SWBF Series Model Showcase Thread 5th Edition

ANDEWEGET · Post by **ANDEWEGET** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 3:12 pm

Alternatively you could bake the AO into Vertex Colors(XSI can do that, dunno about blender) or bake the AO with a different UV set and then blend that in. That second method wont work with SWBF though.

Cool models BTW!

THEWULFMAN · Post by **THEWULFMAN** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:47 pm

Really awesome Skyrim themed models!

So, Skyrim mod?

One can dream...

The Nasal Abyss · Post by **The Nasal Abyss** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:50 pm

ANDEWEGET wrote:Alternatively you could bake the AO into Vertex Colors(XSI can do that, dunno about blender) or bake the AO with a different UV set and then blend that in. That second method wont work with SWBF though.

Cool models BTW!

Baking the AO to vertex colors doesn't work out well with Zero. I've tried it before (with my very old rock wall, if you can remember that

) and Zero likes to fade the shading quite a bit if you want the model to interact with dynamic lighting at all. I've tried making it more contrasted but you can only go so far with that before its just two colors, black and white hahaha.

tl:dr: Vertex color AO=very faded in Zero Editor with dynamic lighting. Zero basically nullifies any vertex colors there are.

lucasfart · Post by **lucasfart** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 1:52 am

Thanks for the tips guys! I'll have to try doing a proper UV setup, so you mightn't hear from me for a while.

I'm pretty sure blender will have all the functionality I need, but I can always export it to XSI if I have too much trouble...Also, with the two methods you guys suggested, would it be possible to just combine them to achieve an even better effect, or would that wreck it in some way?

What do you guys think of the textures as well? Do you think they all look ok as is, or do you think I need to tweak them a bit?

EDIT: Well Blender is crashing whenever I hit the bake button with Ambient Occlusion selected. Don't know what's causing it... My texture is 2048x2048, but surely that wouldn't crash blender's baking engine. I'm using 2.63a...

Another question. I found a description of AO bakes, and the guy says that

How's AO used?

Wrongly, most of the time; –i.e.: modulating the diffuse texture by it, to make recessed areas seem darker. Many texturers do this. Recessed areas do look darker, but, dynamically (as the model moves, turns), the darkness looks like painted-on, or like smoked. Why? Because if a recessed area is facing a light directly, it should look bright no matter that it is recessed or shaded from abient light. A more correct way of using AO would be to leave the diffuse texture alone, but modulate a copy of it by the AO, and blend the result into the glow texture, at a low alpha value, like 10%, barely visible. This would amount to a pre-computed ambient light contribution baked into the glow map. It looks better, but this assumes a fixed amount (and color) of ambient light. If the sky is a red nebula, ambient light should be red… So CineMut does something better –er.. MUCH better; but I digress…

Would adding it to a glow texture work in SWBF2, or is the lighting too bad to be used like this?

minilogoguy18 · Post by **minilogoguy18** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 5:53 pm

Hidden/Spoiler:

Playing around with the greeble script in XSI, too bad a 200k model can't be used in SWBF2 but I suppose it could serve some purpose as a hi res source for ultimapper.

yuke5 · Post by **yuke5** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:37 pm

╚(•⌂•)╝

It's so amazing! It's a shame SWBFII can't handle such high quality work.

lucasfart · Post by **lucasfart** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 5:00 am

Wow! How long did it take to make all those metal plates?

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 5:06 am

lucasfart wrote:Wow! How long did it take to make all those metal plates?

If the greeble script is what I think it is, I'd say it took not as long as we might expect.
Awesome model btw.

minilogoguy18 · Post by **minilogoguy18** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 9:48 am

Yeah it's just an automated script, just select the polygons, adjust the options and let it do it's thing, only thing that takes time is computing it all. Script is in the netview under model>create.

Fiodis · Post by **Fiodis** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:13 pm

Why is the outside so low-poly?

minilogoguy18 · Post by **minilogoguy18** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:34 pm

It's a low poly model that I just ran a simple script on for all the trench structure, I was bored, that model is far from done the problem is there is no good reference on the details, some of it I'll just make up.

lucasfart · Post by **lucasfart** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 10:55 pm

Ahh ok.

Well I've started to do "proper" UV maps, and here's the first product of my labours.

Hidden/Spoiler:

That's in textured decal/no lighting mode. I applied a AO bake.

I'm quite proud of myself.

Any comments or criticisms are appreciated. In particular I'm a bit unsure about the handle...

EDIT: Just threw on an alternate metal texture which looks quite nice. Which do you guys prefer?

Hidden/Spoiler:

minilogoguy18 · Post by **minilogoguy18** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:30 pm

Not sure how you mapped the top edges of the basket but you need some panel lines there, it's pretty obvious that there is none. Metal needs some brown and red rust on the handle and the metal straps should match the handle.

THEWULFMAN · Post by **THEWULFMAN** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:34 pm

I agree with MLG on the top faces of the bucket, but the rest is really good. The latter metal texture is far superior to your initial one.

lucasfart · Post by **lucasfart** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:09 am

Thanks for the tips. I'll work on that....

On adding the lines to the top, do you guys have any tips on doing that efficiently? I'm unsure how to make the lines match up with the sides...

If you're wondering about my UV layout, this is what it looks like. The top of the wood is the section in the top right corner....

Hidden/Spoiler:

And as far as the tinge of brown/orange, I'm finding it blends in too much with the wood. They look too similar.

EDIT: Oops. Sorry about the resolution.

I forgot how big it was.

I'm planning on just decreasing the resolution once I'm finished...

Marth8880 · Post by **Marth8880** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 1:41 am

I don't know if Blender has this, which I'm almost positive it does, but look for an option that allows for snapping to vertices/grid.

lucasfart · Post by **lucasfart** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 2:21 am

Oh. Sorry. I get the modelling side of things, but I was thinking of just doing a texture change. That's probably a better way of doing it though. I'll give it a shot.

minilogoguy18 · Post by **minilogoguy18** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:58 am

I didn't mean make the metal brown/red, I meant add specs of it lightly on the model, make a new layer with it in photoshop and blend it in.

lucasfart · Post by **lucasfart** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:08 am

lucasfart wrote:Ahh. I get you. I'll give it a shot and see how it looks. But I'm gonna try and get it working ingame before I worry about stuff like that.

Well I figured I might as well give my crate a proper UV map while I'm stuck with my bucket. Gave it a proper UV map, AO bake and normal map.

Hidden/Spoiler:

Added a rusty/splotchy metal one, as mini suggested. I was actually pretty surprised at how easy it was to add with brushes and all.. Which do you guys prefer?

EDIT: Added a blotchy stain to the crates.

Hidden/Spoiler:

Comments and criticisms are, as always, appreciated.

Post by **AQT** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:44 am

That sure is one nice-looking package you got there.

SWBF Series Model Showcase Thread 5th Edition

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