Low Poly - Rus Warrior

Jarvgrimr

Ahoy all polycounters, looking for some tips or comments on what i'm currently working on and forcing myself to see some actual work through to the bitter finish...



Reference:



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Goal:

I am hoping to keep the character under 600-ish tris, maybe even under 500 if i can.
Rig him up and make a little animation.

Updated: 30-06-09

Where I'm at:





I am currently attempting to get to grips with texturing again. I am really trying to get the painted look of the model i have above... anyone got any tips on how to do that? The images above are too small to be of use as actual textures.

How does one get that thick painterly feel to a texture? I am also struggling with trying to get a chain armour texture that matches the reference better. The one i got is a rather shoddily edited photo.




My somewhat improved tex unwrap, still not perfect i'm sure. Good enough for this though.

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Any crits and comments or advice most welcome!

Cheers
Jarvgrimr

Jarvgrimr

Update.

Got the body about where i want it to be. Anyone know of any good way to get a true Tri count in 3DS Max 2010?

I am also tossing up between shield ideas... should i make it actual round geometry or just go for a plane and be done with it?

Any thoughts polycounters?

Helixx

Not 100% positive about it since I use 2009 but I'd assume it's in a very similar location.
Views-> Viewport Configuration -> Statistics [tab], then you can select what type of count you want.

So far as the shield, I'd make it a circle plane with a good amount of sides so you get a nice round shape.

Jarvgrimr

Thanks for the tip on the tri-count Helixx, it worked.

Well the shield will need to be very low poly if i want to stay under the self set tri count... but i don't think i am gonna be able to do that.

I have updated where i am, if anyone feels like gracing my thread with some feedback or advice, or tips or... whatever. Would be most appreciated.

indian_boy

ur UV template could do with some major optimizing.
right now there's way too much negative space being wasted.
if you can pack the things closer together, then u can end up with higher resolution for each individual part

also, look into using pelt maps and stuff for more organic meshes, for future reference.

Jarvgrimr

Well i've been trying to use pelt maps but so far the pelt map turns out even shittier than my own sub-par mapping. I dunno what i'm doing wrong but it doesn't seem to work out.

I've been trying to find some good pelt tuts but nothing so far covers the 2010 version of the pelt mapper which seems to be worse than the older ones.

ericdigital

model it self looks to be off to a great start but yeah the UVs have way to much neg space. I don't use max so I can't really help you technically I generally use maya,roadkill. Roadkill is a free stand alone uv tool(i think you can get a plug in version too) that helps get you quick and dirty lay outs for your uvs, you could give that a go to help you get out of the gate at least. Though, its not like your uv's actually look bad I think they just need to be rearranged and packed together more since you have nearly 40% unused space.

Jarvgrimr

Update to original post!

I am onto texturing now, which i am no good at. So any texturing advice would be most welcome.

I am trying to keep my model as close to the source image as possible. So i would love to get that sort of thick rich painted colour to my character, however i am not sure how to achieve that.

Anyone got any tips? Brush types? I have both Photoshop & Painter 11 at my disposal, just a lack of skill! Soa ll advice is most welcome!

I also would like to get a more uniform looking chain armour texture. The one i am currently using is something i grabbed off the net and roughly hacked apart and enlarged. Is there any easy way to paint some chain armour from scratch?

I am going to unwrap the sword & scabbard and (non-Liefeld style) pouches which means i've got two maps which may be excessive for such a small character, but i shall just have to remember that for next time!

killingpeople

How does one get that thick painterly feel to a texture?

if by "that painterly feel" you mean how the miniature is painted, i'd simply suggest paint it... just like you would a digital painting, basically.

i'd start by dropping in the base colors, like you have, painting the darks and lights of the forms (softlight) (lit from above), above them. then, overlay some textures, then, create a b/w bump map with the intentions to use crazy bump to generate an ao and cavity map to overlay your forms. the black in the figurine reference looks a lot like an ao map. and then some final polish touch-ups.

regarding the shield, i'd model it, it'd look better, even if you did go over your count, it'd look much better as a portfolio peice than one that just used an alpha'd plane.

Steve Schulze

That's a massive texture for a 500 poly model. 256*256 would be a more logical resolution, methinks.

Jarod1872

Pretty much what killingpeople said, I think even in a handpainted look you need a little more texture in your base colors, some highlights, darks, etc. Throwing in some light brush strokes too can sometimes be a good touch, if you don't overdo it. Even just overlaying a texture at 5% opacity can help break it up a little bit, imho. I think you're off to a good start though, especially the modeling, that looks really solid.

Jarvgrimr

killingpeople wrote: »

if by "that painterly feel" you mean how the miniature is painted, i'd simply suggest paint it... just like you would a digital painting, basically.

i'd start by dropping in the base colors, like you have, painting the darks and lights of the forms (softlight) (lit from above), above them. then, overlay some textures, then, create a b/w bump map with the intentions to use crazy bump to generate an ao and cavity map to overlay your forms. the black in the figurine reference looks a lot like an ao map. and then some final polish touch-ups.

I have had to do some touch ups on my UVW unwrap, so i am having to re-work alot of what i had in the texture. Your advice here is very useful, i shall follow your suggestions. I really want to try and get myself into a good layering habit with textures. I normally do my lighting details over the top of everything, which rarely turns out well! :P

A bit of a dumb question; what is an AO map and what is a cavity map?

killingpeople wrote: »

regarding the shield, i'd model it, it'd look better, even if you did go over your count, it'd look much better as a portfolio peice than one that just used an alpha'd plane.

I think you are right... i shall add the shield as a modelled piece, as i certianly need something to look good in a portfolio more than anything!

Jackablade wrote: »

That's a massive texture for a 500 poly model. 256*256 would be a more logical resolution, methinks.

Well i was planning on just painting the texture in a large rez, then dropping ti down to 256x256... unless that's not the best idea? I'm not sure what would be best to do. Is it better to work in the true resolution?

Jarod1872 wrote: »

Pretty much what killingpeople said, I think even in a handpainted look you need a little more texture in your base colors, some highlights, darks, etc. Throwing in some light brush strokes too can sometimes be a good touch, if you don't overdo it. Even just overlaying a texture at 5% opacity can help break it up a little bit, imho. I think you're off to a good start though, especially the modeling, that looks really solid.

Thanks for the kind words & the advice. I shall try experimenting with some diff brush strokes, as i really don't use PS to it's full potential at all!

Another update later today (i hope!), thanks for all the advice and tips guys!