The new shield looks great. The spec map really makes the metal pop off the wood even without any actual geometry there. My only crit would be that the arrows look a little wimpy. Otherwise a wicked piece.
Cheers!
Great piece dude! I love the concept/functionality of this one. The only real crit I have is that in the render on the right the handle has the illusion that its baked into the normal map. I think its because of the tappered shape of the handle end caps and the fact that it never quite breaks the silhouette of the shield body it gets that weird look to it. Maybe rotate it a little bit more or angle the handle up a bit so it stick off the sheild some. But again, great job! I can't wait to see whats next.
these aren't really wildly unrealistic...the materials are nice, the models are nice...I'm not sure how that applies? I'm not really into stylized stuff but good work is good work and this isn't really heavily stylized to begin with.
Also, this kind of posting can be kept to PM as to avoid derailing this guy's thread. If it makes you feel any better here's a small crit: I think the Mayan looking sword (with the spikes) looked better the first time it was posted since the material sells better as wood, where as the second iteration starts to look more like brass/copper.
Awesome work. Im curious about one thing though: Are u zbrushing every low poly model? Or is it made directly from maya, or a sor t of automatic normal map maker?
The new shield looks great. The spec map really makes the metal pop off the wood even without any actual geometry there. My only crit would be that the arrows look a little wimpy
You're right they are wimpy, let me explain why : The 3 arrows around the top i imagined to be from a more elvish kind of shooter, that shoot very accurately and so use very light arrows to penetrate gaps in armor etc. You'll notice the lower 2 are fatter and less elegant, I imagine this is friendly fire or just arrows from another people. With that info, is it still looking wrong to you?
The only real crit I have is that in the render on the right the handle has the illusion that its baked into the normal map. I think its because of the tappered shape of the handle end caps and the fact that it never quite breaks the silhouette of the shield body it gets that weird look to it. Maybe rotate it a little bit more or angle the handle up a bit so it stick off the sheild some.
The handle is kinda hanging loose like a door knocker, that's why it's so close against the surface right now. It is a weird handle, I don't think i could explain how it's held without images, so i might make a rough character matching it just so i can show how it's used. Also on my site i'll be presenting it with a turnaround animation that makes this piece read a lot better.
My only other comment or request would be if you could put up some screens of your high-polys perhaps?
High polys will be posted in my portfolio site once i get around to working on it. I'm saving it so you guys have something new to see when it's open So far my entire new portfolio is posted on these forums lol.
You're making me want to do some weapons of my own.
Do it! :poly142:
This thread is pure win and has been a pleasure to follow. Thanks for sharing. Are you gonna do a character next ???
Thanks, I have a new character planned, but I'm starting to think i really need to make some enviro stuff to balance things out. So I might hit 2 birds with one stone and make a scene that'll match the character i would place in it later.
If it makes you feel any better here's a small crit: I think the Mayan looking sword (with the spikes) looked better the first time it was posted since the material sells better as wood, where as the second iteration starts to look more like brass/copper.
Funny thing is, there's no difference between those 2 shots besides the background. In fact they're the exact same shot in both cases hehe. I guess you fell victim to an optical illusion, wish i knew the name for it.
Are u zbrushing every low poly model? Or is it made directly from maya, or a sort of automatic normal map maker?
I'm not sure i understand the question. Are you asking about how i make my low poly? Or how i generate normals? Or whether i use high res zbrush sculpts to generate them?
Haha, man you're right. I loaded up the images side by side and they are the same. It's incredible how much the colored background skewed my 'perceived color.'
There you have it then...I got nothin' to crit! Looking forward to seeing more.
Really, really nice stuff. I just have to ask you : How do you go about detailing those low poly's in Zbrush?? It looks to me like they'll break up. I've been in to max for a couple of years but I over complicate stuff. Those are some really basic low poly's there with decent topolgy but I just can't seem to think how you would smooth that out and detaill in zbrush. Can you please elaborate on your detailing proccess?
Edit : Take, for example, the sheild I think on page 2. How does the wing part not break up? Also could you shed some light on how you went about detailing your parts?
Really, really nice stuff. I just have to ask you : How do you go about detailing those low poly's in Zbrush?? It looks to me like they'll break up. I've been in to max for a couple of years but I over complicate stuff. Those are some really basic low poly's there with decent topolgy but I just can't seem to think how you would smooth that out and detaill in zbrush. Can you please elaborate on your detailing proccess?
Edit : Take, for example, the sheild I think on page 2. How does the wing part not break up? Also could you shed some light on how you went about detailing your parts?
