Fairwater's Showcase

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:13 pm

Hi there i guess i have been prowling TR for maybe 3 years now and i finally feel like i have something to contrubute. I am just getting into 3d Moddeling and i have made some Lanterns off of Lady N's Concept art. I am just really posting these here so you can use them. My goal right now isnt so much to join TR (because i dont think i have the nessisary skills just yet that you would be looking for in a modeler) but instead to learn modeling through modeling stuff that TR can use. Although i am very very intersted in joining once i feel competent enough with 3d modeling.

Ps. I dont really know how to make screenshots just yet so if anyone wants to let me know that would be great.

[edit]

Cleaned up thread of useless files.

angelus6 · Post by **angelus6** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:20 pm

Hey buddy,. welcome to TR.
it's always good to have more modelers.

anyway, i can't open this file. im trying with 3dMax 8 but i just get some error about missing DLL's. bah!
probly my end not yours

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:25 pm

Its 3d max 9 if there is backwards compatibility issues, i dont know. Anything i can do to try and make it accessible?

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:26 pm

just pres the print screen (Prt Scr) button on your keyboard. then go to a image editing program (paint, photoshop, photoditor, etc.) and paste. then just crop it and save it.

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:31 pm

Ok i got screenshots made. Here they are

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:33 pm

they look good

(me is fuzzy seeing her concepts in 3d almost the first time)

can you post the polycount for these? they look like they might be a bit too high poly.

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:36 pm

Ok well i must say i dont know how to find my poly counts but i will work on it.

Edit:
ok the first one is 2592
The second one is around 2600
And the third one is about 3000.

Which is probally way to high no?

PoHa! · Post by **PoHa!** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 9:21 pm

Actually, OB lamps are around that polycount, believe it or not.

However, they were probably unnecessarily so. I wonder what they'd look like if you could get them <2000?

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 9:30 pm

Edit: they are all below 1500 now. Well that didnt take to long to trim them down to size!

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 9:30 pm

the round parts is where you can cut of some polys. people wont see them close enough too truly tell that it isent a perfect circle.

PoHa! · Post by **PoHa!** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:02 pm

Fairwater wrote:Edit: they are all below 1500 now. Well that didnt take to long to trim them down to size!

Yep, and honestly, I don't really see the difference in quality; they look just as good as they did before, IMO. Nicely done. So, how about a texture for them?

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:18 pm

I have never textured anything and have no idea where to start.

Nemon · Post by **Nemon** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:24 pm

Niiice! Good to see new contributions!

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:34 pm

well, first you start with a UV map. then you basicaly have to figure out what yo want each part of the lantern too look like. if you could UV these i would love to have a go at texturing them.

looking wonderfull by the way

you would be a great adition to the team.

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:35 pm

Ok well i guess i will find a tutorial on How to UV something then i will try and get them all UVed to you tomorrow! as for tonight i have some other work to do.

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 11:46 pm

Ok Lady N i think have UV mapped them, well i guess we will find out soon enough wont we.

OK well it turns out i have no idea how to uv map so if anyone wants to point to a tutorial for the method i should use that would be great!

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:55 pm

oy, that just confused the heck out of me. perhaps you cna explain what goes where? or even better, can i perhaps sugest a wrap that would be easier to texture?

Also, can you attach the actual models?

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 10:07 am

Hi yea when i posted them i knew they had no sort of refrence for you to go by. I actually just finished learning how to pelt unwrap them which might actually make it easier for you to understand what goes where. I still dont know what kind of format people expect/work with regularly, but i think i can make it easier to work with. And if you have a prefed Teqchnique you like to with let me know and i will try and figure it out.

Anyways i am visting my parents for the holidays right now, so i dont have access to my files or 3d max. I will get back on Jan 1st and that is when i will get the revised UV maps and models up to you. Sorry for the delay.

