How would you texture this sword?

NAIMA

Hello I would like some sugestions on what material and color scheme to use for texturing his sword....







My idea was to use ivory for the hild and a sort of double sided japanese katana like for the blade .... But how much should i brush the blade in zbrush to achieve its effect? Or better leave smooth? What color scheme to use ? I tought gold and ivory on hilt but what to make in ivory and what in metal?

Joshua Stubbles

Naima, why don't you try to texture it in a way you think is right. After that, then post here and ask for critique? One of the best ways to learn (and also the most rewarding as an artist imo) is learning through trial and error. If everyone tells you what to do every step of the way, you're learning nothing, but rather standing on the shoulders of others.

pior

My idea was to use ivory for the hild and a sort of double sided japanese katana like for the blade

There you go! Question answered.

NAIMA

Thanks but I am not looking for tips on how to texture this but hints on what scheme use etc I do not want to waste time going for something then have to redo all by scratch , since I am planning stage I just asked for some ideas or opinions on what woudl be best to go for to achieve the best balanced and good effect ......

NAIMA

How about this color scheme?

uncle

I'd suggest observing color on actual existing blades - go check some reference. Don't be afraid of color picking and playing a bit in photoshop to see how the colors interact with each other.

You can always make it your own way. Maybe you can observe some existing palletes on http://www.colourlovers.com/palettes - I use it for inspiration all the time! The site is mainly for designers tho, if you want your blade realistic then you can go with first answer.

Ace-Angel

Um, that's all up to you, people aren't going to tell your how to model or texture your stuff unless you have some progress in, at which point, they'll offer crtis, not ideas on where to take stuff.

Currently, all you have is a naked mesh with no color or specular definition. You might as well ask us on how your character model is when your only have a sphere.

tristamus

Hey there Naima,

Of all the posts I've seen from you, you seem like you always want someone to hold your hand through everything. I'm NOT trying to offend you, but as said by others, why are you so afraid to try things on your own?

Save iterations, and if stuff fucks up, go back and try something else!

passerby

ya i agree with tristamus and the other ones saying the same thing, in this topic, you really need to just DO, and try things out. sometimes this might cause something to outright fail and you got to try again. Which is still actually useful as far as learning goes, since you can pull things apart to figure out where it went wrong.

But at other times things could work out like you want, or maybe even accidents that lead to new design or workflow ideas can happen.

NAIMA

Oh Couse I just try to learn from he more expert people so I don't want to "take" bad route couse I decide to go with my own ideas , so far I am learning really a lot doing that ....

Here is another preview of the color scheme of the actual texturing , I will brighten more the ivory parts later .... how bout the blade?

NAIMA

I redid the color scheme again ... how bout this one ?

Anuxinamoon

The sum of my experience has all been gained from fuck ups. Fuck ups are important. MAKE LOTS!

Another thing you could try is just keep re-texturing it a few different ways, it will help you with iterations and learning how to texture and all that. Then from the 4 or 5 your complete you can pick one to be a finalist.

NAIMA

That's how I finally textured and put ingame , what you think?

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/9193/dovahmaaringame1.jpg

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/9297/dovahmaaringame2.jpg

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/3526/dovahmaaringame3.jpg

Froyok

Hboybowen wrote: »

came out pretty well actually

Yeah, I agree.

Anuxinamoon

Yup that turned out pretty good!
Are you going to do another one?

NAIMA

Thankyou I made this for a mod quest idea for skyrim ... First I need to fix the materials adjoust the sword blade textures etc ... Does the sword look belueavable altough is a total fantasy shape ? I want to make a scabbard too and a pose stand eventually ... May be some dirt variation ... Does the hammered bronze/gold fit with the ivory? Will also add a gemstone on the nose slot ... But my problem is that i had few polys on the blade to add the desired scratches I need to find a sol ...