Petethegoat's Showcase

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:26 pm

I don't have loads of time at the moment, so I'll keep this short for now.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/n7VQC.png[/img]

Working on Dres building from this claim:
http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=19973

More soon!

blackbird · Post by **blackbird** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:08 pm

Welcome to TR! We could always use some more modelers.

Thrignar Fraxix · Post by **Thrignar Fraxix** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 3:53 am

We do indeed need modelers badly.

Welcome to the project and I look forward to seeing more of your work.

MSam · Post by **MSam** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:32 pm

I love your name.

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 1:21 pm

Thank you sirs!

I haven't had as much time as I'd expected recently, namely because I've been volunteered for a couple of other (unrelated to Morrowind) mod projects.

That said, I'm still very interested in helping you guys out. I'll see if I can further improve this today.

What sort of models are you expecting to be needing?
I want something else to do once I'm done with this.

SamirA · Post by **SamirA** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:36 pm

Well if you want modeling jobs you are certainly at the right place. We have been trying to finalize this Dres set for an eternity and there are plenty of models needed to make the set complete.

Thrignar Fraxix · Post by **Thrignar Fraxix** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:20 am

we also need a deshaan set of flora and terrain features, argon jungle things could use a lot of work. basically, there will be things to do until there is nothing left to do. Modeling isn't held up by any other department so when we run out of things we need, you are pretty much done. (this is a long way off though)

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 2:24 pm

I've taken a bit of a break from trying to the Dres architecture right, so now I'm working on the Deshaan trees from Myzel's concept here; http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/9403/trdeshaanflower.jpg

So far I have this:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/7w0Hq.png[/img]
The large 'leaf' parts at the top are intended to be alpha mapped.
I'll start on a UV and a proof of concept texture now, actually.

Post by **Haplo** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 2:54 pm

How many faces does that have? It looks like it could stand to have a few more.

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 3:08 pm

Less than a hundred, I think. Let me figure out how to get a count in Blender.
Here's a WIP of it in the construction set, with hideous texture and broken alpha.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/x9SnP.png[/img]
How many polys does an average MW tree have, anyway? I've got no idea.

I'm not sure what scale it's meant to be, it's worth mentioning. I assumed it was meant to be tree sized, but the filename of the concept art is Deshaan flower.

Post by **Haplo** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 4:02 pm

Morrowind trees range from 400 to 800. If you compare them to your model, you can see how yours looks blocky/edgy side-by-side. I'm not really a modeler so I can't offer tips on how best to improve the model.

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 4:46 pm

Okay, I've just done a quick subdivide smooth, fixed up the scale, and fixed the alpha.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/wljXv.png[/img]
The leaves don't render properly in editor or in NifSkope, but in game they should be fine.

It now has 370 faces, and I'll definitely spare a few more to make it a bit more bushy around the top, as in the concept.

Edit:
Looking over the concept some more, I think the bulb bit at the top probably wants to be a bit slimmer, as does the entire thing.

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 1:10 pm

Slimmed it down a bit, made the stuff at the top more bushy, improved (:P) the texture a bit.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/oalnb.png[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/zTTcG.png[/img]

I think the proportions are pretty much spot on now, but it looks like the bushy bit needs to come outwards more. Also, I get the impression it was intended to be lighter, rather than darker, but that's a texture thing anyway.

Myzel · Post by **Myzel** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 4:18 pm

Petethegoat wrote: I'm not sure what scale it's meant to be, it's worth mentioning. I assumed it was meant to be tree sized, but the filename of the concept art is Deshaan flower.

Yeah, I did conceptualize it as a smaller plant, not a tree.

Some comments about the model: the 'bushy bit' definitely needs to be done differently. You'll have to think of another way to tackle it because it doesn't look very similar to the concept. Kinda like someone glued dead fir twigs on the plant.
In my Deshaan concepts, I'm trying to avoid things like leaves and twigs, drawing heavily from the look of succulent plants. It would be better if the bushy bit actually has some substance with a bit of that succulent look. That, or flower petals maybe. You chose a tough plant to model in that regard. I'm not a modeler, so I can't give you any advice on how to approach it. By the looks of it you're doing a good job improving it though, so keep it up.
The texture needs work, but I understand this is just a placeholder. And I'm not sure if the colors are right, but I'll have to think on that.

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 7:03 pm

Thanks for the feedback. I've removed the bushy bit for now until I think of a better way to do it.

I've also scaled it waaay down, optimised it a bit where it doesn't make any visual difference, and redone the texture.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/lPCg5.png[/img]
Hopefully that's about the size you were thinking, but it doesn't matter in any case, given the simplicity of resizing.

I'll try and match the texture to your concept a bit more, but I didn't want to do too much to it until you've figured out the colours.

