Stielhandgranate 24 WIP

maxivz

Hello guys, i have been trying to learn normal map baking for ages, and now had some time to finally learn about it.

So, heres my first "complex" bake :poly121:, i decided to make a german world war granade as it was a cool model and still easy to uvmap, i will start working on the texture and i would be really gratefull if you guys could give me critics and tips of how to make the texture look better, as i am really new to texturing as well
So, here it is the high poly:

And heres the bake and the model with the wires, its 980polys:

Tell me guys what you think so far and if you want to take a look at my portfolio, it can be found here: http://maxivz.carbonmade.com/

Snader

Looks good, just 2 small remarks:
-that small screw thingy seems redundant, could be just a normalmap
-the large cylinder could use some extra sides, like so:

maxivz

Thanks for the tips Snader , i decided to make the handle a cilinder or 18 sides becouse i had seted myself a limit of 1000 polys for the low poly
Btw, what are you reffering to with "small screw thingy"? i dont seem to understand what part are you refering to :P

maxivz

@ Super Happy Cow, i see what you mean, i noticed it when i applyied the smothing groups to the low poly, the normal map make it look better tought, even when it doesnt add too much detail

XenoKratios

I think your low poly model could be used as a high poly . But it's a very nice start, I remember when I tried to bake a Normal Map it was all jagged and messed up, made me furious!

To me it just seems that the normal map doesn't do anything to the model, the details themselves define it, not the map. You know what I'm trying to say?

Snader

As for the amount of sides/1000 poly limit: then sacrifice some polies from the stick part. Currently the explosive half is just too angular, as it's twice the diameter of the stick but using the same amount of sides. If you really don't want to use more polies, you could make the small part 16 sided and the big part 24 sided, that should come out at roughly the same total polycount.

maxivz

XenoKratios wrote: »

I think your low poly model could be used as a high poly . But it's a very nice start, I remember when I tried to bake a Normal Map it was all jagged and messed up, made me furious!

To me it just seems that the normal map doesn't do anything to the model, the details themselves define it, not the map. You know what I'm trying to say?

Dont think this was actually the first one, the first one was all messed up, this is the first normal map it ended up looking ok, after a lot of working and fixing in the uv, smothing groups and model :P

Snader
Thats a good point! The problem is that i would have to unwrap everything again and at this point, i am a bit lazy :P, i want to get straight into the texturing, so i can get some practice in that area, next time i do a low poly i am going to take all your advices so i can make it work better

maxivz

Super cow, i was just over hyped with the normal map, i will now modify it, i just have a question, what do you mean with mergind every other edge? I think it would lookse its shape, but i will get rid of the loops

Jessica Dinh

Hey maxivz, good work so far But Super Happy Cow's advice is pretty good, I agree that you should delete every other edge along your model there. If you are hesitant, a great trick I learned is to zoom out to a distance of about how far you think your prop is going to be viewed in game - then delete the edge. If it does not visibly change the silhouette of your model, you don't need it! Once you bake out your normal map and apply it, I think you will be surprised at how well it will flesh out your lowpoly



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Snader

I'm gonna say no on that, Jessica and SuperHappyCow. It's really important to give the explosive part enough sides.


-right is original, looks good, even up close there's hardly any jaggies.
-middle is how I'd do it, the handle looks a bit jaggy op close but the whole thing looks fine on a small scale
-left is your method, even in the small view you can clearly see all the angles.

Saving 12% more polygons just isn't worth the visual degradation.

I do agree that the normal map can be used to leverage the small ridges on the safety cap. You could then use those polies to add a little extra detail - a clasp to hang the grenade:

maxivz

So guys, i have been reworking the low poly with your advices and i got it down to 580 polys! Im posting the low poly here, unbaked so you can see it, if you find any crits plase tell me! your really helping me a lot


Note: I have removed 3 of the ridges on the safety thing on the back, but i left the bigger one, as it makes the normal map display better

Jessica Dinh

You're doing great, good job!

maxivz

I think i am going to let those polys as i used them to make the uvmap easier to texture, i never textured anything like this and its going to be much easier to texture them if they are togerther i think, but i am going to merge the ones on the bottom, those can easilly be textured Thanks for the advices!
Btw, i am having a problem, dont know whats going on with max but the hotkeys in unwrap map no loger work, even when they are asigned, they just wont work if somebody knows the answer pl

Jessica Dinh

Hmmm have you tried clicking the Keyboard Shortcut Override Toggle on the main toolbar? (not the toolbar in the uvw edit page, but the one above the viewport space. the icon is a square with an upward-pointing arrow)

maxivz

Thanks a lot Jessica! That made it work
Heres a snap from the viewport:

maxivz

So, here it is some texture progress, theres no specular map i have just worked on the wood, green part is a place holder. The text looks kinda unreal to me as well
I am really having problems trying to make the green part look like painted metal, if anybody can link me to some tuts or can give me some tips i will be really gratefull


And merry chrismas!

glottis8

There is so much more you can do with the wood handle. Think about how that is the part of the grenade that they hold on to, so the middle is were its worn out the most... grime and dirt would start to stack on the sides were it connects to the metal.

I have this saved cuz they always come handy when someone asks me how to make metal and scratches and stuff.

http://picasaweb.google.com/103254553280123118836/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCMGbm9ammamjzQE&feat=directlink

Just download the picture so you get the full res of the pic.

Snader

from http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/ordinance-ammo/m24-stielhandgranate-collection-7273/

To get realistic text you have to approach it as it is in real life (makes sense doesn't it?). First off, this text is stamped on, not stenciled. Secondly, it's really tiny and ink is liquid, so you'll have soft outlines and not sharp shapes. Third, wear and tear should be soft, because the ink gradually eroded over the course of many years. And last, but definitely not least, you're using the wrong font - yours is a typical U.S. ARMY font.

German WW2 fonts look like a lot more gothic and angular, for instance like this:




But you can't print such fonts on a grenade - it's too small, hard to do (not good for cheap production) and had bad legibility. So use a simple sans-serif font, and make sure the texure ends up with soft round shapes.




Bebas, Accidental Presidency, Gliscor Gothic.

..that about wraps it up about the text I think, no wait - your white is too white, should be more cream.

For further wear and tear and realism:
-the material has 3 layers: metal, green paint, white paint. So any scratches that go through the green will also go through white.
-edges, ridges, whatever gets makes the most contact, also gets the most worn.
-metal should be somewhat bumpy, just a quick couple of filters (cloud, noise and blur combined creatively) converted through xNormal should suffice.
-use proper specular
-rust, subtle but visible

maxivz

Still no spec, no way finished but some progress, i want to go for a really grunge look and i dont know if i am really overdoing the grunge in the metal part, so i would like some advices in that
Also, the text its too clean for the condition of that granade its supposed to be in, i would be really happy if you guys can give me some advices there, and maybe some photos
With no more talking, here it is :P

ariofighter

The wood texture your using reminds me of tree bark and not a processed wood handle. I would add something with more wood grain or particle wood and less bark type look.

I also am not to sure if the text should wrap that far around the grenade. I couldn't imagine the designers wanting you to have to rotate it to read the whole thing. Just a guess though seeing as I know nothing about designing a grenade.

You have made a lot of progress though, keep up the good work.