AXE!

Andrew Mackie

Hello everyone!
I am going to attempt to create a basic fireman's axe. I would like to have the base modelling fully done by the end of this week [at most].
Images coming soon!

Swizzle

It helps to have images ready to post. Right now you just have the promise of images, but nothing to show.

Andrew Mackie

Here are the reference images that I will be using to just model out the axe.
Enjoy!

Taylor Hood

Look, dude...I know what you're trying to do but why didn't you create the thread when you had something to work on and show us?
We KNOW what axes look like...you don't have to show real life refrence pictures

Seere

Not to add to the negative sounding comments in this thread. First let me say you need to work in your own timelines and thats good and all.

But doing a piece like this I would think in the industry you would have a few hours to have it fully done. More if its like a main weapon or something. But an axe like this should not take more then a day I would think.

Mabye someone in the industry can tell me if i'm wrong? But from all the people i've asked about deadlines.. this would be one of those quick quick projects.

Id say use this project to learn how to work fast.

Andrew Mackie

Thanks guys for the feedback. I will try to get a rough model and texture done by tonight then.

Andrew Mackie

First pass of modeling.

Andrew Mackie

An AO pass to show the modeling a little better.

DrunkShaman

PC personnel require what you have posted so far and also, the wire on shaded object.

Right of the bat crits:

- The back end of the Axe is too wide. You need to scale it inwords a little to make it look a little pointy.
-The front end have only one edge loop I assume. And the handle socket of the axe have a little crafting hold that connects to the handle.
-Wooden handle is a bit more round than you have made so far.

Keep working at it you are doing good.

Thanks for sharing.

Andrew Mackie

Another concept model.

Andrew Mackie

Thanks for the crits Nitewalkr!
So far I have just been doing the model and not worrying too much about the poly count, but I will be getting wireframe on shaded shots soon.

I will also be fixing what you have told me about the first axe.
Thanks again :].

Andrew Mackie

Having some trouble with the blade of the axe. Should I try to attach the higher poly blade end to the mesh or just keep it a separate object and combine it all once I am done?
I plan on having this object as a game object.

Andrew Mackie

Wireframes of the most recent models.

Andrew Mackie

[ After two hours of work. ]

Very rough texture on the first axe.

Andrew Mackie

P.S. The poly count on the first axe is 498 Tris. The other axe is at 578 Tris.

Swizzle

Why do you have all those beveled edges, yet only a single cut down the center of the blade? You need to redistribute your polygons so they go to improving the silhouette.

Andrew Mackie

Thanks Swizzle, I will work on getting a better silhouette tonight.

Taylor Hood

Texture is a bit low res, dude?

Andrew Mackie

Yeah the renders are also on draft in maya software. The textures are more a fun thing I did while I took a break from the modeling. Nothing final yet.

Andrew Mackie

Here are the current silhouettes of the two axes.

Andrew Mackie

Updated silhouette of the first axe, I also cut down on the poly count for it.

Andrew Mackie

New axe idea. It will be a one-handed style axe.

Moosey_G

Stop saving in .jpegs! Also, why are you modeling out concepts instead of just painting it? It seems like you're just making things more complicated instead of putting effort and learning into a complete version.

Andrew Mackie

Thanks for the feedback? I have to say it helps me out when people say that I'm not putting effort into my work. I'd appreciate it, next time, if you can come and give me actual constructive feedback Moosey_G.

Taylor Hood

Perhaps what he was trying to say is stick to one and finish it?

Andrew Mackie

I can understand saying that, but stating that I am not putting effort into my work is insulting to me.
Regardless, I will be posting more textured work within the hour.

Andrew Mackie

First diffuse texture pass at axe 01. No normal or spec yet, but I am working on those now.

I am also thinking of adding some hand wraps to the handle of the axe, just to add something to the boring wood texture.

MattQ86

It looks a bit too soft around the blade. It looks round like the safety scissors equivalent of an axe.

Also, yeah, some hand wraps or something would help this look more interesting.

xk0be

I think you should take a moment to plan exactly what you want to do. Make the axe interesting, give it life.

First I suggest spending some time modeling one, find a cool concept and do it. If you want to do the basic firemen's axe though then you can still do that, but the wraps are a good idea. Post some pics of wires from all angles, the part under the blade looks weird but it might be the lighting. An object does not have to be uninteresting if it's simple.

The thing that's gonna make or break it is texturing though, and to me it looks like you got it from a low res photo. I am no texturing expert though, but maybe you should focus on just one part at a time?

Get the wood to look right, then the metal. Post pics from photoshop and we can help you figure out what it needs. Think about the scratches and the dirt, make sure they are in a logical place. Also it seems like the reference pictures you posted, each axe has a unique "thing" about it. Yours does not have something that makes it an individual axe, although the hand wraps would be cool so you should do that.