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 3:57 pm

ok. well, i myself havent unwraped anything yet, but i have textured. personaly, i think the less parts there are to a wrap the better. one part of your UV that made it realy difficult to tell appart was the fact that it seemed to have shading on it.

here is how i would take on the wrap of the first lanter. this is just a s sugestion, feel free not to use it. only over a square area and without the picture of the lantern. basicaly, its much easier too see what what is and all the components are in simple shapes. once again, just a sugestion. looking realy good

[url=http://img166.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lanternwrapsv6.jpg][img]http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/1392/lanternwrapsv6.th.jpg[/img][/url]

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 7:19 pm

Well i got back from holidays and i think i have worked out good UV Template. Alright Lady N i will upload the Mesh along with some guide lines for it too. This is only the second lantern i just want to make sure it is the right for you!

Morden · Post by **Morden** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:03 pm

Try to use the texture space as best as possible. Cram everything onto it so it all just barely fits. The bigger you can make your layout, the better the results will be.

Kikaimegami · Post by **Kikaimegami** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:15 pm

Exactly what Morden said. Try to take up all the avaliable space.

Also, parts that could possibly be flattened out, such as the ring at number 4, should be made into rectangles. It makes it easier to line everything up correctly when texturing it. Things that can use the same parts, such as the circular part of the shade, or the bit that connects to the hanger, can be stacked on top of each other so only one half actually needs to be textured.

For example, look at the mapping for this sword I made. All of the horns (marked with red arrows) use the same part of the map. The section is large because I wanted them to be high detail since you will look at them in first person view when you have the sword out. The section on the map is all layed out in rectangles and the sides are aligned so the texture will flow seamlessly around the sides of the object

(Not saying I'm an expert at this, but I have done some texturing, and I like the UV map done up like this because it makes my job a lot easier)

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:53 pm

Ok well here are the better ones i think... they are more flat and fill up the space better

Kikaimegami · Post by **Kikaimegami** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:06 pm

It's starting to look better! Just a few things:

You should probably leave the shade as two halves (instead of the odd-shaped thing you have it as now), because with the two little tabs like that, it can be a bit..squirrly to texture

For the tassels, you could actually have them piled on top of each other, but if one wanted to make them different colours, maybe not.

The two halves of the hanger (6 and 7) can either be stacked, or even aligned so they run as a single straight line.

I'm trying to understand what is up with 3. What are the polys smashed up against the right side? If that is meant to wrap around horizontaly, then you should make the polys on the map all the same width. The same goes with 2 and 4. They have some smashing going on that I'm having trouble following. You want it to sort of look as if you took the mesh and smashed it out flat on a table, with the size of the polygons as in-tact as possible.

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:31 pm

oh that is definatly, definatly better. glad you see youre still here, i was afraid i had chased you off with my complaining

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:34 pm

Kikaimegami wrote:It's starting to look better! Just a few things:

You should probably leave the shade as two halves (instead of the odd-shaped thing you have it as now), because with the two little tabs like that, it can be a bit..squirrly to texture [/quote="Kikaimegami"]

That i can do

For the tassels, you could actually have them piled on top of each other, but if one wanted to make them different colours, maybe not.
So you mean so one up map just covers the other?

The two halves of the hanger (6 and 7) can either be stacked, or even aligned so they run as a single straight line.
Stacked as in up maps overlaping and covering each other?

I'm trying to understand what is up with 3. What are the polys smashed up against the right side? If that is meant to wrap around horizontaly, then you should make the polys on the map all the same width. The same goes with 2 and 4. They have some smashing going on that I'm having trouble following. You want it to sort of look as if you took the mesh and smashed it out flat on a table, with the size of the polygons as in-tact as possible.
I will work on that one as for now mind checking out what i have done for lantern 1

Kikaimegami · Post by **Kikaimegami** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:42 pm

This one is looking nice!

Yup, that's exactly what I mean by 'stacking' 'piling' etc

You place them on top of each other so they use the same part of the texture. When things will look the same on the completed object in game, you can do a bit of that with the maps so you can use bigger parts of the texture for them and give them more details.

For the ring on the bottom of that one, I would actually cut it in half laterally, when facing the ring as a circle, so the map looks like a pair of doughnuts.

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:30 pm

Kikaimegami wrote: For the ring on the bottom of that one, I would actually cut it in half laterally, when facing the ring as a circle, so the map looks like a pair of doughnuts.

I literally have no idea how to do this!

