Home 3D Art Showcase & Critiques

[PBR] M4A1

polycount sponsor
Offline / Send Message
Millenia polycount sponsor
I did this one a while ago ( http://millenia3d.net/cont/pers/m4a1/marmo.jpg ) but as you can probably tell the old one is over the top with the scratches & material. Doing proper PBR textures this time around, and trying to keep it subtler (yet still rather worn). I know it's quite early, but critique & inspiration material for texturing very much appreciated :)

vkamdv.jpg

Replies

  • Damian Nachman
    Offline / Send Message
    Damian Nachman polycounter lvl 6
    Wicked work! Really digging the material definition. Mind sharing flats? been trying to make the same material as the main gun paint really hard.
  • Millenia
    Offline / Send Message
    Millenia polycount sponsor
  • Damian Nachman
    Offline / Send Message
    Damian Nachman polycounter lvl 6
    Thanks dude! Is it using the spec workflow, or metallic?
  • Itholon
    Offline / Send Message
    Itholon polycounter lvl 7
    The dust on the handguard is too much in my opinion,make some variation in it or less opacity. Honestly the dust doesn't even make sense in these parts. Otherwise, good job.
  • Rumkugel
    Offline / Send Message
    Rumkugel polycounter lvl 14
    It does.

    Fine Dust catches in all the nooks and cranies.

    millenia,
    some of the metal aprts are too glossy.
    Eg the frontsight, it looks like its coated with oil.
    Most frontsights, specially issued ones, are phosphated, which gives it a flat, grey-yellowish finish.

    same goes for the barrel. too glossy.

    the upper and lower receiver look good, the wear and tear is just too random to be beliveable.
    also, upper and lower receiver often have different material coatings, giving it a different spec or diffuse color.

    Castlenut, mag release, forward assist, charging handle, bolt stop and fire selector
    are too glossy.
    They are usually coated with the same material as the frontsight.
  • SimonAlbon3D
    Can I just ask as to your technique to UV Mapping? It's probably one of my weakest areas and I'm looking to improve, whenever I do a texture map, I use Quick Planar, Normal Unwrap and Pelt mapping depending on the size and shape of the object, but I end up with quite a basic UV Map, whereas yours is extremely tightly packed and well organized.

    Also, as a question as to painting the diffuse map, again, whenever I paint over my maps they just look amateurish, how do you get your diffuse to match the same exact shape of your maps, is it just time and care or am I missing something?
  • Itholon
    Offline / Send Message
    Itholon polycounter lvl 7
    Rumkugel: The edges on the handguard are really small IRL no dust catches there, also most people have the left hand on the handguard so if any dust would catch there you would wipe it really easy just by holding it.
  • cR45h
    Offline / Send Message
    cR45h polycounter lvl 7
    I think the main problem with the metal is that inverted AO you have in your gloss. Its throwing everything off by making parts glossy when they shouldn't be (most obviously here - http://puu.sh/b9Tpk/3eade94732.jpg). I'd also push more blue in spec.
  • Millenia
    Offline / Send Message
    Millenia polycount sponsor
    Toned down the glossiness, made alternate metal pieces stand out more, toned down the damage (though I'll also do that super worn version for games like Fallout/STALKER - this also requires me to convert the textures from PBR to oldschool spec/no gloss) and tweaked the dust layer. Did more work on it, too:

    c0a7f3a6ca.jpg


    -

    Current damage is just from dDo so it's not very nice. I'll probably do some nice hand-placed wear for the clean-ish version. I'm also not sure about the spotty dark details on it, will probably axe those and replace them with nicer ones.
  • Computron
    Offline / Send Message
    Computron polycounter lvl 7
    Man, I would kill to see some texturing/timelapse videos.
  • Grusti
    Offline / Send Message
    Grusti polycounter lvl 10
    PLZ!!! Make video how you create pbr textures
  • Chicken Dip
    Offline / Send Message
    Chicken Dip polycounter lvl 8
    +1 for PBR texturing tut, awesome stuff dude! keep going!
  • JordanN
    Offline / Send Message
    JordanN interpolator
    I also vouch for a PBR tutorial.
  • BradMyers82
    Offline / Send Message
    BradMyers82 interpolator
    Fantastic work here!
  • Spush
    Offline / Send Message
    Spush polycounter lvl 7
    Awesome stuff there, I'm still having trouble getting my materials looking right in PBR, at least using the metallic method rather than specular color.
  • Millenia
    Offline / Send Message
    Millenia polycount sponsor
    Might have to do a video at some point when I get time if people want one, though Earthquake's tutorials at the Marmoset page go a long way :v

