Terminator Shotgun

SunSetter

hello everyone, i'm new to this forum.
i was trying to model an winchester shotgun, used in terminator series, for a next gen weapon. the problem is that i cannot scan or visualize correct normal map with Xoliulshader. even if i scan in max or in xnormals i get the same result(xnormals is better).
i don;t see any button to upload pictures to show you of what i'm talking about...probably because this is my first post.

i will try tomorow to upload those pics. or if i am blind please show me the button :poly141:...
thanx and srry for my bad bad english

Emil Mujanovic

Welcome to Polycount.
If you want to upload images, you'll have to first upload them to an online host (dropbox, photobucket, imageshack, personal webhosting, etc).
Once you've done that, just grab the URL of the image use the [img][/img] tags to post your image.

Example:
[img][/img]http://www.imagehost.com/images/image.jpg
(minus the spaces)

Looking forward to seeing your work. If you have any further issues or questions, don't hesitate to send me a PM.

SunSetter

hello again,
so, my problem is when using tangent space the weapon looks crappy, i get seams on shading and some of the parts doesnt seem to take advantage of normal map.


here is the normal map


if i use the object space, i get infinitly better results, but in max viewport using xolioshader and deafult lighting, i get half of the weapon black and some bizare lighting. i don't understand why...


and the normal map


i did some testing on different object and they go well, even in tangent space, but with this weapon is different.

Sean VanGorder

Welcome to Polycount


First I would like to say, I wish people would stop apologizing for poor English skills, for a number of reasons. One, you're English is better than most of the kids I go to school with. Two, you do not need to apologize for not being the best at speaking a second language, we totally understand. I know that I for one am impressed by anyone who can speak a foreign language, as it does not come easily to me. Three, I feel like I should be apologizing for not speaking your native language, ha.

Anyway, at the moment I'm not really sure what could be causing your problem, maybe because it is 3 in the morning. But I'm sure one of the pros here will have an answer in no time. From what I can tell, the model itself seems to be coming along nicely :thumbup:

albino_goldfish

what are you using to generate your normal map?

tadpole3159

http://deviart.ro/layer/3ds_max/problema1.jpg

this one is because of flipped uv's i think, try reversing the normals on the model for a quick test. if it gets fixed then reverse the normals back again and flip the troublesome uv shell.
if it doesn't get fixed then reverse your normals back again and wait for someone smarter :P

System

Hello SunSetter, welcome to the polycount
Have you checked out the normal mapping thread yet? It's full of useful tips, tricks and solutions to these kinds of problems. Also there's a thread on Xoliul's viewport shader addressing some issues.

Anyway, it looks like you are trying to apply normal mapping over sufaces that don't have enough support edges. Lighting artifacts occour when light tries to bend around obtuse angles. (You can actually fix this with good texturing, turning edges and a few lighting tricks but it's probably not the best advice to give )

Also check your smoothing groups and uv's, ideally a whole section of the model that represents it's real world design should share the same smoothing group and have contiguous uv's. For instance, trigger mechanism, butt, barrel etc.

Lighting is strange with direct x shaders, I find if you move a light down underneath the model most of the time it illuminates the model from the top. If your using Xoliul's shader you will want three point omni lighting.

SunSetter

thank you for your advice.
i will read normal map thread and hopefully tomorow i will come with an update...

Wilex

Found this link in another post seems like it might help. Best of luck these things can be tricky just keep at it.

http://tech-artists.org/wiki/Normal_mapping#Backlighting_Example

Ghostscape

For the Tangent Space normal maps, it looks like at least one of the channels (either Red or Green) are flipped.

For the object space one, I believe you can't mirror object space normal maps unless the shader explicitly supports mirroring with object-space. The reason your mirror half is lighting poorly is because the object space normals are making it think it is backwards.

SunSetter

tadpole3159 you were right. the "reload handle" was fliped in uv space, after a quick test i realize that that portion of that reload handle uv's was causing the trouble...don't know why..
doing so i was free of that strange lighting with object space normals(all my pieces of the uv are oriented in the same direction)...

To GCMP: after doing so when i got rif od the "light down underneath the model most of the time it illuminates the model from the top"...don't know for sure if the flipped uv's caused the problem...but something sure fixxed it.



thanx everyone

hoppefully tomorow i will move to the next part, texturing

SunSetter

hi everyone, i thouth that a can texture this weapon )...i find myself having a hard time texturing, cause i still dont get the effect i want, so i think it's best for me to exercise hard surface texturing and my photoshop skills...for now i will leave this asset and get myself some nice hard surface texturing tuts and...



C&C are welcome!

sneakymcfox

The texture looks a little flat, maybe add some scratches and ware.

HAL

I like the coated metal look on the system but I dislike how the metal on the barrel looks.

It's way to noisy atm and looks too much like concrete/stone.

Try to use a dark grey texture base with low contrast in the diffuse and a brighter grey one with details as your specular map for the metal.

SunSetter

tnx for the reply... i will try to add some scratches and to remake the barrel texture(u're right, it s crappy...i really suck at photoshop and now trying to learn it)
i will post an update once i finish the texture

bgoodsell

The spec on the wood is shiner than that of the metal. You could get away with making the metal look more metallic by playing with your specmap some, but definitely give it some attention. Otherwise, its coming along nicely.

SunSetter

bgoodsell wrote: »

The spec on the wood is shiner than that of the metal. You could get away with making the metal look more metallic by playing with your specmap some, but definitely give it some attention. Otherwise, its coming along nicely.

hi again
sorry for the time i've been inactive, but i came now with an update...i spend some time trying to make things look ok and now i think i'm ready for C&C

commander_keen

looks like you have some weird fresnel, or your specular glossiness is set wayyy too low. The texture looks pretty good though.