63 replies to this topic

[MattTheLegoman]

 

I absolutely hate doing hard surface stuff, like dwarven axes, and Gimli has a ton of them.

 

I'm sure you already know, but don't even bother trying to use ZBrush for that haha. Max will do the trick pretty nicely, and they're incredibly simplistic in design which lends itself to low-poly structures. 

 

 

It might even help with learning more about low-poly models. =D

[Nazgûl]

zBrush is perfectly fine for doing hard surface items, as we can see with all them movie studios and games companys using them. In the zB forums I linger, there are millions of hard surface items made in zB. The problem is that I don't really master that technique, in the same way I handle soft stuff like bodies, cloth and simple shapes like wood and rock. Max is an old topic and as always, it's not for me, even though I'm sure it's probably much easier, for those that know how to use Max.

 

I did the Iron Hills and Dain weapons in zBrush. It works. It just takes forever...

 

MTL, that looks great. It's the shape I hate. Texturing is no problem. If you could shape the meshes for his axes, I could do the rest If you export them as OBJ

Edited by Nazgûl, 07 August 2016 - 11:41 PM.

[NewErr]

Maybe a video tutorial in max doing a helmet from scratch would help?

I mean I did the Iron hills helmet in like 5-10 minutes.

Also, I remember a spline modeling tutorial by Kwen making Haldir's sword, that's the most efficient way to make a standard weapon.

Edited by NewErr, 08 August 2016 - 06:42 AM.

[MattTheLegoman]

Okay, it will take ages as it is the first time I have ever done something like an actual object... =p Buildings and rocks are somewhat easier.

 

Shall I leave the UV mapping to you too?

 

And I'd love the opportunity to test out the baking capacity of Blender Cycles once you've finished with high and low-poly Gimli.

 

So yes, take your time.

[Nazgûl]

UV mapping is no problem either. It's only the creation of the shape of the mesh. In zB you have to start with a basic shape, like a ball or a box. The you "cut" out the parts you don't want, using masks. That leaves open holes in the mesh that has to be filled. It's awkward, but it works for those that master the technique by routine. You can also mask areas and pull or push them into the shape you want. I'm sure there are more ways to do it as I've seen extremely elaborate hard surface models made in this client. But I have no doubt that Max is a lot easier. During the past years I've tried Max numerous of times and to me, it's completely incomprehensible. 

 

What I would need here is nothing more than the shape of the axes, as true to the original as possible in proportions etc. I can adjust to some extent if needed though. If it's OBJ, I can simply import it, raise the resolution (for painting) and start painting the models in the same manner I always do, by hand. Then I place new verticles manually as I go low poly (retopologize), export it again and import into my UVV client. Map it, export it back into zB and paste the high resolution texture paint, onto the UVV map that matches the low poly mesh. Done

[Nazgûl]

These I found for download. They'e about $20 each...

 

[Kwen]

One of these days I should update that spline modelling tutorial to make it a bit easier to follow. But yeah, I know it's a broken record but following step by step instructions with splines would get you quick and good results, even with minimal max knowledge. You literally just draw out the shape, turn it into a mesh, and cut some edges to make it have shape. It's really incredibly simple..

For the love of God, don't spend any money (especially $20 per axe! Holy shit!) on something that would take no more than a few hours to fabricate yourself.

Edited by Kwen, 08 August 2016 - 02:16 PM.

[Mathijs]

Yeah... you can have mine for €15...

[Bashkuga]

Why not just use the axes from the Return of the King game? SaF used some assets from that game too right?

Edited by Bashkuga, 08 August 2016 - 05:53 PM.

[Mathijs]

A few minor things here and there, yes. A head, some textures.

 

Anyway, Gimli's axes in RotK are a bit too thin and lack important details (especially in their textures). Wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

[NewErr]

Guess the textures are not the problem here.

[MattTheLegoman]

Well, I'll be a bit slow, but we'll save having to give away your models and we'll save on money too. (About that, saving money - since we have a smaller development team should we switch to hosting the development to something free? I'm thinking Google Drive.)

 

 

I tested out baking a normal map for the axe and it works perfectly. =D Both models use the same flat grey colour as a material, the low-poly model has the normal map.

 

 

P. freaking S.

 

My axe is already more detailed than the 20 euro one you found. =p (it doesn't have a texture yet.) This is an image from the same model, compare it to my high poly version.

 

Edited by MattTheLegoman, 08 August 2016 - 07:27 PM.

[Nazgûl]

I have no idea where to find assets from RotK game?

I don't min spending a few bucks for a good model that saves me a lot of time. I would gladely pay 15 for Mathijs axes for sure as I know they carry the quality I crave. That's about 100 swedish crowns. A lunch basically

Yes NewErr. Textures are not the problem. Hard surface mesh shapes in zBrush are (to me).

MTL. That looks very good!

[Kwen]

Well what you said above ($20 per axe) is not "a few bucks".

[Nazgûl]

That's subjective I guess

[MattTheLegoman]

Hehe, no need to worry about it! =D I'm not worried. =p

This is Gimli's axe in RotK. Ours is going to be better because it will have slightly more polygons?... =p

 

This is the second axe that I have created. =D

Okay, it's not actually that great. =p I've got a subsurface modifier on it to pretend that it is more high-poly than it is. But it is low-poly with all the essential model details. Nazgul, can you texture the rest of the axe?

 

As a matter of fact, it seems like the best pictures of Gimli's axe is on a weapons website, which is blocked at my college? So if you can, when I send it too you, please check the accuracy of it.

 

P.S. Rendered! =D

 

Edited by MattTheLegoman, 09 August 2016 - 10:23 PM.

[Nazgûl]

Oh, I'd say that looks spot on!   
And yes, I can easily texture and UV map it 

 

 

Brett Beattie “Gimli” screen-used hero Battle Axe from Lord of the Rings

SOLD FOR $80,000

[Nazgûl]

There we go...

 

MTL's model, with slight change of proportions (after going see through in zBrush with Weta prop behind). A bit longer blades and less wide, and it was spot on 

So mostly I just painted the model today. Excellent UV mapping already made by MTL 

 

I axe done. 4 to go... 

 

[Mathijs]

The walking axe is actually part of the RotWK Dwarf CaH weapons, as I found out recently.

[Nazgûl]

Is it exactly the same, or similar?