    beajes.jpg
  • juniez
    Offline / Send Message
    juniez polycounter lvl 10
    :0 that is the super sick stuff
  • Shrike
    Offline / Send Message
    Shrike interpolator
    The separation on the materials itself came out great, like the dirt on the metal and the scratches, but the separation between the different materials the weapon uses is too uniform. The plastic is too close to metal, the magazine is kinda strange and the receiver/metal parts all in all look very soft and rubber-ish. The handguard looks very oily now, it looked very nice as rubber on the previous ones (its hard plastic but you could have a custom one i guess)
    You could also help it a lot if you would differentiate base colors more as it is a very narrow spectrum or grey blue and brown, and as the dirt on the metal has like the same color as the coat of the stock plastic, it all blends too much into one big brown mass. On the first pic you posted you could instantly differenciate between materials.
    A little color could also make the subject more interesting, or some unique dertail,or maybe just a HDRI thats a little more exciting.
    The screws of the sights could really have used some more polys, those would be really in the players face, and 12 sides is really low (among a bunch of other places, its for showcase right ?) The bottom of the magazine is missing a crucial element, a plate, and the intersection of the magazine and the reciever looks a little odd since both meshes are very soft and rounded and there is no AO.

    Nice font used there, like that. Keep up the good work, hope that helps ; )
  • Rumkugel
    Offline / Send Message
    Rumkugel polycounter lvl 14
    The scratches are too random still.

    Plastic parts are too glossy. They´re more matte on rs ones. Color is alright.
    Gloss only appears where there´s a lot of friction, eg cheek weld, hand grip etc.
    But they look pretty good structure wise.

    The Locking handle on the stock should be the same material as the stock.
    It is not metal!

    Locking pins, and receiver pins should have a different color/material.
    Fire selector on the opposite side doesnt have the same material as on the left side.
    They´re one part.

    You kinda just used like 2 hues for the gun metal.
    Give phosphatet parts same Material as the mag. It´s the same coating!
    Barrel is phosphated aswell

    Upper receiver usually has a blueish tint, not the lower.

    Birdcage Flashhider is wrong, you went cheap on that one.


    Charginghandle Lock isnt the "standart" one. just a nitpick tho..

    You missed the pins that keep the frontsight attached to the barrel..

    There are no screws in the knobs of the carry handle.
    The knows are threaded themself.

    Carryhandle is all phosphatet, just in different shades.

    Grip is not made from 2 halfes, its cast from one piece!

    The overall spec looks alright, the wearandtear-scratches just dont look convincable.


    Come on man, push this!
    You can leave this as an polycount-average, or push this to an bad ass mofo!
  • Millenia
    Offline / Send Message
    Millenia polycount sponsor
    Cheers guys, I'll make note and try to revise the texture a bit more still after work :V
    It's damn hard making materials look unique when they all have the same flat spec value >__<
  • Rumkugel
    Offline / Send Message
    Rumkugel polycounter lvl 14
    Once the base value is set, you can work with overlays alterations.
  • Stoy79
    Offline / Send Message
    Stoy79 polycounter lvl 3
    The Locking handle on the stock should be the same material as the stock.
    It is not metal!

    Just a small side-note on the subject - this particular type of stock is either aluminum or polymer, so it's not necessarily wrong to give it a metallic look.
  • Rumkugel
    Offline / Send Message
    Rumkugel polycounter lvl 14
    It is made of a polymer..
    I have a real steal one in my locker....

    I havent seen a single Colt Carbine Stock being made out of metal.
  • Itholon
    Offline / Send Message
    Itholon polycounter lvl 7
    Yeah, it would be unnecessarily heavy with metal stock. Looks nice, but I gotta agree, the scratches are too random.
  • Stoy79
    Offline / Send Message
    Stoy79 polycounter lvl 3
    I'm talking about the stock that has been modeled here. It's the retro style stock, as originally found on XM177s and early variants of the M4. Originally made of aluminum, later also plastic (also known as "Fiberite"). Modern variants are indeed polymer, although aluminum surplus or repros of the old stock can occasionally be found.
    Aluminum stocks can have a rubberized coating or an anodized finish.