Kikaimegami · Post by **Kikaimegami** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 12:21 am

I know how to do it in Blender, but no idea how to do it in 3dsmax. In Blender, you would select half of the circle in the UV Face Select mode, then unwrap them in the UV/Image editor window. Then again for the other side. Does it let you select individual faces to unwrap? You could try just selecting half of it.

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:18 am

Well i have been Working on it tonight and it looks like i have all 3 done right now. I will upload the UV maps So everyone maybe people can critique them. I have an alternative and main for lantern 2 & 3. I think the alternative would work best for both.

Kikaimegami · Post by **Kikaimegami** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:59 am

Whoa! Those are beautiful! That is looking very nice there, man!

I'm very impressed. Great work! I'd have to get my claws on the original files to see how they line up on the actual meshes and see which is better for those with alternates, but those maps look very nice and easy to use.

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 5:16 pm

Dear Lady N and Anyone who wants the lanterns

Ok wow, i have finished my UV mapping for all 3 lanterns. I have .rar'ed them along with all the guides, and relevant 3d max files as well. I for some reason think that using the "altertantive" UV maps for all would some how produce a better texture as some polys seem to be perpendicular to the "main" UV maps. The alternative solves this problem.

I hope you enjoy texturing them and can get them back to me so i can slap the textures on.

Ok now that i have gotten that done can anyone recommend any clutter"esque" (or anything) items that i can try my modeling out on that TR could use?

Thanks so much for all of the help!

Ps. For texturing please use the UV's from the RAR.

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 9:43 pm

um, there is tons of stuff to model, just look though the concept art on the main page or in the forum. the stuff we will realy need soon is architecture.

ive DLed the files and going to try to tex them soon.
based on the screens and on your behavior (willingness to improve and listen to sugestions) i recomend you for promotion

can anyone else give some imput?

Post by **Haplo** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 9:47 pm

Based on a moderator's recommendation and my own experiences of watching your Showcase thread, I'm promoting you. Congrats & Welcome Aboard!

Promoted

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 9:58 pm

Well that was unexpected! Thanks so much. I might just have to get modeling some clutter right away..... perhaps some ornamental tables and things like that. But if architecture is what we need i guess i will have to find some more tutorials.

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 10:17 pm

its not hard realy

basicaly a realy big clutter piece

we will need everything as time progreses, but we are trying to manage our resources so that as many people as posible are working and so that as much progres as posible is being made.

[edit]

i cant open the model files. can you please export them as obj's? (or even nif's)

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 11:18 pm

Lady Nerevar wrote: i cant open the model files. can you please export them as obj's? (or even nif's)

Sure, i didn't think you would need the model Files i thought you could just paint the UV map JPGs, no?

I wasnt able to find a convert to .nif, but i managed to export it to .obj. All the models are in this one file.

[edit]

Those .uvw files i just put in the archive for my own reference depending on what you decide to texture main or alternate. I couldnt find a way to export them to another file extension

[edit]

I should note that i created all the lanterns in one session, so all 3 are located in one file.

Lady N this is your new .OBJ Files

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 6:51 pm

Ok well i just finished making some low poly clutter

The Razor and mirror both are around 350 and were based on these concept art.

[url]http://img171.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ucmirrorsidefrontij9.jpg[/url]

and

[url]http://img77.imageshack.us/my.php?image=razorsidefrontdf4.jpg[/url]

Kikaimegami · Post by **Kikaimegami** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 8:46 pm

Woo, congratulations!

You could export both versions to OBJ. That meaning, one with the first UV map applied and one with the alternate. There will be five files (since two have alternates) but it shouldn't be too large of a rar.

Those models look very close to the origical concepts! Nice

Fairwater · Post by **Fairwater** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 2:44 am

Hey, well i just finished modeling this instrument from Pounds concept art. I feel like it needs some tweaking but i just cant seem to place my finger on it. Let me know what you think!

It is around 1200 polys

[url=http://img365.imageshack.us/my.php?image=musicalinstrumentax4.jpg][img]http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/6112/musicalinstrumentax4.th.jpg[/img][/url]
It is based on this concept art The bottom Instrument
http://img175.imageshack.us/my.php?image=intsrumentsho8.jpg