PacificMorrowind's Showcase: Azura's Second Quest

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:37 pm

yep as Lady N can probably guess I want to be promoted for modelling now. Here is rough draft of a sword (yoku sword, Claim # n8-51-for)
just the model so far, haven't yet managed to download the texture pack that is there for making a similar texture to the other yoku swords, but the model is 95% done; as far as I see it is done except for minor tweaking such as the tang of the blade isn't quite right so far but basically ready for me to texture it and then tweak it with the texture and normal map so as to be able to get it looking just right.
Here is the model (blend format, if you want it in nif format just post and I'll export it and reupload).

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:39 pm

yep, as you probably know i want a .nif, with textures and collision - ready to use in other words. you can tack on a wip texture while you download. the pack contains two nice highres leathery textures, but its not mandatory for the claim.

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:44 pm

okay will do; probably not be able to do the texturing until tomorrow (i'm slow at texturing) the collision should take at least 2.9seconds. Oh one quick question; that claim did not specify anything about a scabard; should there be one and if so what general look?
thanks;
Pacific Morrowind

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 8:20 pm

its fine scabbardless

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 1:00 am

uhm another quick question; the claim doesn't say anything about size; what should the general size be (ie. daedric claymore, longsword, dagger, halfway between dagger and longsword etc)?
thanks
Pacific Morrowind

Post by **Haplo** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 1:55 am

about longsword length, if not a tad bit longer.

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:18 pm

and finally here is the sword, I was planning on doing the texturing yesterday but got grabbed for a surprise party (my 19th). at least since I have not yet (and plan to never) had even a single drink of alchohol, I wasn't hung over except by a late night. well anyways here it is. No icon included, want me to include one?
Pacific Morrowind

Post by **Haplo** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:23 pm

If you can include icons, that would be fantastic.

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:47 pm

the icon (only one since it is only one sword afterall). Photoshopped to look fairly similar to the official (not quite but relatively similar).
Pacific Morrowind

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:01 pm

not to be rude or anything ;) but bump...
Pacific Morrowind

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:13 pm

sry, rather busy atm. i took a quick look and the mesh looks good, the only thing i'd improve is the UV layout. i'll give you a better review tomorrow.

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 6:58 am

yep presumed people were just busy, no worries it can wait as long as needed.
for me making the model itself is way way easier than the UV and texture. I still need to increase those skills, I was happy with my uv for the blade, but felt that the handle was only "acceptable" (ie. could use some improvements but good enough for initial looksie).
Pacific Morrowind

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 8:10 pm

ait, here is the full workup:

-blade cuts into the hand guard slightly, probably because the blade is a little off center
-you can delete the extra polygons on the bottom of the blade since they will never be seen
-the blade UV is fine, as you said (though you could theoretically split it and allow for more detailed textures), but i cant make heads or tails of the hilt. i'd make the center one UV set, the pompel another, and the handguard a third (a donut and circle). this will significantly change your texture as well.

youre modeling off [url=http://www.majhost.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1360519]this[/url] concept right? i'd match the textures to it.

anyways, its looking good

i'll update the claim to include the rest of that set as well.

i'd appreciate if someone else took a look at well.

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Sat Jul 18, 2009 7:54 am

thanks. I'll fix those issues and match the texture better and post again. UV will take the longest to get nice... wish I could do those as quick as the actual mesh itself. Probably be two or three days.
Pacific Morrowind

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:03 am

well cross out the days estimate and insert weeks instead of days and it was pretty close...
here we are!
I think this is much better and is definitely closer to the concept art.
Pacific Morrowind

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 7:38 pm

oh no! been three days and no reply! *sob* *joking*
anyway a subtle bump, just hoping people have seen it... not at all to bug.
Pacific Morrowind

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 8:22 pm

i took a quick look earlier today and it looked nice, a full review is forthcoming.

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:15 pm

great... eagerly awaiting to hear how good or bad I did with that.
Thanks;
Pacific Morrowind

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 3:40 pm

the mesh is technically fine, however, it is much too big. right now nifskope reads it at being scaled x5, it should be at x3 or x2. at x3 you can change the blade some to make it a short sword. at x2 it works fine as a dagger. it is also off-center.

the texture still needs work.
the blade is currently a really corroded, pockmarked metal, which is not something that would make a good blade. it needs to be a nice smooth metal, you should also dodge/burn the metal to go with the edges of the sword. take a look at [url=http://www.neaca.com/images/Japanese_Katana_Wartime_Fittings_Signed_2_.JPG]this pic[/url].
the woven material around the handle isnt exactly like the concept, but that can be excused. tiling is the bigger problem: there is some noticeable stretching around the UV edges, and the mirroring makes this texture look strange. you should also add horizontal strips at the bottom and top of each section so that the weaving ends naturally.

