I have not been able to do as much as i would have liked over the past few days, but i did get a little free time this evening to pump this little beauty out
Im still planning to release some speed sculpts of all these when i get time, but its going to take a while to sort through them all as there is around 12.5 hrs/20GB of video sitting on my drive.
Hopefully i should have something up by the weekend or early next week sometime.
do you mean like videos of you making these epic sculpts?Because that would be awesome! I plan to learn Z-Brush over the summer so those videos would really help!
If you are learning ZBrush, I would totally recommend the Eat3d ZBrush 3.5 Intro and ZBrush Character Production tutorials as they are pure genius.
You can even get them in a bundle and save some cash
Thanks for the kind words man, I really appreciate it!
I have started thinking seriously about the LP since my last post and decided to do another normal test on the vaulted bricks, which might actually make the cut and be in final asset, though I could prob. shave off some geo. first ^^
Its currently a total of 192 tris but depending on how it looks i could prob. get it down to 130-140.
I have to be really careful as this model has so many parts, the polycount will jump really fast...The vaulted bricks will be duplicated 8 times so rather than 192 tris it suddenly becomes 1536 :S
...Im definitely going to research instancing in UDK a little more for this one i think.
Ooh, William Morris sculpts! I do approve
These are coming out really nicely, I'm looking forward to seeing your workflow. Have you considered using a different material for these? The red wax one never struck me as the best for working with.
Thanks Pea!
Im currently sorting though all the video so i can get something up on vimeo
As far as the matcap, i find that using standard redwax is the most inoffensive to my eyes and helps me focus a little better as its very neutral.
If you have any suggestions of a groovy matcap that isnt to distracting, i would love to try it out though
Just throwing this out there, because I'm not sure Marmoset supports it, but are you going to put the paneling as a separate material with parallax mapping? I'm thinking it'll look really good on the main plaque and on the tympane/fronton.
Just throwing this out there, because I'm not sure Marmoset supports it, but are you going to put the paneling as a separate material with parallax mapping? I'm thinking it'll look really good on the main plaque and on the tympane/fronton.
The standard Normal is to the left with the Parallax to the right.
The difference is quite subtle, but i think with some tuning it would be worth it for a 'folio shot.
If it was for in-game asset, im not sure the result would be worth the extra cost in the shader as i could have double the texture space instead, which would yield much better effect, but as its not i will spare no expense
aye ^^^ agreed....
ive never used parrellex for anything other than floors or brick walls that cant hold the detail in the form, they are so much more expensive than normal maps its generally not worth it esp if its very subtle, ive not used them in marmoset but in alot of the engines i have used they also create artefacts, so find it counter productive on meshes like this, id be interested to see if it is worth the effort though...
@DarthNater
Yea you are right,
The angle of the last screenie doesn't lend itself to showing the Parallax very well
All in all its pure win and for a 'folio shot i think its going to be perfect!
I think that it wouldnt really be worth using if this in-game as like you said, its a really expensive effect that doesnt always justify the cost with what you get back from it.
I think if i was given the choice i would rather increase my texture sizes and try to push the normal as far as i could.
Im definitely going to use it for this piece though as im not worried about the shader cost.
Here are some updated images to show off the Parallax a little better!
I used a slightly higher value this time, which worked out pretty well and even included a animated .gif for good measure ^^
@Prophecies
Sure thing!
I have made a set of 5 custom brushes that have various alphas and a spray stroke.
I make a new layer, create a morph target and then use the first brush to totally destroy all the edges.
I then bring it back with a custom morph brush set to colour spray so i have a good mix of random wear and controlled damage.
I then go over the edges of the wear with a small brush to create some finer details and lower the intensity so it doesn't stand out too much.
Then its just a case of using the 3 remaining brushes to add varying sizes of detail/wear depending on what looks good
I will try to make a tutorial going over the process later this week if i can.
I got a little excited in one of the vids, because it showed me pen tilt functionality (right? I'm going to be embarassed if I'm wrong here).
I've been saving for one for a few months, and now that I finally have my student's public transit pass I can actually get back to the saving bit. Should get a majority of the money back from the folks, so in a few weeks I should have my own intuos 4 M.
Parallax looks pretty nice, if you have the time could you show it in motion? like rotate the plane left right etc. In the gif it's still a bit hard to feel the depth.
Do you have an estimate yet of the final specs of the prop? Polies and textures? You said something about needing 1500 just for the vaults, which sounds pretty expensive.
