minigun!!!

JonathanF

hey everyone! so yeah... this is my new project that is due this monday night.. i had started on wednesday night when i got the project... I am really REALLY struggling here on this one though! I have started over a couple of time trying to figure out the best way to tackle a piece like this thats so freaky detailed! I can't just do floaters either. I kinda have AN idea of how im going to try at it again, but if anyone has any ideas that would be great! I really underestimated this piece... Thanks yall!

Andreas

Don't post threads without some sort of W.I.P shots >:( It's pointless. If its beyond you to model this, model something simpler.

PixelGoat

Its just alot of cylinders. Not that hard really! LOL!

danshewan

One good thing about modeling a minigun is that you'll probably be able to combine various features of several models into your model without anyone noticing, making it easier to gather more reference images. Another positive is the fact that, if you spend some time really studying it, most of the more complex shapes and detailed parts are actually bolted on as part of the manufacturing process.

This is one of those projects where it's easy to lose sight of the overall underlying shapes due to the amount of surface detail, but the frame itself seems reasonably simple. The rear part is comprised is three main cylinders, with an asymmetrical attachment on the right, surrounded by a support frame that bridges the handle and firing mechanism to the barrels. The trigger handle / firing mechanism is even simpler - the grip is attached to a Y-frame that connects to the main body cylinder with a smaller connecting cylinder.

You've got some good reference, so just take it easy and maybe spend more time blocking in the additional components than you might on a typical model to make sure everything fits together as it should. If it were my project, I'd begin with the bottom-right image as my starting point.

Looking forward to seeing it!

JonathanF

hmmm... I guess I'm just thinking to hard into it then

Danshewan - thanks man.

imb3nt

Yeah, just tackle one piece at a time.
You can stare at it forever trying to figure out the best way to get into it. Shouldn't be too bad once you get started.

Good luck, should be a fun one.

SkyWay

Blenderhead wrote: »

Don't post threads without some sort of W.I.P shots >:( It's pointless. If its beyond you to model this, model something simpler.

(EDIT: was tired, read that "It's beyond you to model this" and thought it was rude.)

Have you seen his other work? He just started from the wrong end, as he said, thinking too hard about it.

And I agree with the previous comments, consider the basics of it all first. It is pretty much "just cylinders", all the detail is bolted on.

You can do it

Tea Monster

Due on Monday? stop posting and start meshing! As others have said, you don't need to do a cutaway job on it. Just collect the requisite number of cylinders and you should be good to go.

MRico

-looks at his portfolio-

You got this shit, brah.

raul

little do you guys know...my boy's got this! ( you do right? otherwise, im gonna look dumb! lol)

JonathanF

wow!! thank you all for your encouragement! That REALLY helped me out! This is as far as I have gotten though. I won't make the dead line for class tomorrow night as I have work and then off to class from there(I need my sleep for work)... but I'll get it finished this week with the low poly and texture for sure! I am really happy where I got with it though. ITS ALL THANKS TO YOU GUYS!!!

Razgriz

Looking good for the amount of time you had to put into it. Work smarter, not harder, right? It's evident that you've reused a lot of the pieces in different placements and scales, but as you start to fill up the rest of the piece it will look very natural. The reference is very busy, and it's suicide to model everything individually, so you're taking the right approach.

If I had any advice for where you are right now, it would be that there are a few different pieces from the reference that are missing from your WIP that would be easy to add, namely bolts and wires. There are a ton of bolts all over the place on the reference guns, and some quick instancing and editable splines could put a ton of detail into it without much effort.

Can't wait to see the final piece man!

SkyWay

Lookin' good

duxun

keep going !!!

Saman

In case you are reusing alot of the different parts of the minigun I suggest you uv-map those parts before duplicating them, it will save up some time.
It's looking good, keep at it!

Shogun3d

Yup, you've got this.

Lonewolf

so far so good

raul

sleep jonathan? we dont sleep in this industry!!

And your mini gun is looking awesome!!

katana

Nicely done .

JonathanF

Razgriz - thanks man! yeah I still got plenty of details to add for sure to get this bad boy done. Thanks for the advice! I can't wait to see the final result myself!

SkyWay - yes sir!

duxun - IM GOING IM GOING!!!

Goraaz - thanks man! well im not actually going to texture the high poly. I'll be just uv mapping the low poly when i make it.

kaburan - thanks man!

Loneworld -

raul - thanks dude!

katana - thank you very much!

AND NOW! BACK TO WORKING ON IT!! My set goal for this bad boy is to have the High poly done by Thursday night! Then finish the low poly on Friday night! bake then texture it Saturday and Sunday!

PixelGoat

Very slick nice job so far!

Zelenkov

nice job man! Want to see more.....no rest for the wicked!

JonathanF

Well, here is an update of the high poly and low poly bake... been a crazy week... I also missed quack con.... I am having issues with the side piece where the ammo comes through. I have most of it modeled but didn't want to render it... but I had to get something done for the low poly, so here it be. Not sure if this is my best work... I do plan on finishing this bad boy!



I may need to bring down the try count here... as im at 6370 tris...:poly132: so yeah.... I blame that on all the cylinders... but Im pretty sure there is still lots to be taken away from.

raul

that looks pretty good!! the only thing i would say is that key shapes, like cylinders facing the player may need to be rounder, specially if they are on top of a flat surface.

Thegodzero

Its hurts me to have to say this, but.... I don't think you need to go any lower. You don't want to eat away at details that you might want for first person view.

JonathanF

Raul - thanks, yeah the top left image would be closest to the players view of the gun as its a low handling gun... I did focus on rounding off to what a player would see in that view. I see i missed a place or two though.

thegodzero - yeah.... i know what your saying.

Shogun3d

If you want to save up on some tri count and can afford to do so, I would possibly look at sacrficing some areas below the weapon that are not viewable by the player at a first person perspective. Under areas, inner facings, areas inside the model and away from the player. Tri count is not terribly bad at all right now, but it is going to be an expensive weapon, but rightfully so. It's a minigun!

Keep it up, can't wait to see this textured

an aggressive napkin

Thats great work man, I think the tri count does it justice with the detail though! Modern technology will be able to handle this minigun in it so no worries!