Edit:
Here's the current UV:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/FITaJ.png[/img]
My thinking is that the seam between the flower and the stem will be covered by the bushy part, so this makes it slightly easier to know which part you're texturing.

Gnober · Post by **Gnober** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:35 pm

Hey, it's good to see another upcoming modeler... You seem to be eager to learn, and you are progressing well.

I have a few comments though...

The UV map:
I see that you have made the same mistake as I did, when I made my first few models. You probably shouldn't make only one texture for the whole model, make one for each material. Probably a 64*64 or 128*128 for the stem and maybe a 64*64 for the flower.
I don't know whether you know this, but you can scale your UV-map over the texture borders because the texture works as tiles. For this to look good, the texture will just need to repeat relatively seamlessly. There can be found Gimp plugins, which can help with this, I don't know about photoshop.

The Texture:
You are probably not done making your texture, but I'll just comment anyway.
The stem texture needs to have a lot more details, for instance you can try adding some scales, like the concept suggests.
The flower texture is a good start, but that too could benefit from a bit more detail...

The Model:
It is hard to judge from the picture only, but my guess is, that it has too many vertices. A plant of that size should maybe have between 100 and 200 vertices, assuming that is a bit bigger than the one from your latest screenshot. My guess is that the plant should be about waist high, but I'm not completely sure.

I look forward to seeing you progress

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:21 am

Gnober wrote: The UV map:
I see that you have made the same mistake as I did, when I made my first few models. You probably shouldn't make only one texture for the whole model, make one for each material. Probably a 64*64 or 128*128 for the stem and maybe a 64*64 for the flower.

In this case, one texture is preferable. The only time you want to use multiple textures is if you're going to be using a texture on many objects of the same set, like architecture or furniture. If you're modeling individual objects, its probably best to make one texture that fits the model really well.

Right now the biggest problem I see with the flower is the sudden transition between stem and flower. I'd also add a few secondary petals to make the flower a bit more interesting.

Myzel · Post by **Myzel** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:53 pm

As for the colors; we'll want to go with very pale colors for Deshaan plants. Very little or no green. I'd say something like very light ivory for the stem, pale yellow or orange for the flower.

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:54 pm

I just figured I'd mention that the lack of updates on this is because I'm rebuilding my PC, not because I'm incapable of listening to constructive criticism.

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 6:36 pm

Since I've been away from my main PC as I said, I haven't got any more on the model. That said, the modding bug still got me, and I find myself with an interior showcase and a hangover.

Cell name is PTG Showcase. Have at!

Scamp · Post by **Scamp** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 1:13 am

Hi Peteth, we already talked on IRC but I am going to say welcome to the forums!

I actually took a quick look at this after you requested that

I see, you know how to do the stuff. This is really good, I have a few things to note though.
First off, please set a density for your interior. I recommend 0.75 for houses, 1.00 sufffices as well. 0.00 is not a good choice though :/
Secondly, your ambient light settings seemed a bit low for a house, and your sunlight was a bit high for my tastes the latter is probably ok though. Try to keep ambient in 60-80 range for houses, is what I'd suggest.
Other than that, this seemed pretty clean. Some minor errors I noticed:

downstairs:

-furn_de_p_bookshelf_01 is slightly floating (x2)
-crate_01 is bleeding into the surface
-furn_de_p_table_05 is slightly floating
-furn_planter_01 is slightly floating
-furn_de_p_bench_03 is floating

upstairs:

-light_de_candle_03 could do with a little sinking
-furn_de_p_chair_01 needs some rotation to rest properly
-furn_de_p_chair_01 is doubled for some reason

That's all (could always be that I missed some, was really quick). In general, I can honestly say I like this place. You did a good job scattering stuff around to make the owner seem a little bit sloppy. Although I can't really comment on the text of that note as I am not a literature guy, it added a nice touch as well.
Your rotation is not perfect, but good enough to pass the showcase imo. There were some slight rotation errors here and there, but that is the kind of minor thing reviewers can fix later.
Just fix these errors and I will give you my recommendation. Happy modding!

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 1:30 am

Thanks for the review.

Density was something was something where I didn't quite know what it did, so I left it alone.
As far as the ambient light settings, I wanted to give it a foreboding feel, but I agree that even for a dark cell it is a bit over the top.

I didn't think to check if the stuff like shelves and benches were floating, I was focusing on the stuff on them.

Thanks for pointing that out.

The doubled chair is from when I accidentally changed the cell without it being active, and so I had to merge the changes back in. I must have missed it when I went through that.

I'd like to improve my rotation as much as possible, and I think I may be missing a way of fine-tuning rotation without having to do the numbers manually from properties.

The note was just to indicate the reason for the messiness and such.