Andrew Mackie

MattQ86- The blade does look off, I'll try to fix that tonight, thanks.

xk0be- Thanks for the amazing feedback! I have some wire frames that I'll be posting soon. But I do agree that I am missing something unique about the axe and I am hoping that the hand wraps will turn out the way that I am envisioning. I do need to work on my texturing skills though, and this is just the project to learn how to get better.

Andrew Mackie

Here is my texture space and a shot of the hand wraps that I am working on.
The texture is rough and I need to re-organize the space but it's a WIP.
I was also thinking of just extracting some of the wood and doing the wrap more as a texture on the wood handle.
Ideas?

SnakeDoctor

I know the texture is WIP . but maybe you could put some more grunge on the axe espically on the handle to make it look like its been through some fires and what not. Try to focus on the areas where you would think a fireman would hold it. I also agree with the back of the blade feeling a bit soft.

Andrew Mackie

I'm going to get some help with the texturing hopefully tomorrow. As for the blade, it has been altered I just have to upload it again. Thanks for the feedback :]

Andrew Mackie

Newest renders. I lowered the res of the texture to 256 and the handle suffered some, so I will be working with that.

odium

Ouch, very bad idea doing the tap that way. Just paint the tape on the wood and then have a piece sticking off at the end. ATM the tape looks like it was made from rubber!

Also, your unwrap scale ratio is waaaaaay off, why is the blade given so much more space than the wood? The pixel density will really make things look awkward.

Andrew Mackie

Thanks odium! I was wondering if I should do the tape just as a texture. I will also be changing around the texture space again, that is one (of the many) things I need to get better at.

and yes bretmcnee it is supposed to be tape, but I will be doing it just as a texture tonight.

Thanks for the feedback!

odium

Use a checkedboard texture as a temp testing texture. That way you can see any bad stretching on the unwrap as well as see if the scales match up.

Andrew Mackie

Re-worked the texture back up to 512 and added the tape unto the texture instead of the nonsense I had before.
Thanks odium!

pliang

I've been looking at this and since it's scraped, taped and apparently bloodied, it may make more sense to change the wood texture as well.

Take a look at those old hammers and use the wood surface as reference.

Illusive

i'd def retexture or reunwrap the blade tip
makes your axe look like it's blunt as, i thought it was a mesh problem at first but then checked out your wireframe and it's fine.
so yeah reunwrap in so it matches the texture properly or retexture it to match the unwrap properly, either way

xk0be

What do you mean you re-worked the texture back up to 512? You're not scaling it are you? You need to start at the res you're gonna use or at least scale down, never up. Again I think you should take a moment to follow some advice on here, re-unwrap it, post up the uvs and with a checkerboard so we can crit. Texture it with high res photos if you don't wanna do it from scratch (cgtextures.com is a good start)

Work on one part first, there's no reason to spend your time on the hand straps when you could be using it to make the wood look good.

KyleJensen

Ditch the blood spatters.

Vertrucio

The splatters can be placed on later with decals.

You should also make sure you have your hard/soft polys, or smoothing groups setup properly to give hard edges the right look. This is especially important if you're not going to be using a normal map.

Andrew Mackie

Thank you all for the great feedback!
This is all helping me out immensely.
I will re-unwrap the mesh tonight and place the checker texture on it.
I will also be getting rid of the blood splatters.
As for "re-working the texture size", I meant that I saved a 512 version before reducing it so I just backtracked to using the original 512 size.
I am also having trouble working with the hard/soft polys. I just can't seem to get them working right.
Updates coming soon.

Andrew Mackie

The older un-wrap with the texture space, I can definitely see where some of the problems are.
Working on them as you read this.

tex_cookiedough

uv's looking better but the actual axe blade on the model looks a little soft, try pulling it away from the model a little more and maybe change the smoothing so you get a hard edge.. sorry for gibberish post im in a rush

but yeh over all its looking better dude (y)

Andrew Mackie

Here is another un-wrap for the blade and a higher rez texture for the wooden handle.
I hope this is looking better.

KyleJensen

The spike part of the axe head could use some attention.

se7ered

i agree with shadowforce. the wood is looking really good tho. i don't know if i like how it gets lighter half way down the handle

Andrew Mackie

I will be working with the spike today then.
The reason the wood gets lighter could also be my mediocre lighting skills, but I will check out the texture again.
Thanks guys for the feedback.

Andrew Mackie

I've modified the pick of the axe slightly, I hope it is looking better.
I think tomorrow will be the last day that I work on this axe [for now]. I have spent almost a week on it and that is FAR too long.
I will be starting a new thread with another project soon enough.