NAE Commander

artstream

Hey guys, I haven't posted work in awhile and I have a new piece that I'm sort of happy with, and wanted to get some feedback on it. It still needs work, but it's gotten to the point that I'm missing what needs the work, so a few new set of eyes would be great. A brief backstory on this: it's the commander of a military faction for a student mod using the Unreal Engine 3 that I'm working on at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

Here are some screengrabs from Max with a DX Shader applied. The maps are all 2048.


Here's the diffuse, spec, and normal, respectively.




I guess it would be appropriate to ask this here in the same thread rather than making one in TT: how does one go about making a proper specular color & level map? I've always had problems with creating really strong and convincing spec maps. I think I understand the theory, but I'm sure someone else could show me what I'm missing.

Any and all critiques welcome.

downarmy

i am not an expert on anything but ur normal map is really in bad shape....

i like some of ur texture but the grey is just blend

i like the model...

artstream

Thanks man; Yeah I probably should mentioned that this is WIP, texturing being the large part of it. Design wise, I can't change anything for the most part as I didn't design it: just did the modeling/texturing (and will eventually get him into Unreal).

The normals definitely need to be cleaned up, mostly around his extrusions on the shoulders & forearms. As for the bland grey, I think what you're talking about is the body suit, that's going to get a texture pass, but I'm not sure what as we don't want to rip the nano-suit/beehive look from Crysis for the texture.

renderhjs

I wont go into tech here because I think something more general has a flaw here: the design of that armory.
WIth the little red and blueish metal it has a little bit of mass effect but those red stribes on his shoulders and the arms are not to my liking - almost primitive shapes (like part of a tube). It does not connect very well with the rest of the design (which is more metal plate alike with flat shapes that overlap each other).
Also the same pattern on his legs are to dense and small they make his feet look very small almost like girl on his legs (even though the anatomy might be right).
All in all there is lots of symmetry in the design,- some asymmetry like you could do with the ammunition packs by making the other side different or leaving it out on one side could make it more realistic or appealing.

The texture is boring and could use perhaps some signs or patterns or elements like zippers, stitches, ect. check this thread out, has some awesome clothing brushes:
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=71277&page=1&pp=15

Grey is boring and difficult to begin with so why not trying to blend some slight color variations in it? or make it darker or white - but middle tone gray is just so boring - and hard to get out of an image once you render it with lights.
Or if it is a reflective surface make some specular maps with colors so that it does not look just gray.

artstream

Wow render, thanks for that ZBC link, it's definitely something I'll have to dive into deeply. And thanks for checking out my post & responding.

Design wise, I can't really speak on its thought process as I didn't concept it out, but I see your points. But the asymmetry is definitely something that I will try to do, scrap an ammo pack, add a strap for him, something.

As for the texture, (ideally) we would want it to be militaristic armor so the decorative stuff might make it look too fancy but it's something I'll pitch to the rest of the group to break up the texture because I agree that it's missing something.

Yeah, the grey I wasn't too thrilled about, just trying to follow the concept's intial design. So are you thinking more of like a sleek black/midnight-blue for the armor?

Thanks again for the crit---it's much appreciated!

renderhjs

well you have lots of plates - so it automaticly reminded me of:


some other stuff I found:

some interesting stuff to learn from ancient greek armor
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/war/Armor.htm
(knowing something like that can help you find a design that has a background and meaning)



here the red key color and the armor color perfectly blend together:


current generation armor (usually cloaked in textile

in special ops and police teams its then often dark blue or just black. Black is also a common color for assassins like traditional ninjas etc.

here is some field armor vest:

check the signs and icons on it- perhaps a bit to much but it shows clearly that common function clothes usually have signs all over it (push, pull, id, wash instructions, warrenty,...)

GI joe stuff:


batman (non nippel version)


xman suits:


maybe there is some inspiration in for you

artstream

Render, you rock. I'm totally going to have to pitch this to the rest of the team and see what they think because this makes so much sense, especially the part about the clash between overlapping plates and extrusions. Chances are though that the design won't change just yet, but one can hope.

I also like the subtle, yet apparent decals & details on the suits, definitely something else to bring up.

Since I'll probably be starting the texture from scratch, any pointers on how to start a proper spec map? I understand that areas that are chipped/scratched/damaged will shine more and areas with dirt and muck will not, but I still feel like I'm missing crucial knowledge for a proper spec map creation.

Thanks again for the crit & references

Razorb

It brings a tear to my eye seeing this amount of support :'D

renderhjs!