AO BAKE QUESTIONS
Hi guys, I have modeled a weapon for tf2 which will be included in a pack I am working with. It consists mainly of two materials, Wood (for the main body of the weapon)and Obsidian (for the part that will kill the enemy:poly136:)which is not a metal but mineral-like (and not completely mineral pfff so complicated).
Here i put a reference of the obsidian
And here a piece of my model with DIFFUSE MAP of the Wood and Obsidian
So, i heard that for the SPEC maps for tf2 you can make an AO MAP. So do i bake the AO in all the body including the wood or just in the obsidian which is the model that has reflective properties. Please help me to achieve something similar to the image up i am new to this :P thx very much
Here i put a reference of the obsidian
And here a piece of my model with DIFFUSE MAP of the Wood and Obsidian
So, i heard that for the SPEC maps for tf2 you can make an AO MAP. So do i bake the AO in all the body including the wood or just in the obsidian which is the model that has reflective properties. Please help me to achieve something similar to the image up i am new to this :P thx very much
Replies
The first order of business is to get something roughed in and working inside of Source. Then work on refining the materials. This is a giant pain in the ass... but necessary because how the materials look in Maya is not at all how they will look when applied to source. Once you've worked with it enough you get a sense of how Source and Maya differ and its easier to work all in Maya but until you strike that balance you spend a lot of time bouncing back and forth.
You should also read up on what a spec map is, it sounds like you might not have a prefect understanding of it? The polycount wiki is a good place to get some info.
You should also read up on how spec maps are used in TF2, there are a few different reflective effects that can be used on weapons and models. The ValveWiki is a good place for that.
You might also want to hit up some other Obsidian reference, what you have is polished and when it was used in weapons it was because it could be flaked and produce sharp edges. What you get is a surface that is a little less perfect and more irregular, BUT you have to strip out some of the micro detail because this is TF2...
Good luck!
But refering to the spec map, i read this in one thread here in polycount.
"Most metal textures you see on models in TF2 will be accompanied by a specular map. These spec maps are generally based on the diffuse texture with ambient occlusion included. Including ambient occlusion in the specular map helps to emphasize the shininess of the edges by making anything in crevices dull."
But I don't understand something, he meant that with a Diffuse and an AO both combined i would have a good spec or a Spec + AO will have a good spec? There's my doubt because i am new to game texturing and modeling.:\
Thank you for your recommendations man, a lot of work will be neded to achieve some material similar to the obsidian.
This spec map is applied to the right sphere but not the left. Notice its effect on the highlight.
The spec map is a mask that tells the engine which parts can be shinny and which can't.
White areas will be really shinny and black will be dull. Using the values in between you can create a wide variety reflective properties of different materials. You don't want specular highlights running over your cracks and crevices (left) so you mask them out.
Ambient Occlusion is a good start to a spec map because it makes all the cracks, crevices, concave areas, black and all the convex areas darker.
So a AO map on this model as a start for the spec map will help keep the crack and folds from shining bright when a specular highlight passes over them.
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81427&highlight=obsidian
Remembered that from a while back and tonnes of advice and how to approach your spec.