Scamp · Post by **Scamp** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 1:42 am

try setting rotation to 0.1 in your preferences window, should make rotation a lot easier

you can also toy with object move and camera zoom settings if you want to. I usually set rotation to 0.01, object move to 0.1 and camera zoom to 0.1 while rotating, that's your choice actually.

Nemon · Post by **Nemon** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 7:25 am

Petethegoat wrote:
I'd like to improve my rotation as much as possible, and I think I may be missing a way of fine-tuning rotation without having to do the numbers manually from properties.

Never. Ever. Do the rotation numbers from the item properties. Hold either Z, X or no key to rotate the different axis, and make sure to keep the rotation level low (i.e 0.02 for extreme fine tuning) in the CS preferences.

Seriously, learn how to use the quick keys as soon as possible, they save you a complete civilization era of time compared to the time consuming editing of item properties. We're not THAT obsessed with these things, z and x will suffice.

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 8:59 am

Nemon wrote:make sure to keep the rotation level low (i.e 0.02 for extreme fine tuning) in the CS preferences.

This is the key bit I was missing. Cheers!

I'll get the amended showcase up sometime today, hopefully.

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 10:59 am

Went through and fixed the errors you pointed out.
I've kept the light levels lower than average, but they're lighter than they were. I also reduced the sunlight a touch.
Density is now at 1.0, as per your suggestion.

I've redone the rotations on pretty much everything.
In most cases I favour slight bleeding over slight floating, as floating tends to be more noticeable. This is mainly noticeable on the pauldrons and bracers.

Scamp · Post by **Scamp** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 12:32 pm

K, that's fine. Pretty sure there was some not properly 'f'ed gold upstairs and I did not really like the pot bleeding into that cloth piece so much but other than that this is really magnificent.

You shall be recommended for interior promotion

Good luck!

MSam · Post by **MSam** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 12:43 am

Wowza, I just want to echo Scamp - that's a great interior! Like, I don't think I've ever seen another showcase that actually look the initiative and made it look all trashed to show their rotation skills. Nice job!

Thrignar Fraxix · Post by **Thrignar Fraxix** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:20 am

furn_de_ex_stool_01 needs to be f-ed twice
Potion_Local_Brew_01 bleeds a slight bit

To have so few minor things that only a reviewer would notice in an int in this style is quite nice.

Member promotulated for interiorification

If you have any questions, post them here. Please don't stop working on your modeling just because you are promoted for interiors though.

MSam · Post by **MSam** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:24 am

Yay! Welcome to the team!

Katze · Post by **Katze** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:33 am

Well done! I hope to see your modeling promotion in short order, too!!

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 7:31 am

Hurray!

I definitely plan to keep on modelling, so hopefully I'll have some progress on that front soonish.

But yeah, woo, promotion.
I'll see if I can get some claims later.

Scamp · Post by **Scamp** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:11 pm

Oh, hmmm Thrig found two errors, still? I should be ashamed...

Anyways, congratz!

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 8:09 pm

Here is some original modelling:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/SnMkX.jpg[/img]
Intended to be a Necrom bell hammer, and I plan to texture it in the style of the existing Necrom Ordinator armour.

I'm making this in addition to the retexture I did [url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?p=298474#298474]here[/url], as that one looks more Imperial.
Plus this way Old Ebonheart and Necrom get to have different models.

Edit:
Yeehaw!
[img]http://i.imgur.com/WFs4F.jpg[/img]

Now all I need to do is get some more Dunmeri feeling textures!

Nalin · Post by **Nalin** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 2:57 pm

Petethegoat wrote: Yeehaw!
[img]http://i.imgur.com/WFs4F.jpg[/img]

Now all I need to do is get some more Dunmeri feeling textures!

The textures folder is full of them

reused textures always have a nice habit of being consistant.

Peterboy · Post by **Peterboy** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 3:35 pm

Nice! Creatively reused textures are nice

Maybe some TR indoril textures? Or something along the lines.

I like the modell, it's looks realy nice. Although I am no modeller, so what do I know?

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:01 pm

Thanks. :3

Retextured in ebony, and submitted:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/T700G.jpg[/img]

Petethegoat · Post by **Petethegoat** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:41 pm

I think this could probably use a bump. Still looking for a model review. :)

Katze · Post by **Katze** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 12:02 am

This is a pretty good model, the texture where the head connects to the handle is a little stretched, but otherwise a very nice design.

By the powers vested in me by TF (and in the interests of getting more people in the modeling department) I hereby recommend this modder for promotion.

Awesome, eh?

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 4:28 am

You've got some weird things going on in terms of relative texture size within the model. The gold strips in the top are quite blurry, while the designs are very crisp. The tiling on the handle is also quite noticeable. These aren't things you can really do much about when you're reusing textures (short of finding different textures to use), but it is something to keep in mind for the future.