I can try :P
Basically it always starts with a base mesh. I start in max for weapons, zbrush Zspheres for most characters. When making bases in Max the most important thing is as much as possible keeping all polygons roughly the same size and square, this will ensure a mesh of even detail in all divisions. If a part is expected to have more detail, i divide that area more in the base mesh.
Then it's over to Zbrush where i subdivide and sculpt as normal. The pieces you mention that look very seprate, are actually seprate in the base mesh. Where i expect one piece to insert into another, i just make them seprate intersected elements. Then in Zbrush it makes it easy to work on one part at a time by hiding the rest. Here's the base of the Skyserpent to illustrate this.
Once the sculpting is done, i make the game topology on top of the high res with the retopology tools in Zbrush. The final low res is definitely not the one I work on in Zbrush. The starting base mesh and final low res are very different meshes.
As for the blade catchers on the Phoenix, as you can see from the texture, I just sculpted 3 of the 'spikes' and then mapped it onto the planes surrounding the shield in such a way that they connect.
First time I've seen this. Very inspiring work, Art-Machine! My favorite so far is the Skyserpent. I really want to make a cool little weapon like this now.
Very nice to see your workflow, as I was wondering how you pulled off these weapons at work. Very inspiring, I like it all especially that Siege plank shield.
Keep on the great work, you already have a killer portfolio but I cant get enough I want to see more .
Replies
Cheers!
your stuff is badass
Anyways, love the style and everything else, can't wait to see more of your work!
@sandbag: as long as it has nit trigger it doesn't matter if it is realistic or net, eh? :P
Also, this kind of posting can be kept to PM as to avoid derailing this guy's thread. If it makes you feel any better here's a small crit: I think the Mayan looking sword (with the spikes) looked better the first time it was posted since the material sells better as wood, where as the second iteration starts to look more like brass/copper.
You're right they are wimpy, let me explain why : The 3 arrows around the top i imagined to be from a more elvish kind of shooter, that shoot very accurately and so use very light arrows to penetrate gaps in armor etc. You'll notice the lower 2 are fatter and less elegant, I imagine this is friendly fire or just arrows from another people. With that info, is it still looking wrong to you?
The handle is kinda hanging loose like a door knocker, that's why it's so close against the surface right now. It is a weird handle, I don't think i could explain how it's held without images, so i might make a rough character matching it just so i can show how it's used. Also on my site i'll be presenting it with a turnaround animation that makes this piece read a lot better.
High polys will be posted in my portfolio site once i get around to working on it. I'm saving it so you guys have something new to see when it's open
Do it! :poly142:
Thanks, I have a new character planned, but I'm starting to think i really need to make some enviro stuff to balance things out. So I might hit 2 birds with one stone and make a scene that'll match the character i would place in it later.
Funny thing is, there's no difference between those 2 shots besides the background. In fact they're the exact same shot in both cases hehe. I guess you fell victim to an optical illusion, wish i knew the name for it.
I'm not sure i understand the question. Are you asking about how i make my low poly? Or how i generate normals? Or whether i use high res zbrush sculpts to generate them?
There you have it then...I got nothin' to crit! Looking forward to seeing more.
-Woog
Edit : Take, for example, the sheild I think on page 2. How does the wing part not break up? Also could you shed some light on how you went about detailing your parts?
Keep it up!
ChaosV49.
I can try :P
Basically it always starts with a base mesh. I start in max for weapons, zbrush Zspheres for most characters. When making bases in Max the most important thing is as much as possible keeping all polygons roughly the same size and square, this will ensure a mesh of even detail in all divisions. If a part is expected to have more detail, i divide that area more in the base mesh.
Then it's over to Zbrush where i subdivide and sculpt as normal. The pieces you mention that look very seprate, are actually seprate in the base mesh. Where i expect one piece to insert into another, i just make them seprate intersected elements. Then in Zbrush it makes it easy to work on one part at a time by hiding the rest. Here's the base of the Skyserpent to illustrate this.
Once the sculpting is done, i make the game topology on top of the high res with the retopology tools in Zbrush. The final low res is definitely not the one I work on in Zbrush. The starting base mesh and final low res are very different meshes.
As for the blade catchers on the Phoenix, as you can see from the texture, I just sculpted 3 of the 'spikes' and then mapped it onto the planes surrounding the shield in such a way that they connect.
Hope that sheds some light.
Very nice to see your workflow, as I was wondering how you pulled off these weapons at work. Very inspiring, I like it all especially that Siege plank shield.
Keep on the great work, you already have a killer portfolio but I cant get enough I want to see more
Great job with the normals, man. Mind-blowing!
My favorite is your vampyr war scythe, it's just so bad ass!