Texturing Feedback

Surface

Hey,

Looking for feedback on the texturing on this thing i've made, dont quite know what it is.

I've uploaded both the photoshop file, and the maya (09) file onto Sendspace if you want to take a closer look, beware of all the popups.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/4w6w0j





Overall im trying to improv my workflow and find better ways to make stuff look more realistic, so feel free to ask how I did some of the stuff, and then come with advice on how I can do it better

Kawe

Uhm, if even you don't know what it is.. how is anyone else going to be able to help you to make it look better? I'd say the first order of business before even doing anything is to know what you are trying to do. If you want to practice on making things to look more realistic you should really pick something that exists in reality and gather references. I mean... you don't HAVE to but it'd probably help a lot. You could try that fire hydrant thing that pops up every now and then on the forums (search the forums).

timwiese

Its a cool item, whatever it is. At the moment though the texturing is a bit generic. If your going to keep it that way you could probably size down the texture and not lose much detail at all. But if you want to improve it, as Kawe said find some reference and try to replicate the look of certain surface textures and materials.

Also think about how the item is constructed. Adding some bolts/rivets or clamps holding things together would help give it a better feel. Along those same lines try to think about how the item would be deconstructed, if was going to be taken apart for maintenance how would that happen, what parts are detachable/replaceable and how are they assembled. Also knowing the general purpose of what your working gives you a much better sense of direction as well.

Overall though I think its a good start, but much more work can be done to make this go from just a generic object to something much cooler.

Surface

Hey,

Kawe: Well I didn't think it mattered that much to really know what it is, i've always thought of it as some generator though however yeah i'll sort my stuff out. Also, thanks for the advice for picking something that excist in reality, i'll give that fire hydrant a shot .

Timwiese: Glad you think it looks decent enough to look genereic hehe, thanks for mentioning all the extra detail to think about when texturing, I'll be sure to keep that in mind when im texturing next time.

Just one more thing, if anyone read this and have a good specular tutorial, please dont hesitate to post it, Im always having mega trouble making a good specular.

Anyway, Thanks for the replies! :thumbup:

Seaseme

It makes things a bit less .. boring to model if you have some sort of backstory / idea what you're making .

Looks cool so far, maybe get some lights on it so its a bit easier to see what your spec maps / normal maps are doing.

Keep goin!

Kawe

Right. Power generator.. now comes the interesting part of graphics. Can you somehow make it look like it actually functions? Cause I think that is what it is all about.

How does it generate power? Where does the power go? What effects does generating power have? And so on... if you can answer these questions you should be well on your way on making a nice design Also that's the reason why you should pick something that exists in reality cause you don't have to figure everything out from scratch that a lot of smart people already did.

Tumerboy

What they said.
Remember, in reality Form Follows Function.

Obviously, this gets fudged constantly in Game Art, but it's still a great place to start. If you know (at least roughly) what the thing is that you're building, then you have a clearer goal. It's also a lot easier to know when you're doing it right or not: "Can anyone tell me what this is?" If they can, then you're doing well, if they can't, then you need to figure out what you can add that will TELL people what it is.

Surface

Kawe: I've thought about some of the stuff on how its suppose to work when making it but obviously not enough, function function function Thanks!

Seaseme: Thanks for the motivation and sorry about lighting it poorly, me on the lazy side (although I suck at lighting overall)

Tumerboy: Thanks for the advice, as I mentioned earlier I'll do the popular fire hydrant, i'll keep what you all said in mind, and make that one count, thanks for the help!