the handguard and its top need a whole new texture. maybe make it of the same metal as the blade but pattered with those distinct circles.

the pompel and middle section are atm a bit amorphous. this would be a great place to continue the circle motive of the handguard, maybe in carved ivory or wood. otherwise you can go with the tightly woven reeds of the concept.

a realistic texture is often the hardest part. dont be afraid to change your UV map to fit a texture better.

also, the icon doesnt look like it came from this sword

the hilt and the blade appear to be out of proportion. generally, i would zoom in (showing maybe half the handle and bottom of the blade) so that it appears more unique when taken with other swords of this type.

bamman62 · Post by **bamman62** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:38 pm

Heh, now it is my turn to strike at since (Since it was once my claim).

Now, the mesh.

You have the right idea, it looks like most of my approaches, and you tried to keep the polygons down. For that, you did a good job.

There are things that need to be figured out through experimentation in the game. My main concern is the dramatic transitions between different parts of the sword.

First off, at the base of the sword, it is a cone, which does not accurately follow concept. It is supposed to be this weird stringy thing.

Second, where the hilt meets the blade, it is too abrupt, I suppose it may be possible to fix with texturing, but keep in mind that the #1 goal of a modeler is to make sure there are as little problems with the mesh as possible. This gets in the way of the high quality standard. Unlike an interior, one mesh will be seen at multiple locations, and will be analyzed with a lot more criticism than most departments.

Lastly, on the middle of the hilt, I think the inward curve is a bit too dramatic. That takes a while to get just right.

Anyway, I didn't check the textures, but that is the worst part about modeling. If it were my decision, I would split modeling claims into two separate departments, modeling and texturing, which would be passed off. It would make it a lot faster considering not many people texture as well as they model, and some members only texture.

Either way, to generalize what I wrote in a single process, slim up the mesh a bit. It will take some time, but it is mostly about experimentation.

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 3:45 pm

Anyway, I didn't check the textures, but that is the worst part about modeling. If it were my decision, I would split modeling claims into two separate departments, modeling and texturing, which would be passed off. It would make it a lot faster considering not many people texture as well as they model, and some members only texture.

ideally, you UV as you model and texture as you UV. a modeler can preview the texture in a modeling program as he works and make necessary adjustments to the model, texture, and UV map as needed. a pure texture cant do any of that.

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 11:30 pm

sorry for the delay in posting... had a nice flu for the weekend and am just getting caught up now.

Thanks both of you for the nice hard review (the way I like em... harder the review the more I can improve). I'll try and improve this up to snuff for next weekend.

Pacific Morrowind

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:38 am

Well I've been learning some new stuff... I can now animate as well as model... animating is easier than texturing. and doing some other modeling and most importanting canning, which takes a lot of my time in late august/september. Anyways mainly new texture and a bit of editing to the rest of the sword.
Pacific Morrowind

Tamriel Treasurer · Post by **Tamriel Treasurer** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 4:18 pm

I heard something on here about an Azura's Moon item. Does anyone know if Azura's Moon is an actual artifact in Tamriel's lore?

Katze · Post by **Katze** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 5:01 pm

Azura's Star is a famed artifact, she doesn't seem to have a moon item. The Daedric Crescent is perhaps the closest to a moon-themed daedric artifact as you'll find in the Elder Scrolls games.

Tamriel Treasurer · Post by **Tamriel Treasurer** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 5:04 pm

I guess that's kind of strange that she has a Star artifact but no Moon artifact.

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 5:32 am

a smidgely bumpage... more than a month on on to the second page...
I've learned how to do object animations... and theory of character animations but still working on the making them look good.
Pacific Morrowind

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:35 am

oh pretty please someone review my model
Pacific Morrowind

Post by **Haplo** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:37 pm

I've put this thread on my bookmarks toolbar to remember to look at it once I have time

Monkey · Post by **Monkey** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:30 am

Hey pacificmorrowind, i was just curious as to what modeller you use? And how do you make your collisions?

pacificmorrowind · Post by **pacificmorrowind** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 5:39 am

Blender, with nifscripts 2.4.12 (which I've contributed to including a fix for the collision export), reasonable tutorial for collision on the niftools website.
http://www.niftools.sourceforge.net
Pacific Morrowind

Tamriel Rebuilt

PacificMorrowind's Showcase: Azura's Second Quest

modeling now