Thanks for the comment
Unfortunately, i dont think my tablet supports tilt, but i could be wrong!
Which video and time was it btw? you have made me curious :P
As for the final tricount...im still not 100% sure as i haven't really set myself a budget, and as such am playing it by ear and just seeing what looks good and what i can get away without.
Right now with 90% of the LP done as wip(without much optimisation and no instancing) and all the parts duplicated and rotated to where they will be in the final, its sitting around 30k, though with no duplication its 6.5k.
Instancing in UDK should relieve most of the strain ^^
Once the final 3 or 4 parts are sculpted i will be able to give a better estimation as to what the texture size will be as i will be able to work out how many pixels i need to get a good bake.
hey metal, when you use projection master I see adjusting the focal shift and intensity before you pick it back up. How are you doing this? I try and Those boxes arent highlighted for me. Thanks.
Also, did you make any adjustments to the alpha you used? When i am using it the deformation it creates is really jaggedy and looks like poop. I notice this happens alot when i use alphas. Thanks again.
They are from The Kelmscott Chaucer.
If you dont want to buy the book, you can get a scanned version of the same border that i am using HERE
Have fun!
This is a bit off topic question but since you are creating alphas based off designs in that book, if you would ever want to use your fountain in a game, would you need the book publishers (or whoever's) permission to use their designs? And if its just a portfolio piece I'm assuming you would just need to credit them, correct?
Anyways awesome work so far! I've been watching it like a hawk since you first posted it. This piece gives me inspiration a lot when I'm modeling =D
Im not really sure what that could be, to be honest :S
If you take a screenie of it i would be happy to see if i can notice anything different.
I put a Gaussian Blur on the Alpha before importing it but you can do this non-destructively in Zbrush by opening the Alpha pallet and using the Blur Slider to taste.
@Divine Rage,
Ahh i see what you mean!
That's a feature in ZBrush that allows the brush to follow the orientation of the meshes surface.
Its on by default but you can find it in Preferences> Edit> Align Cursor To Surface
You wont regret getting a tablet though...i have only been using one for a few months and it totally changes the way you sculpt
I will prob. get an Intuos now that i am 100% sure that love using them!
Thanks for the kind words
Its great to see that my work is inspiring you to create your own stuff! Awesome
The Kelmscott Chaucer was originally published in the same year that William Morris died (1896) and as UK copyright law states that artistic work is protected for the life of the author plus 70 years, it became part of the public domain in 1966.
The only exception to this is Peter Pan which is protected indefinitely in the UK with all royalties going to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.
Any work that finds itself out of copyright, cannot be re-copyrighted, regardless of whether a publisher decides to reprint a book as it is already in the public domain. Only new text or works that are included in a publication are subject to a new copyright claim by the publisher.
Im not overly familiar with Copyright law in the USA so it might be different and its best to check before assuming anything
I haven't sculpted before, as doing so with a mouse/touchpad is a pain. I therefore haven't bothered to learn Zbrush. I've watched a lot of vids, and I'm excited to get my tablet to start all that stuff, but I can't really use the program. I would, however, have guessed it was a feature of Zbrush if it wasn't tilt sensitivity.
I know this has gone a little OTT with Shader Shenanigans, so here are a few bits i worked on this evening when I has a spare hour.
Im not sure if i want to add the same relief as seen in the rest of the piece as i thought the contrast between detail/no detail might be interesting.
I would really appreciate any opinions you chaps might have on this
And the LP wip
Its currently weighing in at 6359 tris., though i still have to optimise it a little more.
Hey Metal, here are the results of the alpha I grabbed from the location you posted. i am just not getting good deformation, ti is extremely noisy, even if I blur and change the intensity. I cant get the results you showed in the video.
Try playing with the focal shift as it can have a huge impact on the result.
Also you may have to do some clean up on the alpha itself...if i remember correctly i also did a levels so the black and whites were pure.
If it helps i did a Gaussian blur of 2px and then applied the levels.
If you want to send me the Alpha, i would be happy to take a look at it and see what i can do
As soon as i figure out how i can render it, i will post something
When fully assembled the high poly is 30 million tris (decimated) so im having a few problems lol!
Replies
I have not been able to do as much as i would have liked over the past few days, but i did get a little free time this evening to pump this little beauty out
Im still planning to release some speed sculpts of all these when i get time, but its going to take a while to sort through them all as there is around 12.5 hrs/20GB of video sitting on my drive.
Hopefully i should have something up by the weekend or early next week sometime.
