Topic: 3D Modeling WIP Topic

[kat]

Post your 3D modelling WIPs in this topic. This is stickied so it stays at the top of the forum.

Please remember to keep images to a maximum of 720 pixels in width/height, linking out to larger images where necessary. You should also consider providing details and information about what you're doing so others know what's what without repeatedly asking for it.

Old WIP topic on previous forums (no longer available), lots of work can be seen there.

[ratty redemption]

kat, are we starting this topic again or merging the one from the old forum? I don't mind either way, just curious

[kat]

Continuation.. I'll be adding a link to the old one when I get a chance.

[ratty redemption]

understood, cool and here's some images of my latest tests with projection painting and layering normal maps in blender:

the 1st image shows the result of projection painting used to make the rock's base normalmap. the 2nd image shows one of the normalmap layers used in the projection painting and the rock's high frequency normals enabled in the material slot. and the 3rd image has the crack normals enabled.



one of coolest things I found was that projection painting will work with glsl mode, so  we can see a real time preview as we paint the normalmaps

[ratty redemption]

I think I've got the basic art and tech worked out now for these rocks, so next on my to do list is add in more cracks to their detail layer, which will also be tileable so can be used on the rest of the rocks in this group.



edit: there isn't any custom spec or ao maps shown here, I'll make those after I've finished the crack layer.

[kat]

When you place the cracks think about where a rock like that would be stressed, that small crack on the top could be pushed back to the inner area where the shape changes and slopes upwards (to the upper area), so you take advantage of what would be a natural area where the object would be naturally stressed under the impact of whatever it was that broke the outer edge/side bit.

[ratty redemption]

thanks kat and good suggestion, I'll keep this in mind if I'm going to make unique cracks for each rock. although first I'm going to test tiled cracks over the group of rocks that one came from.

[ratty redemption]

I've just completed a test with using vertex weight painting to determine the strength of the displacements around the edges of my cracks. also as this was only a small part of the model, the baking was very quick.

[kat]

Although all this experimentation is good, I can't quite see where you're going with it. To me looking at this from the outside, you're putting in a disproportionate amount of work without the corresponding return. What's you ultimate goal with all this? Will it make doing certain steps in asset production faster? Is combining normal maps the way you've been showing a quicker process than doing the same sort of thing in a photo-editor and so on.

[ratty redemption]

good questions kat, and as you know I am a slow worker when figuring out how to do things for the first time, but ultimately I hope to use blender as my main app in the asset production, and I think several of these techniques are giving me more control over those assets then I would have swapping between various apps.

of course I might be wrong, time will tell but I am really enjoying myself so I don't feel any of these experiments are wasting time.

dersaidin has just asked me to work on a cliff face from his teams current map, and that will be a good practical test of the techniques I've been developing.

[kat]

Oh it's certainly not a waste of time. As you quite rightly said, it's what you're enjoying doing ATM. What I was curious about was where or what this work is leading to, especially since when you normally do something it's to work out a process on route to an end result. Right now I can't see one, unless it's to stock up on 'ideas' or just 'experience'. So yes, involvement in the project you mentioned will be helpful to you, especially with regards to production time-frames, I'm not sure how much of the tricks you've been tinkering with you'll be able to use because when you're on a team stuff like that goes out the window in favour of getting finished results in as quickly as possible.

[ratty redemption]

again good points and I knew you weren't suggesting I personally was wasting time, considering we both do this kind of thing for a hobby. but whether we can recommend these techniques to other people will become more apparent after the techniques have been used like you said in a team environment.

for me personally the experience I'm gaining in just learning what blender can do is definitely going to help me in the long term, and although I consider a lot of my current work to be tests, I am keeping most of the prefab type models I'm making, for example these crack objects will hopefully be used in several different models or textures, especially as they can be scaled and rotated easier then with a photo source.

[ratty redemption]

dersaidin said I could post my wip cliff face I'm making for his map, so here is the cliff model (colored green) which he sent me with my particle rocks (red and blue) painted onto it.



after dersaidin has given the go ahead I'll shrink wrap a high density mesh over these then decimate it down to the poly limit of 5000 and clean the mesh up by hand.

[kat]

5000? You'll reduce further right? I say that because that seems like a heck of a lot of polygons for that sort of structure, this whole terrain section I did for UC09 was around 5600 and that's an objects that's 4096x4096, so you should be able to knock yours back quite significantly... unless there's a specific reason for the 5000 limit?

[ratty redemption]

thanks kat, and that was just the limit that dersaidin mentioned, if I can keep it in the hundreds then I'll do so, especially if this model ends up using a custom material with unique normal, spec maps etc then I can save a lot of polys.

oops, I just realized the image I posted was 1/3 of the cliff face. but still the 3 cliff sections probably aren't as large as your terrain there.