    @ Itholon: I'm talking about aluminum - it wouldn't be that heavy at all.
  • Itholon
    Offline / Send Message
    Itholon polycounter lvl 7
  • Add3r
    Offline / Send Message
    Add3r polycounter lvl 11
    Rumkugel wrote: »
    It is made of a polymer..
    I have a real steal one in my locker....

    I havent seen a single Colt Carbine Stock being made out of metal.

    This, and also you wouldnt want it made out of metal. They are uncomfortable and annoying as it is.
  • Stoy79
    Offline / Send Message
    Stoy79 polycounter lvl 3
    Yes, these are the most common military versions, but some aluminum ones are modeled after fiberite stocks (most probably for civilian market). There are also fiberite stocks shaped like the aluminum ones. I've even stumbled upon late style M4 stocks made of aluminum.

    And yes, aluminum stocks are not the best thing - expensive and reportedly not as durable as plastic ones (probably why they're not as popular), but that's not my point. It's not a discussion about what's better, more comfortable or whatever - my only point was that it is not necessarily inaccurate for this part to look metallic (or coated aluminum, if you prefer...).

    Besides, the material of the stock itself in the renders does not look very metallic - I think it looks more like a fiberite stock (material looks similar to handguards, maybe a tad shinier for the tube area) with a metallic locking handle (aluminum being a metal) - taken from another stock. In other words, I don't think it's that inaccurate - in my opinion it's small details like that add to the originality of a model (as long as it makes sense). After all, if everyone started modeling strictly standard parts and combination of parts, it would be somewhat boring.
  • Rumkugel
    Offline / Send Message
    Rumkugel polycounter lvl 14
    in my opinion it's small details like that add to the originality of a model (as long as it makes sense). After all, if everyone started modeling strictly standard parts and combination of parts, it would be somewhat boring.

    Thats like saying: "Hey.. Polymer G36 are boring.. make it metal."

    Change the stock completly, add a buttstock magpouch whatever.
    This is more of an excuse on "i couldnt nail it right, but it´s a possibility..."
    Artistic Freedom if you want...

    Then why use PBR? Meh.

    Then again, he´s building a plain vanilla M4.
    If you want something not "boring", build a IPSC Chris Costa Race Gun.
    Making a solid model, with right materialdefinition is not boring per se, cause very few people ever nail it.

    As i said. It either an average Polycount M4, or some badass thing.

    Either way, his decision. I´m just giving headsup.
    Its going offtopic.
  • Stoy79
    Offline / Send Message
    Stoy79 polycounter lvl 3
    Thats like saying: "Hey.. Polymer G36 are boring.. make it metal."
    No, it's absolutely nothing like what I said. I was merely pointing out there are aluminum variants.

    The rest is just your opinion.
    Either way, his decision. I'm just giving headsup.
    Its going offtopic.
    Well, on that we agree.
  • EarthQuake
    Good stuff Hans, very clean modeling and fantastic materials as always.

    To the esoteric gun parts discussion above: Geez people, obsessive much? I could see if he was making a Sim game where you can build a gun from specific parts made by specific vendors or something, but otherwise this is just total overkill. Lord help me if I ever model a stock M4 lolol.
  • EarthQuake
    Rumkugel wrote: »
    Then why use PBR? Meh.

    Another thing because this comment has stayed in the back of my mind. I think there is a real fundamental misunderstanding of what PBR is here. PBR is not only useful for super photo realism, it can be used for any number of styles, even very cartoony stuff. The point of PBR isn't to always use the exact real world materials than an object is made of, this not necessarily a requirement of PBR.

    For something to make sense from a PBR standpoint, the material values should be accurate to the material the artist is trying to portray. If someone made an M4 entirely out of fudge and silicone it would qualify as being ready for a PBR pipeline as long as the reflectance values were correct for fudge and silicone.

    So in this case, Hans making a metal stock vs a plastic stock, again it has no bearing on whether the content is authored for a PBR pipeline.
  • heyeye
    Offline / Send Message
    heyeye polycounter lvl 6
    EarthQuake wrote: »
    Good stuff Hans, very clean modeling and fantastic materials as always.

    To the esoteric gun parts discussion above: Geez people, obsessive much? I could see if he was making a Sim game where you can build a gun from specific parts made by specific vendors or something, but otherwise this is just total overkill. Lord help me if I ever model a stock M4 lolol.

    Well as long as you model a gun that's not in someone's locker I think you'll be fine.

    :)
  • reedweinstock
    Offline / Send Message
    reedweinstock polycounter lvl 8
    Can you post the flats or the magazine?

    Reed
Sign In or Register to comment.