Im still aiming for this weekend
If you are learning ZBrush, I would totally recommend the Eat3d ZBrush 3.5 Intro and ZBrush Character Production tutorials as they are pure genius.
You can even get them in a bundle and save some cash
Thanks for the kind words man, I really appreciate it!
I have a few tutorials already but ill def check out that one
They are from [ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kelmscott-Chaucer-Collectors-Library-Editions/dp/1904919758/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268702210&sr=1-1"]The Kelmscott Chaucer[/ame].
If you dont want to buy the book, you can get a scanned version of the same border that i am using HERE
Have fun!
I have started thinking seriously about the LP since my last post and decided to do another normal test on the vaulted bricks, which might actually make the cut and be in final asset, though I could prob. shave off some geo. first ^^
Its currently a total of 192 tris but depending on how it looks i could prob. get it down to 130-140.
I have to be really careful as this model has so many parts, the polycount will jump really fast...The vaulted bricks will be duplicated 8 times so rather than 192 tris it suddenly becomes 1536 :S
...Im definitely going to research instancing in UDK a little more for this one i think.
Thanks for looking guys
Hopefully when its finished it will look as good in UDK as it does in my head ^^
These are coming out really nicely, I'm looking forward to seeing your workflow. Have you considered using a different material for these? The red wax one never struck me as the best for working with.
Im currently sorting though all the video so i can get something up on vimeo
As far as the matcap, i find that using standard redwax is the most inoffensive to my eyes and helps me focus a little better as its very neutral.
If you have any suggestions of a groovy matcap that isnt to distracting, i would love to try it out though
I bring multiple HD video speed sculpt goodness
Inner Bricks
Base Trim
Vaulted Bricks
Triangular Piece
Top Arch
Enjoy
because they're both inset sculptures like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01owTezYC-w
Marmoset supports it, you have to but a height map in the normal map as an alpha.
I will do a test and see what the Parallax looks like
@JonathanF
Cheers man
I still have a few left to encode, so you are in luck ^^
Im really happy you enjoyed them
Here is the Parallax test in Marmoset
The standard Normal is to the left with the Parallax to the right.
The difference is quite subtle, but i think with some tuning it would be worth it for a 'folio shot.
If it was for in-game asset, im not sure the result would be worth the extra cost in the shader as i could have double the texture space instead, which would yield much better effect, but as its not i will spare no expense
C+C would be great!
They look awesome! Parallax really excels over normal mapping when you're going to be viewing the mesh from an angle.
ive never used parrellex for anything other than floors or brick walls that cant hold the detail in the form, they are so much more expensive than normal maps its generally not worth it esp if its very subtle, ive not used them in marmoset but in alot of the engines i have used they also create artefacts, so find it counter productive on meshes like this, id be interested to see if it is worth the effort though...
nice deets by the way
Thanks for the kind words
@DarthNater
Yea you are right,
The angle of the last screenie doesn't lend itself to showing the Parallax very well
All in all its pure win and for a 'folio shot i think its going to be perfect!
@SHEPEIRO,
Thanks man!
I think that it wouldnt really be worth using if this in-game as like you said, its a really expensive effect that doesnt always justify the cost with what you get back from it.
I think if i was given the choice i would rather increase my texture sizes and try to push the normal as far as i could.
Im definitely going to use it for this piece though as im not worried about the shader cost.
Here are some updated images to show off the Parallax a little better!
I used a slightly higher value this time, which worked out pretty well and even included a animated .gif for good measure ^^
Any comments would be groovy
No problem man! Enjoy
@Prophecies
Sure thing!
I have made a set of 5 custom brushes that have various alphas and a spray stroke.
I make a new layer, create a morph target and then use the first brush to totally destroy all the edges.
I then bring it back with a custom morph brush set to colour spray so i have a good mix of random wear and controlled damage.
I then go over the edges of the wear with a small brush to create some finer details and lower the intensity so it doesn't stand out too much.
Then its just a case of using the 3 remaining brushes to add varying sizes of detail/wear depending on what looks good
I will try to make a tutorial going over the process later this week if i can.
Hope that helps!
My pleasure
Thanks for the compliment and enjoy the vids!
I've been saving for one for a few months, and now that I finally have my student's public transit pass I can actually get back to the saving bit. Should get a majority of the money back from the folks, so in a few weeks I should have my own intuos 4 M.
Woops, blogtime.
Do you have an estimate yet of the final specs of the prop? Polies and textures? You said something about needing 1500 just for the vaults, which sounds pretty expensive.
