zbrush for detailing (need more pratice) and will be doing a HP to LP modeling method that I've read in other post.

beveled edge polycount 772

render

wire1

wire 2


No bevel Polycount 499

render


wire 1


wire 2


Here is the start of the HP model.

render



wire



Sorry if the progess seems slow I would just rather take my time and learn then try and pump out items. Once again thanks in advance for all crits and comments.

mike9019

Hey everyone I got to working on the handle today here is an update and always I am looking for crits to improve please. I will begin to pull UVs and back it in a few days if no crits pop up. Thanks in advance.

Joao Sapiro

why are you rendering the lowpoly and the wireframe ?

mike9019

Johny wrote: »

why are you rendering the lowpoly and the wireframe ?

That post was more towards just asking in general which lowpoly cage would be better to use. I rendered both due to reading post where they would be asked to show wires so i figure post both images.

Josh_Singh

straps turned out good.
Keep going.

mike9019

Hey everyone, long time for a update. Sorry had issues learning normal maps w/o crazy bump :poly121:...so after going through and fixing the UVs (reversed and mirrored pieces...etc) I have a few issues maybe someone can help with. I'm following the Ben Mathis work flow tut, but i'm coming up with this trouble area and for the life of me i can't fix it. (circled in red)


now I know he says I will have to do some clean up in PS, so my questions are.

1. Can this be fixed in max or should I just beginning paint it out in PS?
2. Besides the parts that look like wood paneling (will be smoothed out in Ps) any crits on troubled areas anyone sees will be welcomed.
3. why isn't my back ground blue? and is it an issue?

oh yeah here is a screen grab of the cage near the trouble area.


Once again thanks in advance for any and all replies.

mike9019

Hey everyone fixed my normal map and worked on the textures..







going to work a bit more on the straps and the blade guard tomorrow, but would love some crits. thanks in advance.