Thanks for the comment
Unfortunately, i dont think my tablet supports tilt, but i could be wrong!
Which video and time was it btw? you have made me curious :P
@Snader
Your wish is my command!
http://vimeo.com/10967077
As for the final tricount...im still not 100% sure as i haven't really set myself a budget, and as such am playing it by ear and just seeing what looks good and what i can get away without.
Right now with 90% of the LP done as wip(without much optimisation and no instancing) and all the parts duplicated and rotated to where they will be in the final, its sitting around 30k, though with no duplication its 6.5k.
Instancing in UDK should relieve most of the strain ^^
Once the final 3 or 4 parts are sculpted i will be able to give a better estimation as to what the texture size will be as i will be able to work out how many pixels i need to get a good bake.
Also, did you make any adjustments to the alpha you used? When i am using it the deformation it creates is really jaggedy and looks like poop. I notice this happens alot when i use alphas. Thanks again.
http://vimeo.com/10913862
At around 6:45-ish. The decoration you're working on then seemed to be done with a certain tilt.
Oh well, still awesome work, and I'm still excited to get my own tablet.
This is a bit off topic question but since you are creating alphas based off designs in that book, if you would ever want to use your fountain in a game, would you need the book publishers (or whoever's) permission to use their designs? And if its just a portfolio piece I'm assuming you would just need to credit them, correct?
Anyways awesome work so far! I've been watching it like a hawk since you first posted it. This piece gives me inspiration a lot when I'm modeling =D
@Reverenddevil,
Thanks for the comment!
Im not really sure what that could be, to be honest :S
If you take a screenie of it i would be happy to see if i can notice anything different.
I put a Gaussian Blur on the Alpha before importing it but you can do this non-destructively in Zbrush by opening the Alpha pallet and using the Blur Slider to taste.
@Divine Rage,
Ahh i see what you mean!
That's a feature in ZBrush that allows the brush to follow the orientation of the meshes surface.
Its on by default but you can find it in Preferences> Edit> Align Cursor To Surface
You wont regret getting a tablet though...i have only been using one for a few months and it totally changes the way you sculpt
I will prob. get an Intuos now that i am 100% sure that love using them!
Thanks for the compliments
@Thor Odinson
Thanks for the kind words
Its great to see that my work is inspiring you to create your own stuff! Awesome
The Kelmscott Chaucer was originally published in the same year that William Morris died (1896) and as UK copyright law states that artistic work is protected for the life of the author plus 70 years, it became part of the public domain in 1966.
The only exception to this is Peter Pan which is protected indefinitely in the UK with all royalties going to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.
Any work that finds itself out of copyright, cannot be re-copyrighted, regardless of whether a publisher decides to reprint a book as it is already in the public domain. Only new text or works that are included in a publication are subject to a new copyright claim by the publisher.
Im not overly familiar with Copyright law in the USA so it might be different and its best to check before assuming anything
Hope that answers your question :P
Enjoy
@Divine Rage,
Get that tablet and sculpt away man! I cant wait to see what you come up with
@DrathNater
Cheers man!
I know this has gone a little OTT with Shader Shenanigans, so here are a few bits i worked on this evening when I has a spare hour.
Im not sure if i want to add the same relief as seen in the rest of the piece as i thought the contrast between detail/no detail might be interesting.
I would really appreciate any opinions you chaps might have on this
And the LP wip
Its currently weighing in at 6359 tris., though i still have to optimise it a little more.
C+C would be great
Thanks for looking!
Try playing with the focal shift as it can have a huge impact on the result.
Also you may have to do some clean up on the alpha itself...if i remember correctly i also did a levels so the black and whites were pure.
If it helps i did a Gaussian blur of 2px and then applied the levels.
If you want to send me the Alpha, i would be happy to take a look at it and see what i can do
I tried the Alpha you sent me and get the same result as you do.
I think the problem is that the Alpha is just far too small for Zbrush to be able to capture any reasonable amount of detail from.
On the link i posted there are higher res versions of the image available so you prob. want to try one of them
Hope that helps!
I had a spare hour today so i thought i would post the Arch piece that im currently working on
Any comments would be sweet
I though i would upload two new speed sculpting vids for everyone to check out
http://vimeo.com/11034728
http://vimeo.com/11034768
Enjoy!
As soon as i figure out how i can render it, i will post something
When fully assembled the high poly is 30 million tris (decimated) so im having a few problems lol!